that book was so good until it became the raunchiest thing ive ever read im still compartmentalizing pls respect my space in this time.

4 stars because Im still holding out for Iris' book

Loved the first book so I could not wait to dive into this one. The banter is even better in this! Loved that we got to see and evolve with Kris throughout the book. Love the setting again. Love the new characters. Just such a fun and heartfelt read.

I found this book cute, cozy, and at times humorous and sexy, just like the first in the series. For better or worse, supporting characters on Kris’s side are who they are and don’t have a lot of character growth, so I’m thankful he has people on his side who fiercely support him and encourage him to make choices that will make him happy. One thing that I just can’t get over is the timeline. Lust to love in a couple of days? Nah. At least in book one they fell in love over weeks, not hours. Enjoyable, but not believable.

This is the second in a series and in my mind, just as good as the first. It is an enemies to lovers mm romance that hits all the right notes. The characters have great chemistry, you get to learn more about the main protagonists from the first book (I love Coal and Hex an awful lot!) and the book is full of the clever wit that was in The Nightmare Before Kissmas. People are really going to enjoy this book.

I am obsessed with this book. I have nothing bad to say about it at all. It's in my top ten books of the entire year. I am so fully serious. I absolutely devoured it. I tore through it, I could not stop. This is my new favorite series.

I try to approach my Netgalley reviews with eloquence and professionalism, but let me tell you: I am absolutely foaming at the mouth for this series. I adore it. I have been handselling the heck out of Kissmas - we cannot keep enough copies in the store. I handed it to one of our regulars yesterday and he said immediately that he would buy it. And I know everyone who read and loved book one will read and love book two.

Ok, brains on. I loved the discussion about nationalism and the importance of St. Patrick's Day. This was so much more emotional than I thought it would be. I love how Raasch handles family issues and relationships, and I love how different Kris is from Coal, and how dependent and close the brothers are.

And I LOVED that I got to see more of Hex. I just. I love Hex so much. I LOVE him. He is my book crush.

Netgalley, I will sell the HECK out of this book.

When the first book ended and I read the description for this one, I have to say I was really intrigued. I couldn't picture where the author was going with this, but it worked out for the best. It's one of those rare times where I think the sequel is better than the first entry.

The first book leaves us knowing that Kris is heartbroken after unknown events occur with Iris, his best friend and love interest for the first book. Fresh off of that, this book picks up only a few months later and we see both the winter holiday negotiations wrapping up and Kris trying to understand what his role in Christmas is now that his brother is in charge.

A lot of this book centers around self discovery and comes with many complex and raw emotions including anxiety, depression, self loathing, and panic attacks. The portrayal of mental illness is handled rather well and it was really relatable to my own college years.

Loch is introduced as the new romantic interest and there's an enemies to lovers plot going on here. I'm not going to lie, I ate that up. The romance, the angst, the conflict are all pretty juicy and up my alley. It's very Hallmark-esque in how smoothly things go throughout the book, but if you're here you know that from the first one anyway.

I will say, my biggest issue is that the main course of plot events takes place in less than a week. It's very rapid in terms of developing a connection and I wish it had been fleshed out across a longer period of time.

That being said, I enjoyed this so much. It was a nice guilty pleasure read and I hope the author revisits this world again. I love how creative it is and there's a lot of opportunities to expand on other holidays that I'd love to see.