Alison’s December Reads
December, for me, has become the month that I get lost in Christmas romances. If you’re a Christmas romance lover like myself you understand that it is a genre all its own, so with that, I will declare myself the biggest fan of the genre. Really, I could get down with a good Christmas love story in the middle of May and not think twice about it. In fact, a few Julys ago I totally did a Christmas in July theme and read Christmaa romance the whole month. There’s simply too many of them to get through enough if you limit yourself to only December! In fact, don’t be shocked if you find a couple on my January reads list next month…
Home Sweet Christmas by Susan Mallery (3 stars). So, I’m not really sure how I felt about this one. I mean, I liked it… kind of. The conflict was just too weird for me. The “big secret” was that the guy was a millionaire philanthropist and the girl got super mad that he hid it from her for the WEEK that they had known each other. In her hurt, she did something illegal… and he just forgave her and acted like he was the one in the wrong. I kept waiting for her apology and it never really came. There was another couple too…and if I’m honest, I’m not sure if they were the main characters or if all four were supposed to be main characters. I don’t know, guys… it was odd, but interesting and festive enough!
Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine (4 stars). The spice is real with this one, so beware. I love learning about Alaska so any book set in snowy Alaska is my kind of read! This book was more wintery than Christmas so if you need a lovey dovey quick read to get you through the cold days this could be a fun one!
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison (4 stars). This is a best friends to lover trope which is my favorite because that was my real life trope! This book is very cliche Christmas romance, but don’t think I mean that in a negative way - don’t we read the Christmas romance and watch the Hallmark movies for the cliches and happy endings? These characters were likable and well developed, and the whole book had me craving pizza so bad because they talked about it so much in the beginning!
A Very Merry Matchup by Becca Kinzer (3 stars). This was a short novella that I listened to while I wrapped Christmas presents! A good, clean Christmas romance - I mean the guy's dad was a pastor and his mom tried so desperately to set them up! This book had me smiling at the adorable circumstances.
Christmas at the Ranch by Julia McKay (4 stars). I didn’t know I was a ranch girl, but this book had me loving everything - even the horses (if you don’t know me, I’m NOT an animal girl). This is a rich girl - lowly boy second chance romance that I couldn’t put down. I was rooting for Emory and Tate (even though I hate the name Tate (why do so many authors use this name?)) the whole time, and was so thrilled with the family redemption piece as well!
The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler (5 stars). Ok, I’m going to be honest with you: I didn’t actually finish this book in December. I had one chapter and the epilogue to go when we had to leave for our NYE plans. Immediately upon returning home (at 12:30am on 1/1/2026) I hopped into bed and finished reading it. On my own technicality (I didn’t go to bed and wake up to a new day) I’m passing this for a December 2025 read. That being said, this was by far my favorite book of the month. It’s a marriage by convenience trope, but Guy is simply just the most amazing man and you’ll all want to fall in love with him willingly. He’s a single dad to a four year old daughter with kidney failure, and if you’ve been following along with me for any bit of time you’ll know that kidney failure and transplant stress has been my life for the last three years. Maybe it was because I could relate to some of the stresses of being a caretaker to someone with kidney failure, or because the characters were loveable, but I just really loved this book and was so glad it came into my life!