I love Christmas stories. This one promised workplace rivals, and some Christmas magic. With a touch of romance?

Lyla and Mason have known each other from work for about a year. And around Christmas, their cold, rivalry relationship changes when he takes her on a magical trip to a winter wonderland.

I loved the concept of the place they traveled to. Christmas and magic are a good combination and it created a magical location full of holiday cheer. I also loved Mason's family and Lyla's cat. They play their part in the story as well and fill out the story nicely.

Lyla and Mason seem to be attracted to each other, at least physically, but I missed the romance and sweetness. Both characters can be quite rude or cold towards each other and I missed the build up of their relationship to something more.

There is not much information or context of the year they worked together, so I missed a bit more about their time before this magical Christmas season.

Overall, the story got me hooked on reading because of the Christmas and holiday theme. Even though I missed the connection and romantic moments between the characters, it made me root for them and for a happy magical ending.

I recommend this book to people who like magical holiday romcom stories.

In my opinion it is never too soon to start reading Christmas themed books. I enjoyed this romance novel and found it to be an entertaining quick read. At times I felt that the dialog fell a little flat but otherwise I found the characters and setting to be engaging. The only issue I had was that the ending of the book felt very rushed. I would have liked a longer book that spent a little more time on the happier ever after.

Thank you NetGalley, Kate Callaghan and CallaghanWriter for this eARC copy of this holiday romance in exchange for an honest review.

The fantasy element to this book was really cute. It happened a little quickly, but with the length of this book it almost worked really well. Having this little touch of magic throughout this book really adds to the entire charm of Christmas.

This really felt like a fun Christmas wonderland story and it's perfect way to start off the season if you're looking for a fun, easy read to begin with.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kate Callaghan, I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story is an original take on Santa. I really enjoyed the interaction of the characters and the description of the village.

Mason and Lyla work for the same toymaking company, but they do not agree with each other's managing styles. The latest? Mason cancelled the staff/client Christmas party. Unflapped, Lyla reinstates it for employees only and holds it in the office. Imagine her surprise to find Mason enebriated, talking about his family. The situation gets stranger the next day - after the party got out of hand and damaged the offices - Mason insists Lyla come home with him to help out his family. After she agrees, he produces a bell that transports them...to the North Pole.

However, for Lyla to stay in the village, she must pretend to be Mason's fiancee. How can she convince his family she is in love with the sexy, infuriating man?

I love a good enemies to lovers book, especially a Christmas one. Throw in a stupid ex, some family drama and a not so typical HEA and you’re in for a fun read! At first, I wasn’t sure where this story was going to go, but it quickly held my interest. I read it in one sitting and stayed up way to late!

4/5

A huge thank you to Net Galley, Callaghan Writing and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the opportunity to read this ARC! All opinions are my own.

I want to start by saying I love Christmas and everything Christmas! So this book was an immediate read!

And it did not disappoint!

Imagine if a book was a warm cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter day. That's this. It read like a Hallmark movie, almost like a screenplay. I do wish it had a bit more "emotion" is the only way to say it. Sometimes the dialogue fell flat.


I do wish that there had been just a bit more romance and that the MC had had a little more depth.

All in all it was a fun quick read.

The Naughty or Nice Clause by Kate Callaghan
Pub date: Nov. 8/22
Independent Book Publishers Association
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💕

Do you love Christmas stories? This is the story of Lyla Smurfit and Mason Klaus. Given the names I admit I thought this book would be predictable but I soon changed my mind. Lyla is co-owner of her family toy business where Mason has the majority shares. This is an enemies to lovers trope with a little Christmas sparkle added in and I’m here for it. I don’t want to share too much as it would spoil it for you so I suggest you check it out as soon as the book is available!

Many thanks to #NetGalley and #IndepenentBookPublishersAssociation for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

This was a good book that had a lot of Christmassy feels.

While I did find that it dragged in places, when it picked back up again I would immediately get sucked back into the story.

I would also love to see a follow-up book written.

I was given a free copy by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW

The Naughty or Nice Clause by Katie Callaghan

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

Ever wondered what really happens at the North Pole? It’s not exactly what you would think. A great twist on a holiday traditions, with an enemies to lovers/fake engagement trope, and all of the holiday feels. Trust me when I say you can’t go wrong by reading this book. The writing is beautiful, the fantasy aspect is magical, and the banter between characters had me smiling and blushing. Mason’s family felt so real and genuine I found myself wanting to be a part of them. There is some open door romance scenes but they are mild, making this (in my opinion) a great romance for all adults. My only complaint is that the ending is abrupt, making me wish the novel was a little bit longer. For my American readers, this book is by a European author, so you will find some European phrases and spelling in there. Don’t let it trip you up like it did me. 😅
This novel comes out November 8, 2022. Do yourself a favor and preorder it, read it, and pair it with a spiked hot coco like I did. ❤️
Swipe for blurb ➡️

Thank you NetGalley, Katie Callaghan, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In The Naughty or Nice Clause, Lyla and Klaus, business rivals, enter into a fake engagement so Lyla can accompany Klaus back home to help his family. The reason they have to pretend to be engaged? Klaus is from Yule, aka the North Pole, and he’s next in line to be Santa!

I loved the village of Yule and the Klaus family. Kevin and Lyla’s relationship was especially sweet! I felt like Klaus’s grief over his father’s passing was very well done and his struggle in deciding if he was going to take over also felt genuine. It was pretty apparent that Klaus had feelings for Lyla from the get go, I only wish he had expressed it better.

I struggled to like Lyla. Her hatred for Klaus never seemed completely justified, and she came across as very immature and irresponsible when it came to their business. She fought her feelings for him for a while, but then accepted that she loved him and wanted him in her life. BUT!! Then at the end she has like an existential crisis and can’t make a decision on being with him or not when literally a chapter before she said she would do everything in her power to stay with him?! This was so frustrating and kinda ruined the book for me a bit. The ending, in general, felt very rushed aside from Lyla’s inability to make a decision.

For a holiday read, this is a cute, sweet romance with just a hint of spice! If you like Christmas Hallmark movies, I think you’ll enjoy this one!

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc. All opinions are my own.

This had everything you needed for a warm, quick Christmas read. It wasn't overly heavy on the romance, which I'm quite happy about. Yet plenty of the magical, over the top, found family vibe

**This unbiased review was provided in exchange for a complimentary ARC from NetGalley, author Kate Callaghan and CallaghanWriter.**

Kate Callaghan's new novel The Naughty Or Nice Clause is a wonderful and quick holiday read. Lyla, an adorably written toy company owner with a love for Christmas, barely tolerates the investor, Mason Klaus, hired by her father to save the family toy company. After a series of unfortunate events, Mason requests Lila return to his hometown with him and chaos...and love...ensue. In a classic enemies to lovers trope with a holiday twist, Mason and Lila have a great adventure in his hometown.

Things I liked about this book: This plot, while sometimes predictable, is everything a Hallmark movie plot NEEDS to be. There is more spice, more *real* conflict, and deeper character evolution than any holiday movie plot I've seen. While many of us really enjoy holiday made for TV movies, I loved that this book had that exact vibe with more substance. I actually really enjoyed the characters of this book. I particularly loved reading about Mason's family and their interactions. I also really loved the adult perspective spin on Christmas magic. It is always so hard for me to fully enjoy holiday storylines because the Christmas magic is typically much more childlike in nature.

Things I didn't like about this book: The "ex girlfriend" subplot was a bit corny, even for the theme. As I mentioned above, this does have all of the best aspects of the Hallmark and Lifetime stories we love but The Naughty or Nice Clause was so much less superficial so to have the ex girlfriend part of the story play out in the way it did was not my favorite aspect. I do also wish there was a bit more spice in the book! Additionally, I hate that the ending was so abrupt and ended as soon as there was resolution. I want to know what happens in the "ever after" part of the story!!! Maybe there will be a sequel??

In the end, I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and would be perfect for a quiet night of reading by a Christmas tree with a huge mug of hot chocolate. It had all of the feel-good vibes many of us seek out around the holiday season but with truly more adult themes. I found myself wishing 1) that it would become a movie because THIS is what I want out of holiday movies and 2) that it would become a series. I would love to have more relationship development, more spicy scenes, more books focusing on other members of the family. I would 100% read this as a holiday series!

This is giving me all the Hallmark vibes! I skimmed a couple of other reviews and a few mentioned that this reads like a screenplay/would be better as a movie, which I agree with. Let's get into it!

THE GOOD:
- Lovely setting, described beautifully. All the little Christmassy details captured my heart!!!
- Doesn't lag -- good pacing in that sense.
- Charming concept, fake-relationship is one of my favourites AND I love Hallmark-style books, so this was a yes!
- A GALA <3 and helping each other when hurt/sick... Kate Callaghan really knew my favourite (yes they're overused I don't CARE) trope :)

THE NOT-SO-GOOD:
- Dialogue fell flat sometimes.
- While I said the pacing was good in that it doesn't lag, it actually RUSHES a little bit. This being a shorter novel, makes a bit of sense. Although, I would have liked to learn more about our leads before delving into the fake-relationship trope.
- No big spark between the characters... I'll be honest, I didn't feel like they were actually interested in each other. This comes from my last point, the intro was rushed.
- I understand Mason was grieving, so some of the instances where he lashed out were justified. It just felt... mean and unnecessary sometimes. Like she threw his outbursts in just for a third-act conflict. It didn't fit the flow of the story.

OVERALL:
A solid 3 stars! I recommend this for a cozy read. It isn't *excellent* and could have done with some in-depth revising, but the concept is cute and the setting is so cheery.

didn't like it very much, they didn't have chemistry and the ending was rushed. hero was rude and third act was predictable

Thank you NetGalley, Kate Callaghan and CallaghanWriter for this eARC copy of this holiday romance in exchange for an honest review.
Such a fun interesting take on your everyday holiday romance. A little bit a fantasy a lot of grumpy x sunshine and office enemies to lovers vibes. I loved the sassy banter between our main characters. This one should definitely be on your holiday TBR!

I don't usually read a lot of romance and even less Christmas-themed books, but this book stole my attention from the first pages.
At first, the relationship between Klaus and Lyla is one of rivals, so we can find drama. And if you like to see evolution in the relationships of the characters, here we find a lot.
The setting is perfect, I felt like I was at Christmas even though there are still a few months to go.
I love it!

The Naughty or Nice Clause is the perfect quick novel if you love Hallmark Christmas movies. It was a cozy and warm and is the perfect way to spend a winter afternoon. I enjoyed the book and descriptions of the Yule village definitely puts you in the holiday spirit. While I did think it was predictable that's kind of what you expect from this type of book. Overall it was 3 stars from me. Thank you to Netgalley and CallaghanWriter for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Naughty or Nice Clause is a fun, cozy, holiday romance that is reminiscent of a Hallmark Christmas movie. While the pacing was a bit slow, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the village, the workshop, and the cabin. It's a perfect read for a relaxing night by the fireside during the Christmas season .

The Naughty Or Nice Clause by Kate Callaghan follows Lyla and Mason, the new co-owners of a Layla's toy company that has been in the family for generations. The fact that the two have very opposite personalities result in numerous disagreements and constant pushing of each others buttons. When Mason asks Layla to accompany him to visit his family over the Christmas holiday, she reluctantly agrees. What Layla doesn't expect is to be transported into a secret fantastical winter wonderland where there are magical bells, an enchanted village, and reindeers. As Layla struggles to make sense of this magical village, it turns out Mason is hiding even bigger secrets from her.

First of all, let's take a moment to appreciate how stunning the book cover is. After seeing countless of book covers with similar illustrations of the characters on the front cover, it does become a bit repetitive. So I really appreciate the fact that this front cover is quite unique, and it also maintains the charming elements of the popular artwork style(?) that is quite trendy these days. I love the colours and the illustrations, and how Christmas-y it is.

Now let's move onto the actual book review. The characters. To be honest, I was not the biggest fan of Mason. I found Mason a little too basic– a narcissistic, arrogant, rich guy that thinks the world should bow down to his every command. I also did not like he acts so fickle with Layla. One page he's nice and sweet with her, and then in the next page he's grumbling about and avoiding her. Their first fight was quite laughable and condescending on his end.

Let's dissect it:

“You were wrong about me, but I was right about you. Entitled, selfish, out for no one but herself”. Hello?

Firstly, the fight was pointless. If he took a step back and actually let her explain, he would've understood why she did it in the first place. In addition to this, I felt like the build up to the fight wasn't developed enough that I could see where Mason was coming from. I couldn't recall any instance where he would care about the desk or his dad. Secondly, and the most frustrating one, that quote said by Mason. I have never felt so baffled by a single line simply because you could turn that quote around and apply it perfectly to Mason himself– I wished Layla held up a mirror in front of his face so he could see the hypocrisy. Then, something happens to Layla in the next page and he starts acting NICE to her?! There was a part where Mason "winked" at her just minutes after they had a fight– a fight that happened 5 minutes ago where he was yelling such condescending things at her and treating her like she was a toddler. That is not cute or romantic (to me!).

This whole hot and cold personality really does not appeal to me at all. Layla, on the other hand, wasn't too bad. Just a little forgettable as a character.

Speaking of hot, where is the chemistry between them? There was barely any sweet moments between them, which is incredibly essential in the fake-fiancé trope. The fun thing about the fake dating trope in media is when the couple have to put on an act, purposely do things that will make others around them believe that they are a couple. I felt like this part barely happened in this book considering they spent quite some time away from each other. I wouldn't even call this a slow burn considering the build up wasn't even fun. It seemed like they got together in the end...just because? The second half of the book felt a little too rushed, which was really disappointing considering I enjoyed the first half of the book, and as a result made the ending feel lacklustre and bland. I hope that every romance book with a happy ending leaves me feeling giddy or hopeful for the characters, but this book left me feeling nothing. I made the right decision to start writing out this review now, or else I would've forgotten everything about this book.

The final conflict between them was truly eye-roll worthy. Not only was it so predictable and dramatic for no reason, but it felt so rushed. It was like the conflict happens, they separate, and then one(1) page later they are back together. The End.

Let's move on to the things I did like about this book. I did really enjoy the fantastical element of this story. I like how in-depth the history of this magical land was explained, it felt really dreamy and really captured the kind of world you only see in cheesy Christmas Santa films– I'm thinking The Christmas Chronicles films.

I think the author did such a great job at capturing the Christmas magic in terms of building this magical world in a modern setting. It was so easy to imagine this book in the Hallmark Channel because of the fact that the romance is predictable in a hallmark-romance-film kind of way. The conflict isn't too complicated or groundbreaking, so it's easy for the main leads to reconnect by the end of the film.

As for who I would recommend this book to, like I mention, I must admit how perfect this book plot would be as a script for a holiday film. So if you are obsessed with Hallmark Christmas films, I would suggest giving this The Naughty Or Nice Clause by Kate Callaghan a chance! 

2 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and CallaghanWriter, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for this eARC of The Naughty Or Nice Clause by Kate Callaghan in exchange for an honest book review.

This book was such a sweet read. The book felt like a Hallmark movie.

Lyla and Mason, enemies running her family company, return to the magical town of Yule, due to the passing of Mason's father. Under the rouse of being engaged, they work together to convince the town they are truly in love. During their time there, their relationship actually starts to spark and decisions around Mason taking over his family business, Lyla returning safely to continue hers and what will happen to their relationship weigh on them.

The concept and story behind the magic of Christmas was such a modern twist on what we typically expect from a Christmas story and I ate that up. Twisting the idea of what we think of Christmas and it's magic, was refreshing.

However, I found Lyla and Mason's relation lacked the chemistry needed to make it believable. Personally, I needed more banter, more opening up, more back and forth, more anything to really feel them falling for each other.

The ending also felt like it wrapped things up too quickly, leaving me disappointed and with unanswered questions.