All three of these novellas were written by incredible authors and their talent shined through in each story. Each novella was extremely different but all had one major thing in common..... Christmas spirit. This is a perfect read on a cold December day sitting in front of the fire! Enjoy!!

This was a lovely festive read. All three novellas were well-written, but I enjoyed Fiona Riley's the most - the main characters had sizzling chemistry and their scenes together just came alive. The first two novellas were a little too tame for me but still enjoyable, with likeable leads and well-paced storylines. Given the depressing state of the world at the moment, this collection of novellas brings much needed Christmas cheer.

3.5/5

I really loved the first novella.
It had Fake Dating, my favourite trope, the characters were really well fleshed out and likeable and the writing was great! 5/5

The second novella seemed pretty dull and predictable. I loved the social anxiety rep but that's about it. Maybe the problem was that the love interest was a cop or that the characters seemed shallow, or maybe it was the writing style that felt like it wanted to seem "cool" by adding weird phrases that made me cringe.
It was not bad but also not good... 2.5/5

The third novella started with insta-flirting (like insta love but well... Flirting) which I found to be weird. After that, some rather steamy scenes in a nice writing style followed and made up for that first impression. This story, which I first thought pretty predictable, still took some small turns and surprised me positively. 4/5

If you need some festive quick reads for your busy holiday week, try this new anthology of three contemporary queer Christmas novellas. We've got fake dating and then two stories of work-related meet cutes. I personally liked Cummings' writing style the best of the three, but all three stories are adorable and do a good job establishing vibrant main and supporting characters in a short format.

Georgia Beers is my go-to feel good author, and the reason I picked up this book in the first place. And I was certainly not disappointed in either of these three stories. I was showered with the feeliest feel good of christmas spirit, and just wanted to curl up in front of the christmas tree, sipping hot cocoa under my favorite blanket.

To be recommended!

This holiday novella collection has three very different stories.

[Content warning: loss of loved one]

The first one is “Triple Dog Dare” by Georgia Beers (5 stars). This fake-dating story between Wolfe Realty owner Sasha Wolfe, who is Brooke’s boss in “16 Steps to Forever” and her neighbor Kennedy Davis, who is a drama teacher, is the best romance novella I have ever read! There is also a wonderful dog that is just the sweetest. Sasha and Kennedy’s romance development is incredibly cute. I laughed so many times and also smiled through the whole story. It has zero angst and completely adorable, making me go all mushy inside and lose all words except for “awwwwww.”

[Content warning: racial profiling?]

The second one is “Hustle & Bustle” by Maggie Cummings (3 stars). This is a meet-cute romance between NYPD officer Toby Beckett and shop owner Hannah Monroe. The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning, with most of the scenes happening in the heads of the characters. Overall, it is a cute story but a little dragging. There is mentioning of police brutality but it is more like acknowledging the system without any real actions. I do appreciate the inclusion of an off-page trans character and multiple POCs though.

The last one is “A Christmas Miracle” by Fiona Riley (2 stars). I couldn’t get into this one mainly because of my personal ambivalence toward the insta-lust between bar owner Mira Donahue and administrative assistant Courtney Rivers despite the story being mostly well-written. Their flirty scenes were bold and great, and both characters are pretty likable. However, there is also a very random one-sided reveal scene in the final chapter that unfortunately doesn’t read smoothly enough for me.

3.5 stars.

To start off, I should say that I’m new to the worlds of both Christmas (I’m a Jew lol) and Romance. But I’ve always been curious about both, and why not dip a toe in now?

Anyway, this book, a collection of 3 f/f romance novellas, is delightful and delightfully low stakes. They’re cozy, sweet, and more sort of slowly building than high drama, so you have to like that style.

I think a novella is the ideal length for me for a romance book? I often am on the edge of my seat during the lead-up, and then once they kiss/get together I’m thrilled for a sec and then get a little bored.

I loved the first one (I’m a sucker for a fake relationship). I didn’t love the second one (a cop romance, no thanks), although it ended up being slightly better than I expected. The third, which is a classic “hates Christmas”/“loves Christmas” is very cute, and the ~sexiest~ of the three. I don’t typically love when the leads meet and immediately flirt intensely (give me clueless pining plz), but this one did a good job of keeping the tension alive, and it also made me smile a whole lot.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It’s out now!

I loved these stories. It's such a nicely put together Christmas edition, and that the stories come from superb writers helps! I'm leaning towards saying that the first one was just a sliver better than the rest, but it might be completely biased opinion.
I'm recommending this to my friends.

Of the three short stories, I think I enjoyed the first one the most. But all three were good choices for a holiday anthology. Sweet with a side order of happy ending is the way to go!
Just what I needed during these messed up times.

Georgia Beers, Triple Dog Dare/ Sasha Wolfe loves her family, even her very nosy older sister. Sasha’s mother keeps waiting for Sasha to find the right one. You know her soul mate. She has been lying for a few months now telling them that she does indeed have a girlfriend, she doesn’t but when she makes plans to go home she is challenged by her sisters to bring this mystery woman home for the holiday. Now to find someone willing to play her GF.
Living in the same apartment complex is Kennedy Davis, super nice with nothing to do for the holiday so when Sasha approaches her with her plan she actually agrees. And that is how Sasha ends up taking the pretty neighbor along with her dog home for the holiday.
Again Ms Beers has given us a quick read filled with lots of fun. Great read.
Maggie Cummings, Hustle and Bustle/ Hannah Monroe has just set up her pop-up shop in the holiday market in New York City. Not too far from her home in Hudson she needs these sales to keep her and her best friend Priya’s business up and going. She meets a city cop, Toby Beckett and it isn’t long before the two women find time each day to flirt with each other. But how will this relationship ever work when they don’t even live in the same town. How oh how will they ever cope with this.
Ms Cummings has written a story set around Christmas with some very likeable characters. Fun Read.
Fiona Riley, A Christmas Miracle/ Another nice read. This one has Courtney Rivers who is given the job of arranging this year's event. Courtney Rivers hasn’t got a lot of time to plan this party. She needs a place to hold this event and the only place that isn’t booked is Mirage, Boston’s very busy bar. Even though she doesn't care about the holiday she knows it’s good business to host these parties . So we have one lady who hates the whole idea of Christmas and another who doesn’t understand how anyone else could hate it.
Ms Riley, along with Ms Beers and Ms Cummings should be happy with the way they all brought the season to life for their fans. All three books are nicely paced with great MC’s and supporting cast. Very, very enjoyable reads.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

3 cute women loving women Christmas Novellas. Definitely for everyone who wants some more or less typical love story tropes in a Christmas setting however with LGBT+ or rather wlw representation.

My opinion on each story:
Story one, Triple Dog Dare:
My favorite of them all, very likable characters adorable slow burn romance. Has a cute fake Girlfriend trope.

Story two, Hustle & Bustle:
Honestly, my least favorite, the characters just didn't feel fleshed out and it was very instant love. I would have wished it was more then just romance, it was like there was only them falling in love and hardly anything else they'd aspired or planned.... even tough it was a cute and nice read.

Story three, A Christmas Miracle
Cute stuck in a snowstorm trope. I enjoyed the characters they had goals and loved the opposites attracts and it gave me the final kick to get into the Christmas y mood. This story is the steamiest be warned,

The story were nothing extraordinary, however i did very much enjoy them. A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the authors for letting me read these adorable women loving women Christmas story's.

My rating system:
5 Stars: If I couldn't put a book down and highly enjoyed it. In addition, if it made me think and reflect it's a huge plus.
4 Stars: I very much liked it it gave me feels, and I would definitely reread. However enjoyed it a
little less then a 5 Star book.
3 Stars: It was a nice read I liked it but it doesn't make me feel as invested/ involved as a 4 star book.
2 Stars: It was alright but maybe not my cup of tea.
1 Star: I must have hated it.

The first few pages of this novella were my favourite, very witty, very snappy dialogue, loved it. Really nice, warm and fuzzy read and nice to have a guest appearance with Brooke and Macy from 16 Steps to Forever. I found it hard to get into Hustle and Bustle, just wasn't feeling the connection with Hannah and Toby, the premise for the storyline wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me. I loved A Christmas Miracle, I think Mira was my favourite character. Mira and Courtney had great chemistry and I loved their banter especially their first interaction at the bar. Overall a nice read to get into the Christmas

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

I requested this on a whim when I didn't have a book and then forgot about it by the time it was approved. I didn't realize at the time that all three novellas were LGBT, but love that. With this, Happiest Season and even Hallmark and Lifetime - I am here for the representation.

The stories themselves. The first one is definitely my favorite. It was nice to read a fake dating story that didn't devolve into miscommunications or someone outing their fake relationship and causing drama. This was just a super cute story.

The second one was pretty good too. I didn't LOVE Toby has a character. It just felt like they tried too hard to create a sympathetic cop character and it didn't feel true.

The last one - meh. And it's really why I'm only giving it three stars. This was just too flirty banter and lust and not enough of a connection for me.

I should state while I enjoy a good chicklit occasionally I only dabble and read borderline romance stuff. So I can see others really enjoying these stories more than me.

Like many collections of short or medium-length stories, this book has some that are better than others are. Of this one in particular, I only liked the first story, the other two have had some interesting parts but overall they have not been enough.

In addition, the first story is related to the latest book by the author Georgia Beers, 16 Steps to Forever, one of the secondary protagonists of the book, Brooke's boss, Sasha, stars here a story with a fake romance that becomes in a very sweet story.

Of the other two, the one in the middle is too bland and the one at the end has been fun especially by the spicy parts, but they are both average.

However, given that all three have Christmas as a common denominator and given this year’s situation, reading this book can be a great way to endure these days that this year will be so strange to many of us.

Three high quality Christmas novellas. I enjoyed all of them for different reasons and am actually struggling to decide on an overall rating so I’ve rated them all individually below:

Triple Dog Dare - Georgia Beers

5 stars - I loved this story. Sasha was interesting as Brooke’s boss in 16 Steps to Forever but she’s great in this. I love the premise of needing a fake girlfriend for Christmas in order to try and win a date from your sister. Sasha and Kennedy are great both as a fake couple and a real one. I loved the back any forth between Sasha’s sister and Kennedy as she tried to trip them up and how Beers deals with the grief of lost ones at Christmas, the emotions around really falling for one another and the guilt in lying without making this a heavy story. I’d have loved this if it was a full novel too.

Hustle & Bustle - Maggie Cummings

4 stars - Toby is a cop with a social work background. She’s sweet and romantic at heart. She meets Hannah at Central Park Christmas market where she’s running a stall. I liked the diversity snuck into the story and enjoyed spending time in New York during the Christmas season. I enjoyed this storyline but I’m not sure I’d have enjoyed it as much without the New York setting. The narrative is sweet and sincere, with as much of a slow burn sweetness as is possible to get in a novella. The epilogue left me sated with a nice ending to Toby and

A Christmas Miracle - Fiona Riley

3.5 stars - I haven’t had the opportunity to read Bet on Me yet, so I’m only aware that Mira is a character in the novel and am coming to this not knowing anything else about her. I enjoyed this story but wasn’t able to connect with it as much as the other two works. I liked both Mira and Courtney as characters and they work well together on the page. This had more angst in it than the other stories due to the tensions at work for Courtney and the issues Mira was having her bar due to staffing so I felt pulled out of the Christmas fantasy a little. The humour was enjoyable though and I liked the journey both characters took in the short period of time the story covered.

I’d happily recommend this collection to anyone looking for some fun wlw Christmas reads.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What fun! I love all these authors and was not disappointed, great stories. Sometimes themed storeys can be a bit difficult to get through but these were seamless. You will not be disappointed!

I love holiday novellas, just gets me into the spirit of the season and the 3 stories by Ms. Beers, Ms. Riley and Ms. Cummings hit the mark, or should I say hit the holly.

Ms. Beers writes about how Sasha has painted herself into a corner with her family in regards to a girlfriend that doesn't exist. After her sisters basically call her bluff on having a girlfriend, Sasha now has to find someone to take home for the holidays. I am a sucker for the fake girlfriend storyline, and this story is just a fun read, with a cute dog thrown in.

Ms. Riley writes about a holiday party planning effort that gives the mistletoe a bit of a workout. Courtney lands a prime venue for the party and Mira, the owner of the venue/bar, is one that isn't the biggest Christmas fan. I really hope there may be a longer story in the future for Mira and Courtney, I feel in love with these two from the get-go. I really felt for Courtney having to deal with a sleazy boss, but how Mira steps and gets her through the rough spot is just adorable, and hey a great birthday present as well.

Ms. Cummings writes about a NYC Christmas theme and not having ever been to New York, this story makes me want to visit the city sometime during the season. When Toby and Hannah meet at a Christmas market, there is some misconceptions on Hannah's part, but over the weeks she learns there is more to Toby then just the cop uniform. I loved how Toby has such a positive attitude with life and people, I feel in love with her myself. I definitely could read more about this couple in the future to see how Toby makes out in her career.

All 3 of these stories were just a fun read, and the book overall makes a great stocking stuffer for the love in your life if they enjoy warm relationships and holiday cheer. And as I noted above, I wouldn't mind seeing these characters in their own stand-alone books in the future <smile>. I give all 3 of these authors 5 stars for Christmas cheer and romance.

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-3 great authors in 1 book

A cute mix of heartwarming shorts.

All in all this is a great heartwarming Christmas LGBT+ anthology, with lots of fairly quick reads to warm your soul in the cold Arctic that is December.

Triple Dog Dare (4.5 stars) was easily my favourite in the series. It’s a fresh take on the ‘pretend date’ trope and the characters are interesting to follow (it also warmed my Scrooge of a heart!). I really enjoyed this short.

Hustle & Bustle (3 stars) I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as it’s fairly cliched, and does follow a bit of a conventional plot line. I did however enjoy the writing style but didn’t gel with the characters quite as much.

A Christmas Miracle (3.5 stars) This had a pretty interesting story to follow initially, I just didn’t feel it worked as a short, and would have worked better in a longer piece. Whilst I really appreciate Fiona’s writing style, I felt like the characters and end of plot needed a little more context and room to grow.

All in all a winter warming romcom anthology ! Great read for LGBT folk!

Triple Dog dare-a very cute story where Sasha needs to get a fake girlfriend to prove to her sister that she isn’t lying about being a relationship, conveniently meets Kennedy the attractive actress across the hall. This story was so cute! Anything you’d want in a fake dating novella, there is chemistry between the characters and some fun sibling rivalry as well as how people handle holidays after a major loss in the family.

Hustle & Bustle- Not going to lie, not a huge fan of storylines revolving around cops and painting them in better light, and while it was (briefly) addressed, it was hardly discussed at all and I was not a fan of the conclusion they came to.. I believe a phrase used was “inherent Prejudice” which made me smh and nearly skip ahead to the next novella..but other than that, I’m not really sure what the storyline was, it was all just fluff and in comparison to the other two novellas really just fell flat in my opinion.

A Christmas Miracle- a bit of a grinch who shares their birthday with Christmas learns to love the holiday through love and the magic of Christmas. This one, while light, was just a really nice hallmark-esque story. The characters have a ton chemistry, despite it being a novella without much time to develop their personalities.

All in all, totally worthwhile for this time of year and if you like some lighthearted romance during the holiday season, it’s totally for you!

ARC Provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

<b><i>Triple Dog Dare</i> by Georgia Beers</b>: 5 stars!! This is by far my favorite novella in the collection. Sasha is fascinating in Beers’ <i>16 Steps to Forever</i>, so being inside her head (this novella is in first-person) was a real treat. I love how Sasha is accomplished and put-together, but also kind of a hot mess at the same time?? I mean, she’s been faking a girlfriend for months, which is hilarious. So, of course, a fake-dating situation ensues, and it is DIVINE. This almost reads like a rom-com (serious <i>Written in the Stars</i> vibes over here!). Kennedy, the love interest, is the kind of warm person you just want to hug. For such a short story, there’s an unbelievable number of cute moments. And since this is Beers, there is a lovable canine protagonist too. <3

<b><i>Hustle and Bustle</i> by Maggie Cummings</b>: 3 stars. This one is sweet, but it wasn’t magical for me, and that was mostly due to the pacing. The buildup to the MCs’ romance is slow for a novella – almost on par with a full-length romance. When the romance finally takes off, I feel like things happen way too fast. The characters rush into love, and (my biggest complaint) the holiday events with Hannah’s family are just glossed over! This novella is well-written, though, and both MC’s are sweet and likable. I also appreciated that police brutality was addressed.

<b><i>A Christmas Miracle</i> by Fiona Riley</b>: 3.5 stars. This one is cute and has several funny moments. It’s more, um, insta-sexual than I normally enjoy, but that’s just personal preference. My main complaint is the meet-cute, wherein one of the MC’s acts OOC and unprofessional (imo). However, I enjoyed this more than I didn’t, and there’s a certain moment in the final scene that turned me into a pile of goo!