Couple on the brink of divorce agree to spend one last Christmas together at the behest of their child who wrote a very earnest letter asking Santa for this gift. Sweet and steamy short story. I only wish we had a bit of a glimpse of their future together in an epilogue. He is promising her he will make time for her and the kid and not be a work-a-holic anymore and I wanted the proof. But!!! I do believe in my heart and this was Christmas and magical.

Two pining for years coworkers and best friends finally, finally kiss eleven days before Christmas. Both Jasper and Kristen are thrilled and aghast at what happened and both are so sure the other is regretting what happened. When a last minute work trip pops up and leaves Jasper and Kristen snowed in at the scientist they are trying to recruit's home, Jasper tries to recreate some holiday moments Kristen is missing out on, even though Jasper doesn't like Christmas, not one bit. Hallmark movies, cookies, and the only-one-bed situation add up to a perfectly pine-scented opportunity for some feelings and sexual tension relief.

An absolutely perfect and tropte-tastic holiday novella I will re-read every Christmas! It also begins the day before my birthday, so that makes me smile. Kate Clayborn just gets how to make my heart sing with her words. Jasper is such a babe and he's so determined to make Kristen happy and to just be near here, even if that means missing out on being WITH her.

The audio book was also delightful, highly recommend!

Third annual re-listen to this masterpiece! My only note is that the woman narrator gave Jasper a southern twang but the male narrator did not?

Ha joke was one me! I picked this out as a Christmas novella based on the title and the cover (the cover for the audiobook features a bare chested white man all wrapped up in holiday lights) but surprising me this was a New Years Eve romance! What?!

It was fine, nothing really stood out to me besides the 30 year old heroine being really hung up on her age and how much older she was than the hero (who was in his I think mid-20s). She's convinced she's not good enough and is only wanted for sex, so refuses to have sex with anyone until they've had 10 dates. He convinces her she is good enough and quickly makes her break her rule. He's her brother's friend too.

100% worth the listen for both West's great narration (adds so much to the jokes and vignettes) and for Lindy West calling Speed the best romantic comedy ever. I 100% agree. I'm glad she loved it too! I also choked on my coffee a bit when she called our shared enjoyed "Can't Hardly Wait" complete incel bait. It is. Ah.

Thank you to LibroFM for the free advanced listening copy!

2021 - as usual I loved listening to a Tessa Bailey romance. Her humor and dialogue is a perfect fit for an audiobook experience, as long as you can handle the scorching dirty talk. Whew, Brendan wow. I still find the plot a bit of a mess, but love Brendan and Piper's relationship so much that really I don't care. The comp with Schitt's Creek only works for the Alexis archetype. Overall a fun romp, and I'm happy to see the author get all the attention for her work.

Thank you to LibroFM and HarperAudio for the ALC.

I am an unabashed Tessa Bailey stan, and I will read anything she writes. That said, the plot of this one is a whole mess, but the sparks/tension between Brendan and Piper means I honestly didn't give a heck. Sign me up for a ride on the sexy captain's king crab boat. I'm ready. Boat man!

Piper is loosely based on my fav Alexis Rose from Schitt's Creek, and that was fun, I just didn't understand or care about why her stepfather expected her and her sister (formerly spoiled millionaire's children) to suddenly live in a run down bar owned by their deceased father. And suddenly they can renovate the whole place with minimal effort/help/money?? This entire subplot was a complete throwaway for me, only serving to keep Piper in town and giving her a goal to aim for to impress her stepfather so she could leave (or decide to stay).

I was also hoping for a bit more breathing room in between Brendon being skeptical of the former party girl and him falling head over heels for her, but whatever, that part worked for me. He's a babe. The beard is A+ and it covers a filthy mouth. Mmmmhm.

So, long story short, I liked this a lot for me, it was a great distraction, but I can't say I'd recommend unless you too are like me.

CW grief, Brendon's first wife died and he feels guilty about having feelings for another person, danger (fishing boat, storms, medical), cisgendered language during sex scenes.

Thank you to Avon for the ARC.

The tagline on the cover just sends me "Holiday miracles in the sex toy aisle." Indeed!

Turcot finds his former best friend's sister in the sex shop staring wistfully and curiously at some chintzy bondage cuffs. Since Turcot personally crafts his own custom cuffs that are far superior AND sees some real sub potential in librarian Cassidy, he approaches her to see how she's been all these years. And wow do kinks align and sparks fly. They agree to a night of exploration, since Cassidy is completely new to kink (despite having checked out a lot of books on the subject from her library). Turcot takes great care to make Cassidy feel safe and consensual (even calling his friend from the kink club he goes to to be her buddy and check in).

But what Cassidy truly desires is all the emotions that go into kink play, and the real connection she already has with Turcot is both entirely what she wants but also a bit scary. Is it just the orgasms or should she jump into Turcot's arms, and cuffs, forever?

Lots of fun Christmas-y "toys" include a red blinking rudolph nose bum plug, this was a fast and steamy holiday novella that made me smile.

Young college student returns home for Christmas and finds his dad's coworker is also staying at the house for the holiday. I stopped reading after the coworker commented he saw the college student's photo on the dad's desk and thought he was cute. I was also worried these two were going to start secretly banging in the family house while also still trying to not out the college student to the dad.

I originally read this in 2012, but just re-read and bumped up my rating to a full five stars. I can't name any better stand-alone fantasy Young Adult novel. What Stiefvater is able to capture in around 400 pages is simply amazing; a fully realized world, a complex mythology about savage man-eating water horses, and a quiet love story amidst the chaos of a deadly contest. You can smell the sea, taste the November cakes, and hear the calls of Stiefvater's wild beasts. Fabulous.

I was doing a short audiobook Hoopla blitz for the #JingleBooks challenge and found this one, which unfortunately turned out to be a bummer. She's working in a strip club but isn't "like those other girls" and he's an undercover cop who wants to put his hands on her. Some fatphobia to round it out and otherwise I was just bored. But, at least I checked off the "Cowboy" square.

Avis is searching for her mother who abandoned her, agreeing to be a mail order bride to do so. Her intended is awful, so she starts working for abolitionist and shopkeeper Liam to pay off her debt, and falls in love.

Huguley brought her characters to life and I found the historical details fascinating and compelling. Liam is white and does the work to deserve Avis's love.

I wanted more time with the couple together on page, but this was a sweet holiday story nonetheless.