Alexis Daria does it again. This time with a holiday twist!

Valencia and Gideon were rivals in school and haven’t seen each other in years until a chance encounter at a gay dance club. What follows is a lot of steamy scenes wrapped up in a nice Christmas bow. It’s also filled with really sweet and fun moments in a way that’s very familiar to you if you’ve read Alexis Daria’s other works.

This is a super quick and easy read. I had an absolute blast reading it and the time flew by. It’s a dual POV and since it’s so short, you dive immediately into the story, there’s no unnecessary dragging of the plot, which I really appreciated.

Valencia and Gideon have incredible chemistry, and you feel it between them immediately. I was happy to get an ARC of this one to read in July, but I’ll definitely be revisiting it during the holiday season!

The FMC gets invited to a holiday dance party by her best friend, only to unexpectedly run into her high school archnemesis. But now there's an unexpected sexual tension between them—and neither of them has anyone to spend Christmas with. So, they decide to spend the twelve days leading up to Christmas together, fulfilling a mix of festive and steamy wishes.

I absolutely loved this novella! It’s both spicy and sweet at the same time. I couldn’t stop smiling and giggling while reading it. The characters were adorable, and I was thrilled that there was no third-act breakup. I also really appreciated that the author touched on such an important topic as the relationship between parents and children.

This is a wonderful holiday story that will leave you smiling, blushing, and full of festive vibes! I also highly recommend checking out the author’s other Christmas novella, Only Santas in the Building.

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓holiday story
✓enemies to lovers
✓friends with benefits
✓LGBTQ+ rep

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I zoomed through this holiday romance story because it was so entertaining. I enjoy Daria’s writing style and find that she crafts her characters quite well. If you want Christmas fun, this will check that box! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I love this little novella so much. Who knew we all needed a treatise on self-forgiveness in the middle of a Christmas romance? So wonderful.

I could totally picture this as a movie! Devoured this story. It was the perfect blend of holiday romance, spice and emotional moments.

The characters have great chemistry and a genuine connection. I thought the plot was delightfully entertaining and unique. The holiday setting added a fun twist too.

A great read, especially during the holiday season!

I really enjoyed this! For a short story this packed an emotional punch. I knew going into this it was a spicy romcom but I really enjoyed the balance between the sexiness, the levity of funnier moments and the deeper conversations we got with the characters.

I liked that it wasn’t too Christmassy which gives the story a bit more re-readability. I enjoyed reading this in July! I think this would be a great choice for anyone looking for a spicy story grounded in real life. Our characters each have a history and it’s shaped them and I love that we explored that for each of them.