Are you an elder millennial who loves all things 90s? Have you ever had or are currently working on your own religious trauma? Do you want to have a smutty good time while reading about Christmas hallmark movies? Well have I got the book for you!
This Christmas rom com had me in all the feels. The amount of times I cried over the coming to grips with religious trauma and relationships was….a lot. This book was also incredibly funny and sexy. Maybe even better than the first book in the series?
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC!
Hopefully Santa will bring book 3 next summer of Isaac and his bodyguard!!!!!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

This second in the series has not disappointed. It is a feisty and entertaining story. Kallum is a member of the former boy band INK and now the owner of a pizza operation in his hometown. He is a wild child who is not afraid to live life to the fullest. Winnie is the total opposite. She has been repressed her entire life and just recently divorced the man she married at 18. The story becomes full of achingly funny scenes as the two characters renew their acquaintances and build a relationship. It is a page turning and wonderful story that readers will enjoy.

A spicy, sometimes steamy novel about two people trying to change their lives while making a Christmas movie. Winnie's struggling with the fact that she's never felt really free because of the purity culture she grew up in. She managed to avoid all the problems of a child star but she didn't have fun. Kallum, who was in a boy band, had too much fun and now he's leveraging a newly viral sex tape to get back into movie business. While the romance and intimacy parts of this might get the most attention, there's also a good theme about becoming your true self. Winnie's narcolepsy adds an interesting angle to her character. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A light read that has a few twists.

My teen romcom loving heart absolutely adores Winnie Baker & Kallum💕 I mean what’s sweeter than meeting your teen crush?? How about hanging out & figuring out life together!

Christmas Notch weaves its Christmas magic with Winnie & Kallum. What starts out as research turns into so much more. We get to see sweet Winnie’s vulnerability & we get to see Kallum become the type of man he wants to be.

I love the Liebermans!! The whole dang fam is cool. I love that they support Kallum no matter what. Even when they are possibly disappointed they still give him nothing but positivity. Bubbie Jo & Poppy for the grandparent win!

A Holly Jolly Ever After is definitely a five Peppermint Stick read. Winnie Baker & Kallum ride that peppermint magic into a sweet HEA🎅🏻🤶🏻

These keep getting campyer and better with each story. Christmas Notch is absolutely the most amazing place where the most amazing magic happens-be it love, laughter, chaos or the elusive O's. Plenty of all of this throughout the story that had me laughing so hard nearly all the way through. But, more the humor, there is a seriousness that is perhaps unexpected but also turns out to be crucial life lesson. Being yourself is hard sometimes, but living other people's expectations of you is infinitely more difficult. Shaking loose the chains of the past, whatever it may be holding you back, is the only way to live a fulfilling life. Winnie and Kallum learn this the hard way, but their journey is a beautiful one in the end. And the steam? PLENTIFUL indeed. Squirmingly plentiful!

This is the first book of this series I have read, and it was easily read as a standalone and ends with a HEA. The bulk of the book is written in first person, alternating between Winnie and Kallum’s POV. The prologue and the epilogue are written in third person from Teddy’s POV.
Winnie’s character was very interesting to me. She grew up as a child star raised deep in the Purity culture. Married at 18 and always doing what she could to please everyone but herself, she is now 32, recently divorced, and ready to take control of her own life. Part one of the book was very engaging as Winnie makes deliberate decisions to counter her upbringing. There are a lot of emotions she must deal with along the way, especially regarding her estrangement from her parents. Inside, she will always be a child seeking parental love and harmony. As an adult, she fully recognizes the boundaries necessary for her own mental and physical health. It was fascinating. I loved reading as she learns about her body, her desires, her needs, and feels the many emotions that are new to her with Kallum.
Kallum is a little bit of an overgrown kid. He is the fun, big, teddy bear of a guy who always looks for the bright side. At times, he acts without fully considering the consequences. I really felt for his character. He is already half in love with Winnie before they ever start filming the movie. As he helps her learn about her body by meeting the needs that were never met before, there was never a chance that he wouldn’t be all-in for her. I loved him, but he and Winnie do not have an easy path to their HEA. He must prove to her that he can be the reliable adult she needs him to be. She must let go of preconceptions of what her life was going to be and embrace him and their found family to form a new version of the future of her dreams.
This was super steamy with several explicit scenes. Winnie’s awakening and Kallum’s commitment to her pleasure was wonderful to read. Part two of the book takes a twist into what is actually one of my favorite tropes. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like I got very much of Winnie and Kallum together on the page in part two. They are each on their own journey and are interacting, but readers do not get the details of very many of those interactions. I would have loved to see more of them together as they navigate their relationship and prepare for their future. To me, that is what makes that particular trope so enjoyable to read. I would have rather seen them truly building something together before their HEA. The ending felt very quick, even though the book was long. I felt like that was because it went from tension through most of part two to “Boom-happy ending.” Overall, this was an enjoyable read that is only holiday because they are filming a holiday movie. (Most of the book takes place outside the actual holiday season.) I am still going to consider it my first holiday read of this season.

A HOLLY JOLLY EVER AFTER – Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone
Avon
ISBN: 978-0063222649
October 10, 2023
Romantic Comedy

Christmas Notch, Vermont – Present Day

Winnie Baker has been an actress for as long as she can remember. She co-starred in a family faith-based series that ran for years. Her family was religious, and she followed their beliefs by marrying her co-star, Michael. But after ten years, the marriage ended when she discovered that Michael was cheating on her. Her family is unhappy with her decision to divorce, so she has little contact with them. Meanwhile, Winnie has built a career as an adult filming Christmas TV movies and is currently employed by the Hope Channel. But after their recent foray into a racier romance theme, they want Winnie to star in one. She agrees and only learns later that her co-star will be former boy band star and notorious sex tape star, Kallum Lieberman. The problem is that Kallum played a major role in getting Winnie labeled a trashy teen after the video music awards years ago.

Kallum has built a life after music by opening a small chain of pizza restaurants in Kansas City. However, the chance to act and star in a movie for the Hope Channel is too good to turn down. The publicity, plus his past, will be good for business. He also has a reputation for having sex with bridesmaids at weddings. It is just a bad habit of his, and one was even videotaped, and it went viral. Instead of being embarrassed, Kallum copyrighted the video, and it is available everywhere. He remembers Winnie well from their teen years because he has had a crush on her since way back when. Working for Winnie is going to be a dream come true.

Winnie and Kallum seem like a mismatched couple in A HOLLY JOLLY EVER AFTER, but they are really like two riders in a storm looking for love. Kallum learns shortly after arriving that Winnie isn’t sure how she can do a movie that will require love scenes because she has never had a real orgasm. He caught her watching his sex video and decided to offer to help her out with her problem. It is purely using his fingers, but he is successful. Of course, she wants more “assistance.” Winnie and Kallum are soon embarking on a full-fledged “friends with benefits” affair. The man is definitely talented in the sex department and Winnie is enjoying herself.

There are plenty of sex scenes in A HOLLY JOLLY EVER AFTER as Winnie and Kallum get it on a lot. Of course, they are trying to keep it a secret because the paparazzi would go crazy if they found out squeaky clean Winnie was sleeping with wild bad boy Kallum. Adding flavor to the tale is the filming crew and friends of our couple. Readers will get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at movie sets. But most of the action is between Kallum and Winnie as they become more attracted to each other. Once the movie filming is over, will they go their separate ways?

An amusing and sexy tale right from the start, A HOLLY JOLLY EVER AFTER will tickle your funny bone as Winnie and Kallum stumble their way to falling in love.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is a spicy holiday rom-com that tells the story of Kallum, a former boy-band star who runs a pizza shop, and Winnie, an actress.

The book is a charming holiday romp that is engaging, unputdownable, and full of good cheer. The authors have created a magical world that is perfect for the holiday season. The witty dialogue and quirky and fun characters make the book a joy to read. Kallum and Winnie's chemistry is electric, and their banter is hilarious.

The perfect combination of naughty and nice makes the book a great read for those who enjoy holiday rom-coms with a spicy twist. The authors have done an excellent job of balancing the steamy scenes with the heartwarming moments. The writing style is sexy, progressive, and hilarious. The authors have created a world that is inclusive and diverse, which is refreshing to see in a holiday romance.

Overall, A Holly Jolly Ever After is a recommended read for those who enjoy holiday rom-coms. The book is a joy to read, and the authors have done an excellent job of creating a magical world that is perfect for the holiday season.

Both Winnie and Kallum spent their formative years under the spotlight, her the darling of an inspirational (Read: religious) movie studio and him as the least popular member of a hit band. When he took a photo of her he where thought she looked cute, it gets tossed into the media world completely out of context. Just one of the ways her reputation is tarnished with through no fault of her own.

Fast forward, she's left the cheating husband she’d been pushed towards all those years ago and rebuilding her life and career on her terms. First step is a racy movie, costarring none other than Kallum who is weighing decisions about the future of his pizza empire against trying to revive his own fame.

Like I said after reading book one - this one is also “Fun, flirty, a little bit dirty” …more than a little bit, honestly!
More than that, it is also a well-deserved middle finger to purity culture, and love letter to all who have been through it and come out the other side (no little thanks to some education and a lot of therapy)
And even though this one surprised me with a trope I normally avoid like the plague - not saying which because it’s a spoiler - I still regret nothing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper voyager for the arc!

Absolutely loved this story! Julie and Sierra have magic in their fingers to be able to write easy, sexy, and gut wrenching stories! These characters come to life in their books with real issues, funny characters, and enough sexy times to make your heart race!
Kallum was just as awesome as when we first met him in the first book. Winnie was so naive and held back from her controlling family and just wants to figure out life for once on her own terms. Kallum was eagerly along for the ride and made her feel safe and wanted.
The secondary characters were of course awesome and were great to see again. Can’t wait to see if there may be another Christmas Notch book in the works!

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Very enjoyable read, I liked it even more than the first in the series. This is the story of Winnie Baker, a former child star from a very conservative upbringing who is now divorced, the absolute SHAME of her family. She decides to film a movie which some might construe as just this side of Skinemax. That's okay, she's up for it, and so is Kallum, a former boy band member who is playing Santa Claus, of course.

Do they fall in love? Of course they do. Are there angsty plot twists? Of course! Is there pizza? Why, yes, there absolutely is. There is even a dog in this. book, so you know you've got me hooked!

A fun read, just in time for the holidays. Enjoy!

A Holly Jolly Ever After is a downright fun read, featuring smutty Christmas movies and the former child actors who star in them. Once again, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone dive into a world where steamy holiday movies are a joy, even while they upend the love lives of their stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Winnie was good girl child star, and played by all the rules her parents and her producers set for her. Now divorced, she’s acting in a spicy Santa biopic to save her career. Former boy band member and current pizza entrepreneur Kallum figures he has nothing to lose by taking on the title role in the steamy origin story. But when Winnie has a tough time acting out some of the pleasure she’s never experienced in real life, Kallum steps up to help her out. For research only, of course. No way any real feelings, or Kallum’s decade-long crush on her could interfere with these professional endeavors.

I loved this return to zany Christmas Notch! Kallum and Winnie are a great opposites attract relationship. The contrast between Kallum’s laid back approach and Winnie’s overthinking is distinct, as well as their different experiences with fame. Their sizzling chemistry keeps the story going, whether they are rehearsing scenes or visiting everyone’s favorite adult entertainment venue, The North Pole.

I knew I’d like the heat and humor in this book, as these authors are experts with this combination. But, I was unprepared for how much I appreciated both the Jewish representation, and the deep dive into purity culture. Kallum’s Jewish heritage is an important aspect of who he is, and offers a different perspective in a Santa-themed book. And, Winnie’s attempts at undoing a lifetime of “purity values” and misogyny is a tough one. It’s hard to learn to stand up for yourself when the people around just want you to follow their rules.

My only complaint is that my least favorite trope shows up mid-story; it works for this plot, but not for me personally. This book is a follow up to the fabulous A Merry Little Meet Cute, but it easily works as a standalone. (And Slice, Slice Baby is my favorite name for a pizza restaurant ever.)

A Holly Jolly Ever After is a fantastic steamy holiday romcom. If you like well developed characters and a few surprisingly serious topics woven into your holiday humor and spice, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone have written your perfect holiday romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.5 stars. Overlong. Could have trimmed at least 50 pages off.
The first half was great but then slammed on the brakes. It felt strongly of two author syndrome.

The epilogue was unnecessary. It didn't even feature our main characters just some c-roll ones that I had a hard time even remembering who they were.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. This review will appear on Goodreads.
I saw these authors in a publisher zoom event recently and was charmed by the book title and description. I wasn’t braced, however, for the spice level. I don’t read a lot of rom coms and fewer Christmas books still, but I throw a few of each every year to keep ahead of things for my patrons.
This one is cute, fun and very spicy. Way beyond what I personally look for in a Christmas read of any kind.
I was a little turned off that it was made to be a Christmas read but is definitely a graphic romance.
3* story
2* shock value
A little to spicy for my taste.

Premise:

Winnie Baker, a former child star with no career prospects after her divorce, is tapped to play the lead in a Hope Channel (After Dark) Christmas movie alongside former boybander and current pizza franchise owner Kallum Lieberman, who will be playing a sexy Santa Claus. The problem is, Winnie has no idea how to go about being sexy on camera...

My review:

I loved the concept of an inadvertently sexy Hallmark movie in A Merry Little Meet Cute, and it seems so did the world at large because now Hope Channel is putting out a softcore Santa biopic (complete with magical peppermint cum) which I think is just inspired.

Winnie grew up in a conservative, Christian environment and was a child star which resulted in her loved ones and the media expecting her to maintain this perfect, god-honoring image. She's recovering from purity culture and has never experienced sexual pleasure due to internalized shame and one terrible partner. Enter Kallum, serial bridesmaid fucker and fresh from a leaked (and later licensed) sex-tape. After an awkward fake orgasm on set, Winnie requests sex lessons from Kallum at first to find her own pleasure, and then it rapidly evolves into them hooking up on the reg.

Similar to Winnie's sexual awakening, she also has this moment of questioning the compulsory heterosexuality she was raised with (at a Christmas-themed strip club lol), and while it didn't go much further than that, I did like the call out.

I liked Kallum more than I was expecting. I'm not usually a fan of himbo heroes, but his easygoing nature and unconditional acceptance of Winnie as she is was lovely to read. He's never infantilized the way some heroes of this persuasion are; a decent portion of the narrative is about him learning to own up to shit he wouldn't have in the past. I also liked the dad bod rep— body diversity in heroes is even rarer than with heroines, so reading about a man who is big, has a belly, and can absolutely get it was a nice change of pace.

I really liked the friendship between Kallum, Nolan, and Isaac. Male friendships is something I don't see often in romance novels. They've been through a lot and are often separated from each other, but they still have the kind of relationship that allows them to hit each other up after months of no communication, and then an hour later they're crying together about unrequited love.

In terms of conflict, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the second half waiting for the ex-husband or Winnie's uber-conservative parents to fuck shit up, but what we got instead was this really interesting moment of delayed uncertainty on Winnie's part regarding the suitability of Kallum as a long-term partner. I wasn't entirely sold on the inciting incident that caused Winnie's doubts, but it felt like such a valid fear and overall, Sierra and Julie did a good job of exploring the potential perils of a himbo partner.

The sex:

I loved reading about Winnie experimenting with masturbation and figuring out what worked for her. It was written in a way that was curious and joyful despite her delayed sexual exploration thanks to being entrenched in purity culture for so long. Basically, the Peppermint Stick vibrator was the gingerbread-scented hand lotion of this book (iykyk).

And once Winnie finally gets going, she and Kallum can't be stopped. There's a subtle emphasis on p-in-v sex not being the be-all-end-all (or a given, at first) which kinda fit the vibe of Winnie's almost high school-esque sexual experimentation with Kallum. Later on, there is, in fact, the rare contemporary romance butt stuff (do I think there should have been pegging at some point? perhaps).

Overall:

I had a lot of fun reading this Christmas-themed romance! It was sweet and sexy, and I look forward to reading the next book which I'm guessing is about Tragic Widower Who Assumes His Late Wife Wanted Him To Have That Threesome, Isaac Kelly.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Rating: 4.5/5

This series is adorable and filthy and I love Julie Murphy so very much. (Sorry Sierra- I’ve only read the two- I’m sure I love you too)

I almost had a hard time powering through the prologue and thought it was going to be too much- trying to jam every single woke point all at once. But glad I kept going.

Having not read the previous book by these authors, I didn't quite know what to expect. I don't feel like I was missing anything (other than more of Nolan's story) but I wasn't expecting the level of the sex scenes to be quite so explicit. It went well with the story and wasn't overkill but I had to get over a bit of my prudishness. :) Winnie and Kallum were great characters for this story. I enjoyed the holiday theme and the idea of a naughty Hallmark style Christmas movie. Highly recommend this one & I hope to read the next one when it comes out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

A Holly Jolly Ever After by S. Simone and J. Murphy, co-written by both authors, this is the second holiday rom/com after A Merry Little Meet Cute. The book is published by Avon and Harper Voyager.
Kallum is an ex-boy band member, witty and fun, always a goodtimeguy, about to star in a biopic.
Winnie has had the perfect life that just fell apart. She has to start over. So why not participate in a christmas movie.
Kallum and Winnie have known each other for a long time with Kallum having a crush on her and Winnie catching feelings herself.
An highly entertaining witty and fun, flirty read.

She’s a former child star fallen from grace. He’s a former boy band member who now owns a small chain of pizzerias. They both sign on to be the leads in a soft core Christmas film. She’s so awkward with it, that he agrees to be her tutor.
This is a hot romance story about learning to trust and being a dependable and responsible adult. The characters are very likable. They’ve got their problems, but lots of redeeming qualities too. You can’t help, but root for them to work things out. And, let’s just say that things get very steamy between them. Christmas is a minor character in this story. It’s really just a backdrop, so don’t look for it to play a big role in the plot. I’d call it an adult coming-of-age love story. Definitely for those who like their romance novels on the more passionate side. 4 stars