This was cute! I felt like sometimes the prose kind of got in it's own way, but this was a charming silly story. Folks that liked the first book should definitely check this one out.

Thank you NetGalley and Bramble for the ARC! Go Luck Yourself is the companion book to The Nightmare before Kissmas and book two of the Royals and Romance Series. Prince of Christmas Kris is sent to Ireland as diplomatic (but fact finding) mission, and will need to win over the Prince of St. Patrick's Day, Lochlan, who just so happens to be Kris's university rival (the two had quite the sparring over a study room). Sparks fly between the two, but are sparks of love or loathing. With the same humor and heart of the Nightmare Before Kissmas, but a little more slowburn before the spice, Go Luck Yourself is sure to please fans of the first, as well as readers who love rivals/enemies to lovers.

STOP HOW WAS THIS CUTER THAN BOOK ONE?!

The enemies to lovers, the “wait I’ve hated you before?!”
The oh shit he’s hot

I love them. I love this series.

The only qualm I had with this book is again it’s a bit wordy. Less words to make the same points would be amazing.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of Go Luck Yourself🍀

After what can only be dubbed as the tinsel incident, Kris, spare to the Christmas throne, must atone for his misdeeds by spending the week prior to St Patrick's Day in Ireland with none other than the prince of luck himself, Lochlann. While these two clash more often than not, together they find something hotter and stronger than they thought previously: love.

Such a delightful sequel. While it took me some time to get used to Kris, Loch was an amazing love interest and I adored his character growth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

I swear Sara Raasch is putting crack in these books. I can't get enough of these holiday hijinks with these queer royals and everything that comes from their interactions. I love Coal and Hex in the first book, as well as the cast of supporting characters, but especially Kris, the often overshadowed one versus his brother's outward antics.

And Kris has met his match with the gruff St. Patrick's Day prince, the very same guy who has been stealing his study room at school. The insults between these two are wonderfully antagonistic and absolutely charming, that you can't help but fall for Kris and Loch right from the get go.

This book is funny and relatively unserious, but it is an amazingly fun read.

This was a really good and entertaining book. We met Kris in the first book because he is the other son of Christmas. Here he needs to investigate who is stealing joy and the suspect is the Crown Prince of St. Patrick’s Day Lachlan. I really enjoyed that both characters already had antagonist relation ship, which made them falling for each other even more satisfying. There’s a lot of emotion involved in this book for both characters. I really like the politics involved in between all the holidays and the story itself was charming and you were rooting for them to fall for each other the whole time.

Kris, second son and heir presumptive to the Christmas Holiday (his brother was just crowned king), unwittingly provokes an inter-holiday scandal by pranking the Prince of St. Patrick's Day. Kris heads to Ireland to give the Holiday Press a wholesome story to print, since he feels like a jerk after making Prince Lochlann look bad. But that's not all - Kris is also "undercover" investigating the theft of some Christmas joy (a suspicious shamrock was left behind at the scene of the crime, pointing to the Irish culprit). But, surprise surprise, Prince Lochlann is really hot and, though grumpy, also really into making his holiday the best it can be.

I've read reviews of this series saying that the political stuff is taken too seriously, and I kind of get that? Because it's really hard to read a conflict hinging on the theft of Christmas Joy and treat it with the same gravitas that the book does. I personally just read it as something important to the characters that I just don't care about (like when I read about the horrors of the gin trade in historical romance). I do think it's really cool that Raasch is bringing characters with depression and anxiety to a silly-as-hell book, because those people deserve to be the stars of a hilarious holiday romcom, too.

This objective review is based on complimentary copies of the audiobook and novel.

4.5 stars

The Nightmare Before Kissmas seemed to be a divisive book. Some people thought it was a lot of fun and loved it, and some people felt that the politics in the book ruined the story. I was one of the those that enjoyed the book for what it was (but I'll admit I didn't care for the politics that much). I'm happy to say that this book moves the politics to the background and really focuses on the romance and relationships.

After the events that happened in Kissmas, Kris returns to university feeling lost. He doesn't know his place in Christmas, he doesn't know what he wants out of life, and he doesn't know how he can find his happy ending. After accidentally embarrassing the Prince of St. Patrick's Day, Kris is sent to Ireland to publicly apologize and to discover who is secretly stealing the Joy from the winter holidays. What follows is Kris' story of self-discovery, dealing with trauma and anxiety, and falling in love.

I loved this book. I thought it was much better than Kissmas (and I liked that one). I was very interested in Kris' story and his pain. I thought Raash did a great highlighting his anxiety, panic attacks, and general sense of feeling lost in his life. I still love his relationship with Coal and Iris (their banter always makes me smile). Hex is around but tbh he doesn't do much in this story. I loved all of the new characters - Loch and his sisters Siobhan and Finn.

It was sometimes painful to see how Kris (and Loch) were having to deal with their abusive families and how their roles in their respective holidays were affected by them. But this also made the characters feel more real, and you can't help but get excited when they realize that it's ok to make choices for yourself and not for others. As for the romance, it's a little spicy (there's a little dom/sub action) and I think people will appreciate the enemies to lovers trope.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book (in my opinion it's better than Kissmas). If you were a fan of Kissmas you will definitely like this one as well. If you didn't like Kissmas because you thought it was too political and not enough romance, I would say give this one a shot. There is a little bit of politics in there but it's much more in the background and I think you will enjoy this romance.

Thanks to @Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Nightmare Before Kissmas, so I was excited to dive into the sequel, following Kris. And again I loved the world, I loved the holiday magic system based on joy, I loved the scheming, and I loved the brotherly support. I really missed Coal in this book though as I love his sense of humor and we only get him coming in to support Kris in more serious moments (which completely makes sense - I just miss the constant puns).

The banter between Kris and Loch was fantastic, as is Kris’s internal monologue when he is realizing that he likes Loch.

“I NEED TO STOP
HAVING REVELATIONS
ABOUT MYSELF
AROUND LOCHLANN PATRICK.”

Overall, this is again a blast and I’m already rooting for us to get a book for Iris.

“You’re worth staying for.”

Kristopher Claus confetti bombs the hottie that steals his study room at Cambridge & his brother couldn’t be prouder of him. Unfortunately, his innocent prank was pulled on the Prince of St. Patrick’s Day, Lochlann Patrick, leading to chaos in the magical holiday world in which they all exist.

After finding out that St. Patrick’s Day is stealing joy from Christmas, Kris is sent as an ambassador to find out who is stealing from them and to get their joy back. Kris & Loch’s hate for each other causes some hilarious confrontations until the sparks flying between are suddenly giving off a very different vibe.

This story continues where the first book in the series left off and spreads the world out into other holidays. I would definitely recommend starting with the first book so you get a full introduction to the world as well as a fantastic love story between the Christmas & Halloween princes. I am looking forward to Raasch writing more books in this series.

Recommended for: enemies-to-lovers romance readers

Content warning: profanity; sexy times

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and fun second book in the series! I loved Kris from the first book and was so excited to finally read his story.

I adore that while these books are light and fun, they also touch on some deeper topics, which I really appreciate.

My only issue with this one was that the middle to end of the story felt a bit slow, making it harder to stay engaged.

But I’m excited for the next book and will definitely continue the series!

I really, really enjoyed this enemies to lovers romantasy that has the Prince of Christmas trying to figure out if the Prince of St. Patrick's Day is secretly stealing his family's Christmas magic. The second in a Royal Holiday romance series, this queer M/M romance is a slow burn, SPICY love story full of magic, secrets, betrayals and excellent anxiety rep. It was also good on audio narrated by Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick and perfect for fans of authors like TJ Klune. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I am excited to see what comes next in this series!

MUCH better than the first one. While there are still a few overly corny (at least for my taste) lines and moments, the romance feels more developed and real, even taking place within a shorter timeline. The worldbuilding is less clunky and more naturally integrated into the book. I NEED there to be a story about Iris next!

🤍☘️ Go Luck Yourself ARC Review ☘️🤍

Thank you so much to Sara Raasch and Tor Publishing group for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Go Luck Yourself is a standalone fantasy MM romance and book two in the Royals and Romance series. Determined to help his brother investigate someone stealing Christmas joy, Kris travels to St Patrick’s Day under the guise of being a goodwill ambassador for Christmas. But when he meets Prince Lochlann, are all attempts at goodwill now impossible??

This was a fantastic read! Kris was such a well rounded character and his anxieties were so relatable. Lochlann was so good for him and I loved their relationship together. I love the world building and magic in this series and getting to see other holidays was so much fun

Overall this was a solid 5 star read! I adore this world, these characters and their stories! I can’t wait for more in this world! This book does have some potential triggers, so please check if you’re sensitive. This book was a bit of a slow burn, but once the spice got going it was wonderful - so overall three flames for spice

If you’re a fan of holiday romances with strong characters, wonderful world building and great banter, then absolutely pick this one up! Even though this can be read as a standalone, I absolutely recommend reading book one, The Nightmare Before Kissmas first to get the most out of this book.

This was cute, though I did enjoy Nightmare Before Kissmas a bit more. The plot to this felt weaker but I can’t be too harsh considering it’s a holiday-based romance and the plot isn’t necessarily the main concern. I would love to see a sequel with Iris and Finn!

I really enjoyed this sequel to Nightmare Before Kissmas, and I’m really glad we got to see Kris’ happy ending.

I love the setting of these books, I find the world building super fun and interesting, and just an interesting premise in general.

I enjoyed Kris’ character, and Loch’s as well, and I enjoyed their interactions.

I did feel the romance was a little fast for my taste, and some of the middle parts of the book felt a tad repetitive to me, but I still enjoyed the overall vibe of the book.

Another fun holiday romance, this time between Santa’s youngest son and the rightful heir of St. Patrick’s Day. Loch and Kris meet at university by gate or luck, and instantly get under each other’s skin. Kris ends up on a diplomatic mission to investigate Loch’s holiday and they connect over art and family and base attraction for each other and their dedication to their holidays.
The idea was fun and definitely a spicy romp. It easily could have been a 4 star read for me, but I did find the pacing to be quite slow at times. Still, a fun book that I would recommend.

Trouble is brewing when Christmas discovers that someone has been stealing their joy. The only clue is a single shamrock left at the scene, and since Coal is busy running Christmas, its up to Kris to investigate. Unfortunately, the Prince of St. Patrick's Day also happens to be the same person Kris has been battling for a study room at college. Now, they are forced to play nice for the cameras, but they keep driving each other crazy.

I absolutely devoured this book. It gave me SO many feelings! Kris and Loch were perfection together. The enemies to lovers trope was so well done and the vulnerabilities that they both had made their romance so much sweeter. They also had fantastic tension and chemistry that was swoon-worthy! It wasn't all holidays and fun though. Both Kris and Loch both had experiences with family trauma and Kris struggled with his mental health as a result. I thought that this part was handled with care, and we saw boundary setting as well as support from other characters occur. I really loved the sibling relationship between Coal and Kris too. Coal was so supportive of Kris and encouraged him in so many ways. I'm so excited for the next book in this incredible series!

I read and listened to the audio. The narrator, Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick was amazing and gave Kris and Loch their own unique voices. Loch's voice in particular was incredible. He really brought the characters and their emotions to life.

Thank you to Bramble Romance and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies!

Sara Raasch brings yet another amazing romance novel that keeps you captivated from the first page. The banter, the chemistry, and the depth to the characters is astounding. I wish there had been more because I loved the characters so much.

When the publisher reached out to me with a copy of this, I went back and forth on whether to accept.* I was still making my way through the first in the series and it was a bit of a slog, but as I neared the end I found myself really enjoying that one and wanted to know what happened so I grabbed a digital copy of it—but for real go look at the physical copy . . . I mean those green edges are GORGEOUS!

Picking up immediately after The Nightmare Before Kissmass, we find ourselves with Kris, the Christmas spare, as he's woefully moping around having confessed his feelings to the Princess of Easter. He's back at university and looking for an outlet. Unfortunately, that outlet ends up being a massive prank involving a ton of tinsel in a room occupied by Loch, who unbeknownst to Kris is the Prince of St. Patrick's Day. And it goes from there.

Raasch got to the chemistry between Kris and Loch a lot faster than she did with Coal and Hex, and that's understandable because she had to build the world around Holidays and royalty and what not, but for me it worked better this time—even with all the family drama.

The library I was in with Lock, where he gave me those books. I should've known then. It was like a scene from a queer Beauty and the Beast. (Ch. 10)

It also didn't hurt that you had Kris, who wanted to be a writer and is obsessed with literature, and Loch, an artist who loves his people and his holiday, so there was more for me to identify with right away. There were so many mentions of famous authors and books that I couldn't help but be giddy throughout.

They're books I loved when I was younger. Books I read when I was at the peak of my writing obsession, when I was so certain all these happy endings could be mine if I . . . if I was more. And yeah, this is what started me off on my-fucked up belief system, but at the time, I was so innocent in my joy, and that's what I miss more than anything. To be happy and not analyze why. (Ch. 13)

Similar to the last novel, this could be classed in multiple ways. It is absolutely a MM Romance and Raasch did a great job writing them, but there was also familial drama and political intrigue. The difference this time is that both of those took a backseat to the romance. We weren't spending pages and pages on the drama between Loch and his uncle Malachy or the whodunnit of siphoning off Christmas joy or the on-going evolution of the winter holidays, we were spending time with Kris and Loch as they annoyed the crap out of each other.

I have to give a shout out to Raasch and an Aran sweater appearance and how they can take someone from meh to super sexy super fast. This was actually the second mention and I love that it was a blue (the first was the traditional beige/off-white):

Loch is off to the side of the hall's entrance, arms folded, a bag hooked around one wrist. He's in another Aran sweater, this one a deep blue that sets off coppery undertones in his hair and beard.
Goddamn those sweaters. Like he's a sexy, mysterious lighthouse fisherman. (Ch. 14)

As for the romance of this novel it was pretty good. It was definitely a grower not a shower (see what I did there :-D), as most enemies to lovers tropes are. From that fateful prank that the Holiday press got hold of to the coronation this is a slow burn with moments of spark that definitely make you fan yourself and say 'oh my' like George Takei. That being said, there were some totally cheesy moments that I rolled my eyes at (see the fifth quote in the additional quotes), but there were also moments that at first pass were cheesy AF, and were actually incredibly beautiful in the broader context.

'You aren't an awakening,' I whisper. 'You're the whole dawn. And I can't believe I ever thought I'd seen the sun before you.' (Ch.15)

There were two things I was disappointed in. The first is that I think these would be really interesting if we got split narrative, I mean I would've loved to hear more from Hex's perspective in the first novel and from Loch's in this novel. Sure we get a lot, but we don't get their side of the story. The second, and by FAR the biggest was that the sneak-peak at the end wasn't Iris's story. Instead it was a preview of her upcoming novel The Entanglement of Rival Wizards (so I can't really hold that against Raasch).

Recommendation: Worth the read! I very much enjoyed this one and it didn't have to do as much world building as the first novel in the series. Kris and Loch were both believable characters and their chemistry from enemies to lovers kept me engaged. I'm not going to fully unpack the daddy/boyo thing because you do you boo, but there were moments of levity and hilarity and definite sexiness. I hope Raasch revisits this world and gives Iris the due she deserves, because I want to read that story, maybe a pun about Green Eggs and Ma'am or Somebunny to Love.

*I received a copy of Go Luck Yourself via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.