My 9 most-anticipated festive holiday reads
My 9 most-anticipated festive holiday reads
Cozy up with me and these books in November and December!
Last week, I made a bold move. I outed myself as someone who doesn’t relish Halloween.
Really, what I did was write about my complicated feelings about next week’s big holiday in hopes that it would make people a little less annoyed with me for being a bit of a downer when it comes to all thinks ghosts and skeletons.
But guess what? I’m not a Grinch year-round. In fact, I really love fully embracing other special occasions—in some cases, the cheesier the better. In fact, I’m not totally convinced that one of the reasons I don’t go all out for Halloween isn’t that I’m just so antsy to get the November and December fun underway. Bring on the Holiday Season (yes, the capitalization is intentional).
Last year, I shared more about my new-ish adoration for festive reads, and as the season approaches yet again, I thought it would be fun to put a couple of new releases on your radar if you, like me, crave a Christmassy romance as much as you do a Hallmark movie or a sugar cookie.
(Plus, after last week’s post, I need to prove that I’m not anti-holiday, more generally.)
In that spirit, please keep scrolling for a handful of the festive books I have on my TBR for November and December. These aren’t the only ones I’m dreaming about along with sugarplums, but they definitely top the list.
I’m keeping my descriptions of each book (along with this post) short and sweet because I haven’t actually picked any of them up yet. Stay tuned for updates on how they are once I start reading!
1. Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark: I attended Georgia’s Generation Women Writers’ Retreat in the spring of 2023 (highly recommend!), and during one of our sharing sessions, she read aloud from Most Wonderful, which—at the time—still felt like it was a million years away from hitting shelves. I loved what I heard and immediately bookmarked it mentally. More recently, I had the chance to interview Georgia for the podcast, where she refreshed my memory about the book: it was loosely inspired by The Happiest Season (one of my favorite contemporary holiday movies), features a big cast of characters, and offers the kind of queer rep we need to see more of in this space.
2. Make My Wish Come True by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick: I’ve gotten to know Rachael and Alyson thanks to their guest spots on SSR over the years (here and here), and I think it’s so cool that they’ve segued their partnership in life to a partnership in writing romance novels. I dream of one day writing a holiday novel as a passion project, so I’m happy whenever I see another author (or authors) doing the same thing. Make My Wish Come True has been getting tons of buzz, too!
3. Kiss Me at Christmas by Jenny Bayliss: Jenny Bayliss’s holiday books have become a staple of my December reading for the last couple of years. Jenny never fails to bring the cozy Christmassy vibes with a big cast, and she’s clearly going to do it again. Also, can we talk about this cover??? The publisher describes it as “White Christmas meets Nora Ephron.”
4. Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters: This genre clearly has some pretty obvious cover trends, but something about this one stood out for me. I was extra excited when I saw that it features a former child star as its protagonist. Martha was a guest on SSR in 2022 and just had the perfect vibe for someone writing a holiday romance. I have a feeling she’s going to deliver!
5. The Christmas Inn by Pamela Kelley: Every year, I try to include a book like this in my holiday reading line-up: a title that’s a little more Hallmark than Lifetime, something I can totally sink into because it’s even more removed from real life than the rest. In 2024, I think The Christmas Inn is going to be that pick. Whisk me away to a Christmas Inn, please.
6. A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone: The Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone holiday romances have been such highlights of my end-of-the-year reading since the series launched in 2022. I devoured the first installment A Merry Little Meet Cute, and while its follow-up A Holly Jolly Ever After fell a little flat by comparison, there Christmas Notch novels will always have auto-buy status.
7. Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot: As a person who was raised with both Jewish and Christian traditions who is actively looking for ways to incorporate more of the former into her life, it’s been a bummer to see that there’s still such a discrepancy in the ways the December holidays are represented on bookshelves. I really enjoyed The Matzah Ball, but haven’t had a ton of luck tracking down other Hanukkah rom coms. I’m going to give Love You a Latke a shot this year.
8. A Winter Wish by Emily Stone: Another cover that blends in with the pack, but also stands out for me. I don’t know much about this author, but I’ve seen A Winter Wish mentioned in a lot of lists of upcoming releases.
9. One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery: I love books about the holidays and I love books about big families with lots of drama. Put those two together and I think we’ve got… exactly this. I’ll admit that the cover of One Big Happy Family didn’t immediately call to me, but the summary hooked me right away. This is another one that’s getting lots of online buzz!
I also read Most Wonderful and loved it! Highly recommend that one to anyone looking for a fun Christmasy novel. I'm eager to read Kiss Me at Christmas and Love You a Latke.