Unique spin to a holiday figures! Santa and his team of reindeers vs elves! Who would've thought?! It was funny, quick read.

I had next to zero expectations when I started this book. I requested it on a whim in netgalley and then forgot about it like the idiot I tend to be. When I was looking for Christmas reads this year, I came across this and remembered I had it on my kindle, actually. So I decided to give it a chance.
And it was so worthy. I loved it.
I found it to be more plot driven than character driven, that didn't use to be my thing, but lately I find myself enjoying these kind of reads, so I thinks it's good that I'm reading this now instead of last year. But still, the author managed a good balance between plot development and character development, presenting an interesting world, compelling characters, and an action packed plot, all of this well balanced and in less than 300 pages. Sounds surreal but Jessica Frances made it!
Oh, but this is also a funny, spicy and hopefull Christmas read, which was actually what I read ir for.
So it reached and surpased my expectations by a lot. Highly recommend it.

At first glance this book is complete ridiculous. Alien shapeshifting reindeer Santa? Ridiculous. But giving it a chance, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Its surprisingly well written, funny, sweet, steamy, and even has a Christmas miracle. It is a romance, and has a lot of the tropes you would expect but that doesn't detract from the story, and while anyone can admit that an alien shapeshifting reindeer Santa is a little ridiculous, it was a lot of fun too.

#AChristmastoDieFor #NetGalley

This was... a ride. Much campier than you would expect from the cover. More star trek spoof porno level of sci-fi. It was a fun enough light read but not what I was expecting.

Wow, it’s like a Christmas story only imagine you are really drunk or stoned and everything you knew about Christmas is backwards, evil and Oh, you must be on the naughty list because sant and his eleven are trying their darnedest to kill you! Not for the jolly loving traditionalist, but a fun romp on the dark side if you enjoy being a little more nervous about a jolly fat man breaking into your house that special time of year.

I absolutely loved this MM romance.

Such a great book with a solid storyline and great characters.

I eagerly look forward to reading more from this author.

A definite recommend!

I read this right before Christmas 2020. I didn't expect a lot going into this. I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up enjoying this book. I really liked the characters and ended up being pretty invested in the story.

When I started Jessica Frances' A Christmas to Die For I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. The whole beginning is so goofy and silly, and I wasn't sure if I should be laughing or rolling my eyes... well I'm SO glad I stuck it out!

In addition to excellent comedic timing, Ms. Frances has a stellar sense of humor. These are creative and well developed characters, who have great chemistry. It's a very compelling romance.

Mostly though, it's an exciting sci-fi adventure with all kinds of clever nods to Santa, elves, and shape-shifting reindeers.

100% fun, all the way through.

This was a wild ride of a book. I really enjoyed the spin on the traditional Santa and his reindeer story.

3.5 stars

Well, I'm not sure what I just read. And I'm honestly not sure I can ever think about Santa, the reindeer and the elves again in the same fashion. Don't get me wrong - this book was cute - I just didn't think it was great.

If you're looking for a book that has M/M relationships, a plot that involves reindeer that can shape shift into human form, a human kidnapping that involves taking the human back to their planet named Christmas, a plot to eliminate the elf race because they are trying to kill everyone on Christmas, then this is just your book. It has all that plus more. It ended up being a cute story, but I just didn't see where it was going from the beginning so I was a little surprised.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.

Toby finds himself without a job and drunk on Christmas Eve, so when he first spots a bunch of elves attacking him, followed by fire-breathing reindeer fighting them, he thinks he completly lost it now - until he lands in the arms of a naked man, who has just been shifting from reindeer to human. He introduces himself as Santa (Rudolph when in reindeer form) and informs Toby that he is the only one who can help them to save their planet Christmas from the elves.

I am being honest - This was not what I expect from a title like this. I was hoping for a thriller. Mixed with some fantasy elemts, but still a thriller. And instead - I get this. Featuring alien-monster-cocks.
The reindeers were cool, the concept of them was nice, but the story was... It just wasn't for me. The concept with the shifting reindeer and the plant Christmas; the explanation where Christmas comes from was pretty. But the characters, the story? I am sorry, but this was not for me. It was weird. Some kind of weird christmas-fanfiction, but not the good kind.

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this twist on Santa & his reindeer. So Toby has just lost his 27th job when he outs his boss' affair at the company Christmas party. Toby had a little too much to drink & his blurts it out. While he is stumbling his way home, he encounters reindeer who shift into people. The one with the glowing red nose has long white hair. Toby is sure he is dreaming. When elves show up shooting arrows that blow up his house, he is sure he is having a nightmare. Santa is the leader of his unit who has come to Earth to get Toby & take him back to their world which is called? You guessed it, Christmas. Toby is the only one that can destroy the elves & save Christmas. I loved that they kept calling him "puny human", that cracked me up. Along the way, Santa starts to really have feelings for Toby and they slowly start to fall in love. There is humor, sadness and danger. I loved this book. This is a new to me author & I can't wait to check out more by her.

This was goofy and campy and just... wild! I've never read anything like this and oh God.
This book you'll either love it for its craziness or hate it because little makes sense.
I don't know how to explain this book to anyone just that it was a WILD RIDE from start to end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.75
This book answers the long asked question "What if Christmas was sci-fi? And also gay and horny?"
I know we've all asked ourselves this at some point, but fear not, A Christmas To Die For is here to put that burning question to rest.
In all seriousness, this was super entertaining for the first 25%. I was hella amused by the idea of shapeshifting reindeer being a weird, buff, and of course <I> naked </I> alien race. Can't forget that part. Ding-a-lings waving around all willy nilly. Because of course these aliens run so warm they can't stand wearing clothes. The Merry Jollians (yes, that's really what they're called) are from the icy planet Christmas and are basically space heaters...from space.
The concept was hilarious, I live for this weird and campy nonsense, but this could have used some editing and paring down. The writing was dragging, there was too much rehashing because the MC was so shocked by everything he kept asking "SO WHAT YOURE TELLING ME IS BLAH BLAH BLAH? REALLY? UNBELIEVABLE!" and repeats all the same things that were just explained, to emphasize his shock and disbelief and it just wasn't keeping my attention anymore.
This was silly as hell and while at first I was loving it, eventually I couldn't help rolling my eyes when the reindeer started breathing fire. Yes. Breathing fire lmao.

A Christmas To Die For is an intriguing tale by Jessica Frances. Toby’s holiday season kicks off with a night of doom for him and he does this all on his own (kind of) before starting his drunk walk home in the wee hours of the morning. Then Frances decides that Toby has not had enough bad “luck” and freaks him out by flying reindeer, naked reindeer, and an elf or two shoots flaming arrows at him!

Frances put me in my own conundrum between laughing and saying “Duck!” Poor Toby has one hell of night and it does not get better. Unless of course you count meeting Ru. I like how Frances does not make this an instant attraction or love, but a slow-burning one. I am not one to usually say this because y’all know I like the heat (laugh). I really enjoyed the process of them making their way to each other. I think because Frances has so many battle scenes and survival drama going on that I was hooked on the war and not the romance.

Frances includes a huge moral dilemma for Toby which goes against the reason he is needed. This quandary creates a different type of situation and makes you think. Frances created a complex character that at first comes across as straight geek (no pun intended). Then they turn Toby into this deep thinking and dedicated character. I love it.

Toby and Ru also melt some snow when they finally do get to the good stuff. At this point Toby and Ru are just too cute. I love the New York scenes...I’m not telling you have to read the book!

A Christmas To Die For has romance, nachos, carrots, battles, and planetary wars. Stock up on your carrots because you are going to want these reindeer on your side. Check out A Christmas To Die For and let Toby and Ru be your heroes for the holidays.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have to preface this by saying this book is very crazy. You have to be into that sort of thing and then just commit to it otherwise it's not much fun. I did enjoy it and it was just so bonkers that I couldn't put it down. But even accepting all the other stuff I was irked by the height difference. Why eight feet? Surely just seven would have been enough.
The other more important issue is Santa's species itself. They have a feeling of absolute superiority and other species like humans and elves are very apperently beneath them. Santa being dishonest about the mission was unforgivable in my opinion, especially because he wanted Toby to kill a whole population without questioning it. Learning the backstory of the elves made it even worse. They seemed to be treated like slaves and when they turned on Santa's people they didn't even question it. Throughout the whole story they see themselves way above humans because they aren't "advanced" but honestly it seems the other way around. Very problematic storyline.

An exciting Christmas read that definitely doesn’t go in the direction you would think. It is quirky and fun with a tone of seriousness running through it.

The characters are well developed and spirited. If you are looking for something different to read than your typical festive reads then this one is for you.

Mixing lore and science fiction shouldn’t work so well but is does and is amazingly well done.

A Christmas to Die For is a terrific, original story that I was completely captivated by.
It takes all of our holiday norms and turns them on their ears!
I was riveted throughout this story.
I laughed, sighed, was moved beyond words and happily went along for the sleigh ride of my life!
This action packed, sexy story was the perfect antidote to a dry reading spell. Nothing ordinary about this one!
Get ready to get lost in the amazing world that Jessica Frances has created!

This book was WILD in the best way. This read like an Edgar Wright film and I am delighted to have read it. IG link below.

From the completely ridiculous description of the book, I was expecting a goofy, campy, hilarious ride. While it was campy and often times hilarious, I actually found myself sucked into the world super quickly, and I found the plot and the world building engaging. Can't believe I'm recommending a book about shape shifting hot alien Santa, but I totally am.