Books I Hope To Read Before Christmas

     I do love a nice seasonal read. Late summer always gives me a back-to-school feeling that has me reaching for classics. In early autumn I will gravitate towards horror and vampire books to gear up for Halloween. In December, I love a good Hallmark-style romance. Last year, I pretty much exclusively read Christmas romances all month. I’m not sure I’ll dive quite that deep into those waters this season, but there are some I’d love to get to before Christmas. 

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Home Sweet Holidays - 2025 Holiday Kindle Collection

Last year Amazon dropped a holiday short story collection into our laps with little to no fanfare. The collection was available on Kindle Unlimited and came paired with audiobook narration. The collection had fairly mixed ratings from me across the five short stories, but the experience itself was stellar for kicking off my holiday reading. 

They dropped a Halloween collection in the same way this year. I read them all the day they were released, and loved them even more than that first collection. More authors I had already read and loved were involved with the second collection, so I was pretty excited to see who would be involved in future collections. 

I was certain we’d get another Christmas collection this year, and Amazon delivered. I will admit, I’m a little nervous this time. I have not read from any of these authors before, and I don’t even recognize their names. I wouldn’t necessarily count myself a romance connoisseur, so perhaps they are widely read romance authors that I’ve missed the boat on. Nonetheless, I will be reading this collection as well for the holiday vibes. 

Good Spirits by B.K. Borison 

This was my Book of the Month pick for December. Their holiday romance selections have historically all received great ratings from me, so I didn’t need much convincing to use my credit on this. From what I can gather, our main character is the Ghost of Christmas Past. This year, the girl he’s set to haunt makes him wish for a future with her. SHUT UP! That's cheesy and adorable. Sign me the hell up. A Halloween themed sequel is already announced for Good Spirits. If things go well, I’ll be adding Grim Tidings to my October 2026 TBR for sure. 

The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore

I’d like to set the record straight. I was so certain this was supposed to be the last book in the Dream Harbor series. I was wrong. The Daisy Chain Flower Shop has been announced to come out next May. To be honest, I am starting to feel a little exhausted with this series. The Gingerbread Bakery is supposed to follow the couple I am most excited to read about (and the hate-to-love has been teased since the very first book), and it felt like a really great place to tie the small town up in a cute little bow. Frankly, how many more twenty-somethings can there be to pair off in this small town? How many niche small businesses can we actually support in Dream Harbor’s economy? How in the hell is every single person straight? I have questions here, Ms Gilmore! 

Okay, tangent aside now. The Gingerbread Bakery follows the town’s feisty little baker, Annie, and overly upbeat bartender, Mac. Naturally, they get caught up in adorably heated arguments over… just about anything. You’ve seen their on-page spats since the dawn of the series. It is so obvious that Mac lives to ruffle Annie’s feathers just to see her cheeks grow red. It’s angsty and adorable, and I will be eating this one up. 

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

I’ll admit, I purchased this book blindly during Owl Crate’s Black Friday sale. Their special edition was just too adorable to pass up. It’s marketed as “Red, White, and Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas.” I’ll admit I’ve never read the former, and the latter is my least favorite Tim Burton movie. This could be a total flop for me, but for a $10 special edition, I was willing to take a risk. Incidentally, I did end up getting a special edition of Red, White, and Royal Blue during that sale as well. Maybe I’ll fall in love with both. Who knows?