This was a fun collection! I loved almost all of the stories.

Ali's gave me a lot of big feelings and I got very emotional by the end.

Tessa was Tessa. Nothing too out there.

Olivia's was wonderful. I always enjoy her writing and how she captures certain anxieties.

Alexandria's was funny, charming, and very entertaining.

Alexis was a five star reading. I absolutely love her writing and she always delivers.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Fun, ridiculous, whimsical, merry, mayhem, just holiday whimsy in the best possible way! I’ll be reading and rereading these stories all season long.

Cruel Winter with You: Love the unrequited young puppy love turned adult true love trope. This time it's with the best friend's little brother. The boy that you would do anything for because even if he's not blood, he's still family. Then finding out he's being carrying a secret crush on you for years. And he grows up the be super successful and rich...
This one felt like a daydream that could turn true and I loved it.

Merry Ever After: A single mom starting over in a small town as a seamstress just happens to catch the eye of the lumbering farmer who can't find clothes that fit him right. While this was a fun and steamy , the dialogue irritated me, making me glad it was just a short story.

All By My Elf: This was a weird short story. And it was made weird by the company puns and penis mobile. The fact the highway was stopped for that long because of a freak snowstorm had me anxious. There's no way they could have done all that stuff in a vehicle stopped in traffic on the highway. I did not connect with this one at all.

Merriment and Mayhem: If you're looking for a steamy firefighter romance, then this short story is all you need. and the steam was only due to a fire in the very beginning of the book. The ending is a whole different type of steam.
There was just something about a firefighter hitting on a person involved in a 911 call that turned me off a tiny bit. Once you suspend professional reality, then this book is a fun read

Only Santas in the Building: Cutie little short story meet-cute in the apartment building at christmas time. I loved Theo's attentiveness

It's hard to rate a collection but overall I really enjoyed these! Some were better than others, but overall a super fun collection.

Cruel Winter with You 4.5⭐
Sweet second chance it's always been you with the snowed in twist. I always love a romance where they come together at the right time.

Merriment & Mayhem 5⭐
Short sweet and spicy. Really liked this one and I thought the rescue meet cute and holiday mishaps along with the hot fire fighter were super cute! I would love to get more of their story!

Merry Ever After 4⭐
Give me a burly dirty mouth farmer every day! Really enjoyed this opposites attract single mom and the fact that she sews like me was a plus. Some of the bedroom talk was little much but still really enjoyed it!

All By My Elf 4.5⭐
This one had me laughing out loud with I definitely appreciate in a rom com. Cute workplace romance with mutual pining and a fun game of never have I ever.

Only Santas in the Building 5⭐
Flirty and fun neighbors to lovers. This MMC has all the skills in more ways that one. Loved the meddling neighbors too!

Such a fun collection of stories from some of my favorite authors! Reading this before 2 months before Christmas was a little jarring for me, but it honestly just served to get me more excited for the holidays.

Standouts for me were Tessa Bailey and Ali Hazelwood, I just love their writing and their characters!

This was such a fun, cozy, spicy read! I picked it up for the Ali Hazelwood but stayed for the rest! This is a collection of five short story/novellas all centering around Christmas romances. Each romance is a quick arc and a HEA (or at least a HFN).

As expected, the Ali Hazelwood was my favorite. Childhood friends to lovers snowbound during a power outage??? He falls first/harder and never gives up on her? Yes please. As previously stated, I will read anything Ali Hazelwood writes, but this was particularly delightful for this time of year.
5 stars

The Tessa Bailey was very much a Tessa Bailey. Insta lust/love between a big dirty farmer and a single mom in a small town. The spice was spicing, but I didn't get a lot of chemistry or cozy vibes from it.. I'll always read a Tessa Bailey it's sometimes a little cringey.
4 stars

The Olivia Dade was my first foray into her writing and I'll probably try more! Adjunct professors are together in the same side hustle driving a Christmas wiener mobile when both of their hidden feelings finally reveal themselves. It was cute, but I just couldn't get a sense of the MMC. It definitely left me interested in reading more Olivia Dade though!
3 stars

The Alexandria Bellefleur was fun but a little goofy. Hot firefighter and clumsy FMC is a little hard to take seriously. But it was a fun cozy read and I appreciated the representation in the fire department.
3 stars

The Alexis Daria was great but there was some SUPER cringey dialogue, both spoken and interior. Almost enough to knock a star off. But I loved the MMC and the storyline was so cozy; the neighbors falling for each other and it all coming to a head at the Christmas party was just too good.
4 stars.

All in all 4 stars.

Thanks to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cruel Winter With You:
Mark has been in love with Jamie since he was a teenager. Jamie ends up snowed in with Mark and has to confront her fears and her attraction to her best friend’s little brother.

I really liked this one, but I wish it was a full length book, I just wanted more. There were a lot of flashbacks to tell the story of their relationship and I would’ve liked more in the present day.Mark is definitely a man obsessed and I always love that in my books.

All By My Elf
Nina and William are coworkers and adjunct professors who also took on a side hustle during winter break. Nina has had a huge crush on William for months, but is convinced he doesn't feel the same way. What she doesn't know is that William also has feelings for her and is trying to get up the nerve to ask her out.

I always love a mutual pining book and I enjoyed that aspect, it. I also liked them getting stranded in a snow storm part of this story too. The ages of these characters are mid to late 30's and they seemed much younger than that and a little immature.

Only Santa's in The Building
This is my favorite in the collection! I loved Evie and Theo.

Evie works from home as a comic book illustrator and has been on a deadline so every time her sexy upstairs neighbor she looks like a hot mess! With the help of building Christmas party and some mistletoe Evie shoots her shot.

Theo was so sweet and caring and I fell in love with him in this short novella. This is another instance of where I wanted there to be more to the story!

Merriment and Mayhem
I really enjoyed this one. The FMC kept getting herself into sticky situations that required the fire department to be called and the same firefighter kept showing up. I mean I might keep getting myself into situations if the same sexy firefighter was coming to rescue me each time. I didn't mind the insta-love in this one, it kind of fit with the story-line.

Merry Ever After
I didn’t really care for this one.
This one was really only spice with very little plot and some of the language was cringe. It doesn’t have the humor that Tessa Bailey normaly has in her books.

A spicy collection of holiday short stories?! Yes, please. These were perfect for getting me in the holiday spirit. My favorite one was by Ali Hazelwood, and how I wish it was longer! They all brought the spice and were enjoyable. I hope these collections every season keep releasing because I eat them up.

I was gifted this collection to read as well as Cruel Winter With You as audio! Since I already did my Cruel Winter With You full review, here’s everything today!

•Ali Hazelwood: 5 ⭐️-I really enjoyed this read!! It was cozy and nostalgic. I felt like it covered all the bases and didn’t leave much “unsaid”!!

•Tessa Bailey: 3 ⭐️-Overall, I liked it! But how quickly you get hit with the tropes really hurt it for me. I perhaps expected more.

•Olivia Dade: 4 ⭐️-Loved this one! The accident prone plus the firefighter is the perfect match. Such a fun, quick read! The only downfall for me was the abrupt ending.

•Alexandria Bellefleur: 4 ⭐️-This one was so cute! Super corny and I lived for that! I wish there was an epilogue of course because I wasn’t ready to be done. Also, love a good plus sized FMC!

•Alexis Daria: 5 ⭐️-This was my favorite of the group! I loved this story from start to finish and it gave me everything I wanted in a cozy holiday novella! Of course, the epilogue I always love to have was there and that helps!

𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮☃️
𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐥𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝

✨Thoughts✨
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 is the classic best friend's brother scenario with both pining for each for what seems forever. Jamie and Marc practically grew up together, but a misunderstanding drifted them apart. When they find themselves snowed in, they are forced to confront those feelings. It was a sweet novella, I loved it!
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟐/𝟓🔥

———
𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫❄️
𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲

✨Thoughts✨
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 Luke and Evie first met, sparks flew instantly. Evie, a single mother working hard to manage her second-hand shop, was initially wary of Luke's advances due to her responsibilities as a parent. However, Luke's genuine kindness and willingness to go above and beyond to make her comfortable quickly won her over. This was a sweet novella with plenty of spicy scenes!
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟒/𝟓🔥
———

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐲 𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐟☃️
𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐞

✨Thoughts✨
𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐚 and William are two university professors who get stuck in a blizzard in the middle of nowhere. They play the game "Never Have I Ever," which finally leads them to acknowledge their mutual crush. It was a fun Christmas novella.
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑.𝟓⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟐/𝟓🔥

———
𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐦❄️
𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐫

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 found herself knee-deep in chaos as she attempted to fix up her grandmother's house, leading to an unexpected encounter with the fire department, particularly Griffin. The heartwarming novella took a steamy turn with a spicy scene towards the end!
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟑/𝟓🔥
———

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠☃️
𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚

✨Thoughts✨
Evie has a crush on her neighbor Leo. She's convinced he's not interested, but everything changes when they kiss under the mistletoe. It was a cute, fast read with some fun steamy moments.
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑.𝟓⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟑/𝟓🔥

I was ecstatic when I heard the announcement about the Amazon holiday collection. I loved the Valentine’s Day collection and could not be happier with this Christmas collection. Please do these every year!!

Individual Story reviews:


1. Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

This was one of my favorites from the collection. I will read anything and everything by Ali Hazelwood. The romance was sweet and there was a deep connection between the leads. Love me a snowed-in trope too. Five stars all around. 


2. Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey

This premise had me laughing and giggling. A man that is too large to fit in any of the pants at the store, hilarious. One of the steamier stories in the collection, which is on par for Tessa Bailey.


3. All by My Elf by Olivia Dade

I love Olivia Dade’s books! I was so happy to see her included as one of the author’s in this Amazon collection. She brought the humor and quirkiness to this story. I also love a trapped in snow trope.


4. Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur

Loved the pairing of 911 calls, chaos, and romance. A fun meet cute that reminded me of Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne. It was short and sweet.

5. Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria

I felt the chemistry and was rooting for Evie and Theo. The neighbors seemed precious and I loved all the little holiday details. Such a quick and fun read!

Some of my favorite authors writing adorable christmas novellas? say less!!

Ali's was my favorite of the five stories. Some were definitely better than others, but it was really nice to read some short stories rather than a whole book. IT really helped the reading slump!

Pick this one up you will not be disappointed!

These are five short stories and I think this is my least favorite bundle they’ve done (valentines, mystery and romance) I think my biggest issue is while I don’t mind some spice in my stories, I need it to be warranted. I want there to be characters I’m involved in and invested in. I want there to be a plot. Not just extra spice for no reason. For those reasons, I gave Cruel Winter with You 4 stars, Merriment and mayhem and Only Santa’s in the Building 3 stars. The all by my elf was only 2 stars and I really did not love the Tessa Bailey one. Personally, I’d pass on these and read a good Christmas full novel instead!

These were alright. I was really excited because there are some very popular authors in this collection, but they honestly just fell a little short for me. (No pun intended haha) They were easy and quick reads though!

❄️ Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood
Synopsis: Two former childhood friends get stuck in a storm together.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💒 Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey
Synopsis: A burly farmer frequents a thrift shop where a single mom works.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🧝🏼‍♀️ All By My Elf by Olivia Dade
Synopsis: Two coworkers realize they actually have feelings for each other while stranded in a wiener van.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎄 Merriment & Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur
Synopsis: A hot fireman makes a rescue and sparks fly.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎅🏼 Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria
Synopsis: A sprig of mistletoe ignites a steamy romance for Evie.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a collection of short stories from various contemporary romance authors. I love a novella because you get all the must-haves of a romance novel in a fun sized package. These were easy and enjoyable to read.

An average of 4 stars across the stories! Fun, short Christmas titles from some of my favourite romance authors was a great way to get cozy and into the season.

Ali Hazelwood - 4 stars
Tessa Bailey - 3.5 stars
Olivia Dade - 2.5 stars
Alexandria Bellefleur - 5 stars
Alexis Daria - 4 stars

These were fun holiday short stories/novellas! All the stories did focus on Christmas, and I would have loved to see a Hanukkah one in this series.

I think with most books, some bit more than others. I really enjoyed Ali’s but I also love a good best friend’s brother trope.

I did enjoy the lengths of these and are perfect to read or listen to if you only have a little time to finish a book.

If you haven’t gotten into the holiday spirit or looking for some quick reads? Pick these up!

I absolutely adored each of these stories! They were all well written, so much fun with some really great spice packed into very short stories. However, I was super fulfilled and happy after I finished all of them. The definitely got me in a Christmas mood. My absolute favorite was Tessa Bailey’s story with Luke, the farmer, and Evie, the single mom, thrift store worker. I was rooting for this couple from start to finish. Ali Hazelwood’s story Cruel Winter with You is about two childhood friends who realize they actually do in fact like each other. Great back story and conflict on this story. Merriment and Mayhem started out hilarious with the heroine in funny predicaments so she meets a hot fireman. All by my self follows two coworkers that have crushes on each other through a snowstorm. Finally, Alexis Daria introduces us to two characters who live in the same building. I hope Amazon continues to release fun holiday stories like these!
I highly recommend this collection of holiday stories. Huge thanks to Amazon Original Stories and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this collection.

🎄 Holiday Spice! Under the Mistletoe Story Collection 🎄 If you’re in the mood for festive fun with a side of heat, Under the Mistletoe is the holiday treat you need! 🌶️ Featuring stories by some of the best in romance—Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey, Olivia Dade, Alexandria Bellefleur, and Alexis Daria—this collection serves up quick, spicy reads that hit all the best holiday tropes. From “best friend’s younger brother” second chances to “single mom” insta-love, and even a firefighter who saves the day (more than once!), there’s a story for every holiday romance vibe. Tessa Bailey and Ali Hazelwood’s stories were definitely my favorites! If you’re looking for something easy to get into, or just need a few more books to meet those end-of-year reading goals, this collection is a perfect pick. Light, steamy, and full of holiday cheer! 🎅✨