⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I’m normally not a romance reader, but was I pleasantly surprised by this cozy little story that I ended up loving! I felt like Isabel Taylor did a very wonderful job of in very few pages, setting the entirety of the scene and capturing the essence of every character.

It was a very relaxing read with a good amount of spice in it! 🌶️🌶️
I’m such a slut for a strong willed woman character too, and this book did not disappoint.

I’m very excited to read the rest of the ClawHaven books and I’m very intrigued in what else we’ll get to learn about this lovely little cozy town for monsters.

I’ve read a healthy amount of monster romances in my day and I wasn’t super impressed with this one. I think this would make a great entry point for people who are curious about the genre but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Arthur could’ve been a human and nothing about this book would’ve changed. Where’s the fun in that!! Overall, it was a quick and easy read with some Christmas atmosphere sprinkled in. Not my favorite read but certainly not the worst either.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this cute short book.All in all I enjoyed it Emma and Arthur were a cute and funny couple.

A trip to a small town in Alaska for the filming of a RomCom is derailed when the MMC meets up with his ex girlfriend on set.

This was a cozy, steamy and sweet as a peppermint mocha second chance romance. I love a good monster romance and this was just right.

I immediately scooped this one up when I saw it was a Claw Haven novella with appearances from the MCs in Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf.

Christmas with a Chimera is a second chance romance between a human Claw Haven café owner and her high school chimera ex-boyfriend who left the small town to become a movie star. I thought this was a pretty cute installation of the series in general, but I honestly had no business being as irate at this fictional chimera as I was. He redeemed himself in the end, but lord do I wish he groveled a bit more because his expectations of the FMC were completely exhausting. Yes I do still realize I am very upset at a monster. It will never be lost on me.

Despite this monster testing my damn patience this is a cute, quick holiday novella!

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4/5

Thank you to Harlequin for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley. All opinoins are honest and my own.

𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 & 𝙴𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠
🌟🌟🌟
Christmas with a Chimera is book two in the Claw Haven series, and while this book gives you cozy Christmas vibes, it just didn't do it for me. Both of the characters were unlikeable to me.

The audiobook is narrated by Jade Wheeler; she did a good job, was easy to listen to, and was also easy to understand. I listened at 2x speed.

I love, love, loved this book! The plot locked me in from page one, and spit me out a new person on the last page. The characters became real to me and will live in my brain forever. The setting was tangible and perfect. The pacing was riveting, but not rushed. All coming together to be a book I can't wait to recommend to my friends. Even reading it out of season, I had a great time.

Thank you so much to Isabelle Taylor and Harlequin - Romance | Harlequin | Harlequin Audio for the eARC and ALC of this. I was so excited to get this after finishing the 1st book in the Claw Haven Series. I LOVED this and I absolutely cannot wait for the rest in this series. It is so well written, has a great narrator, and flows really well. I devoured this in no time. Highly highly recommend to anyone who loves a good paranormal romance setting. It's a second chance troupe which I'm usually not a big fan of but it was so well written here, I kinda of loved it. Definitely has some spice too!

This novella packed quite a few things in one quick and cozy story: we have sweet moments, spicy moments, tense moment, angst, and a fun second chance romance. I actually think I enjoyed this more Accidentally to a Werewolf, which surprised me since this is a quick novella. I just really liked Emma and her masking. She doesn’t like emotions and feeling vulnerable, so she covers it up with anger. Even to herself. She seems to be a bit stuck in confusing “surviving” for “thriving. I found her very relatable in a lot of ways. Arthur is very similar except that he covers his insecurities with the opposite tactic: kill them with kindness. He’s a people pleaser and he needs everyone to like him. Basically, he is also super relatable.
The plot is pretty straight forward: Two exes end up in closed proximity after not speaking for a decade when the movie star starts shooting a new film in his ex’s cafe. They argue, they fight the attraction/feelings, they “hate f**k,” they fight it some more, they grow together, etc. it’s nice, easy, and quick. The perfect palette cleanser/feel good story.

Arthur Pineclaw waltzes back into Claw Haven with movie star hair, a smug little smirk, and the kind of fake humility only a chimera who’s played “the sensitive beast” in seven rom-coms can pull off. He’s here to film a holiday romance, charm the locals, and maybe casually haunt the café he once emotionally decimated like he’s not the reason its owner refuses to decorate for Christmas. Guess who owns the café? That’s right. Emma Curt. Local caffeine queen, emotionally scorched earth specialist, and the high school sweetheart he dumped on Christmas Eve before bolting off to Hollywood.

I love her.

Emma is a grumpy fireball in a chunky sweater and she’s not here for Arthur’s little redemption tour. She is trying to keep her café running, her middle finger holstered, and her heartbreak buried under twelve years of sarcasm and iced coffee. Arthur, meanwhile, is walking around like the ghost of “We Could’ve Had It All” with perfect hair and a tragic little pout like, why won’t she talk to me bro you emotionally detonated her under a string of Christmas lights, maybe sit with that for two seconds.

And because fate is a petty little matchmaker, his movie is being filmed inside her café. Welcome to forced proximity with a side of peppermint mochas and unresolved sexual tension. It’s messy. It’s festive. It’s giving “we broke up during high school finals and never really recovered emotionally or hormonally.”

This is a novella, so don’t come in expecting deep lore or a five-act opera about grief. But for what it is, it slaps. The pacing is tight, the banter is sharp, and the chemistry is immediate in that “we were in love, then we were enemies, and now we’re making out behind a pastry case” kind of way. The fact that Arthur is a literal chimera only adds to the chaos. Because yes, he has paws and fur and maybe a lion’s face, and yes, they still find time for some emotionally charged smooching and full-body reconciliation. We do not kink shame in Claw Haven. We light a cinnamon candle and mind our damn business.

Emma’s arc is the real gift here. She’s angry, and rightfully so. But as the story unfolds, you see her start to untangle that anger, not just toward Arthur, but toward herself, her town, her own fears about being vulnerable again. She’s not just mad. She’s hurt. She’s scared. And she’s spent years pretending that biting people is the same as healing. Her growth sneaks up on you in quiet moments, like when she apologizes to someone she was short with, or when she actually lets herself hope again.

Arthur, on the other hand... look. He tries. His arc is mostly “oh no I have feelings,” which is fine. It’s very on-brand for a golden retriever in a chimera’s body. He’s trying to be better, even if his first ten attempts are mostly performative nonsense. I wish we got more internal reckoning from him, something deeper than movie-script monologues and one heroic grand gesture, but honestly, this man is fighting for his life against Emma’s resting grinch face. He is doing his best.

Claw Haven remains the coziest town I would absolutely move to despite the risk of enchanted mistletoe and accidental magical bonds. There are cameos from the first book (hi, Luna, never change), and the whole place feels like someone spiked a snow globe with monster pheromones and good intentions. It’s whimsical, weirdly sexy, and deeply sincere.

Would I have read a full-length version of this story with more angst, more groveling, and a slightly more fleshed-out emotional payoff? Absolutely. But as a bite-sized, slightly spicy, emotionally satisfying novella? It hits. It hits like a chimera in a cable knit sweater confessing his love at closing time. Solid 3.5 stars.

Merry Mayhem Prize: For the Chimera Who Thought Making Out in a Snowstorm Would Fix a Decade of Emotional Avoidance... and Honestly, Wasn't Entirely Wrong

Thank you to Harlequin – Romance and NetGalley for the ARC of "Christmas with a Chimera". I didn’t know I needed a spicy second-chance monster rom-com in my life, but here we are. I laughed, I swooned, I briefly questioned the logistics of kissing a lion-faced man. No notes.

Emma and Arthur were high school sweethearts until Arthur decided to leave the small town they lived in and head to the big city to be an actor. When Arthur returns to town to film a holiday movie, he and Emma are forced to spend time together. This was a fairly short holiday themed romance about two people who still have feeling for each other years after life took them in different directions. Overall, I enjoyed the story and visit to the small town of Claw Haven.

Thank you, Harlequin Romance, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All thoughts and options are my own.

I am eating this series UP. I flew through Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf, and this one was no different. Found myself mad at life for getting in the way of reading! I can't wait for the next book! Claw Haven is quickly becoming a favorite fictional town, and Isabelle Taylor does a beautiful job of weaving real, familiar human emotions into these charismatic monsters. Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for this advanced copy. Will be eagerly awaiting book 3!!!

I received this book from netgalley for free for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you for the opportunity.

Very original plot and characters.

I loved revisiting Claw Haven in Christmas with a Chimera. Emma and Arthur are entirely believable as high school sweethearts turned exes, and I enjoyed the ride through pre-holiday chaos to post-Christmas clarity. the characters and the setting are rendered with palpable affection and love. One thing I have consistently liked about Isabelle Taylor's writing is the way she discusses the intimate scenes between characters. She does not disguise the parts involved in passionate exchanges with euphemisms or excessively flowery language, which I appreciate as a reader and as a woman. Please do keep the Claw Haven chronicles coming!

I devoured this little book in under 2 days. It was a cute, quick read that was actually very good. The characters were semi-complex and very likeable, though we didn’t get tons of in-depth looks because it was a novella. Which is okay! I still enjoyed it.

I will say, the MMC being a chimera was really throwing me off throughout the book. The first book I LOVED, but the MMC was a werewolf that had a human form. Arthur being a chimera was harder for me to picture and confused me at times. Like when they kiss, she talks about kissing his lips…but he is a lion in the face so would she not be kissing his snout? I don’t know. The first book had me thinking I could do the monster romance genre, but this book has me second guessing that a little. That is totally a me issue though and I think anyone that likes this genre/monster romances would love this book.

This book is a really sweet festive romance with a bit of a fantastical flair. I loved the characters and how easy and fun it is to read. You won't want to put this one down! If you are in the market for a great holiday read packed with all you would expect: a romantic love story, cozy holiday setting, some intrigue/mystery/humor, and a wonderful story in the end, this is the book for you!

Short and sweet little novella. A spicy monster book where the MMC goes home to film a holiday romance movie. He accidentally meets back up with his high school sweetheart who he broke up with on Christmas Eve night. She never forgot and wants nothing to do with him. But of course, habits die hard and stuff happens. Just a cute little book if you want to read something short and sweet.

This was a super cozy read. We are back in Claw Haven just in time for Christmas. Arthur moved away from Claw Haven to pursue acting and finds himself back in his hometown to shoot for a rom-com. Emma, his grumpy high school sweetheart, is the owner of the café in which the movie is shooting, and she is not happy to see him.

I'm typically not a huge fan of second-chance romances, but I definitely enjoyed it when it is basically replicating a Hallmark movie. There are over the top, swoon-worthy lines. There are huge romantic gestures in obscene timelines. It was so dramatic that it worked. I laughed at the sunglasses inside comment because rom-com movies always use it to show that he is the "cool guy."

I didn't love that we got some emotional growth out of Emma, but at the cost of her personality. All the sarcasm and attitude disappeared when she decided to manage her anger. The ending was a cute HEA after a third act dramatic grand gesture, as over the top holiday romances should be.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the free eARC.

This book was absolutely ADORABLE! It's the perfect cozy novella to cuddle up next to a fireplace with. To preface: this book is the definition of short and sweet, so there isn't a whole bunch of intense character development of plot development, instead its a second chance romance that heavily relies on the foundations of previous feelings and relationships. What it does provide is nostalgia, memories, and a connection that's too good to leave behind (again). The setting of Claw Haven is the perfect foundation for connected stand alones and I simply can not wait for the next development.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This is my second book of the author and I loved it. It’s a perfect cozy book for fans of Christmas, second chances and grumpy/sunshine trope.

I loved both characters and how they complemented each other. How no one knew the reality of what they were feeling except each other.

Perfect read for the holidays