The Best Christmas Romance Novels for 2023

Book Summary

Emily’s life was shattered when her sister died unexpectedly. She’s pulled herself together as much as possible to care for her nine-year-old nephew, Felix. She even ends her long-term relationship with her boyfriend, Rory, because he isn’t ready to settle down and be a dad.

Emily and Felix plan a visit to London to see the Christmas displays and find some holiday spirit. However, Felix wanders off, and when Emily catches up, they find themselves on a train to Leeds…where Rory lives. The long ride leaves Emily wondering if she made a mistake in letting him go. What should she do if they run into him when they arrive?

Book Summary

Iris, a young chef, grew up in London watching nostalgic movies set in New York with her mom while eating their special homemade gelato, a secret recipe. Now an adult, Iris didn’t fully grasp the scale of Manhattan before moving there to restart her life. She’s ready to hide away instead of exploring her new home, but her BFF Bobby drags her to a street fair in Little Italy instead. She’s surprised when she sees a little family-run gelateria that looks just like one in a photo her mom had.

She returns to the shop to find a handsome man, Gino, who shares that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle kept all the recipes secret, but he’s in a coma, and they haven’t been able to make any more. When Iris samples the last batch of vanilla gelato, she knows it’s her mother’s recipe. She volunteers to help Gino restore their business and finds that they have chemistry outside the kitchen as well. But when his uncle finally wakes up, everything she has built is at risk.

Book Summary

Laurel handles the social media for her twin sister’s farm on top of her job as the social media manager for the Buckeye State of Mind tourism magazine and website. A little misunderstanding led her boss, Gilbert, to believe it was Laurel’s farm instead of Holly’s.

When Gilbert gets dumped right before the holidays, he invites himself over to the farm’s big holiday dinner. Laurel and Holly devise a plan–all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. Another guest, Max Beckett, who has been Laurel’s nemesis since Holly’s wedding, will pose as Laurel’s perfect husband for the evening.

But then the single night turns into a long weekend when everyone is snowed in at the farm.

Book Summary

Holly has been estranged from her family ever since a tragic New Year’s Eve car accident three years ago. During those years, she’s been part of a lonely-hearts holiday letter–writing club. Each December, Holly writes to a stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and she receives a letter from another lonely person in return.

The letters are meant to be anonymous, allowing the sender to write anything on their heart. But this year, the letter Holly receives has clues that lead her to believe she can track down the author and maybe even reunite her with the grandson, Jack, whom she misses so dearly.

When Holly finds Jack, she realizes that she’s actually met him once before. There’s an immediate spark between the two of them, just like there was the first time. She’s determined to fix his family, and maybe even her own, but time is running out.

Book Summary

Mackenzie is a talented graphic designer with major social anxiety. Her co-worker Jeremy is always put together and has his life planned out in detail. Despite their differences, they are the top contenders for this year’s promotion, and whoever shows the most Christmas spirit has the best chance at landing the new job (and raise).

While Mackenzie has had a crush on Jeremy for awhile, he hadn’t noticed her before she became the thing between himself and the increased salary that will help him as a single guardian to his twin niece and nephew. However, he’s not just thinking about Mackenzie as a co-worker. Now that she’s on his radar, his quirkiness is quite attractive to him.

Book Summary

It’s summer at McCredie’s bookshop in Old Town Edinburgh, but an American company has selected the bookshop to film a very cheesy Christmas movie. The location is perfect, on a charmingly historic street with Victorian grey stone buildings and warmly lit shop windows.

The shop’s manager, Carmen, is both amused and horrified by the summer transformation of her beloved shop. But the money from the film is needed to prevent a buyout offer from an obnoxious millionaire who wants to turn McCredie’s into a souvenir shop selling kilts made in China and plastic Nessies. Can this wacky Christmas movie experience save the bookshop?

Book Summary

Kallum was known as the “funny one” in his younger days as a member of the boy band INK. When his time in the spotlight was over, he opened the Slice, Slice, Baby pizza chain and routinely hooked up with bridesmaids at weddings. But, he’s thrown back into the spotlight when an old sex tape is leaked. This surprising twist in his life leads to a role in a sexy Santa Christmas movie.

Former child star Winnie married her childhood sweetheart and tried to form the perfect life. But when that falls apart, she needs to reinvent herself. Why not give up her good-girl past and star in a steamy new Christmas movie?

Winnie and Kallum have a history, but it’s been a decade. When Winnie needs help faking pleasure on screen, it’s up to Kallum to teach her what she has been missing. But can they take on that challenge without Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie bubbling to the surface?

Book Summary

There are only eight days until Christmas, and the Maple Falls Holiday Games will determine the selling price of the quaint mountain town’s failing Christmas shop. The Holiday Games are an annual tradition of eccentric strength and skill challenges.

The first competitor is Bella, an LA-based real estate developer who needs to score a great deal on the shop to secure a big promotion. Her rival in the Games is Jess, the shop owner’s stubborn grandson, who wants the highest price possible. As days pass by, Jess and Bella’s icy feelings for each other begin to thaw. But someone still has to win…

Book Summary

What if you could have one more day with someone you lost? That’s the underlying premise of this novel that blends It’s a Wonderful Life and Groundhog Day into a compelling holiday read.

Diana is no longer looking forward to Christmas. Her fiance, Linus, was critically injured in a bike accident, and she’s losing hope that he’ll ever open his eyes again. The night before Christmas Eve, she finds a hidden snow globe of their small town and realizes that Linus bought it for her before the accident. The next day should have been Christmas Eve, but instead, Diana wakes up on December 4th, the day of the accident.

She soon realizes that she’s in a loop of that day, each time experiencing a different variation of events. Along the way, she uncovers startling truths about herself, her relationship, and even her career.

Book Summary

Sunny, Arianna, and Molly all had a terrible Christmas, each for a different reason. Sunny is newly married with two stepkids who don’t like her. Arianna is freshly divorced and hated sending her daughter to spend Christmas with her dad for the first time. Molly works for the post office and hated missing out on all her own family time because she has to make sure everyone else gets their packages.

Christmas felt like a big bust for all three women. But they have a plan! What if they extended Christmas to be a year-round holiday? As they chase the perfect holiday through twelve months of cooking disasters, over-the-top festivity, and lots of laughter and tears, they discover perfection is overrated.

Book Summary

Kerry’s family owns a Christmas tree farm in North Carolina. Each year, her brother and father drive up to NYC to sell their trees at a street corner stand in Greenwich Village. But this year, her father isn’t up for the trip, so Kerry – newly unemployed and romantically unattached – reluctantly agrees to take his place. But doing so means she has to live in a tiny camper with her gruff older brother, Murphy, and his dog, Queenie.

Many in the neighborhood know Murphy from his past Decembers at the tree lot, and they are quick to welcome Kerry to their quirky corner of the city. This includes Patrick, a single dad, and his adorable son Austin. Her new friends start feeling like family as Kerry gets into the holiday spirit. But with Christmas fast approaching, a secretive elderly neighbor goes missing.

Book Summary

Maryam is on her way to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna is headed to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family. These two strangers are seatmates on a flight to Toronto when they find themselves in extreme turbulence. The scary flight causes the two women to confess their deepest hopes and fears to each other.

They think they’ll never see each other again, but the rough ride leads to an emergency landing in Ottawa. Instead of making it to Toronto, the duo (along with Maryam’s sister’s entire bridal party and Saif, the love of Maryam’s life) find themselves at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town. Could being snowbound in a small town unexpectedly turn into the best holiday ever?

Book Summary

Sutton hates Christmas so much that she’s ready to attack the blow-up Snowman in an over-the-top Christmas yard. She has no idea that the home belongs to the Mr. Christmas of her village, Gus, who is a single dad of twin four-year-olds. He even runs the town’s only year-round Christmas shop.

When Sutton and Gus meet, the chemistry is instant. When Gus discovers that Sutton needs both money and a place to stay, he hires her as the new nanny for his young twins. The twins and their grandmother will make you laugh, while Gus and Sutton’s relationship may make you blush.

Book Summary

Landon is a quiet hockey goalie for the Calgary farm team, but he’s being called up to the NHL to be the new backup goalie. He doesn’t play hockey to make friends and is okay giving off loner “don’t talk to me” vibes. However, Calgary’s charming superstar young winger, Casey treats Landon like an old friend.

While the guys have nothing in common, Landon needs a place to stay, and Casey has a big new house that he hates living in alone. First, Landon and Casey go from roommates to friends, but as they spend the holiday together, this bromance turns to romance.

Book Summary

Henrietta (Henri) is a successful mergers and acquisitions executive, but the next generation of employees at the company are eager to replace her. Henri’s boss informs her that she’ll be out of work if she doesn’t close a big deal before the end of the year. Desperate to keep her job, Henri assures her boss that she can convince her parents to sell their iconic small-town Christmas store to a huge corporate client.

Henri typically only leaves her job in Detroit long enough for a quick, 24-hour holiday visit with her mom and dad. Imagine their surprise when she shows up at the family business in early December. Her parents are thrilled to see her, but her brother is immediately suspicious.

While she’s used to closing cold corporate deals, she finds herself reconnecting with the warmth of the family store and her hometown. Will she be able to close the deal and save her career even if it hurts her family?

Book Summary

Erica, Claudia, and Anna are lifelong friends and headed to the Maple Sugar Inn in picturesque Vermont for their book club holiday. Each woman is around 40 years old, and the milestone birthday has affected them differently. Over the years, their shared love of books has carried them through life’s ups and downs.

Hattie is a 28-year-old widow who manages the Inn. Between work and her 5-year-old daughter, she has her hands full as the holidays approach. Even with distractions all around, she can see that each woman in the visiting book club trio is packing some major emotional baggage. Can these four women unite to improve each other’s lives? Some of them even find romance along the way.

Book Summary

Hannah lost her parents at a young age, and Finn’s family disowned him when he came out. With nowhere else to go, these two Christmas orphans have spent the holiday together every year since their years at Boston College. After school, both moved to NYC, where they added stylish Priya and mysterious Theo to their found family.

Thanks to offbeat adventures that get a bit more outrageous each year, their Christmases are anything but traditional. But when Finn announces plans to move to LA, the group realizes this holiday might be their last together.