Hello friends! I hope your December is going amazing. I am deep in my stack of Holiday romances while my TV has holiday movies on constanly. I thought it would be fun to pair a few of my favorite holiday movies with romance novels!
Growing up, we watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation every holiday season and it is still an absolute favorite of mine. If I had to pick only one holiday movie to watch for the rest of my life, this would be it. It is hilarious and has aged well. What makes me think of this film when reading holiday romances, is the insane family drama. If you’re also fan of Clark and the mess he and his family find themselves in during the holidays, I recommend you give A Coldwater Christmas by Delores Fossen a try. This is a second chance romance between Kace and Janna who once upon a time were married. Janna is now at the end of her second marriage, returns to her hometown and approaches Kace needing help. Her Mom is planning to marry his Dad and she wants the wedding stopped. The story doesn’t stop there. In this town of Coldwater, Texas there is a local longhorn who walks around town as she pleases, and someone is secretly trying to sabotage this wedding between Janna’s Mom and Kace’s Dad by pulling some hilarious pranks! The two open mail to find vibrators, there are flying balloons with male body parts on them and a van of female strippers show up at their house. It is a hilarious small town romance that should definitely be added to your holiday reading!
If you’re a fan of You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, you should absolutely read The Christmas Shop by Nancy Naigle. You’ve Got Mail is classic 90s romantic comedy that I think we tend to forget is also a holiday romance! If you’re a fan of this holiday romance where our heroine and hero are both bookshop owners, one of which is unfortunately giving the other the final push it needs to close down, you should definitely read The Christmas Shop! In Nancy Naigle’s The Christmas Shop, our heroine Angela is a Christmas shop owner. Her store was doing fine, until a big Christmas store that sells the same type of products but cheaper moves into town and sends her shop over the edge. This is the romance between her and the co-owner of the shop, Geoff. I adored the romance in this story but more than that, it was an eye-opening look at what it’s like to be a small business owner. Angela’s shop prided itself on selling handmade items which could be pretty pricey but rightfully so. The story shows how difficult it can be when competition moves in and is selling what you’re selling but it’s cheaply made and can sell for cheaper.
One of my favorite Netflix originals is The Holiday Calendar where our heroine receives an Advent calendar from her grandfather as a gift. If you’re a fan of this film, you should definitely check out 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston. This is a young adult romance that I read recently, and hands down it is in my list of 2019 favorites. The gift our heroine Sophie receives in this one? Her family sets her up on 10 blind dates after she overhears her boyfriend telling a friend of his, that he’s looking forward to her being away for the holidays so he can get used to them being broken up. Her family definitely comes through for her in this one, just like our heroine in The Holiday Calendar!
Lastly, if you’re a fan of The Holiday (which I can gush on and on about, but won’t!) I highly recommend reading Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan. The Holiday is classic in my opinion. Iris lives in Europe and Amanda is a Californian. Both ladies have been unlucky in love which of course, calls for a break and a change of scenery! I love this film because both ladies do something for themselves which opens up new doors of opportunity! That’s the vibes you’ll get in Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan. In this romantic comedy you follow Harriet, who is determined to get over her lifetime of shyness by daring herself to do something new every day in the month of December. When Harriet, a dog walker, takes on a spaniel named Madi, she didn’t think she’d be adding the challenge of keeping her feelings at bay for Mady’s current dog sitter, Ethan. In true Sarah Morgan fashion, Moonlight Over Manhattan is the perfect mixture of funny and sexy while also having a heroine front and center who is dealing with something, trying to overcome something and it’s magical.
Share with us some of your favorite holiday films! If you had to pair them up with a book, what book would you choose? I hope you found something amongst these recommendations you may not have read already and if so, treat yourself this December, to a cozy night in filled with holiday romantic comedies and one of these romance novels. They won’t disappoint!
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