please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: mild kinda open-door spicy scenes
TWs:parental abandonment, death of spouse (recounted), emotional manipulation, cheating (recounted, not MCs)
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this was a medium-paced Christmas read that was easy to read. There were some great tropes and some good scenes with anticipation that kept the story moving forward, however I didn’t feel like I connected to any of the MCs enough to “care” more than a 3 star read. It was by no means a bad story or writing but the cover and description made me imagine a silly holiday romcom with spice but instead we got some heavy topics, odd side characters that didn’t add a lot of value to the story (though some were really great!), a FMC I didn’t find myself rooting for, and a MMC who I didn’t understand his motivations.

read this book if you love

🏝️ forced proximity
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
🎄 holiday themes
👩‍👦 single parent
💓 slowburn
🏡 small town
🤫 hidden secrets
😳 forbidden lovers (single dad/nanny)

A really sweet and funny Christmas romance but had lots of depth to it. It was perfect for these cold nights and I was rooting for them from the moment they met

A cute Christmas read
Hated the friend
Loved the MMC and his kids and ex wife's family
Loved the FMC
Not sure any of the characters could really be considered christmasholics tho...


Would have loved a longer ending or epilogue

Confessions of a Christmasholic:

Sutton Alsop hates Christmas. So much so, when confronted with a house that looks like Santa himself vomited Christmas all over it, she accidentally (drunkenly) destroys every fairy light, fake reindeer and candy cane in sight. Unfortunately for Sutton, this house belongs to none other than Gus Langston, single dad and owner of the village’s year-round Christmas shop – aka Mr Christmas himself.

But Mr Christmas has a secret only Sutton knows…

With the two of them forced together for the holidays, the sparks between them are hot enough to melt even the coldest of hearts!


This book was absolutely brilliant! I normally can really struggle with Christmas romances because they can be overly festive (where everything about the book is Christmas related) However with this one the Christmas related events and items were very muted and in the background so they didn’t take over the plot. I found myself laughing out loud constantly throughout as we had the plain realness of toddlers and the chaos they bring and also Sutton was just unapologetically herself and she was sooo relatable.

I really enjoyed the exploration of grief and the guilt that gus faced with regards to this, I think it was explained beautifully and it really captured the essence of how grief affects everyone. It was really interesting to see how he dealt being left as a single parent and taking on the responsibilities of his deceased partner. I couldn’t imagine a situation like this one.

I love a grumpy x sunshine trope and this one was PERFECT!!! The chemistry between Sutton and gus was absolutely delicious- it made me kick my feet and giggle because I was so excited. The spice was also so hot and I liked that it wasn’t repetitive and we could see the real feelings show in those moments as well.

Overall, I’m really surprised by this book and I’m so glad that I read this! It completely blew my expectations out of the park and I will be reading more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book!

This one wasn't great.
I really tried because I love christmas so I really wanted to love this book.
The heroine was a lot. I've seen reviews saying this was a reverse grump sunshine- it wasn't. He was grumpy for sure. Their chemistry just wasn't there. The book lacked pacing and it just fell flat as a read.

It felt like a weird mix between closed door and open door romance. Overall the one wasn't for me.

Thank you netgalley an the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Sutton Alsop despises Christmas, and one drunken night, she accidentally wrecks a Santa's-grotto-level house, not realizing it's owned by none other than Gus Langston—AKA Mr. Christmas. With him being the local holiday cheer champion, sparks are bound to fly as they're stuck together during the festive season.

Okay, "confession of a Christmasholic" threw me a curveball. I was expecting a classic holiday romance, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. The setup—Christmas hater meets Mr. Christmas himself—had promise, and I usually love a SunshineXGrumpy trope, but the execution left me unsatisfied.

Plus, the side characters were there, but they didn't really get their moment. It's like the story missed chances to really dive into the characters and their world.
The book had its cute moments and holiday spirit, but it left me wanting a bit more depth and complexity. If you're into light, no-fuss holiday romance with a heavy Christmas vibe, this might be it for you!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This might be my first romance read without a happily ever after, and with just a happily for now. I got to the end of this book and in the absence of an epilogue I genuinely have no idea if I think these characters will end up together permanently.

This book was a decently good read, with wonderfully flawed children, funny parts, and a decent amount of tackling grief. There was also great chemistry and steamy scenes.

But the ending of this book really left me wanting more.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐️⭐️💫
𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: Rated R / 2-4 descriptive sex scenes, may have harsh language.
𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: past death of spouse, past parent abandonment, end of friendship
𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦: 4/5 - Tackled some seriously tough topics.

3.5 stars. Love a Christmas book and enjoyed the reverse grumpy sunshine trope as well as single dad and nanny trope. Enjoyable book and would recommend to anyone looking for a fun Christmas read.

Such an enjoyable story, with a very memorable opening chapter between Sutton and Gus. After all you don't see someone punching an inflatable santa every day.

But thanks to this, it leads to Sutton ending up as a nanny to his adorable 4 year old twins. And Gus who present a Christmas loving persona to the world, is less keen on it in private, and Sutton has never experienced a British Christmas. However she agrees to give the twins the best festive period she can.

And thus we have all manner of fabulously festive activities going on, and the twins are fabulous Not only that there are two pets a dog and a pig that I think, thinks its a dog.

it was just a really entertaining story, and I loved getting to know both of our lead characters. Learning Sutton's circumstances including her rather toxic friendship, and also discovering just why Gus is a single father, and outwardly appearing to love Christmas, is really a pleasure to discover.

I had a great time reading this festive treat.

Thank you to One More Chapter and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I enjoyed this one, but didn’t love it. I really enjoyed grumpy Gus with his sense of obligation to his small town’s Christmas. However, Sutton was a pushover who let her “best friend” walk all over her, and it felt like it was brought up constantly. The Christmas spirit in this book was high. I loved the feelings of family (both relations and found family) that came throughout the story. Gus’ neighbors and his mother-in-law were great characters that I liked more than Sutton herself.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for honest review.

2.5 stars. A single dad, nanny, small English countryside, Christmas theme.. this should have killed. I wanted to love this romcom but it fell flat. I had the worst first impression of our fmc, almost dnfed this book after the first 3 pages. The romance happened too fast, I want tension, I want longing. Sutton and Gus were so immediately head over heels, he’s planning the long term after one kiss? Please, no. Not it for me

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this arc!

I thought this was a really fun book but I loved the dynamic of how he trusted her to make her own decisions when it came to the friendship but knew deep down what would happen and he was there!

A really cute, Christmassy read that I think lots of people will love!

3.5 stars!

Confessions of a a Chrismasholic should be on your list to buy and read. It was so funny and sweet, with a bit of spice on the side.

I received a free copy of Confessions of a Christmasholic for review.

This was my first read by Joss Wood. The summary made it seem like a grumpy-sunshine trope, with the MMC being a sunshine Christmasholic. However, they both had a lot to deal with during the story. There were some slow parts, but the story picked up about halfway in. The characters grow and learn a lot about themselves during the story.

When I picked up Confessions of a Christmasholic, I expected at least one main character to love Christmas, but that was not the case. When Sutton meets Gus, she is drunk and he is punching an inflatable Santa. What ensues from there is a story of redemption and self-discovery. Unfortunately, for a Christmas romance, this fell a bit flat for me. It took me awhile to enjoy the characters and to be invested in the story. The mother-in-law and lovable neighbors were the best part of this book. Overall, it is a decent and enjoyable read, and would be exactly right for an audience who wants a Christmas book, without as many frills and Hallmark vibes.

This book is super cute but there was definitely elements in it that bothered me. I love all Christmas books and I’m a sucker for sweet contemporary at this time of year, but I did feel there was some forced proximity and sexism in the book. However there was definitely amazing elements and I would try this author again

This was so bad and I struggled to read through this. It jumped all over the place - Sutton was stranded on vacation and some guy (Gus) took pity on her drunk self and offered her a place to stay, she became his kids’ nanny and then she all of a sudden fell in love with him. They didn’t have a lot of interactions or time to explore those feelings so I was left confused as to where the love came from. There was also so much sexist and gendered comments and remarks that it gave me the ick. Idk this was a mess, I would’ve DNF but this was an ARC from Netgalley so I felt I had to finish it.

I probably shouldn’t have requested this one- I don’t usually like holiday romance books. I barely like the movies! DNF, couldn’t really get into and too corny.

Everyone’s got at least one bookish pet peeve and mine is a spicy read behind a cute innocent looking cover. The spice in this was strike one for me as I didn’t see it marketed anywhere. Strike two was the pacing of the story as I found it way too slow and a little boring. I also found it a tad on the sexist side so strike three, this one’s out for me :(

I was really hoping for a happy Christmas romcom but this book didn’t do it for me. This book was so slow. The characters also lacked any depth and really fell flat. The book was so sexist that it really killed it for me. We are in 2023 now and I don’t know things are still written like this.