Most years Christmas in July in an excuse to shop for discounted holiday home decor, but in 2020 it feels more like a chance to escape our bleak reality for some fluffy romance and snow-covered shenanigans. And even though "Hanukkah in July" sounds kinda strange, we're up for celebrating all the winter holidays.
Want to celebrate with us? Here are some of our favorite winter holiday reads:
Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle
It’s refreshing to read about snow covered mountains in the middle of summer. Plus this book had me smiling throughout with cute kids and pets and its introverted artist heroine. The hero, firefighter Steve, appears in several of Ruggle's other books and finally gets his HEA.
This novella is a Great British Bake Off inspired love story and it's f/f! It was sweet and smutty and made me so hungry I went out and bought a couple pastries at my local bakery. It's so good!
I may have a thing about holiday romances that feature baked goods. This book reads like what I imagine a love story written by Maggie Stiefvater would be like. It's quirky and adorable and made me crave challah bread like nobody's business. I loved that both Christmas and Hanukkah are celebrated by the main characters! Corbin and Alex are everything!
Holiday in Death by JD Robb
Maybe you're not so much in the mood for fluffy holiday romance. How about a Serial Killer Santa? I've been binging the In Death series this month, but I think you could pick this one up without being caught up.
This book is a holiday romance, but you need to read the first book in the series before picking it up. I loved seeing Vic and Simon celebrate the holidays together! Simon has to decide if meeting Vic's parents is scarier than taking on a supernatural entity and I really loved it!
In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish
Okay. This book might be cheating but the last part of the book takes place around Christmas and Hanukkah and the holidays play a big part in the ending. In the Middle of Somewhere is one of my all-time favorite queer contemporary romances and the build up to the holiday season in the book is worth the wait to read the Christmas scenes.
You all know we love the Night Huntress books around here so you know a novella featuring Cat and Bones and holiday shenanigans would totally make the list! We also get some quality Ian content in this one which makes it excellent!