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Lists

Let It Swoon: 11 Books to Make Your Heart Go Pa-Rum-Pa-Pa-Pum

by Michelle Carroll, December 8, 2021 8:35 AM
'Let It Swoon: 11 Holiday Romances

I can’t get enough of the overtly seasonal romantic comedies. I will watch every variation of people meeting implausibly (especially if a big city business person needs to learn how to slow it down in a snowy small town); somehow getting into a cookie-decorating fight or toppling a fully decorated tree; and kissing in a wintery gazebo after discovering the true meaning of the season. The wackier the holiday trappings, the better — As Mindy Kaling once put it, “I regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi, in which the world operates according to different rules than my regular human world.”

Since I run out of the movies unsettlingly early in the season, I’m making a list (and checking it twice) of giggly, over-the-top, seasonally bright holiday romance novels. This is the only thing I’ll want to read while I’m waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven in two weeks.

Oh, and one note: My tastes might be a little narrow (I’m not super well-versed in historical or paranormal romance, for instance). If this list doesn’t have what you’re looking for, please check out last year’s Books for Warm- and Cold-Hearted Readers, leave a comment with your favorite titles, or explore the satisfying results of searching for "Christmas cowboy."

Duke, Actually Duke, Actually
by Jenny Holiday

A reluctant royal whose title is contingent on getting married, a no-nonsense professor who’s given up on love... surely they’ll just stay friends. There’s no way they’ll fall in love and have to navigate each other’s complicated worlds, figuring out what's truly important as their connection grows stronger, slow-burning their friendship into a smoldering holiday season. (This pairs nicely with Love, Actually, and is in the same universe as last year’s extremely fun A Princess for Christmas).

The Matzah Ball The Matzah Ball
by Jean Meltzer

This one gets a little meta. Rebecca hides her secret life as a Christmas romance novelist from her Jewish family, and gets tasked with writing a Hanukkah romance from her publisher. She’s stuck on what to write, and hopes the big (I’m guessing fancy and formal) Jewish music celebration will break her writer’s block — but it’s run by her old summer camp enemy! Her secret career is dependent on spending a bunch of time with her nemesis, and I bet they discover they have more in common than they think, just in time for the big event.

Written in the Stars Written in the Stars
by Alexandria Bellefleur

Darcy and Elle get set up on a bad blind date — Darcy is a staunch professional who had a devastating breakup and has decided to be alone, and Elle is an astrologer who believes in true love and taking chances. The holidays can be hard to face without a girlfriend, so they agree to fake date through New Year’s Eve. I’m excited to see how Elle’s top-tier rom-com job gets integrated into the book, and I know any romance with “fake dating so my overbearing family is less of a nuisance” promises madcap family member side characters.

Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist
by Codi Hall

I spoke too soon — the ultimate rom-com job is “picking up shifts at the family Christmas tree farm.” Nick returns from a tour overseas to find out his girlfriend was cheating on him. Somehow his childhood friend Noel is also fresh off a break-up, and they start seeing each other in a different (string) light. This promises friends falling in love to a lot of Christmas music references, and I’d be shocked if they don’t somehow slow dance to holiday music.

The Holiday Swap The Holiday Swap
by Maggie Knox

A schoolyard prank with a grown-up twist! Twins Charlie and Cass have to switch places when a bump on the head makes Charlie lose her sense of taste and smell, endangering her reality TV baking competition by depriving her of her ability to judge the desserts. (Bake-Off has left sugary traces of its nice bakes and soggy bottoms all over this year’s list.) Cass is dealing with the stress of running the family bakery and an ex who can’t let her go. What zany, kiss-y hijinks will they get up to while answering to the wrong name?

Mistletoe and Mr. Right Mistletoe and Mr. Right
by Sarah Morgenthaler

From what I can gather, this features a big city business woman going back to her small Alaskan hometown, taking on the quest of stopping a Christmas-decoration-ruining nuisance of a moose, and accidentally tranquilizing a handsome local from her past instead. The two of them team up to defeat the moose, save Christmas, and accidentally fall in love. There's absolutely no chance someone doesn't end up slipping and getting a face full of snow at a critical moment, hopefully right after they were talking up how experienced they are at setting up an elaborate moose trap.

A Holly Jolly Diwali A Holly Jolly Diwali
by Sonya Lalli

I have a particular soft spot for wedding rom-coms (part of why Jasmine Guillory's Wedding Date series is so near and dear to my heart). Niki is laid off, and makes the first spontaneous move of her life when she flies from Seattle to Mumbai for her best friend’s wedding, which coincides with Diwali. She falls in love with Sam, a member of the wedding band, and they spend some magical weeks together — but with an expiration date. Niki has an impending flight back to Seattle, and Sam is headed back to London. Will their love go the distance? Will they kiss in three separate countries? I'm so excited to find out!

Pride & Prejudice & Mistletoe Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe
by Melissa de la Cruz

A modern, gender-swapped Pride and Prejudice sees the high-powered hedge fund manager Darcy Fitzwilliam returning to her hometown of Pemberley, Ohio, for her family’s big Christmas bash. She connects with handsome neighbor Luke Bennet, a carpenter who isn’t particularly impressed with Darcy’s glamorous life. Cue the bickering, the mistletoe, misunderstandings, small town gossip, and — almost certainly — the two of them getting over their differences in the name of true love.

Mangos and Mistletoe Mangos and Mistletoe
by Adriana Herrera

Get ready for a steamy baking competition in Scotland! Kiskeya and Sully are paired together in Holiday Baking Challenge, a reality TV show. They have a lot on the line — Kiskeya wants to prove her family wrong and win the competition she’s been working for, and Sully wants to find her purpose after years of family caretaker work. Also, there’s only one bed somehow (budget cuts?), which is *pastry chef’s kiss.*

The Holiday Switch The Holiday Switch
by Tif Marcelo

I had to put this young adult holiday romance on the top of my TBR pile. Lila Santos follows the rules and makes checklists. She’s already been accepted into her dream college, and the only real risk she takes is running a secret book blog. She gets saddled training Teddy at her job at the picturesque, featured-in-a-famous-holiday-film inn in her hometown (the name of the town is “Holly,” which is my kind of over-the-top holiday theming). These teens accidentally swap phones and learn each other’s secrets, but I’m most looking forward to scenes of angry flirting over tangled tinsel, brewing hospitality-sized batches of peppermint cocoa, and the rest of the extra big seasonal trappings that I'm guessing come with making a festive landmark hum.

Christmas Camp Christmas Camp
by Karen Schaler

This is a book about a singularly career-focused ad exec who gets sent to a camp focused entirely on Christmas activities, ostensibly as professional development. I am so excited for her to reluctantly learn to love the festivities, and neck the halls with the son of the small-town Christmas-y inn where the camp is run. Again, this is a camp where people have to do holiday activities for some reason, which might be the perfect outrageous concept on which to build a holiday rom-com. I'm predicting the camp comes under threat because there's no way this is a profitable venture, and our heroine saves the day with some pretty vague (but newly inspired) use of her business skills.




Books mentioned in this post

Pride and Prejudice

Austen, Jane

Pride & Prejudice & Mistletoe

Melissa De La Cruz

Mistletoe & Mr Right

Sarah Morgenthaler

Mangos and Mistletoe: A Foodie Holiday Novella

Adriana Herrera

Written in the Stars

Alexandria Bellefleur

Matzah Ball A Novel

Jean Meltzer

A Holly Jolly Diwali

Sonya Lalli

Duke Actually

Jenny Holiday

Holiday Swap

Maggie Knox

Holiday Switch

Tif Marcelo

Nick & Noels Christmas Playlist

Codi Hall
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