Reading Recommendations: Holiday Reads

Happy Holidays Everyone! With Christmas around the around the corner, I wanted to share some holiday reads with you. For this month’s reading recommendations I’ll be sharing a small selection of the Holiday books I’ve enjoyed. They are perfect cozy reads to snuggle up with your hot beverage of choice. Enjoy!

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Synopsis: Clio has one mission in life: keep her unique powers hidden and avoid other magical beings at all costs. Sounds simple enough. But, when a group of murderous dark elves attack her, keeping a low profile becomes a little more complicated.

To make matters worse, she’s now adopted an unwanted defender. His name is Dash — a reindeer shifter who’s as irritating as he is handsome. He wants to protect her. She wants him to take his rather large antlers and fly on back to the North Pole. But when magical creatures are being killed, and no one knows why, she has no choice but to trust him.

In this novel readers go on the journey of a Claus trying to live the normal life of a human realm until she’s attacked by dark elves. I liked that the author Moody takes “Christmas magic” and transforms it into a whirlwind of fantasy elements that are exciting. Everything is a spin on traditional Christmas legends. I thought the world building was solid and I’m curious to see how the story will progress in the rest of the series. There were lots of action-packed magical battles, witty banter between love interests; all while giving a Christmas vibe.

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Synopsis: When a vibrant singing career brings her back to Temptation, R&B singer Cordelia “CeCe” Lennox, is secretly happy to be back in her hometown, where life moves at a slower pace during the holiday season—even if temporarily.

Property manager, Rick Stewart is elated to learn that his newly renovated Holidays Inn, was selected as the location for the filming of a music video. Knowing that the video will bring home his high school crush, is going to be Rick’s best gift ever—especially since he’d never stopped loving her.

My next pick is a music romance novella in a cozy small town setting. I like how it follows a R&B superstar singer confronting her past and returning to her roots. I liked that Cordy was kind and humble for her profession. She was so grounded and appreciated the people that have family to her. This novella is a second chance romance that was very sweet and it was nice to see Rick & Cody rekindle their love for each other. This book gave me the Hallmark movie feels and it’s a nice heartwarming romance story.

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Synopsis: Graduate student Raina Sun is in for a season of mayhem and murder. When she volunteered to take the new foreign exchange student shopping on the last weekend before Christmas, she ended up in a riot for the last hot toy of the season and an abandoned baby. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a Good Samaritan.

But calling the mysterious phone number in the diaper bag leads to more questions than answers. A strange man claims to be the child’s father, and his alleged mother turns up dead.  The local police are more interested in keeping the town’s good name out of international news than considering if there’s foul play. And to make matters worse, she has less than a week to find his birth parents before the FBI takes over the case.

This cozy mystery is set during the holiday season and follows Raina Sun who is an amateur detective. Though this book is a part of a series I still felt like it can be read as a standalone. I want to read more of the books. Raina is still struggling over her breakup with Matthew (her ex) and gets entangled in a mystery involving a baby boy. In between looking for clues she deal with shopping for the holidays, awkward family dinners, and possible suspects. I love how smart and comical her character is and her feisty grandma that helped her try to catch the bad guys.

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Synopsis: Chris Heron is a witch who loathes the holiday season. What’s even worse is getting expelled from private coven school on Halloween and having to attend public magic school, where Santa’s son is visiting and has all the girls in a frenzy. Fairies, mermaids, elves, even the trolls are swooning over Kris Kringle Jr. All except for one girl, and she’s a North Pole mystery that has Chris intrigued. Will he be able to put his prejudices aside in time to see the true magic all around him?

This is a cute fantasy holiday story with a little bit of romance thrown in. Though the cover art has a new adult look, it’s actually a YA novel set in a high school. The main character, Chris, is a witch that prefers Halloween over Christmas but that changes when he meets Nichole Frost at his school. I liked the premise of a high school filled with all kinds of magical beings getting in the Christmas spirit. I enjoyed the wintery magic, Tinker Bell a prolific teacher, flying cars, and whipping up crazy spells. It was such an entertaining read even though it was short and fast paced.

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Synopsis: Four of today’s hottest romance writers invite you to come home for the holidays, where the spicy smells from the kitchen, the warm embrace of family, and the gifts of Kwanzaa are just the beginning of a magical season filled with true love and sensual delights…

The love of a good man. The hope of a new family. The promise of a fantasy fulfilled. This soulful collection of holiday stories proves there’s more than one reason for gettin’ merry…and they all lead straight to the heart.

My last pick is a romance holiday anthology that is sure to get you in the holiday spirit! My interest was originally piqued since I’m such a huge Beverly Jenkins fan and I enjoyed each one of the stories. From historical, contemporary, and those with a little bit of magic there is a story for everyone in this anthology. It was an easy read full of a variety of romance stories.

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Do you have any holiday reads that you enjoy? If so, share you thoughts in the comment section below!