All across the country, families are decorating Christmas trees, queuing up their favorite holiday movies, baking gingerbread cookies, and writing letters to Santa. Meanwhile, we’re very busy finalizing our holiday TBR list. And this year, we’re focusing on romance tropes specifically.
Don’t get us wrong! Snowy mountains and remote cabins make excellent settings for creepy thrillers and holiday vacations gone wrong, but we’re more interested in reading about cozy house swaps a là The Holiday and childhood exes serendipitously reuniting at their hometown bar. If you’re strictly reading books with HEAs this holiday season, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve scoured bookshelves to find the best holiday romance books. Whether you’re looking for a lighthearted storyline to distract you from the busyness of the holidays, or you’re in desperate need of a break from murder mysteries, these holiday romance novels will help get you through the new year.
1. Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark
Most Wonderful features an ensemble cast of queer characters whose professional and romantic lives couldn’t be more complicated if they tried. At the helm is famed actress and matriarch Babs Belvedere, who summons her three adult children to her manor for the holidays. Liz, Birdie, and Rafi might have sworn off mistletoe under the guise of prioritizing their careers, but that won’t stop love from finding them.
2. All I Want is You by Falon Ballard
Romance queen Falon Ballard makes her holiday rom-com debut with All I Want is You, a sizzling second-chance romance about two exes who get snowed in at the same hotel (there is only one bed available, of course) right before Christmas. Jessica and Nick are rivaling novelists. She is a HEA apologist, while he is a romance grouch. But not even writer’s block could get in the way of this fateful set-up.
3. The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay
Here you go, fans of The Holiday! This festive romance novel follows best friends Holly and Ivy, who swap vacation plans at Christmas only to find love in the most unexpected of places. Holly will take over Ivy’s cozy cabin rental in upstate New York (she’s having a total Amanda Woods moment), while Ivy jets off to Hawaii on what was supposed to be Holly’s honeymoon. It isn’t long before they become acquainted with their very own Graham and Miles.
4. Christmas Sweater Weather by Jaqueline Snowe
The sexual tension between Charlotte and Hayden has never been more palpable. But alas, Hayden is strictly off-limits. For starters, he is the best friend of Charlotte’s older brother and the best man in his wedding. When the group checks into the same ski resort, Hayden sees it as their chance to finally act on their feelings — but what happens after the “I dos” are said and the magic of Christmas wears off?
5. The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy
To cheer up her broken-hearted sister, Anita organizes a 24-day advent calendar in which every box contains a new challenge to get Callie out of her sweats and wrapped up in holiday spirit. And who better to help her complete all these activities than the town’s moody yet charming banker?
6. Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
In this enemies-to-lovers storyline, a café owner agrees to play the role of her annoying customer’s fake “nice Jewish girlfriend” in exchange for his Rolodex of Jewish vendors so that she can organize their small town’s Hanukkah festival. A trip to New York City to celebrate the holiday with Seth’s family opens Abby’s heart to the possibility of extending their fake relationship beyond Hanukkah — but for real this time.
7. I’ll Be Gone For Christmas by Georgia K. Boone
A queer spin on The Holiday, I’ll Be Gone For Christmas is about two women who find love after house-swapping for the holidays. Tech whiz Bee is headed for Ohio, where she strikes up a relationship with Clover’s ex-fiancé, Knox. Meanwhile, Clover is busy exploring the sights of San Francisco, where she meets a very pretty business owner named Beth, who happens to be Bee’s sister. And the love stories unfold from there.
8. How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn
This holiday novel has two of our favorite romance tropes: enemies-to-lovers and fake dating. Neighbors and Christmas nemeses Cole and Storee are at one another’s throats and will stop at nothing to win their town’s Christmas Kringle contest — even if it means flirting (or kissing) with the enemy.
9. Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh
Molly and Andrew are longtime friends and nothing more, at least for now. When a crazy snowstorm grounds their flight from Chicago to Dublin, the pair concoct an intricate plan — consisting of taxis, planes, boats, and trains — to reach their final destination before Christmas is over. It’s going to be down to the wire, but that’s what best friends are for, right?
10. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblattchel’s publisher has tasked her with writing a Hanukkah romance novel. When writer’s block strikes, Rachel can’t think of a better place to find inspiration than at the Matzah Ball. The last person she expects to run into is her childhood arch nemesis, Jacob Greenberg. But just maybe, Rachel will get the chance to write her own HEA this time.
