This steamy romcom has so many good things going for it such as body positivity, staying true to yourself, and being supportive to those you love. I adored the characters in this book and I'm hoping there will be more to come! I also listened to the audiobook and the narrators Sebastian York and Joy Nash did a fantastic job.

I wanted to like this one, but I didn’t really care about the love interests and if they ended up together or not.

Here are some things I liked:
- plus-sized representation
- queer representation
- unique premise
- holiday theme
- movie set setting
- celebrity romance
- dual POV

I loved how supportive Bee’s moms were! Her friendship with her best friend Sunny was also great and seemed genuine. I liked that Nolan cared so much about his family. All that being said, I wish the romantic relationship was as believable as the friendships and family relationships

This book had a good amount of spice! I just didn’t feel connected to the main characters at all. It was a fun idea that they fulfilled some sort of fantasy for each other, but it didn’t seem like their relationship had a lot of substance. I get that Bee is a sex worker, but I feel like the book was a little too hyper-focused on that. I didn’t need to be reminded every couple of pages about what she does for a living.

I like what this book was trying to do, and I think some people will really enjoy this book. In the end, it just wasn’t for me!

I'm so sick of reading Hallmark Christmas books... and so this caught my eye immediately! I loved the departure from do-good characters for the less-than-squeaky-clean-but-have-to-be-better-for-their-career type. It always leads to hilarious moments and characters that finally feel real! Their lives aren't spinning out of control exactly. Sierra Simone just landed herself on my list of favorites and anyone who desires a little naughty holiday romance, pick this one up immediately!

A Merry Little Meet Cute
By: Julie Murpy and Sierra Simone
⭐️⭐️⭐️/2.6 stars rounded up

Summary on Goodreads:
"A steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with."

Sometimes books are just not your cup of tea (although I prefer coffee ☕️🙃) and this was one of those for me.

I could not fall in love with really any of the characters. Especially because it's a different lifestyle than I choose to live and that's ok! To each their own and I respect that everyone has different preferences, believes, views, opinions, et cetera.

I couldn't really relate to much going on in the story nor did it have any impact when reading it. Although, I do think the authors are very talented writers. Some books just don't click with certain readers and I struggled to finish it. No biggie! I'd be open to trying other books from these authors.

3.5/5 stars

The cover and title make this seem like a sweet rom-com. But this book is extremely steamy!!

This book features a plus-size female porn star who stars in a Hallmark Christmas movie with a bad-boy former boy-bander.

This book is about a Christmas movie, set in a Christmas town during Christmas-time. But it actually didn't feel that holiday-ish to me.

The book has both the male and female POVs. And I did love everything to do with the Hallmark movie. But it was just way too sexy (for me). The characters were always talking about sex, thinking about sex or having sex. But I definitely think that this will appeal to so many romance readers.

This was truly such a fun idea for a romance story. Much raunchier than I was expecting. The plus-size porn star aspect was original and funny. However I personally would have preferred an actual Hallmark style story.

Oh my goodness, this was just about everything! Christmas in the bestest way! And naughty to boot, which, who knew we needed! Bee and Nolan give us ALL the vibes (and I do mean all lol) in the most perfect Christmas town imaginable (I so wanna go there!). I loved loved loved everything about this, and I can’t wait for more!!

This book takes place in a small town in Vermont where Christmas is celebrated all year long, making it a popular location for filming Christmas movies. Bee Hobbes accepts an offer for a leading role in a traditional Christmas movie set in the late 1800's - quite a change from her usual style. She is an adult film star whose performances have a dedicated following. Since this is a squeaky clean movie created for a PG channel, Bee's other work has to be a deep dark secret or she may be fired (and sued). Unfortunately for Bee, her costar recognizes her since he is a fan of her site.

Her costar, Nolan Shaw, was a teenaged rock star who crashed and burned early. Now he is in need of money to support his mother and young sister, so he is thrilled to be chosen for a part in this movie. Other than the money, it will also offer him an opportunity to mend his reputation and attract more work.

Nolan recognized Bee soon after meeting her since he is a fan of her site, despite her efforts to appear less like porn star Bianca. Even though both Bee and Nolan need to improve their images, they are so attracted to each other that they begin to find every opportunity to be together - no matter what their contracts said.

I didn't realize when I started this book that both Bee and Nolan were bisexual, although it made no difference to the romance. Two of my favorite characters were Bee's two mothers, a married couple. I don't think I ever figured out who the birth mother was. This is a funny and romantic story, and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys contemporary romance with star-crossed couples.

My thanks to publisher Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon, and NetGalley for providing me an advance reader copy of this book. It was a pleasure to read and review.

This was such a fun holiday rom-com that was heavy on the steam - dirty steam! haha. Loved it. I actually felt embarrassed reading parts of it, and I'm NOT a prude and don't shy away from steam! Characters were amazing. Loved the body-positive, sex worker positive, non-binary positive message. Strong 4.5 stars. Would have easily been a 5 star except I felt the ending wrapped up too quickly - I wanted a little more. However, I highly, highly recommend this for anyone who's looking for a fun holiday romance that isn't TOO sweet. (wink).

I really wanted to like this book. Loved the premise but I just couldn’t finish it. DNF this book at 40%

This holiday romcom between a plus size and a former boy band member with a story within a network holiday romance movie, was quite funny and original. Definitely nothing that I expected it to be in the good way, I always go in blind on my books, so the plot line and characters were a nice surprise, these authors are fantastic on their own, combined they knocked it out of the park.

***Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for sending me an advanced reader copy of A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone! All thoughts are my own!***

A porn star gets last minute cast for a cheesy holiday movie and meets a former boy band member who end up being her costar.

I devoured this book! I loved the amount of irony in this book considering they both knew of each other in their separate outlets for years and the moment they met their connection was instantaneous.

Both characters had a lot at stake, Bee keeping her porn star identity a secret as well as the producer's identity who runs the porn studio she performs under, and Nolan who is trying to put his career back on track after a scandalous situation and keep his family supported.

This is THE holiday 2022 romance that you need to pick up. If you like steam in your romance, you will love it. This is one of those books will think about for days to come. A Merry Little Meet Cute is out now!

Absolutely loved this book! A perfectly executed mash-up of feel-good holiday movie vibes and steamy romance. I also appreciated the sex-positive, body-positive, and mental health rep woven through the story.

Nolan and Bee’s relationship seems inevitable from the get-go, and watching them fall for each other was a delight to read. I loved that Bee prioritized herself and her needs throughout the relationship, even when things go sideways. And Nolan’s grand gesture is swoonworthy goodness.

The supporting cast is really well done too. I especially liked that both Nolan and Bee have healthy family relationships and supportive friendships. (I tire a bit over every romance featuring main characters with toxic parents, dead parents, fraught family dynamics; all of that is in a category of overused mechanisms for creating drama, and it was refreshing that it wasn’t employed here.)

I did wonder why Bee and her producer thought they could keep her more “salacious” film and online content under wraps when she takes a lead role in a very PG holiday movie. They assume that “wholesome” holiday movie viewers and consumers of adult contents are nonoverlapping groups and I just didn’t buy that. But I suspended disbelief on their optimism that they could pull this off, because I was so into the story.

I hope we might get more collaborations between these authors. I’d especially love if this continued as a series; Nolan’s band mates and Bee’s friends and adult film colleagues would all be great characters for subsequent books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC I received.

This was such a fun book. I’ve been a fan of Julie Murphy’s books since her debut back in 2014, but I’ve never read anything of Sierra Simone’s, even though I have a couple of her books on my Kindle. A Merry Little Meet Cute features Bee, a plus-size adult film star, and Nolan, a former boy band member. When they’re hired to co-star in a holiday movie for a network that produces squeaky clean ‘family-friendly’ romances, they both see it as an opportunity: for Bee, it’s a chance to try something new and see if she can have a career in acting, and for Nolan, it’s a chance to rehabilitate his bad boy image while providing for his struggling family.

There were so many things that appealed to me about this book. I loved that both Bee and Nolan are bisexual. I loved that Bee is fat and completely owns it and her sexuality, making for some fantastic commentary about body positivity and sex positivity. As a huge fan of holiday movies (especially Hallmark ones), I appreciated that aspect of the storyline and enjoyed the scenes of them rehearsing and filming. Also, as someone who grew up obsessed with boy bands, I liked the fantasy-come-true element of Bee falling for Nolan after being a fan of his for years. I also appreciated that it wasn’t one-sided and Nolan knew who Bee was and had crushed on her for years too.

If you’re like me and you like your Christmas books to actually be Christmassy, this one didn’t really have all the holiday feels I love, despite the title, cover, and setting. It did have some fun festive moments, but I wouldn’t call it a ‘Christmas romance’, so much as Christmas adjacent. That being said, if you’re looking for a fun, super steamy, escapist romance with a wonderfully diverse cast, A Merry Little Meet Cute should definitely be on your TBR.

3.5 stars rounded up

A Merry Little Meet Cute is a fun romantic comedy with two disaster bisexuals falling in love. It is very steamy and also absurdly wacky at times. The premise is excellent- a plus-size porn star accidentally gets cast as the lead in a family-friendly holiday romance film, playing opposite a former boy-band star who was her teen crush. And as it turns out, he's also a big fan of her NSFW work. But for reasons, both of them are supposed to keep things under wraps and absolutely NOT heat up this PG movie set...

I had a good time with this, although you definitely have to suspend your disbelief and just go with the ridiculous things that happen. And the things that wouldn't fly at an actual movie set. But if you can do that, it's a fun and sexy romance with a great setup, body positivity, casual queerness, and positive depictions of sex work. Definitely worth a read if this sounds like your thing! I do wish it had been a little less over the top and a little more slow burn with the sexy times, but overall I liked it. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This is a brilliant premise for a romance novel. Bee is a plus sized porn star attempting to break into main stream film. Her co-star is Nolan, a former boy band star trying to rehab his image by doing this wholesome Hallmark Channel type film. The producer also works in porn but is trying to keep all of that a secret and it's utterly hilarious.

The book tackles some heavy topics such as slut shaming, fat shaming, and the reality of conditions for many sex workers. It's also funny and sweet at times. I loved the contrast between those elements.

The writing is sharp, and the cast is full of diverse characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

This story is told in dual first-person point of view from Bee and Nolan. I knew from the moment that Bee started packing her suitcase full of sex toys and her BFF threw in the Sugar Cookie flavored lube that this was going to be my kind of raunchy romance, “Hallmark” movie or not. A porn star and an ex-boy band member, famed for his orgies on trains and the Olympics, cast in a family-channel-style Christmas movie? It was very spicy and full of hijinks with a mixed set of regular movie extra staff and, unknowingly, porn movie staff. However, like the aforementioned Christmas movies, it was predictable. It was also about 50-100 pages too long for my taste and I found myself skimming the same thoughts in the main characters heads over and over about how they could possibly move forward in their careers IF anyone found out.

Recommended as an alternative to those sugary sweet Christmas romance reads (or movies).

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

I will preface this with a five is rare for me but this book deserves it and will live in my brain rent free forever.

To start- I love Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. Separately and together. Both are authors I have read broadly from so seeing this coming out was a delight.

The story centers on Nolan and Bee and a Christmas film they are making for a tv provided à la Hallmark channel. The problem- that really shouldn’t be a problem- Bee is an adult film star and the Hope channel is exceedingly family friendly.

I just cannot get over how wonderful this was. Every detail was a delight and a pleasure. I loved that the main characters and side characters had deep internal lives and I wanted to know more about them. This is filled with gems in dialogue and humor, and tastefully smutty.

I honestly wish I could go back and read this again with fresh eyes because it just made me happy the entire time I was reading it.

Thank you so much Avon and NetGalley! This was so beyond amazing and I cannot wait for a sequel to see where some of my favorites end up!

That was f---ing good. Like, I need more of these characters and the side characters and the world DESPERATELY!!! (pretty please Julie and Sierra give us the INK love stories)

Bee is an adult actress whose producer calls her to star in his mainstream movie for the book's equaivalent to Hallmark. No, they do not know she stars in porn and has a book-equivalent OnlyFans (and highly successful at that). To top it off, she is staring opposite her teen crush, ex-boy band bisexual bad-boy Nolan, who is trying to rebrand his image to pay for his mom's healthcare and teen sister's education. Little did he know that his crush would be staring opposite him (him a loyal top-tier subscriber for 6 years).

With them both on a sex-ban for the two weeks of filming to seem squeaky-clean, they, unsurprisingly, can't help falling for each other.

"God, the beautiful, horrible irony. My dirty dream girl showing up in Christmas Notch, Vermont, of all places, ready to spend the next two weeks wearing corsets in front of me (!!!), and instead of taking her out for drinks and then proposing marriage, I had to keep everything zipped up tight. And not even zipped up in a sexy 'Let's pretend we're in high school and do it over the pants' kind of way, but in a 'My manager will fire me and I'll have no money to take care of my family' kind of way."

I loved the pining, the fact they were both each other's dream partner, the self-knowledge and reflection to get the happy ending, and the spice! Bee is a plus-sized sex worker and he ADORED everything about her. The discussion and facts shared about both these identities, and the realities they meant for her, were well done. In an enjoyable romcom, it added value to the story and helped make the ending even more satisfying.

And what an ending. I loved the self-growth and a man learning and being better. I have felt warm from the ending for a week. The heartwarming and funny notes came together perfectly. One of my favorite romcoms in a while with the balance of smut, humor, and romantic relationship (chemistry, development, and future happiness - they'll make it).

I cannot stop raving about this book and recommending it to everyone for the individual characters, the romance, the body and sex positivity, and overall delightful story. I hope we see more from these authors because a series on the side characters would be great! (or even a bonus chapter going into the suitcase ;)

5 stars
2.5 spice

This was definitely not your Hallmark Christmas read. Wowsa! Soooo much delicious chemistry and dirty talk - definitely warmed my cockles 😉 This book had everything I love realistic heroine, fantastic sexy times and Christmas. Romance Trifecta!

This is one of those books I wanted to love and it didn't quite work for me. While the premise is cute (a porn star doing a hallmark movie with a disgraced boy band member) I never really got into the story and lots of aspects of the book felt really forced.

I love Julie Murphy and will already read her books, Sierra Simone is on her way to becoming a new favorite of mine.