A nice Christmas romance. The writing was good and the characters were written well I just wish the relationship was more developed

Candice loves everything about Christmas and all the fun times surrounding it. Charlie grew up seeing only the commercialization of Christmas. They could not be more opposite, yet somehow are thrown together this holiday season. What start out as lets just grin and bare it slowly turns to love. Adoring the dating series by Murphy and can't wait to read the next.

This was such a cute holiday book! I enjoyed relaxing on the weekend in my comfy chair and hot chocolate settling in with this one. I had a smile on my face for most of the book. I definitely see it was one to come back to many times in the future.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

***Thank you to NetGalley, EM Publishing and Monica Murphy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.***

3.5 stars

This was a cute, fast, festive story that felt very much like a Hallmark movie. Candice loves Christmas. Charlie hates Christmas, despite the fact that his family owns a Christmas tree farm. His parents want to increase the company’s philanthropy and they want Charlie to be the face of it; he’d rather deal with the trees than people. Charlie’s mom asks Candice to attend a few events with Charlie, and Candice is determined to change his mind about the holiday.

This story was completely PG, and I think that extinguished some of the heat between our couple, but they were cute together. Candice came off as incredibly young. I liked Charlie and thought he showed good growth. I’m not sure I feel the same way about Candice. For me, the story’s pace was a bit slow. I don’t think they even kissed until about 70% in. I did like the tree at the end. It was a lovely touch.

Holidate is the PERFECT holiday book. Grumpy guy who just needs a hug, love it! The pace this story unfolds is perfect. AND, AND, who does not love a guy that loves pumpkin spice lattes??? i loved this story. i love this series.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
This was basically a Hallmark movie in book form.

Opposites attract in the enemies to lovers romance. Candace lives for Christmas, Charlie would rather be on his tree farm. She does not mind being in the public eye, he would rather stay behind the scenes. It's Christmas and they own a tree farm. His parents want him to take a more public role. Charlie"s mom asks for Candace to help get her son more acclimated. It was fun reading how socially awkward Charlie try to turn away from being the Grinch with the help of Candace. sweet story.

Holidate is a cute Hallmarkesque story. The story is the perfect story to read after a rough day of Christmas shopping. A cup of tea and a comfortable chair neat the tree, and this book is the perfect way to bring holiday cheer to your life.

Totally loved the book. I find it so nice to find an uplifting Christmas book. One character who loves the season and one who dreads it. Include a meddling mother who wants to transform her son to be more social to take over the family business. Oh, did I mention that the son is a tall handsome hunk. I had to look back and realized I read the previous books in this series so, yes this can be read as a stand alone.

Holidate features a grumpy, hot Christmas tree farmer and a cheerful, whimsical rich girl who are forced together to volunteer for various holiday charity events around Monterey, CA. When the egg nogs a rockin, don't come a knockin'. JK, this is decidedly pg-13, but still a sweet and fun holiday romance.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Holidate was a super cute, fun Christmas read. The perfect book to read by the Christmas lights. I hadn’t read the first two in the series and you can read these out of order easily.

Holidate is a cute story of a philanthropist/socialite who tries to help out another rich guy come out of his shell. It is a nice and sweet story of two people finding the joy in the holidays and each other.

That being said, there are some flaws for me - lots of brand name dropping, a weird mix of first person storytelling and breaking the wall, and I just could not love Candace as much as I was hoping to.

This is a festive little romance to get you in the holiday spirit. A woman is asked to help a future owner of a Christmas Tree farm mingle with the community. Both characters are mineable. This is the type of book people enjoy over the holidays and it reads quickly. Recommended for someone who wants a shorter, holiday rom-com. 3.5

This was such a cute book! This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention. It was so well written and the characters were fantastic.

I was definitely underwhelmed. The characters came across as YA to me, including Isobel. Who was supposed to be a grandmother! I ended up skimming a good part of the story and never really felt like I missed anything. Candice and Charlie don't really get together until almost the end and then the conflict was pretty stupid, IMO. It could have been cleared up in 2 seconds.

3 stars
A cute story by Monica Murphy. I love her books, and this one was a fast and light read. Something cute to put you in the holiday mood.

3 Stars / 1.5 Steam Fans

If you are looking for a sweet, fun, and cute Christmas setting romance then this is the book for you. I like my romances with a little more steam if it is going to be this cute. I also like a bit more angst and less talk about how the characters have a lot of money but live modestly. I thought the premise was fun but there was something left to desire with the execution of the completed storyline and character development.

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After reading the first two books in the series, I was excited for this one and that she based it around the holidays (I LOVE Christmas).

These characters just get each other. And I love it when that happens, the characters are relatable and I felt like I was in the middle of every Christmas tree lighting ceremony with them. This book truly captured the magic of Christmas and in doing so, the love story captured my heart. I will definitely re-read this every year at Christmas time

I can't wait for more from this author!

If you are looking for a romance that gives you all of the feels and has that Hallmark holiday energy, Holidate by Monica Murphy is the book that you need this holiday season. This magical holiday story follows the potential relationship of perky, holiday-loving Candice and grumpy, Christmas tree farmer Charlie—complete with meddling mothers, a case of short-term amnesia, gingerbread lattes some extremely hot kisses, and all of the love and holiday festivities that you can handle. So, grab your own gingerbread latte, get cozy, and read this book today.

Holidate by Monica Murphy is the cutest Christmas story. It’s got some of the characters in it from her previous books and the premise for this book is great. I’ve become a huge Monica Murphy fan and I love how she references all the things so many wonderful things about the holiday season in the book like Hallmark movies, specialty flavored coffees, holiday parties, the dressing up, the smells of the season and the lights and music. She does an amazing job putting you into that holiday mood. Candice is the queen of volunteering because she was left money after the death of her when she was young. She wants to live up to her mother’s image and so she likes to give back to her community by chairing fundraisers and going to a lot of parties to raise money and throwing parties for them. She is approached by a woman who happens to Charles’s mother who asks her to teach her son the way of social affairs and fundraising since they own this big Christmas tree company and will want to retire and have him take over the public part of the company soon. Charles is not too thrilled about this. Candice is reluctant about doing it as well. The two of them are very much opposites but seem to have a spark between them. The mother is quite the meddler. This is a great holiday story that I definitely enjoyed.