A Three-Course Holiday Meal
I binged the entire Horned Up for the Holidays series without regret.
Everyone gets a sexy hot spring scene!
Latest Reviews
Holidays Ablaze by Lucy Limón
Release Date: December 4, 2023
Content Notes
HBIC FMC
“Yes, Chef”
Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Snowed in
Hot springs
Holiday romance
Pyrophilia
Bargaining kink
If your flirtation script includes “What will you give me?” in response to the prospect of sexy times, then Holidays Ablaze by Lucy Limón gets you. The storytelling allows itself to lean into the sensory experience of being snowed in a cabin with a professional chef, which I loved. The barbed dialogue paired beautifully with the couple’s dynamics.
As sharp as the MC could be, it was layered with notes of sincere sweetness. I appreciated the warring thoughts Samite has to grapple with between his need for connection and fear of vulnerability. I frankly related to Sofia’s angry disappointment in others while grappling with whether she could take steps to heal and move on.
Thrown against a monster-y winter town fit for Hallmark, this is a nice read to take y’all into the new year.
Holly's Unjolly Christmas by Lark Green
Release Date: December 4, 2023
Content Notes
Grumpy/Sunshine
Mental Health Journey
Vacation Gone Haywire
Forced Proximity
Enemies to Lovers
Divorcée FMC
Valuing Yourself
Roleplay
Hot springs
Holiday Romance
Sharing body warmth
If your fantasy has been a grumpy lumberjack to take you in and give you the affection and love you’ve always deserved and never gotten, well, Lark Green has Holly’s Unjolly Christmas right here for you. I feel like this is one of the clearest examples of a grumpy/sunshine trope I’ve read yet.
What I enjoyed the most about this story is how this felt like a therapy session in the best way. Green dug deep into these characters’ backstories to show us what made them tick. The result was what felt like an intimate story and made the spicy scenes all the hotter to enjoy.
Beastly & Bookish by Catrina Bell
Release Date: December 4, 2023
Content Notes
Reading as foreplay
Snowed In
Forced Vacation
Hot Springs
chance at first love
Friends to lovers
Childhood sweethearts
Holiday Romance
Competency kink
Chunky and cuddly MMC
Bookish couple
Save the library!
Catrina Bell wrote Beastly and Bookish directly for Book Internet people. As I am a Book Internet person, it worked for me. I now feel the need for more MMCs like Rom. I want them to be competent, cuddly, and so well-read.
I also loved the FMC. I would absolutely befriend her in real life. That being said, I fully admit I would be more like Samite than Rom in coaching Noelle against just giving things away and expecting people to throw money at you. This lovely, charming, and intelligent idiot made me want to slap/hug her.
I personally left this one for last, and I’m glad I did because it was probably the sweetest, least angst-filled of all the stories. The stakes were still just high enough to keep me invested. It was my dessert in the three-course meal of the
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To Be Read
Housekeeping
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