This is a tough one to review as it is a collection of five separate stories by five different authors. The premise is very fun and they are all very short so it's worth the read of you are in the Christmas spirit. These are all pretty spicy especially for the length of the story. With all that being said some of the stories were better developed than others. Cruel Winter with you by Ali Hazelwood is a story about childhood friends to lovers and he's been gone for her the whole time. For the length of the story, I thought there was really good character development and chemistry between the characters. I enjoyed that they've known each other for years And wasn't instalove.
Merry ever after by tessa bailey was disappointing. It's about a big man and a little lady and that's essentially all you need to know.
All by my elf by Olivia dade probably has the most fat fetched storyline. It's about two adjunct professors who work in a hot dog truck as their side gig. This was confusing and didn't work for me.
Merriment and mayhem by Alexandria bellefleur was adorable and sweet but ended very abruptly. The story was definitely instalove and she decided to move to this town for him after knowing him a handful of weeks.
Lastly, we have only Santas in the building which was probably my favorite of the five. Evie is a coming book illustrator on a deadline. Her hot neighbor wants to help give her some Christmas cheer. It's so sweet and feels like the best length of all of the stories and even has an epilogue.

These five short stories were so much fun to read, and oh so spicy!
Cruel Winter with you: I loved this second chance story! And a favorite trope too with the “snowed in together”. I loved these two and how they were able to finally get together!
Merry Ever After: single mom and hot farmer is not a trope that I thought I would like till Tessa wrote it. Super good and arguably the steamiest of the bunch! I adored where they ended up and wish I could get a much longer version of their story.
All by My Elf: coworker crushes! This was cute, but I didn’t love it as much as the others.
Merriment and Mayhem: this one made me laugh the most at the outrageous circumstances our female character kept finding herself in. And the banter was fantastic. This one was probably my favorite of the bunch.
Only Santas in the Building: I think my favorite things about this one was that our female character was a comic book artist (geeking out), and that he got crafty in his gifts of admiration to her. Swoon! Loved it.
All in all this averaged 4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 So much fun! Highly recommend.

This is an EXCELLENT collection of stories by some amazing authors! You know how sometimes in short stories (especially of the spicy variety), there just isn't really much *plot* or character development? That is COMPLETELY NOT the case in these stories! Yes these are short stories, but I never felt like any of them were lacking in "story!" They were all so charming, emotional, and intelligent! After I finished each story, I thought, "Oh, this one was so good, it's my favorite of the collection." Then I read the next story and thought the same thing. Each standalone story is excellent; there's not a dud in the bunch!

Holiday perfection! Short stories are a tough medium for romance in my opinion, but these were all delightful and I had no complaints! I think Ali Hazelwood's was my favorite, but I'd definitely recommend them all. I loved having so much variety in one short story collection. And the spice was delightful!! If you're a romance fan, you need to jump on these because you'll love them!

Perfect collection to get ready for the Holidays! I love all these amazing authors and their short stories were perfect! Only wish they were longer.

I adored this holiday novella series!!! all these authors are marvelous, and they’ve given us spicy holly jolliness that I just adored!

- Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood: this is the cutest spiciest story! I love a brothers best friend story, especially where he falls first & so much harder! Marc & Jamie are so incredibly gone for each other, I loved their little snowed in romp to clear the air & have the start to their hea 🥰
- Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey: what a fun, spicy, grumpy/sunshine story! I love a single parent x grumpy, down bad pairing & no one does it better than Tessa Bailey! Evie & Luke are so freaking adorable together, both have such strong wills & warm hearts & I love seeing them make their own happy little family together 🥹🫶
- All by My Elf by Olivia Dade: another spicy, adorable, tender loving story! William & Nina are so into each other but so shy about it, I love they have a cozy up for all the heat in realizing their mutual crushes can become an adorable, spicy hea 🥰
- Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellelfeur: I simply adored hot firefighter Griffin & clumsy Everligh! their sweet story starts & ends with sparks (cue laughter). I loved the way they showed such tenderness & comfort to each other while always being honest & funny in their intentions. I loved seeing them chose their happily ever after with each other 🥰🫶
- Only Santa’s in the Building Alexis Daria: the sweetest spiciest end to this novella series! I loved Evie & Theo’s connection to each other as neighbors & special twist on secret santa! they’re so sweet & loving with each other, I loved how they finally get together & keep their little traditions going. ❤️

Such a fun, easy read! I loved all these spicy little short stories and it got me in the mood for the holidays. Would recommend!

These were little festive bite sizes filled with cuteness, heat and romance.

- Cruel Winter with you: I liked that we got the history of Marc and Jamie and what led up to this stormy Christmas. Some heavy personal issues for the Jamie which could not be fully delved into since it was a novella. But enjoyed it overall.

- Merry ever after: As always with TB very hot. Nice chemistry between the leads Evie and Luke. Cute short story with heat.

- All by my elf: This was okay, but did not grab me. My least favourite in the collection.

- Merriment and mayhem: Okay but again did not grab my attention.

- Only Santa’s in the building: really liked the title, premise, our leading lady and our leading man.

Overall for the whole collection 3.5 🌟

This was a nice collection of Christmas-themed short stories. I struggle with short stories as I just want MORE and want them to be a bit more fleshed out. I felt that way with all of these stories - they were so engaging and entertaining that I wished they were all full length novels. I especially loved Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey's stories - they felt the most polished and put together for being a short story. I would read the crap out of Ali Hazelwood's Cruel Winter With You! This was a nice little foray into holiday reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book before release.

Cruel Winter with You — 5/5
☆ he falls first
☆ childhood friends

I absolutely adored this story. I’ve been a fan of Ali Hazelwood for years and she never disappoints.
A very cute enemies to lovers with childhood flashbacks that make you love the characters more and more with each page.


Merry Ever After — 5/5
☆ small town romance
☆ single mother

I’ve read over 20 Tessa Bailey books at this point and they just keep getting better and better.
I instantly fell in love with Evie and Luke.
I really wish this was a full novel because I wanted more!


All by My Elf — 2/5
☆ forced proximity
☆ friends to lovers

I really wasn’t vibing with this one which is a shame because I usually like Olivia Dade’s books.
The main characters just didn’t hit for me. I didn’t like that a “funny little quirk” about Nina was that she is always speeding. I don’t find that funny at all.
William is just kind of bland. Both of them are really. They don’t really have personalities.
I think this one just wasn’t for me.


Merriment and Mayhem — 5/5
☆ firefighter
☆ small town romance

Oh my god, I truly with this was longer. I loved every second of this. I’m obsessed with Everleigh and Griffin. They had so much chemistry.
The pacing of this was also really great! Even though it was a short story it didn’t feel like they were rushed at all.


Only Santas in the Building — 5/5
☆ neighbours to lovers

This was my first time reading anything from Alexis Daria and it definitely won’t be the last. I’ve been hearing good things about her over the last few months so I went into this pretty high expectations and was not disappointed at all.
I loved everything about this and really wish this was a full length novel!

I was very much looking forward to reading this short-story collection when I snagged it as "Read Now" on NetGalley this month. Ali Hazelwood is one of my favorite authors, I've loved the Bellinger Sisters duology by Tessa Bailey, and therefore I was excited to read those stories and discover new authors with similar writing styles.

Unfortunately, these fell short for me. While I try not to find fault with the short story format here, I found most of these cringe-worthy and not believable. I did like the flashbacks included in Hazelwood's novella as they added sufficient depth, but very strongly disliked the main trope of the story. The rest of the stories were fine for what they were, but I felt they were forgettable.

If you're looking for the ease of short stories and something Christmasy-y this holiday season, you may like these for a comfortable afternoon of reading. Huge thanks to the authors, Amazon Original Stories, and NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cruel Winter with You - Ali Hazelwood
Jamie and Marc have known each other their entire lives, and Marc has been in love with Jamie for years. Now, they are both adults, and back home for Christmas. Jamie heads to Marc’s house in a snowstorm to grab a copper pan that her dad needs to make ham. The snowstorm is terrible though, and Jamie gets stuck there. Before she knows it, they are playing Truth or Drink, and as truths start unraveling, sparks ignite and heat up the chilly night.

I loved this short and sweet childhood friends to lovers romance. Jamie’s character had so many doubts about herself and her life, but Marc always saw the best in her. I loved how honest and open they were able to be with each other by the end. There’s a touch of spice at the end, and while I would love for this story to be explored more, it did feel like a complete story.


Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey
Evie is a single mom and new in town. The local farmer, Luke, keeps showing up at the thrift shop she works at looking handsome and searching for jeans that fit. Evie isn’t looking for anything serious, but she makes Luke a custom pair of jeans and then sparks fly when she delivers them personally.

This story was very insta-lovey in a way that didn’t quite work for me. I really would have enjoyed a little bit more build up to the relationship, or even just skipping the part where Evie didn’t want anything serious before immediately changing her mind. It also just didn’t have quite enough holiday vibes for me even though the story occurred around Christmas. I did enjoy Evie’s strength and independence.


All by my Elf - Olivia Dade
Nina and William are adjunct professors working a side job that involved driving a Mincemobile and making lots of puns. They get stranded in the Mincemobile during a blizzard and realize they have been crushing on each other for months.

This one was a little confusing at the start, but I figured out what was going on pretty quickly. It was full of puns which I enjoyed. I do think it was maybe a little bit too much information up front, which didn’t leave enough time to really build the romance as much as I would have liked. Overall, Nina and William were cute together and this was a quick easy read.


Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur
Everleigh Dangerfield seems to keep getting herself into situations that require handsome firefighter Brantley to save her. First there’s a baking disaster, and then when trying to hang Christmas lights, she finds herself dangling from the side of the house. Everleigh is only visiting so she doesn’t want anything serious, but Brantley keeps showing up and soon she can’t stop herself from giving him a chance.

This novella was so much fun. I loved the romcom vibes and banter between Everleigh and Brantley. I do think it could have benefitted from a tiny bit more relationship building, but it was a fun and easy read. This was my first time reading anything by Alexandria Bellefleur, but it won’t be my last!


Only Santas in the Building - Alexis Daria
Evie is pretty new to the apartment building, and she’s been so busy she hasn’t even had time to get her Christmas ornaments out of storage. When cute little ornaments start appearing on her door, she has no idea who they are from. She finally figures it out after meeting her handsome upstairs neighbor under the mistletoe.

This is a short and sweet novella. I loved the banter and chemistry between the main characters. The holiday vibes were absolute perfection. I also loved that we got some of Evie’s backstory, so it felt more like a complete story. This one was really fun and enjoyable!

Great little collection of holidays novella.

Overall 4⭐️

Cruel winter with you by Ali Hazelwood.

4.5⭐️ I wanted more of this! He falls first and harder and I fell for Ali’s words again! I am not sure how she managed to make me feel so many emotions in so little pages but I loved it. Perfect caught in a snow storm holidays novella.

Merry ever after by Tessa Bailey.
2.5⭐️ This one didn’t work for me as much. It had its moments but overall too insta love. And I didn’t love the caveman damsel in distress vibes.

All my Elf by Olivia Dade.
3⭐️Despite the name this had the least « christmassy » feeling to me. Other than the snow storm nothing screamed Christmas to me. I liked that both the FMC and MMC were more mature, the story was sweet, but the start felt confusing and I wasn’t overly invested.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur.
4.25⭐️ Another new author to me and I really enjoyed it. I loved the flirty tone right away. Griffin could come and rescue me anytime. 🥰

Only Santas in the building by Alexis Daria.
4.25⭐️I did this one on audio and this author was new to me. I loved the tone right away. Evie’s internal dialogue has a cute neurotic YA feel to it and Theo is a sweetheart who is all about acts of kindness. Short and sweet. This is a single POV and I thought the narrator did a great job.

Thank you NetGalley & Amazon original stories for the advanced reading copy, all my opinions are my own.

Under the Mistletoe Collection is a fun set of short stories to get you in the holiday mood. Each of the five stories are written by a popular romance author. There is a range of the amount of Christmas featured in each of the stories. Some were full of cheer and others were a bit spicier. Overall, they left me in a happy holiday mood!

If you’re looking for a quick light read to put you in the holiday mood, be sure to pick up the Under the Mistletoe Collection!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an advanced copy of this book!

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood, 4 stars– lots of emotions and angst here, but some really cute moments too

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey, 5 stars – oh wow, the heat that radiated off the pages between these two, shy, vulnerable people, it was scorching!

All By My Elf by Olivia Dade – I got confused right at the start by the tense and who was who almost immediately and skimmed the story because of that

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandra Bellefleur, 4 stars – a cute romcom with a firefighter and a bad luck heroine

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria, 3 stars – cute story about neighbours who keep having miscommunication problems

This was so cute! I loved every story and can’t wait to read more by some of the authors I haven’t read a lot of books from. Will recommend this to everyone for the holiday season.

Cruel Winter With You: 3.5⭐️I love childhood to lovers tropes. I wished the Christmas feels were throughout the story, there were flashbacks within each chapter and it tied the end really well. You definitely got PhD Ali Hazelwood nerdy/witty comments in the book which I enjoyed as well!
Merry Ever After: 4.5⭐️ Wow. Starting off with the steam in the x-mas season!?! LOVE. Tessa is just comical and I loved getting the Christmas feels out of this novella. As it being a novella, be aware of the fast paced storylines...
All By My Elf: 3.5⭐️ i had some trouble relating to the FMC as the way she acted in some situations didn’t fit her appropriate age? I absolutely got hooked reading this as it was comical and couldn’t image being stranded in a weiner dog shaped auto-mobile 😂 i thought it was cute and the romance was ok to me. Not my favorite out of the mini novellas!
Merriment and Mayhem: 5⭐️ just as pictured in the cover, starts off with the FMC oven on fire and meets her prince, a fireman that sounds absolutely 🔥 and their chemistry was just how i expected to be! Not one disappointed and i enjoyed more of the Christmas holiday celebration in this novella.
Only Santas In the Building: 5⭐️ Im always up for a neighbors to lovers trope! I absolutely enjoyed this as it was holiday themed from the first page to the end. The writing for this author was my favorite our of all of the novellas.
Thank you netgalley for giving my my first opportunity to read these and I was not disappointed at all. Thank you for sharing the holiday spirit!

Novella’s often are a great way to test out authors in a sub genre and see if they can really flex their creativity and writing skills in a short form. In the Under the Mistletoe collection five romance authors gather and each write their own little holiday story.

In Cruel Winter by Ali Hazelwood, with you we follow a paediatrician and a billion that are childhood friends that grow up and fall in love. They’re reunited on Christmas Eve and thanks to a missing copper pan they rekindle a flame that’s been burning since their birth. Ali Hazelwood rarely misses and with Cruel Winter plus Two Can Play readers are well fed for the cold winter holiday months. I’m giving this 4 stars.

Followed by Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey, this is my first time reading anything by the author and I found it to be mediocre (don’t judge me, I just wasn’t impressed!). A farmer and single mother fashion designer come together fairly quickly and fall in lust not love in my opinion. I give this 3 stars.

Up next, All by My Elf. Whew, I was so confused with this novella and how it opened. I tried to find a hook that usually happens to keep my interest. But sorry to share that I DNF’d it. All I know it’s something about mince pies? Anyways, this one wasn’t for me, 2 stars.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur, was just scrumptious. When her grandmother dies Everleigh feels the pressure to keep Christmas traditions alive which include baking gingerbread cookies and putting up Christmas lights. But both incidents results in the Fire Department being called. She’s accident prone and immediately has a connection with firefighter Griffin. This is what I love about novellas, if it’s really good it pushes me to want to read the authors backlog which I’m tempted to do now! 5 stars.

Finally Only Santas in the Building, one of my favourite romance authors is Alexis Daria. So reading a Christmas novella by her really made me happy. Theo and Evie live in the same building and attend a Christmas party while their neighbours play matchmakers. Adorable and hit the Christmas notes perfectly, giving this 4.5 stars.

So overall here’s how I rank them:

1. Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur
2. Only Santas in the Building; Alexis Daria
3. Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood
4. Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey; Fields of Gold by Ellie Goulding.
5. All by My Elf - Olivia Dade

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for the ARC! Overall giving the collection 4.5 stars.

This was a really cute collection of stories! If you love a Christmassy romcom and enjoy a bit of spice, this will definitely be the perfect read.

Cruel Winter with You
I loveee Ali Hazelwood and this is just the perfect little taste of her fun writing style. He falls first and harder is just classic and always hits.

Merry Ever After
I’m not a Tessa Bailey fan and didn’t make it past the second chapter.. The concept just felt so on the nose and outlandish, not for me at the very least :)

All by my Elf
This was such a cute story. Haven’t read much by Olivia Dade before but definitely a bit of fun and the situation was slightly crazy but in a way that felt realistic.

Merriment and Mayhem
Never read a firefighter romance before but might be time for one after this story… So cute, so fun, very enjoyable. It was quite established for a short story as well which I enjoyed.

Only Santas in the Building
Handsome neighbour who helps carry stuff and hand makes ornaments?? Where can I sign up please! Loved reading this and made me wanna kick my feet lol

Under the Mistletoe was such a cute collection of short holiday romance reads.

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐⭐️⭐️
Ali Hazelwood continues to write the type of romance that I crave.
Cruel Winter with You is just over 70 pages long and still felt like a complete story.
The shared history between Marc and Jamie and flashback scenes in which we get to watch them fall in love really sold their connection.
I loved it.

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐
A typical Tessa Bailey read; fast, spicy, holiday fun.

All by My Elf by Olivia Dade
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐
A sweet co-workers to more holiday novella.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐⭐
I love firemen and I loved this story.

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My second favorite in the collection. Alexis Daria is a new-to-me author, and I cannot wait to read more of their work.
I loved Evie and Theo’s story.
It left me wanting more.