Hold My Hand, It's Christmas by K.C. Wells

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Best. Pickup line. Ever.

Eli Winters wasn’t expecting romance to strike between aisles of lumber and LED reindeer. He’s just home for the Thanksgiving weekend, helping his sister with her bakery and trying not to drown in the town’s over-the-top Christmas cheer. Then, in Home Depot’s lighting section, a handsome stranger grabs his hand and says, “My ex just walked in—please, play along.”

Before Eli can protest, they’re strolling past garlands and wreaths like the world’s most domestic couple. It’s not until the stranger disappears that Eli realizes: there was no ex. Just the most ridiculous—and effective—pickup line ever.

Noah Carter didn’t plan to lie. He’s the town’s perpetually cheerful event coordinator, always smiling, always “fine.” But the truth is, the holidays have felt hollow for a long time. One impulsive moment in a hardware store changes everything.

When Eli’s sister ‘volunteers’ him to help Noah organize the Christmas Festival, sparks turn into something deeper. Amid tangled lights, late-night cocoa, and small-town gossip, Eli and Noah discover that sometimes the best love stories start with a little pretending.

Because when it’s Christmas—and your heart’s finally ready—you don’t just hold someone’s hand.

You hold on.

If Look Up, Handsome was a low-angst romance, Hold My Hand, It’s Christmas has about as much angst as a perfectly prepared picnic—one you didn’t have to plan—in the most idyllic location your imagination can come up with. You’re there with the man/woman of your dreams, and they are everything you ever hoped they’d be. There is absolutely no tension, miscommunication, or misunderstandings between Eli and Noah. They both experience a little self-doubt, but I don’t think there’s a single human being alive who doesn’t have a twinge or two of self-doubt when first meeting someone. I refuse to call that angst, especially since neither of them lets it keep the completely besotted looks off their faces when they glance at each other. This is the most angst-free romance book I’ve ever read, and because it’s a Christmas book, I’m absolutely here for it.

This was instalove on steroids, a trope that—when done wrong—can leave you with incredulous thoughts floating through your mind as you read the most ridiculous nonsense ever put on paper. But when done right, when written by an author who knows exactly what they’re doing, it feels like a perfect spring day, lying on the fluffiest blanket ever woven, stretched out beneath an old apple tree. The branches form a canopy that blocks just the right amount of sunshine as you stare up at puffy white clouds, picking out the ones that look like bunny rabbits and puppies. In other words, when instalove is written right, it leaves you with the happiest feeling in the world, and you buy into every single word and glance the two MCs exchange. Hold My Hand, It’s Christmas is a perfect example of this, a story that leaves you believing in love at first sight, soul mates, and the magic of Christmas.

Challenges: Yuletide Spirit 

Look Up, Handsome by Jack Strange

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Quinn wants to save his bookshop, the last thing he needs is to fall in love…

Hay-on-Wye’s only queer bookshop is always a hive of activity. So when it’s threatened with closure, its owner Quinn Oxford is determined to do whatever it takes to save his beloved shop.

That is until romantic novelist Noah Sage arrives in town. Gorgeous, brooding and clearly unhappy to be there, Noah is the distraction Quinn doesn’t need. Noah has a history with Hay and it’s one he’d rather not face. But when the snow leaves him stranded, he’s left with no choice.

Hay is a small town, meaning Quinn can’t help but bump into Noah wherever he goes. And as the two grow closer together, is it possible that Noah’s feelings towards Hay will thaw? Can Quinn have a real-life romance and save his beloved bookshop? Or will he need a Christmas miracle…

When I signed up for the Yuletide Spirit reading challenge, I bought a whole stack of Christmas mysteries and a ghost story anthology, and I haven’t read a single one of them. Instead, I’ve been reading Christmas romances and binging a truly impressive number of Hallmark-ish holiday movies. Apparently my brain had one plan, but my heart (or soul) needed something else entirely this holiday season.

There’s a blurb on the cover of Look Up, Handsome that calls the book a love letter to bookstores, and it’s the most accurate blurb I’ve ever read. Kings & Queens is the type of bookstore I’ve always wanted to own myself — except mine would be full of mysteries and ghost stories, with a huge queer section. It’s the kind of place where you could spend hours wandering the shelves before settling into a chair and getting lost in an author’s world. More importantly, it’s the kind of bookstore that builds community.

It’s the place a parent struggling to understand their child’s sexuality or changing gender identity can go to find answers — and people willing to listen. It’s where someone questioning their own sexuality might find guidance and insight into what they’re feeling, hopefully leading to self-acceptance. It’s a gathering place for anyone who needs to find their people, their tribe, somewhere they can feel welcomed and protected. It’s the kind of place every LGBTQ+ person needs in their life, even in this age of social media.

After writing that last paragraph, I'm not sure where to go next with this review. I can't find a smooth transition, especially after typing and retyping a few sentences that never felt worthy — or even necessary — to what I was trying to say. I’m not ashamed to admit I feel a little lost.

So let’s do this instead: I’ll simply say that I adored this book for exactly what it is.

It’s a low-angst romance between two people who, despite living in a world of words, don’t communicate particularly well at first. Quinn, who opened his bookstore in memory of his father, has been a little lost since his dad died. He loves the world he’s built for himself, but he’s also been living his life somewhat passively. Noah, on the other hand, despite his success as a gay romance author, has allowed the past to dictate the terms of his life. So consumed by what happened to his family when he was a child, he’s chosen extreme avoidance as a coping mechanism.

I’m not saying they aren’t fully realized characters — because they absolutely are — and I loved them both, even if I liked Quinn just a tiny bit more. I enjoyed them as individuals, but I absolutely adored them as a couple.

I have one more Christmas romance review left to write for the challenge, which still leaves me one book short of my five-book goal unless I manage to squeeze one more in. Either way, I still have a respectable stack of seasonal mysteries waiting for next year. Assuming, of course, I don’t get to them before then.

Challenges: Yuletide Spirit 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

 Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, filled with all the love and laughter your hearts can handle!

Favorite Fictional Character --- Felix Bassenak

 

There are certain movies I have to watch every Christmas season, and near the top of that list is Christmas in Connecticut (1945). It stars one of the greatest actresses of all time, Barbara Stanwyck, a screen goddess with a filmography so solid I honestly can’t think of a single movie of hers I don’t love. Still, Christmas in Connecticut will always be special to me, and a big part of that is thanks to "Uncle" Felix Bassenak.

If you’ve never seen the movie, Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a lifestyle columnist who has built her entire career around writing about her family and their idyllic life on a farm in Connecticut. She even waxes poetic about the incredible, home-cooked meals they sit down to every day. There’s just one tiny problem: she lives alone in a New York apartment, has no family, and can’t cook. Enter Uncle Felix, who owns a restaurant and quietly supplies her with a menu for every article she writes. As you can imagine, this little arrangement eventually spirals into chaos, and there’s no way Elizabeth survives it without her honorary uncle.

Over the course of a few days, Felix pulls Elizabeth out of one disaster after another. He pretends to swallow a gold watch. He repeatedly—and ingeniously—gets a judge out of the house. He plays matchmaker when it matters most and clears the way for true love. And he does it all with a larger-than-life presence that’s almost impossible to describe if you’ve never had the pleasure of watching S. Z. Sakall on screen. He even manages to hold his own against Sydney Greenstreet, which is no small feat considering Greenstreet’s ability to dominate every scene he’s in.

I know this post probably doesn’t give Uncle Felix quite the credit he deserves, but that’s because he’s one of those characters you really have to see in action to fully appreciate. So I suppose I’m left with only one option: gently (or not so gently) begging you to watch Christmas in Connecticut for yourself—preferably during the holidays, with something cozy to drink. 

The Handsel Witches by Ryan J Hamshaw

 

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Four months after the defeat of the Dark Friars, Liam O'Connor is finally finding some balance in life. He's juggling college, his friends, and his role as a Keeper of the Crossing. But that balance is about to break, and his friends’ safety is on the line.

Tariq Ashar is trying to make his new relationship with Liam work while dealing with old secrets tied to Lucas Martindale, the obnoxious and unpredictable grandson of the Head of the Guild. When Lucas’ troubled past comes back to haunt him, it pulls Tariq and Liam into danger, putting everything at risk.

Meanwhile, a new enemy is rising in Sarumbourne, driven by anger and revenge. As darkness spreads through the city, the Keepers must fight to protect it - or lose what they’ve sworn to defend.

Do you have those books that, no matter the genre, become comfort reads almost immediately? The kind where, a paragraph or two in, you know you’re safe. You can set the rest of the world aside and just sink into the story as the words unfold on the page. I have far too many of those to list, but to give you an idea, they include The Last Herald Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and the A Matter of Time series by Mary Calmes—along with, honestly, most of her books. I’m also pretty sure the Keepers of the Crossing series by Ryan J Hamshaw has officially joined that group.

I’m not ready to say I’m a full-on YA reader yet, but I might be getting there. Or at least I’m becoming a fan of a very specific flavor of YA: a little dark, a little queer, and a whole lot of fun. I don’t know why it still surprises me how good some YA authors are at building immersive worlds and filling them with characters I don’t just enjoy reading about, but actually come to care about. That happened to me years ago with Rotters by Daniel Kraus, and again earlier this year with The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (a review I swear I’ll write eventually). Both pulled me into worlds I never wanted to leave. The world Ryan J. Hamshaw has created in the Keepers of the Crossing series fits right in with those.

What really surprised me was how The Dark Friars pulled me in… and then The Handsel Witches went and did it all over again. I honestly think I enjoyed this second book even more than the first. The stakes are higher this time around, especially when it comes to the people Liam loves most. The action is more intense, and the vampire fight alone is worth every moment spent in this version of Sarumbourne. 

But as much as I enjoyed the story itself, that’s not the reason I know I’ll be rereading this series for years. That credit goes to Liam, Tariq, Jack, Lily, and the rest of the cast (including Lucas). These are characters the author clearly loves, and that affection comes through on the page. There’s an intentionality to how they’re written that makes this series feel like a comfort read, even when things get dark. They’re flawed, insecure, hopeful, and constantly growing into themselves—and I’m more than happy to keep spending time with them as they do.

The Night Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

 

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make- out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

Most of my romance reading happens on my tablet. At first, that was because I was slightly embarrassed to be seen in public reading a romance novel, and hiding a cover is infinitely easier when the book is digital. The only other solution I could think of was creating false dust jackets for physical books, and honestly, I’m just not that crafty. These days, it’s mostly practical: Kindle Unlimited makes my romance reading a hell of a lot cheaper. I do still buy physical copies occasionally, but it’s usually my favorite Mary Calmes books — the ones that, for whatever reason, feel like they belong both on my shelves and on my tablet.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is one of the very rare exceptions I’ve made to those unspoken rules. Last December, while browsing Barnes & Noble, I wandered past the romance table — something I always do, even though it’s almost entirely straight romances. Every now and then, though, there will be one or two gay romance titles mixed in, and that December, The Nightmare Before Kissmas was one of them. Without any real conscious decision-making, my hands reached out, and before I fully processed what was happening, I was at the counter paying for it. And then it sat on my shelf for a full year, patiently waiting to be read.

I knew going in that it would be cute. I mean, it’s the Crown Prince of Christmas falling for the Crown Prince of Halloween — the cuteness is baked right into the premise. What I wasn’t expecting were the political machinations underpinning the story, particularly a Santa so consumed by grief and anger that his own children become pawns in a larger power struggle. I also wasn’t expecting to be just as invested in that surrounding story as I was in the romance itself. And the romance, for lack of a better word, was absolutely adorable.

Coal and Hex aren’t exactly champions of communication, but given their roles within their respective holidays and the immense familial expectations placed on them, that feels not just believable but inevitable. They’re clearly right for each other, and it’s impossible not to root for them as they try to carve out space for themselves beyond what duty demands. Since the story is told entirely from Coal’s perspective, we only see the relationship through his eyes, but he’s refreshingly honest about his own flaws — particularly his rebellious streak, which has caused more than a little chaos in the past. Over the course of the book, Coal does a great deal of growing up, driven partly by his relationship with Hex, but mostly by his desire to repair the damage his father has inflicted on Christmas and the other winter holidays.

I absolutely adored Coal and Hex, and while I know they’ll appear again in later books, I’m already sad to leave them behind as the main protagonists — especially Coal. Not someone I’ll admit to developing a crush on, but definitely someone for whom I gained a tremendous amount of respect.

Challenges: Yuletide Spirit

Favorite Fictional Character --- Lock, Shock, and Barrel

 

"Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws?

I wanna do it

Let's draw straws

Jack said, "we should work together"

Three of a kind

Birds of a feather

Now and forever, whee (la, la, la)

(La, la, la)

(La, la, la, la, la, la)"

I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, watching Jack fall into Christmas Town and love it so much that he decides to take it over, becoming the new and “improved” Santa Claws. You’ve got to love a man with ambition.

In his misguided attempt to “improve” a holiday other than his own, Jack enlists the legendary mischievous trick-or-treaters known as Lock, Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Santa Claus—and that’s when the real fun begins.

Those three little imps, who relish trouble and can’t help causing mayhem everywhere they go, have to be one of the most fun trios ever put to screen. The fact that they’re voiced by Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Reubens is like having a bag full of trick-or-treat candy dumped in front of you and being able to do nothing but stare in awe at the abundance of riches.

There’s no way, despite their fumbled villainy, not to thoroughly enjoy every second they spend tooling around in their bathtub convertible as they follow the orders of Oogie Boogie. I absolutely adore these prank-loving hobgoblins who take such delight in the chaos they cause simply by being themselves.