Dec. 11, 2025 – The holidays are a time to indulge in Hallmark Channel-style movies – and in their literary counterparts, aka holiday-themed romance novels. Some are heartwarming and some are silly – "A Mannequin for Christmas"? – but all are sure to distract you from the snow and cold. Turn on the twinkle lights, pour a steaming mug of hot chocolate, and curl up with one of these books this month.
"A Mannequin for Christmas" by Timothy Janovsky (2025)
Henry Aster swears he is unlucky when it comes to love. He thought he'd finally found The One, but a sudden break-up has left him hopeless right before the holiday season. Facing another family Christmas alone, Henry makes a wish for "The Perfect Man." The next morning, when he arrives at the Jersey Shore vintage shop he manages, he finds one of the male display mannequins has sprung to life and entirely wrecked the place.
The magicked man is gorgeous, of course, but he comes with a Cinderella-style caveat: If he doesn't experience true, human love before the midnight chime on New Year's Eve, he will turn back into a mannequin for good. Now Henry doesn't have to show up to family Christmas alone. The catch? This new man – self-named Aidan Smith – knows nothing about being a human. Henry has one month to teach Aidan how to be a functioning person in the modern world and the swoony boyfriend that will win over his family. It's an arduous task that draws them close together ... but can human love ever really be true?
"Christmas is All Around" by Martha Waters (2024)
Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won’t let her move on. When an article reveals that she had nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister. But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she is recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie.
Desperate to escape, she accepts a ride back to London from Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business — and the funds to keep their historic house running — relies on holiday cheer, and Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors. Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission to paint iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs for Eden Priory, with Graham offering to escort her. But as Charlotte’s chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham.
"Christmas Sweater Weather" by Jaqueline Snowe (2024)
Charlotte Calhoun has avoided Hayden Porter, her older brother’s sexy-as-sin best friend, ever since that mortifying night when he flat-out rejected her. Fine. Except this Christmas season, they’re thrown together at a snowy ski resort for her brother’s bachelor party, complete with mistletoe, cozy fireplaces, and adjoining rooms. She can tell herself to get over Hayden, but holiday cheer is turning to holiday lust every time he is within ten feet of her.
Between being a full-time single father and his high-pressure college coaching job, a romantic relationship is off the table for Hayden. But he’s fought his attraction to Charlotte for as long as he can. A one-night stand is starting to sound like a good idea as long as her brother never finds out. But with two long weeks until the wedding, hiding their growing feelings is going to take a Christmas miracle.
"Make the Season Bright" by Ashley Herring Blake (2024)
It's been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she's doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in, but she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado – it is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet's upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane's sister Adele also brought a friend home – and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton.
All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas – and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she's stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers – which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele's mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won't talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did. After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together – Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin – and it all feels painfully familiar. But it's all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts ... right?
"Season of the Witch" by Sophie H. Morgan (2025)
Tia Hightower isn't sure how she went from being a powerful witch to fake dating her ex at a winter house party. For eight years, she has refused to speak Henry Pearlmatter's name unless it has been to curse it. Now, with their family businesses merged, she and her insufferable ex must pretend to be together to secure a wealthy warlock's investment. Sharing a room – and a bed – with Henry is bad enough. Even worse is that Tia might have had a small potion mishap and accidentally erased Henry's memories of her.
Henry might not remember his ex, but it's clear there's still something between them. Whatever went wrong in the past, he intends to figure it out. Faking feelings for Tia isn't exactly difficult, but one thing's for certain: starlight carnivals and mulled-wine kisses can't change history. With the threat of Henry's memories hovering over every stolen moment, their time together is running out. But a little bit of Christmas magic and the snow-melting heat between them have Tia wondering if it's time to risk her heart once more, even if it's with the warlock who once broke it.
"The Eight Heartbreaks of Hannukkah" by Jena Meltzer (2025)
Evelyn Schwartz has the perfect Hanukkah planned: eight jam-packed days producing the live-action televised musical of "A Christmas Carol." Who needs family when you've got long hours, impossible deadlines, and your dream job? That is, until an accident on set lands her in the medical bay with one of her chronic migraines, and she's shocked to find her ex-husband, David Adler, filling in for the usual studio doctor.
It's been two years since David walked away from Evelyn and their life in Manhattan, and his ex-wife is still the same workaholic who puts her career before everything else – especially her health. But when Evelyn begins hallucinating 'ghosts' tied to her past heartbreaks, and every single one leads to David, he finds himself spending much more time with her than he anticipated.
"The Holiday Honeymoon Switch" by Julia McKay (2024)
Holly Beech and Ivy Casey are bury-the-body besties. They’re so in sync, they even look alike. When Holly’s fiancé jilts her, leaving her in shock and with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Holly convinces Ivy to switch places. Ivy will go on the Hawaiian honeymoon her best friend can’t bear to take alone, while Holly escapes to Ivy’s rented Hudson Valley cabin to binge-watch holiday movies and heal.
But Holly’s wallowing is interrupted when her rugged Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival who’s had a major glow-up. Meanwhile, Ivy’s (now Hawaiian) annual solo art retreat is upended when Holly’s ex-fiancé checks into the honeymoon suite—with a new woman. Raging and bed-less, the last thing Ivy expects is for the hot hotel bartender to come to her rescue. Against all odds, this Christmas might prove the most magical yet.
"The Most Wonderful Time" by Jayne Allen (2024)
With Christmas around the corner, Ramona Tucker is desperate to get away. She has been lying to her family about her engagement to Malik, her (ex) fiancé. But breakups are fickle, and Ramona is convinced that she can make her pretend wedding real again – but only if she can avoid everyone discovering her secret at her mother’s over-the-top Christmas Eve party. Two-thousand miles away in sunny Malibu, Chelsea Flint needs money to hold on to the beloved beachside cottage she shared with her late parents. The taxes are expensive, and her art isn’t paying the bills. Once an irresistible star of the Los Angeles art scene, Chelsea seems to have lost that spark that vaulted her to the top. If she doesn’t rediscover that magic – and sell a painting – soon, it will be her family’s home she’s selling instead.
The two women swap homes, just in time, thanks to some careful planning by Ramona’s best friend and a sturdy nudge from Chelsea’s gallerist godmother. Ramona’s Malibu dreams of sun and surf are interrupted as her first night brings an unwelcome stranger to her door, making her question who she can trust – the meddling neighbor Joan, or Jay, the handsome beachside fitness instructor with a secret of his own. Chelsea, desperate for Ramona to stay, hides what she knows – even if that means jeopardizing her budding connection with charming Carlos, whose dreams for his future could be the very key to unlock Chelsea from the weight of her past.
"The Nightmare Before Kissmas" by Sara Raasch (2024)
Nicholas "Coal" Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR facade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night. But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter princess and his brother's not-so-secret crush. A situation that has diaster written all over it.
Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess's hand ... and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the prince of Halloween. It's a fake competition between two holiday princes who can't keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.
"Window Shopping" by Tessa Bailey (2024)
Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin. I'm standing alone in front of the famous Vivant department store, when a charming man named Aiden asks my opinion of the décor.
It's a tragedy in tinsel, I say, unable to lie. He asks for a better idea with a twinkle in his eye. Did I know he owned the place? No. He put me on the spot. Now I'm working for that man, trying to ignore that he's hot. But as a down on her luck girl with a difficult past, I know an opportunity when I see one – and I have to make it last. I'll put my heart and soul into dressing his holiday windows. I'll work without stopping. And when we lose the battle with temptation, I'll try and remember I'm just window shopping.