the ask@AAR: What are your favorite holiday books?
We’re coming up on the holiday stretch: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, the Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the New Year. (Let me know if I’ve missed one you celebrate, please.) This constraints of this year–which I think of as the year which must not be named–means many of us will not spend these in the ways that we traditionally have. For me, it will be the first Thanksgiving in my life I have not spent with my family of origin–my mom and I have never missed one. :(
So it’s a good year to experience the love, connection, travel, family, and hope holidays often bring through books. What are your favorite books in holiday settings? What do you love about them?
Holiday romances I enjoyed the most have heartwarming HEAs and great friends or family members as secondary characters.
Grace Burrowes – Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight; Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish
Pamela Clare – Close to Heaven: A Colorado High Country Christmas; Upon A Winter’s Night
Mary Balogh – A Christmas Bride, Snow Angel
Carla Kelly – Regency Royal Navy Christmas
Lisa Kleypas – A Wallflower Christmas
Penny Jordan – Christmas Eve Wedding
Once Upon a Christmas Wedding Anthology
Some of my favorites
Snow Angel by Jayne Fresnia
Sweetest Regret by Meredith Duran
It’s Wonderful Regency Christmas by Edith Layton
Thanks for all the recommendations I just purchased the Wicked Gift and Falling Stars by Loretta Chase. Happy reading.
As far as I can remember (which doesn’t necessarily mean much as my memory is aggravatingly bad) the only full length holiday romance that I’ve really enjoyed is My Christmas Number One by Leonie Mack – a book I found thanks to an excellent AAR review.
It seems that holiday themes work better for me in smaller doses since I’ve liked several novellas. I read A Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews (novella, Victorian) just last week and found it lovely – Carrie G already mentioned this book. Another book Carrie G mentioned that I also really enjoyed was A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant (novella, Regency). A Kiss For Midwinter by Courtney Milan (novella, Victorian), which nblibgirl already mentioned, was a strong read for me too. I enjoyed Midnight Feast and A Midnight Clear by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner, both novellas are part of Fly Me To The Moon series, which are space-race romances set in 1950s and 1960s, although A Midnight Clear actually takes place in 1948. I also quite liked Tinsel In a Tangle by Ainslie Paton (novella, contemporary), Miracle On Ladies’ Mile by Joanna Shupe (novella, set in the Gilded Age) and Patience For Christmas by Grace Burrowes (novella, Regency).
I didn’t really choose to read any of these books because of the holiday theme. They were just novellas that seemed interesting from authors that I already liked or was curious about. Many were on sale at the time I purchased them. I think they worked for me because they didn’t let the holiday theme overwhelm the story but let it serve as a backdrop to the plot and the characters. And the same goes for My Christmas Number One.
Come to think of it, I don’t recall ever reading a holiday-specific romance with the exception of the anthology entry “Heiress Alone” in How the Dukes Stole Christmas. I thought the idea of a Regency romance parody of Home Alone would be fun, but I ended up skimming it. Didn’t work for me.
As for holidays in general, I’m a bit of a curmudgeon in the sense that I treat them no differently from any other day- except to maybe use them as an excuse to lie around and watch TV.
I feel like a little bit of a freak. I don’t like holiday books.(Although I like most holidays.). I feel like the holiday is like an extraneous standing in the wings waiting to make a grand entrance. To me, holiday romances feel forced.
**Extraneous character
I don’t much enjoy holiday romances either, so you’re not alone. They usually feel overly sweet and Pollyanna-ish to me, and I don’t celebrate Xmas anyway. So, I just don’t go there.
I think part of the problem with holiday romances is how they are often part of an author’s contract. So they can end up being slapped together and/or rushed to production, particularly if they are short stories or novellas.
I have a large collection of old Signet Regency Christmas anthologies that I pull out every year. Country house parties! Sleigh rides! Gathering the greens! And so many of my favorite authors like Carla Kelly, Mary Balogh, and Edith Layton. They are my Christmas comfort food.
I too have many of the Signet Regency Christmas anthologies. They are comfort reads no matter what the season, but I usually try to save them for the winter holidays. Among my favorites is an Edith Layton from “A Regency Christmas Feast” (the Signets often had a theme): The Gingerbread Man. A duke wakes each morning having dreamt of gingerbread, which he doesn’t even particularly like. He asks his friends about their experiences with the sweet, and Layton manages to bring entire characters and their stories, both happy and poignant, to life in a few pages as they respond. In the end, the duke finds his own answer and his own love. It’s a sweet and lovely story, and I find myself longing for gingerbread when I read it even though I, like the duke, and not overly fond of the stuff.
Somewhat related, I just watched a PBS miniseries from 2018, “The Miniaturist”, which takes place in Amsterdam in 1686. In one scene the city militia destroy a baker’s gingerbread men. Because the cookies are human in form, they are seen as papist idolatry.
Elisabeth Fairchild’s The Christmas Spirit is lovely.
This is a very strange year indeed, with my family trying to negotiate safe “outdoor” holidays and family gatherings while the weather gets colder and colder.
When I think of Christmas romances I immediately go to Carla Kelly. From her novel “Marian’s Christmas Wish” to her many, many short stories that take place at Christmas time and always have a lovely story that centers on kindness and the spirit of Christmas (rather than its commercial side) she has become my go to author for holiday cheer.
While some stories can have very serious themes like “Let Nothing You Dismay” where the heroine is coping with continual prejudice (as she is half Egyptian) and the hero is suffering from guilt and a truly dangerous depression the story is incredibly sweet and life affirming.
While it’s not a romance per se, Barbara Michaels book “Stitches In Time” takes place over the weeks around Christmas through the New Year and has romantic elements and is a long time favorite of mine.
I bought Anne Stuart’s book “Return To Christmas” last year after Christmas but never read it. It’s a time travel romance with the heroine going back to the 1940’s I believe and I am interested in seeing how Anne Stuart handles a Christmas story.
I read the Anne Stuart book, Return to Christmas. If you are a fan of Anne Stuart, you will recognize the themes in her work: her trademark broody, somewhat dark hero with a mystery/puzzle to be solved and a heroine who is a bit unsure of herself. The time travel piece aspect was interesting in its description of the period as there are not too many romance stories set in the 1940s. The ending was predictable, foreshadowed in the intro pages of the story.
I moved to nyc after university and lived very near where the story was set so the descriptions of the setting really came alive for me.
Overall, I would recommend it though some of the actions, especially by the heroine, were exasperating.
Thanks for the feedback on the Stuart book! I appreciate it. I didn’t see any buzz about it and kind of stumbled upon it on Amazon. I was surprised no one had read it or commented about it.
I was kind of excited about the 40’s setting as well as I love movies from that era so I have a pretty clear idea of how things would look. I would love to time travel and spend a day back in one of those fantastic department stores in the 1940’s.
Im excited to dig into it. And regarding the ending- I read the first few pages of the book before buying it so I feel like I know how things will turn out- which is fine with me. There’s really only two ways a time travel romance can end happily/
Where in Manhattan was it set?
I’ve been planning to read something Christmas themed by Carla Kelly come December. Do you have any recommendations as to what story or story collection to start with?
I enjoyed Jackie Lau’s Holidays with the Wongs series. Four books covering four holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentines.
Low angst and fluffy m/f. I liked the Thanksgiving one best.
Talk about irony! We downsized and moved across the country to be closer to family in 2019; but like many others, we will be dining with ourselves this upcoming holiday season. (In other words, spending the holidays much like we have in previous years.) But we are thankful that every one is healthy, and we’ll use phones and maybe even try a Zoom call to be in touch.
And to re-read, I will definitely pull out:
Carol of the Bellskis by Astrid Amara – Hanukkah mm
Santa Baby by Jennifer Crusie – contemporary
If time permits, I may revisit A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan as well.
I adore A Kiss for Midwinter.
A KISS FOR MIDWINTER is my go-to re-listen every holiday season! It’s one of my favorites that Rosalyn Landon narrates!
I’m married to a physician and I love how accurately Milan wrote Jonas as a MD.
I reread A Kiss for Midwinter after being reminded of it here, and I loved it even more this time around. It’s a testament to Milan’s writing skill. The internal musings of Lydia and Jonas reminded me of Carla Kelly’s style, which I love.
It’s REALLY good.
Christmas Wishes by Barbara Metzger****
The Winter Picnic by Dixie McKeone****
Father Christmas by Barbara Metzger***(only parts in holiday season)
Santa Reads Romance by Dara Joy*****(novella)
On the First Day of Christmas by Cindy Holbrook****
Dara Joy! I haven’t seen that name in a while. I always thought her books were fun. I held onto the paperbacks of hers that I bought. I didn’t realize she had a holiday novella.
I’m sorry you won’t see your mom, Dabney. It’s such a strange year. For the past three years we’ve hosted three of our children’s significant others or friends for extended visits during November and December, but none of them will be able to join us this year. It’s now going on a year since one daughter has seen her fiancee (he’s in England) and another daughter has seen her boyfriend (Florida).
As for holiday romances:
HOLIDAY SPARKS by Shannon Stacey (novella, also fun on audio)
HOLIDAY BY GASLIGHT by Mimi Matthews (novella – on audio with Alex Wyndham narrating)
A CHRISTMAS GONE PERFECTLY WRONG by Cecelia Grant (novella)
THE WICKED GIFT by Courtney Milan (short story/novella published in The Heart of Christmas anthology)
I forgot the one I’m reading now! It’s the m/m anthology GIFTS FOR THE SEASON and sales go to charity. My favorite story so far is The First Snow of Winter by Joanne Chambers. It’s a moving historical romance between an injured war veteran and an old friend.
Another story, Must Be Santa,by Annabeth Alberts is also very good. It’s about a couple who takes on two foster siblings.
I’m looking forward to Gifts for the Season as well!
That’s on my TBR, but early November is way too soon for me to start with the Chrismas stuff – I usually wait until the beginning of December. I did just listen to the audio of Keira Andrews’ The Christmas Deal (I reviewed the book HERE last year) for review at AG, which I’d recommend if you like fake-relationship/found-family stories.
What I think of as the “Kati Wilde Christmas Trilogy”: ALL HE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS, THE WEDDING NIIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and my absolute all-the-feels favorite, SECRET SANTA. Alpha-but-not-alphahole heroes, smart and resourceful heroines, emotional roller-coasters, passion, and delicious angst. I always reread them during December.