Ahh ’tis the season! As I’m writing this I’m in the coziest pajamas I own, with freshly fallen snow on the ground (not nearly as much as they said we’d get but I’ll take it), a cup of cocoa next to me, two blankets on me and the strongest vibes to read all the Christmas romance books!
It seriously does wonders to my soul in December to consume all the Christmas movies and Christmas themed romances — ESPECIALLY in these times. A steady diet of Christmas romcoms and cozy Christmas romance novels is the perfect way to close out this year and it definitely is one of my ways to enjoy winter.
So prepare your future reading list and don your coziest apparel and let me tell you about 11 Christmas romance books to add to your list!
ALSO please tell me the best Christmas romances to read that I might not have gotten to yet!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.
A Little Tip…
Below you’ll see Bookshop.org mentioned. Bookshop.org is a fantastic place to buy books online that supports local bookstores. If you are looking to shop small when it comes to your books, I personally buy my books from here (when I can’t shop in person) and highly recommend! Local bookstores are the heart of communities and Bookshop.org makes it SUPER easy to support them.
New Christmas Romances For 2026
Looking for newer Christmas romance books to read? Here are some newly published and upcoming Christmas rom-comes and romances to read this year if you feel like you’ve already read most of the ones you see recommended and need something fresh & new.
My Christmas reading pile is huge considering how many new holiday related romances are coming out this year.
The Santa Claus Con by Lauren Kung Jessen
Read it if you want: a Christmas romcom but with Miss Congeniality vibes, something fun and suspenseful, rivals to lovers, a closed door Christmas romance
Two undercover agents with a past – both Christmas haters – must go undercover when an tip that comes across their desk threatens New York’s Santa Claus Con.
Fun, fun, fun! If that’s what you are looking for with your Christmas romance, this is your pick!
All I Want For Christmas is Hugh by Julia Boggio
Read it if you want: an ode to 90s rom-coms (esp British romcoms), Christmas in London, a more Christmas-time than super Christmas centric romance
I am the target demographic for this Christmas romance. Without a doubt. I mean Hugh Grant in Notting Hill lives rent free in my brain all these years later.
However, I think if you can’t relate to being a big-time daydreamer who romanticizes things and can be a bit silly romantic-at-heart, you might have a hard time with this one.
A New Jersey native and 90s romcom enthusiast moves to London and gets to work on finding the leading British man of her dreams and live out their own rom-com fantasies. She thinks she’s found what she’s looking for until a grumpy American gets in the way of what she’s been dreaming up.
A Married Little Christmas by Abby Jimenez
Read it if you want: your Christmas romances in small doses, lots of Christmas coziness, more Abby Jimenez!!
Life gets busy in December and I think this collection of 3 Christmas romance novellas (that are loosely connected to one another) is perfect for anybody who might not have time or anyone who just wants a sprinkle of Christmas romance to enhance the holiday spirit!
I love Abby Jimenez so much so I’m really looking forward to this one! If you haven’t read her yet, expect humor, heartfelt vibes and good banter!
The Christmas Competition by Zoe Allison
Read it if you want: maximum Christmas vibes & festivities, enemies/rivals to lovers, Christmas in Scotland
Two not-so-friendly neighbors get caught up in a heated Christmas decorating competition. The other fun part of this? Their now-exes left them for each other’s partners. Lots of fun Christmas hijinx and a story about fresh starts after getting your heart broken.
The Christmas Curse by Alix Kelinda
Read it if you want: something heartwarming but with some emotional stuff, a light touch of magic, grumpy/sunshine rivals (she’s a Grinch, he’s full on Christmas spirit), some spice in your Christmas romance
Devra loathes December/Christmas as it seems her family is cursed considering every December terrible things befall them. So when a Christmas-obsessed man moves in and tortures her Christmas-hating self with, she assumes his presence and this mounting feud has to be part of this curse. Or could he be the answer to breaking it?
P.S. This one does tackle some potentially tough issues and brings some more emotional aspects so check trigger warnings or just know it’s not 100% an escapist read.
Christmas Staycation by Meghan Quinn
Read it if you want: to venture back into Kringletown, maximum Christmas vibes, something real spicy, something putting the COM in rom-com
This one is Storee’s sister Taran’s story (from the first in this series). Taran and Guy are planning to pretend to still be together to keep the peace and will break the news of their separation after the holidays. But between her family’s plans and sparks between Guy’s outspoken brother Nolan, who has always liked her, things are close to imploding.
The Christmas Getaway by Debbie Mason
Read it if you want: cozy Christmas in Scotland, fake dating, a pinch of spice, slow burn
To show she is over her ex and escape the festivities of his wedding – which she is invited to – Charlotte lies and tells everyone she is spending the holidays in Scotland with her boyfriend.
The problem is there is no boyfriend to speak of until, on her flight to Scotland, she meets a tween girl and her single father (a duke!) who agree to help her pull of this ruse and let her stay with them.
A Christmas Inn, Maine by Aaron Kyte
Read it if you want: m/m Christmas romance with cozy Hallmark vibes, small town romance goodness, light spice that mostly fades to black, more winter-y holiday time than Christmas centric
A former book editor heads back to his small town – newly jobless and single for the holidays- but finds a new project to take his mind off rebuilding his life in to help save his aunt’s failing inn before he heads back to the city in the new year.
When the renovation plans he had start to go awry, his last ditch effort to save the inn is hiring the handsome contractor in town — a man who becomes another aspect of his life that wasn’t part of the plan as the two spend more time together.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Meltdown by Sheila Roberts
Read it if you want: Hallmark Christmas romance vibes, closed door romance, a romance set in the book world (author/bookstore owner), a hearty dose of holiday family drama/shenanigans, friends-to-lovers
When an author returns home for the holidays, she’s desperate to keep a secret: the successful holiday novel she published under a pseudonym is based on her eccentric family — and it would be unmistakably obvious to anyone who knows them.
Her high school friend and local bookstore owner- who unbeknownst to her has always seen her as more than a friend has figured out she is its author and the two grow closer as he helps her keep her book-loving family in the dark amidst the chaos and drama of the holidays and her family.
Back Where We Started by Becca Freeman
Read it if you want: a romance that is very lightly Christmas adjacent (coming home for the holidays), second chance romance
I wouldn’t fully classify this one as solidly a Christmas romance but I think it scratches that itch for someone who lightly wants that vibe sprinkled into a romance during the season as the present day is set during Christmas-time but there are flashbacks from the past that are not.
It’s about a rising Hollywood star who comes home to her tiny town for Christmas and finds herself back into the orbit of her high school sweetheart – the one person who believed in her ambitious dreams and had his own set of equally ambitious ones as they planned their future together before their ambitions had them drifting away.
Setting the Stage for Christmas by Tanya Boteju
Read it if you want: a sapphic Christmas romcom, Christmas pageant shenanigans and lots of holiday festiveness, second chance romance
The town Christmas pageant has always been a big deal but this year the stakes are higher as Bo, the director of the pageant, is planning the biggest production yet in order to raise enough money to save a beloved town landmark.
Her lofty ambitions for the production put her back into the orbit of the ex who broke her heart and the only person she can find to build the set of her dreams.
The ex in question is newly back in town and is working for her parents to help find a lucrative buyer for a property they own — a task she comes to find out is in direct opposition to what Bo and the community are working to raise money for with the christmas pageant.
Counting Down To You by Emily Stone
Read it if you want: Christmas in the French alps, fake dating, a bit of emotions (tis Emily Stone’s bread and butter)
Emily Stone’s books are always my go-to for Christmas especially because I know I’ll likely have a good cry along with feel tons of Christmas-time warmth.
This one is about a woman whose Christmas traditions always included her best friend but this year she is grieving her after passing earlier in the year and the holiday season looms large without her.
However, her friend gave her one last gift in the form of their favorite holiday tradition which is an epic advent calendar of fun they make each other every year. This gift has her heading to the French Alps for the holiday season where she will continue tackling the tasks her friend gave her.
A meet cute and mix-up from a snapped photo later, she finds herself in a fake dating situation with the man who is to be her boss at the ski lodge where she is working for the season.
Not Another Christmas Movie by Ashley Cowan
Read it if you want: maximum Christmas festiveness and cheese, Hallmark Christmas vibes, Teen Beach Movie but Christmassy and for adults
It’s about a woman who plans to basically avoid Christmas all together but who wakes up as the star of her own cheesy Christmas romance movie in a Hallmark Christmas version of her town where everyone she knows is a tropey version of themselves – like her ex-situationship as the hunky widower who owns a Christmas tree farm.
Her childhood friend Nick is also in this nightmare with her and the two will have to work together to escape by following the formula of these types of Christmas romances.
Back For Seconds by Betty Corrello
Read it if you want: Christmas-time at the Jersey Shore, a book about fresh starts, foodie goodness, a bit of Christmas magic
It’s about a woman who is nursing heartbreak during the holiday season and who finds unexpected light and solace in spending time with the very food influencer who she previously roasted online who is also dealing with his own heartbreak and is not at all who is social media presence would leave you to believe he is.
A Taste of Magic by Tricia O’Malley
Read it if you want: Christmas in Scotland, witchy goodness, Great British Bake Off but make it magic
I really enjoyed Love’s A Witch and I’m excited to head back to the familiar Scottish small town setting of that but this time another witchy sister from the MacGregor clan and a Christmassy GBBO plot.
It’s about a witch who is chosen for the Christmas edition of a magical reality cooking competition show that could really launch her career. The problem? The family curse that makes her magic go wonky has decided to show up at this inopportune moment and she ends up paired up with the ex who broke her heart.
With everything on the line, she’ll have to sort through her wonky magic, their lack of communication and his inability to cook if she wants to woo the audience and bake her way to her future goals.
The Little Shop of Merry and Bright by Jenny Bayliss
Read it if you want: some magical realism, a twist on A Christmas Carol
I love a good modern twist on a classic!
Casey went viral as a meme, then quietly retreated into a department store job. One late-night shift, she runs into a jaded Ghost of Christmas Present ready to ditch her duties — and Casey can actually see her.
The ghost offers a deal: she’ll erase the video, but Casey has to experience five alternate versions of her life first to see if that’s what she really wants or if she currently or if she currently has what she really wants all along.
Christmas at Honeycombe Bay by Lilac Mills
Read it if you want:a later in life romance (60-somethings), something that embodies true Christmas cheer, Christmas in a small British seaside town, no spice
Two Scrooges — one an innkeeper and the other a guest looking to hide from all things Christmas cheer – end up having to create holiday cheer when a tragedy lands a single mother and her children at the end in need of somewhere to stay.
Last Year’s Best Christmas Romances
These are my standouts from last year if you are looking for newer recommendations that you might not have gotten to last year or if the library holds list for the 2026 releases is too long. I heartily recommend these after having read 13 of last year’s new Christmas romance releases.
Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
Read it if you want: a Christmas romance with a hearty dose of paranormal, A Christmas Carol retelling, something heartwarming and cozy, grumpy x sunshine
This one is a festive story about a (hot Irish) Ghost of Christmas past and the Christmas-loving woman who is his latest assignment.
As he tries to go through her memories with her he finds two problems: he can’t figure out how he’s supposed to help her when it doesn’t seem like a Scrooge in need of redemption and he finds himself falling for her.
So fun, so adorable – with some spice!
Christmas Fling by Lindsey Kelk
Read it if you want: a Christmas spent in the Scottish Highlands, fake dating hijinx at the holidays, lower spice
I loved this author’s book A Christmas Wish and this fake dating romp through the holidays seems so fun. A memorable meet-cute and a case of mistaken identity leads to a fake dating charade that includes the holidays spent at his family home.
Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace
Read it if you want: an enemies to lovers romance, ultimate small town Hallmark holiday romance vibes
Clara shows up in the small town of Fraser Fall’s with hopes to charm the people and smooth over a PR nightmare after her family’s toy company is accused of stealing a doll design — a mission that is going to be hard to complete as she is up against aggrieved toy maker who won’t let himself be tricked by this company again and is beloved by the town.
The Christmas Cure by Kristine Winters
Read it if you want: a Christmas romance with a dose of Christmas magic, a festive small town setting, heart-warming Hallmark vibes, a closed door Christmas romance
A woman returns to her small town for the holidays to get away from her hectic life and heartbreak only to, thanks to a pot-bellied pig and a knock to the head while enjoying festivities, end up time traveling to this time last year.
While she tries to figure out what to do with this second chance at life, she also finds an unexpected romance unfurling with the cute baker in her small town.
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Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal by Meghan Quinn
Read it if you want: to return back to Kringletown, enemies to lovers, full on Christmas shenanigans, something pretty spicy
While I thought the first in this series was just okay, I do plan to return to Kringletown for plenty of holiday shenanigans in this Christmas-crazy town! It’s just fun at the holiday time for some over the top Christmas goodness plus I really did love Max!
This rivals-to-lovers romance is about two people whose rival Christmas tree farms have them warring all season long bringing holiday chaos and growing feelings.
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My Top Christmas Romance Recommendations (From Years’ Past)
These are the ones that are a little bit older that I’m always recommending when people are looking for some Christmas-y romances for the season. I really enjoyed all of these so feel free to ask questions or let me know what you thought!
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
Dating hijinx set at Christmas-time in this rom-com when a woman, down on her luck in that department, gets suckered into a dating agency that promises LOVE before Christmas in the form of 12 dates with 12 different men.
Perfect for: fans of small town set romances with nosy neighbors (a la Lorelei in Stars Hollow but British village), lovers of banter in their rom-coms, cute & cozy books
The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk
Perfect if you like: Groundhog Day-esque plots (especially if you enjoyed the plot of In A Holidaze), books in the Bridget Jones vein or Sophie Kinsella’s work, second chance romances/ the boy-next-door trope, books that are more contemporary fiction with a heap of romance, dysfunctional family sideplots
Family shenanigans & meddling + a Christmas wish made by a family member has the newly single main character waking up to relive Christmas Day over and over again.
As she tries to figure out what she needs to do to get out of this cycle, she sees a way to use this time to make her family member’s wishes come true. Not to mention she enjoys spending time the guy next door who could be her second chance at love.
A Cosy Christmas In Cornwall by Jane Linfoot
Ivy, a lover of Christmas, has been hired to make a Cornish castle rental be super festive and ultra Instagrammable for a client.
When she arrives early to start the decorating, she finds two things in the way of succeeding in this task: she basically got castle catfished as it doesn’t look at all like the pictures and the owner of it is a (grumpy) crush from her past.
Perfect for: fans of cozy settings, lovers of grumpy male leads, people who love a great secondary cast of characters, readers who want a sweet and heartwarming book
10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
One of my FAVORITE romances set around Christmas-time: this book is an absolute DELIGHT.
When Sophie gets dumped by her boyfriend, she flees to the refuge of her grandparents house and gets to spend her Christmas break with her HUGE (super fun and nosy) family that live nearby too.
Wanting to help her with her heartbreak, they create a competition in which each of them set her up on a blind date with 10 different guys.
Absolute fun dating shenanigans in this smile-inducing YA rom com that will make you want to be a part of this fictional family.
Perfect for: Lovers of cute and funny YA books, readers who are looking for books featuring close knit families you will fall want to adopt you, readers looking for a sweet kind of romance (aka not remotely on the steamy side)
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Want to make the holidays even better?
One of the ways I find extra time to read as a busy mom is through audiobooks via my Libro.FM subscription (the Audible alternative you really need to know about). I love listening to Christmas romances like these while I wrap gifts and drive from store to store shopping. Check out my review of LibroFM.
A Princess for Christmas by Jenny Holiday
You’ll be content prying yourself away from the Hallmark channel for this one, I promise.
When cab driver and guardian to his little sister, Leo, stops to help a woman nothing will prepare him for the fact that a real life princess will be sitting in his cab and is in need of his help for the rest of her help in her quest to prove herself as the fate of her small country is on her shoulders. And little did either of them know that maybe they could be what each other needs.
Perfect for: lovers of Hallmark Christmas movies, people who want their Hallmark Christmas movies with a little more sex, fans of fictional royalty and romances featuring royalty and a regular guy, lovers of wonderfully cheesy (in the best way) romances
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Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday
Perfect for: readers who are looking for a heartwarming contemporary Christmas romance, lovers of royal related romances, fans of A Princess For Christmas, readers who appreciate a slow burn friends to lover romances, Hallmark Christmas lovers that want a bit of added steam
This one is a followup to last year’s Christmas romcom A Princess For Christmas and is about Leo’s bff Dani. You don’t have to read that one to enjoy this one but you’ll be familiar with the characters and have more context if you do.
Maximillian von Hansburg is being pressured, by his father, to find a suitable bride before he inherits the title he feels like will trap him. Sent to New York to meet a potential bride, he ditches his responsibilities and shows up at the doorstep of the woman who is the Best Woman in the Eldovian wedding he’s the Man of Honor in to get to know her better.
Dani is newly single and swearing off men, especially a rake like Max, which is a perfect match for Max who is looking to escape life and seek a distraction also. As they form a friendship and their bond deepens, this shouldn’t-happen romance finds a spark.
Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun
Check it out if you like: second chance romances, queer romcoms, the fake-dating trope (but with a twist!), heart-warming romcoms
This one is about a woman who fakes an engagement of convenience with her landlord to help him get his inheritance (and her to get a nice chunk of change for doing so) only to find out that his sister is the woman she fell for last Christmas Eve after their meet cute and never saw again.
The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
A holiday-themed romantic comedy about identical twins who switch lives, thanks to a work related disaster, in the days leading up to Christmas.
One heads off to keep a cooking show alive while the other makes their way home to run the family business. It’s a tough act to keep themselves straight especially when they both experience some romantic feelings.
Perfect for: romcom lovers, fans of twin swap plots a la Parent Trap or The Princess Switch,
One Last Gift by Emily Stone
Check it out if you like: a good cry, scavenger hunts, this author’s book ALWAYS IN DECEMBER, slow burn romances, the movie P.S. I Love You, a book with romance but also that life-affirming women’s fiction type story, friends to lovers romances
This one would make a great book club book for the holidays!
Cassie feels the weight of loneliness and grief this year at the holidays after the recent and tragic passing of her brother. She and her brother have relied on each other, and the found family they chose, since becoming orphans at a young age.
And then an envelope arrives with Tom’s handwriting and she knows it’s the first clue in the yearly scavenger hunt he puts on for her every year at Christmas and this one he’d been boasting about as the best one yet.
This last bittersweet gift from her brother sets her off on a journey of a lifetime of traveling and reconnecting with friends, herself and an old love that had drifted away and who also happened to be Tom’s best friend and a huge part of Cassie’s life years before.
Meet Me In London by Georgia Toffolo
An aspiring fashion designer and the son of a high end department store mogul, in need of a girlfriend to satisfy his family’s pressuring, come to an agreement on a faux relationship for his story’s grand opening in exchange for a spotlight on her work. This temporary business arrangement is in jeopardy when sparks fly and neither one of them have room in their life for something real.
Perfect for: readers looking for a book that has minimal Christmas aspects (more so just set around Christmas-time than about Christmas), fans of fake engagements, readers who will be smitten with the London Christmas-time backdrop, readers who won’t shy away from some tough issues alongside the sweet romance aspect
In The Event of Love by Courtney Kae
Check it out if you like: steamy slow burn romances, second chance & friends-to-lovers tropes, books by Casey McQuiston, Alexandria Bellefleur or Ashley Herring Blake’s romances, queer romances, small-town Hallmark Christmas movie vibes, towns that feel a little like Stars Hollow
A tabloid blowup sends event planner Morgan Ross back home to her small town for a strategic retreat to regroup over the Christmas holiday and fix her image by throwing an event to save a local business.
Shortly into her return home she is forced to confront her former best friend and first love, Rachel, who also happens to be running the Christmas tree farm that the town and Morgan’s event will aim to save against greedy developers.
Heartache and lingering feelings must be put aside to throw this important event to save Rachel’s Christmas tree farm, her career and the small town she loves so much.
Love, Holly by Emily Stone
Perfect if you like: Christmas romances with more emotional elements (if you’ve read her other books you know), family dramas
Oh this one really was amongst my holiday favorites last year! Ooh still get a little teary.
The last few Christmases, now estranged from her family after a horrible & tragic accident, have been very lonely for Holly — with the exception of the one bright light to the season which is the anonymous letter writing/pen-pal club she joined and connects with other lonely strangers via letter every December.
This year the letter she receives from an older woman, who shares in a grief she knows well, mentions a location she is very familiar with and this connection makes her want to seek out the sender of the letter outside of the letters and maybe even help her reunite with her estranged grandson.
When she does track down the grandson, Jack, she realizes they met once and had a crazy connection — on the very night of the accident that changed everything for her.
The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy
Read it if you want: LOTS of Christmas cheer & festivities, Hallmark feel good vibes, a grumpy/sunshine pair, a Christmas challenge/game aspect, closed door romance
If you like your Christmas romances heavy on the Christmas cheer and activities of the holiday season, this one is for you.
What it’s about: Still down in the dumps from being dumped by her childhood sweetheart, Callie is officially hibernating for Christmas (and life).
Her sister intervenes and cooks up a homemade Advent Calendar challenge inspired by a childhood tradition — full of gifts as well as festive tasks — to help snap her out of her Scrooge mode at home and get her feeling more positive about life again.
As she reluctantly plays along on her sister’s challenge for her, she finds herself trading bah-humbug for more cheer — especially when she meets a cheerful baker who helps her out along the way.
The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler
Read it if you want: a heartfelt & emotional marriage of convenience romance with a small ranch town setting at Christmas-time
This Idaho-set romance is about a divorced rancher who enters in a marriage of convenience all thanks to a “husband for hire” ad a friend put up as a joke for her. But a man does respond as a serious inquiry — a man whose 4 year old daughter is in kidney failure and who desperately is fighting to help her.
This one took me by surprise and required some tissues! I could absolutely see this as a Hallmark movie.
All I Want Is You by Falon Ballard
Read it if you want: exes (and professional rivals) snowed in together at Christmas-time
I love Falon Ballard’s romances so I was so excited to see she was coming out with a Christmas-time romance featuring exes who are romance writing rivals and (my favorite) forced proximity, only-one-bed goodness during a snowstorm!!
Better yet — they are both in writing slumps and realize that channeling their own personal frustrations/tension might be the cure to ridding them both of it. *fans self*
P.S. Check out some new romance reads for this year or perhaps you want the winter vibes but a complete about face from romance with some wintry thrillers! Or maybe you need to deck the halls with Christmas decorations for book lovers.
So let me know…what are some of your fave romance or rom com books set during Christmas, Christmas-themed romances or just any romances that feeling particularly wintry.
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