Looking for a sweet, clean holiday rom-com to read? Here are 10 of the best to choose from
Are you a strong, independent woman who needs a fake boyfriend to bring home for the holidays so your family will stop bothering you about dating? Do you have a handsome cop neighbor you recently helped rediscover the true meaning of Christmas?
If these things don’t apply to you right now, don’t worry. They can — just not in real life. Here are 10 of the best rom-coms you can read this holiday season to transport you into a wildly improbable, yet extremely fun, world.
10 best holiday rom-com books
1. ‘Happily This Christmas’
Author: Susan Mallery.
Publication date: 2020.
Goodreads reviewer Carla1947 described the plot, “Wynn Beauchene is a strong, independent woman with a thriving business, and a great kid. She has a relatively new neighbor that she has a bit of a crush on, but he is a bit aloof and they don’t do much more that wave and smile. When Garrick finds out his pregnant daughter is coming to live with him, he turns to Wynn for help. ... He wants Wynn’s help and advice to make his home welcoming and to get some advice about relationships. Wynn is more than happy to help.” They fall in love, and Garrick is able to repair his relationship with his daughter.
“Happily This Christmas” is the sixth book in Mallery’s “Happily Inc.” series. This is the first time Wynn’s character is really explored, though she appeared previously in the series.
Notable quotation: “Love heals. Love makes us better than we ever thought we could be. Loving someone, the act of loving, is a generous gift. True love is our greatest calling. Not just romantic love, but all love.”
2. ‘Snowfall on Haven Point’
Author: RaeAnne Thayne.
Publication date: 2016.
Thayne’s website describes the novel this way: “It’s been two rough years since Andrea Montgomery lost her husband, and all she wants is for her children to enjoy their first Christmas in Haven Point. But then Andie’s friend asks a favor — to keep an eye on her brother, Sheriff Marshall Bailey, who’s recovering from a hit and run. Andie will do anything for Wyn, even park her own misgivings to check on her grouchy, wounded bear of a brother.”
“Andie’s gentle nature is a salve, and her kids’ excitement for the holidays makes him forget why he never wanted a family. If only he and Andie can admit what they really want — each other — their Christmas wishes might come true after all.”
Notable quotation: “Sympathy and compassion had begun to replace some of her nervousness. She would probably never truly like the man — he was so big, so masculine, a cop through and through — but she could certainly empathize with what he was going through. For now, he was a victim and she certainly knew what that felt like.”
3. ‘The Wish Book Christmas’
Author: RaeAnne Thayne.
Publication date: 2021.
Novel Pastimes explains the plot: “Best friends Audrey Barrett and Eve Dawson are looking forward to celebrating Christmas in postwar America, thrilled at the prospect of starting new traditions with their five-year-old sons. But when the 1951 Sears Christmas Wish Book arrives and the boys start obsessing over every toy in it, Audrey and Eve realize they must first teach them the true significance of the holiday.”
“Audrey and Eve are surprised to find their own hearts healing from the tragedies of war and opening to the possibility of forgiveness and new love.”
Notable quotation: “Eve quickened her steps, gazing at the houses she passed, wishing she had a home of her own for her and her son. What would that be like? Lights glowed from behind her neighbors’ windows, revealing glimpses of their lives, as if peering at distant television screens.”
4. ‘My True Love Gave to Me’
Author: Stephanie Perkins.
Publication date: 2014.
“My True Love Gave to Me” is an anthology of twelve holiday stories. Goodreads describes, “Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year’s there’s something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.”
Notable quotation: “But people don’t need to remember how it felt to be happy and safe in the past. They need to have hope that they can get there again in the future.”
5. ‘Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances’
Authors: John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson.
Publication date: 2008.
Penguin Random House explains this book’s plot, “An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train, setting off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House (and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.”
Notable quotation: “I always had this idea that you should never give up a happy middle in the hopes of a happy ending, because there is no such thing as a happy ending. Do you know what I mean? There is so much to lose.”
6. ‘Mischief of the Mistletoe’
Authors: Lauren Willig.
Publication date: 2010.
Willig’s website describes this regency novel’s plot, “Arabella Dempsey’s dear friend Jane Austen warned her against teaching. But Miss Climpson’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies seems the perfect place for Arabella to claim her independence while keeping an eye on her younger sisters nearby. Just before Christmas, she accepts a position at the quiet girls’ school in Bath, expecting to face nothing more exciting than conducting the annual Christmas recital. She hardly imagines coming face to face with French aristocrats and international spies …”
The story’s love interest, Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh, and Arabella stumble into danger during a 12-day Christmas party at Farley Castle.
Notable quotation: “Turning to Turnip, Miss Dempsey said, ‘Do you think?’ ‘As little as I can,’ Turnip replied honestly.”
7. ‘An Ivy Hill Christmas’
Authors: Julie Klassen.
Publication date: 2020.
“Richard Brockwell, the younger son of Ivy Hill’s most prominent family, hasn’t been home for Christmas in years. He prefers to live in the London townhouse, far away from Brockwell Court, the old family secret that haunts him, and the shadows of his past mistakes. But then his mother threatens to stop funding his carefree life — unless he comes home for Christmas. Out of options, he sets out for Ivy Hill, planning to be back on a coach bound for London and his unencumbered bachelor life as soon as the festivities are over,” Baker Book House describes.
“But Christmas in the country presents unforeseen surprises, including encounters with an orphaned apprentice, the first love he disappointed years ago, and Arabella Awdry, a young lady who is far more appealing than he recalled ... and determined to have nothing to do with him.”
Notable quotation: “You’re right. You don’t deserve it. Love and forgiveness are not something you earn. They are gifts. My, my, have I neglected your education so terribly? My dear boy, none of us can do enough good deeds to atone for our own failings. If we could, God would not have had to send the Son He loved into the world to die for us.”
8. ‘Sandover Beach Christmas’
Authors: Emma St. Clair.
Publication date: 2020.
Barnes & Noble describes the story, “When Ripley fabricates a boyfriend to put off her family’s overzealous matchmaking efforts, she never thought it would go so far. But when she gets pulled over for speeding, the police officer gets caught up in her fake boyfriend scheme.
“Cash has good reasons for swearing off the holidays and relationships. But his plans to spend Christmas alone are thwarted when he’s mistaken for an event planner he secretly admired from afar. The time spent with Ripley and her family starts to thaw his frozen heart.”
Notable quotation: “Ripley almost ignored the ringing cell phone. After all, she was driving, and it was night. She should focus on the road. But it was her mother’s ringtone, and Ripley had been ignoring her for almost a week. She was one more call away from her mother reporting her as a missing person.”
9. ‘The Stand-in Christmas Date’
Authors: Rachel John.
Publication date: 2020.
Alyssa Owens’ cousin asks her to fill in for her on a date, but she starts to catch feelings. Book Cave adds, “It doesn’t take Wes Fielding long to figure out that this isn’t the same girl he met at a speed dating event. After all, as a cop, he’s trained to study faces. But if this isn’t her, who is it, and why does she have to be so funny and easy to talk to? To unravel the mystery, he decides to play along, but the more he gets to know her, the harder it is not to wish for a happy ending rather than the humiliating one they now face.”
Notable quotation: “I hate being alone more than I hate spiders, snakes, nails on chalkboards, and creepy men in dark hallways. Mottos like ‘it takes two’ and the buddy system are what I live for. They are creeds I base my entire life around.”
10. ‘Miracle Creek Christmas’
Authors: Krista Lynne Jensen.
Publication date: 2020.
Recently heart-broken Riley moves into the mountain town of Miracle Creek, and firefighter Mark is recovering from burns during a past job.
Shadow Mountain Publishing describes, “When Mark asks Riley to work on a special nativity project, he finds himself falling for her quirky, unaffected ways. Riley doesn’t seem bothered by his scars, but is her affection for him real, or is this just another act of charity? One thing’s for certain, in a small town that views Mark as a fragile hero, it’s hard to pursue a relationship without everyone in his business. And although Riley has sincere feelings for Mark, is she ready to risk her heart?”
Notable quotation: “In another life, Mark Rivers would’ve focused on the woman who’d just entered the bakery and nodded in her direction with a smile of appreciation. The new art teacher had turned more than a few heads in town. But this wasn’t that life, so he took the bag of apple fritters Lette Mae handed him, pulled his hood farther over his head, and ducked past the new customer and out into the chill of November third.”
