The porn family trope with this series is getting a little tired. The authors also blew the reader out of the water with way too many characters right off the bat. Wasn't for me, but I have bookish friends who have enjoyed.

Probably my favourite Christmas read of this year, this was really fun and I loved the goofy and pine-y narration!

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Thank you so much for letting me read an advanced copy! I am so excited. This is the third book in the series. I absolutely loved it. It’s the perfect addition to Christmas Mitch stories. I wish that more was coming out. It’s awesome mix of smut and romance with a holiday twist. I can’t wait to binge read the whole series next Christmas. I will def be coming back to these!

DNF @21% - I tried. I really did. This just didn't really work for me. I tried to push myself to at least the 25% mark but I just couldn't do it. I just wasn't clicking with the writing. It was fine for the most part but then a character would refer to his penis as a "disco stick" completely seriously, and I just couldn't do it. That's just the worst example I came across but there were just so many examples of super cringey writing I just couldn't. I did think the b-plot was really interesting, but I just couldn't buy into the romance already. I feel like Sunny was just kind of immature, and she didn't give the impression that she would ever be interested in settling down outside of general sociatal pressures. Isaac completely isn't over his dead wife yet, and yet he is completely obsessed with Sunny already. It just kind of reads like he wants to use her to escape his shit. I genuinely don't think either of these people should be in a relationship, especially with each other. I also feel like this book had some tonal issues, with the deeper/more serious discussions around Isaac's grief being interrupted with cringey shit and LOOOOTS of lust. It just felt so incredibly jarring to me. I don't know, reading some reviews I just don't think this book is the book for me at all.

Absolutely loved this Christmas sexy, spicy book! Perfect for the holidays and it was written so well!!

Dnf'd I loved the first book in this series. Thought it was fantastic. But dnf'd 2 others so think it's just not for me. I love a spicy romance but this must not be the series for me.

⭐️ 3.5 ⭐️

this was exactly what I needed for the holiday jolly 😌
I knew that the second book was a fluke. This is the cute Christmas Notch series I remembered & adored from Nolan & Bee’s story🫶

I adored Sunny. She was so cute and lovable to me 🥹 and Isaac and his pining and sad boy were also absolutely adorable!! They both made me laugh out loud a couple of times while reading 🤭

Ugh, this was just adorable all around!! I enjoyed this!

This is a holiday Romcom with plenty of steamy romance and brooding. Sunny and Isaac find themselves as roommates, lovers, and both on deadlines to their respective employers. It has plenty of grumpy sunshine vibes and the typical misunderstood character plots. I enjoyed this romance story. It was a cute, fast read, with lots of steamy scenes. After all, Sunny is an adult film star and Isaac is a Rockstar!

I figured A Jingle Bell Mingle would be my favorite from the Christmas Notch trilogy just from the tropes, but I ended up loving it more because it went into depth touching on topics of grief and loss, and uncovering the town's legendary love story. Being on-set filming movies in the first two books was fun, but I enjoyed the setting being more around town and the mansion that Isaac bought. We still get plenty of the side characters, but this focuses more on the two mains.

Isaac and Sunny have been weighed down with grief over losing his wife and her parents in the past, and they have both been dealing with it in their own ways - Isaac shutting everyone out, and Sunny running from commitment. They are able to both bond over that and help each other see the other side. It was a much more heartfelt relationship development than the first too, though just as steamy.

I liked Teddy, the boss/father-figure to the whole group, narrating the pro/epilogues for the series. It threw me off a bit in book 1, but by this book I really enjoyed his perspective from somewhat on the outside. We were also able to get a full development of his budding relationship, considering they only got 6 chapters and a few mentions.

- You can expect -
Holiday Romcom
Christmas Miracles
Grumpy/Sunshine
One Night Stand to Roommates
Snowed In with Only One Bed
Be My Muse
Second Chances
Grief & Healing
- From the Whole Series -
Found Family
Body Positivity
Queer Rep
VT Mountain Town
Early30s MCs
Dual, 1stP POV

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/HarperVoyager for providing an eARC for my honest opinion.

It is the next installment in the Christmas Notch series and it was great to revisit the characters as all the friends from A merry Little Meet Cute and A Holly Jolly Ever After Appear. It is a cute Christmas romance, but as some of the others in the series maybe too steamy for me. Like it felt gratuitous and not really needed in some parts.

Waited to read this until the holiday season but was underwhelmed. It’s definitely got a LOT of sex positive representation since it’s full of porn stars and various forms of sexuality. Read it overnight when I couldn’t sleep. Didn’t care at all about the plot. Skimmed it all. Lots of grief talk between the MCs which took away from the lightness of a holiday read, but did give depth to the characters. I didn’t really understand the push for a muse or why so much of the romance felt at a standstill. But the steam was steamy, even if that’s really all we got from the relationship.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I want to start by saying I have yet to read the other two books in this series but I am not sure I will as this one wasn’t really it for me. While I love a good spicy book, this book felt like all spice and no plot. As a holiday romance, I didn’t get much of a romantic storyline.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this as an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reading of A Jingle Bell Mingle, which is the latest installment in the Christmas Notch series. This installment continues to deliver all the festive cheer, emotional depth, and steamy romance fans have come to love! These books are like the Hallmark holiday movies we all love, but with a tad bit spicy. In this installment we follow Sunny and Isaac in a story with forced proximity and unexpected connections. Sunny, a part-time adult film star and former director, finds herself in a bind after accidentally selling her first screenplay to the wholesome Hope channel. Six months later, and a fast approaching deadline and nothing to show, She returns to Christmas Notch, Vermont, with hopes that the town’s Christmas miracle will help her to finish the screenplay, Isaac, a former bad-boy musician and the latest owner of the town’s historic mansion who is still grieving the loss of his beautiful bride. Isaac has also been stuck in a creative rut, so he decides to try the holiday genre, much to the chagrin of his music label. After a series of amusing events, Isaac ends up inviting Sunny to move in with him, This new roommate situation sets the stage for plenty of sparks and heartfelt moments. Their playful antics and banter help to break their creative dry spell. While this story is fun and flirty, it also brings true heartfelt emotions. This book is true magic in the Christmas spirit.

Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone have done it again- another stellar (and spicey) Xmas story from Christmas Notch. Sunny Palmer has sold her her first screenplay to the Hope Channel and while she's got spunk she's also got writer's block that she can't kick and no money. Isaac Kelly, wealthy former boy-band member, continues to mourn the loss of his wife and his friends are growing more and more concerned for him.

When Isaac finds Sunny needing a place to land while she writes, he's got the perfect solution- she can be his muse and live at his place. But Sunny isn't having the muse part and instead agrees to help him FIND a muse. The only problem is they can't keep their hands off each other and as it's heating up it might also be getting more complicated. Full of big emotions and more than a few laughs, this was a perfect way to wind up the Christmas Notch holidays.

If you are looking for a heartwarming holiday read, this book checks all the boxes! Set in a charming small town, it perfectly captures the cozy, snowed-in feeling and blends humor, spice, and heartfelt moments perfectly. What also stood out to me were the characters. They felt authentic and relatable, with complexities that made their journeys feel genuine rather than overly polished or simplified. Yes, some elements stretched believability, but that's part of the charm with a Hallmark-esque Christmas love story-it made the experience all the more fun and magical.

Thank you @netgalley &@harpercollins for sending me a copy!

I had a hard time getting into this book. The beginning is really confusing and I didn't really like the porn star element. I thought it wasn't really realistic. I loved their other books but this was a dud for me.

I feel like this was a novel that really wasn’t at all about the main couple.

Don’t get me wrong: I loved Issac and Sunny. The romance was hot and heavy with amazing chemistry and they were friends to top it all off.

But… but this book was really about grief and how you deal with it. This book was about moving on after tragedy. This book was about living your life how you wanted to. It was about friends and family and support systems and repairing relationships.

And man did it hit me right in the feels for all those things. We finally see a conclusion to Teddy and Steph’s romance (which, if we’re being honest with ourselves, has been the most interesting romance plot in the entire series.) We get to see all our favorite couples and plot lines tied up in a bow.

Was this my favorite book of this series? Actually, no, that would probably be Angel and Luca’s story cuz they’re freaking adorable, but yeah, probably. This one was more relatable and more real and while there was definitely romance and smut and all those things… there was also so much more that was REAL in this book.

4.5 stars!

What a perfect conclusion to a really fun, charming, unique Christmas series! I’ve been invested for two books and two novellas and couldn’t wait to read this book. It did not disappoint!

One thing this novel (and all the other Christmas Notch novels) did really well was balancing the secondary characters in the story. They added SO MUCH personality but never overshadowed our lead characters. Specifically with this book, I loved seeing all of our other former leads pop in and out in a way that still made the story about Sunny and Isaac but we also got a glimpse into their lives. Their connections to each other had me crying by the end.

I loved that this story focused on Isaac because his character remained a total mystery to us for the rest of the series. We knew about Sunny from the previous two books, but discovering all of her layers and secrets allowed us to see something deeper in her. Getting to know Isaac and Sunny genuinely felt like making friends.

The theme of how we manage and cope with our grief in the book was really beautifully done. This cannot be understated. The book is quirky and endearing, but the deeper grief our leads shared added a lot of complexity to the story that I found the first two books may have been lacking.

I can’t end this without mentioning that when we learn how the book got it’s name.. I was immediately weepy. Talk about a perfect ending.

Oh, and this book was quite spicy if that’s your thing! Maybe out of the norm for your holiday reads but.. It worked really, really well. The spice compliments the overarching themes of the novel perfectly.

Overall, I enjoyed the Christmas Notch series so much and am so sad to see it end. It was fun and overall just a great series to read if you need something a little different, with a lot of charm, and some holiday cheer!

Sugar, spice, and everything nice. Just what I expect from these two authors! Loving this little world they've created for us!

I have read the other books in this series, and I got 20% into this one, but I had to DNF it. I thought this one was boring and didn't think the story moved fast enough. Honestly, this surprised me because Sierra Simone is one of my favorite authors so I was shocked I didn't enjoy it.