A sweet and tender holiday novella that packs a lot of story into a short package. The romance definitely could have benefited from more time to develop.

A short and sweet holiday romance that didn’t suffer from being a novella. Would’ve been four stars but I knocked off a star for this atrocious quote: “we dated about six months, but Clare wasn’t happy with the fact that I’m bisexual. As a lesbian, she regularly informed me that in the end, bi women will always choose a man over a woman. Just like the BS that all bi men are secretly gay but won’t admit it”. Totally unnecessary and definitely put a damper on how I felt about the book. I’m tired of the narrative that all lesbians are biphobic, cause we aren’t. The author tries to make up for this by having the love jnterest(a lesbian) say she’s nothing like Clare and doesn’t agree with her, but it still rankled with me. It rankled because it read as thought the author set it up for the mc to be like 'lesbians are biphobic so I'm scared to date them.' so that the lesbian love interest could say that shes not like other lesbians, that she is one of the 'good ones'. There's ways to talk about biphobia without managing to be lesbophobic at the same time. Other than that, it was a cute romance that had me missing the holiday season. 3/5 stars.

Cute Christmas novella, but everything was wrapped up too nearly in the end. I would of loved for this book to be a full length novel

A lot going on in this short story...

Dysfunctional family dynamics and a Christmas gone wrong turned adorable Christmas rom-com. Throughly enjoyed reading this over the holidays.

Fun and quick Christmas LGBT novella. I liked the characters and their relationship but I wish it was longer as I didn’t feel invested in their relationship enough.

Very cute holiday/insta-love sapphic romance! I wish this had been a longer book to see the intricacies play out with Monica and her family whilst dealing with new feelings for Paige! Overall very cute ☺️

Does Christmas stay the same when you leave for college? For Monica Adams, the answer is no. She is coming home for semester break and because her grandfather is in her room, she has been stuck sleeping in the basement on a blow up mattress. Her parents are always working so she rarely sees them. Her boyfriend dumps her saying he is seeing someone else who could be there all the time for him. She was going to break up with him anyway.
She meets Paige who is a neighbor that Monica went to school with, but they didn't know each other well. Monica finds out that Paige has been helping her grandfather out when her parents aren't home. They bond over fondness for her grandfather.
This book is quirky and reminds you that Christmas is never the same as it was when you were a kid, no matter how much you want it to remain the same.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a super cute novella. You got what you needed to get out of this short read. It was cute and heartwarming. If your looking for a book you can read in a few hours this book is for you.

Thanks NetGalley and Southside Mountain Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

In all honesty, I struggle with novellas and this one was no exception. There was so much going on in this book for it to be so short. Monica’s breakup, her indecision and struggle with leaving school, pressure from her parents, new relationship with Paige, and her grandfathers declining health. Because there was so much to stuff into the 80ish pages, I feel like a lot of it was glossed over. There was not a lot of depth to the main characters, and it felt like I was reading a story about much younger MCs. Their dialogue felt immature. Also… where was the promised grump vs sunshine? She mentions “skipping Christmas” like twice, and then just forgets all about it.

"Monica Adams Skips Christmas" is a cute Hallmark type holiday romance, but it faltered due to too many side storylines going on at the same time for such a short book. A lot of these themes introduced didn't have enough time to be explored. There's ex-relationship drama, a grandfather developing signs of dementia and parents who are constantly absent. The potential is still there for a this to be built into a stronger childhood crushes-to-friends-to-lovers book, but it needs more time to develop. I need to see more in-depth discovery, character growth and flirtation between the love interests.

That said, we need more sapphic stories so I'm happy we still got this one.

Unfortunately I really didn’t connect with the writing style. Because of this I decided to stop reading early on, before I found out if I may have enjoyed other aspects of the book

This novella was so inviting with its cutesy cover and sweet storyline. I enjoyed the little taste we got of Monica's story and her road to finding someone better and telling her parents what she actually wanted out of life. I was honestly sad it was so short, it felt a little unfinished in a way. It was taking on SO much and did beautifully but it fell flat when I still expected more depth that you just can't get in that little of a time. Hopefully, this will be branched out and given more one day!

TW/CW: cheating, a break-up, mentions of death of a grandparent, possible Alzheimer’s/dementia symptoms in a grandparent, college problems, stress about the future
Rep: Bisexual Polish-American lead; Japanese-American lesbian love interest

Well, this was the perfect way to end the reading year. My only complaint is I WANT MORE. I need to know if Paige's sculpture made it into the gallery!!

The perfect little Christmassy story for somebody looking for a feel-good sapphic romance.

This was a fun little christmassy book that was short and sweet but packed with lots of entertaining moments. I really felt like I was there and although it's a short book, it didn't compromise on setting things up for character actions!

Just a cute and sweet novella. However, I did feel like there was a little too much going on/ put into this story for its length. There also wasn’t really any romance on the page. I was not satisfied with the ending, I still had some questions and wanted more. I liked the Christmas setting. But it was a quick and easy read I just wish it was a little longer. I did really like all of the representations though. I love good LGBTQIA+ holiday romance! I read it in one setting and would recommend it but would just suggest to not have super high expectations because it is a novella.

I was seeking out Christmas books as they are very popular in our library for the month of December, but unfortunately this one didn't blow me away. I'm personally not a romance/holiday reader, but I don't think this would be a winner with our readership.

I received this digital ARC from Netgally in exchange for a honest review. It fit into my holiday month of December. I had never heard of Krista Harper before and went into this one blind (besides knowing it was a holiday themed book by looking at the title). It’s a novella of 80 pages and a quick read.

You follow Monica Adams, an engineering student in Iowa who is coming home (Chicago) for Christmas Break. However her life seems to be turning upside down - her boyfriend breaks up with her, she hates school and wants to drop out, her parents seem to busy to spend any time with her, and he grandfather is developing signs of dementia. But while being home she bumps into her old high school friend (who conveniently lives in her building. And then they continue to just keep bumping into each other.

I give this one a 2/5. I disliked more than I liked for this one. I felt it was very simple and the themes that Harper continued to introduce was never explored. An example of this is is the background of her parents and grandfather. We only learned that they were immigrants who owned a butcher shop. I would have liked to learn a little but more about their background because it was referenced so much. Another thing I didn’t love was that there was no real answer to the end of the novella. Finally I felt like it was facile denouement, there were not punches packed. With this the dialogue between Monica and Paige was very juvenile - far beyond normal YA dialogue. I enjoyed the lightheartedness of this book, the idea of the Monica and how she was relatable, and the connected family unit. But it still doesn’t make up for the things I didn’t like.

If you want a quick read that will make you smile (but not much nuance) this is the one for you.

Monica Adams returns home to Chicago for Christmas after her first semester away at college. As soon as she arrives, her boyfriend immediately dumps her over the phone. Monica’s parents are so busy working that she has to Uber home. Upon her arrival at home, Monica finds that her grandfather has moved into her room, and she’ll be sleeping in the dingy basement for the time being. Christmas isn’t turning out to be anything like Monica planned. Maybe she should just skip Christmas this year.

Then, along comes Paige Yoshida, Monica’s upstairs neighbor. They went to high school together but have never really hung out much. It turns out Paige had a crush on Monica back in high school. Paige is determined to get Monica back into the Christmas spirit. Christmas is Monica’s favorite holiday after all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this little novella. I only wish it was longer so I could read more about Monica and Paige once Monica decided to take some time off from college. 4/5 stars! I highly recommend it to anyone that likes sapphic romance!

Novellas are very difficult to write. You have such a short runway to ensure everything from the character development to the storyline are well balanced. I feel like Monica Adams Skips Christmas is one of those novellas that really delivers.

The descriptions are vivid and flow effortlessly. Monica's character arc feels rather typical for someone who is nineteen and been born to do whatever possible to please her parents. She's struggling with finding her voice, and in the end, is pushed to by her older sister, who lives with regrets, to assert "this is what's happening with my life."

I do wish we got some more resolution on other plot lines outside of her romantic one with Paige. But I see this is book one, so maybe we'll learn more about what happens to Jerzy in the upcoming books.

I thought the moments with Paige in the bookstore were incredibly sweet and heartwarming. I would definitely read another novella in this series.

I honestly didn't like this book. I didn't particularly like the writing style. The concept was good, but the writing fell short for me.