15 Christmas Romance Novels Released in 2023
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter. That means it’s the perfect time to spend your evenings curled up in a blanket with a good book. I’ve always been a mood reader which means that with the upcoming holiday, I’m getting ready to dive into all the great Christmas romance novels released in 2023.
Christmas romance novels are my favorite because they’re like Hallmark Christmas Movies for your mind. Instead of being told what the characters look like and what the Christmas atmosphere is like, you get to imagine it in your own brain.
In today’s blog post I’m going to be sharing some of the Christmas Romance Novels Released in 2023. I hope this post helps you find a great Christmas couple to root for this holiday season.
Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey
Tessa Bailey has become one of the most popular contemporary romance novelists out there right now. She’s constantly releasing new romance novels that keep you entertained and swooning. In Wreck The Halls, the adult children of two former rockstars have to convince their moms to play together again, for a Christmas Eve Concert.
Melody and Beat are total opposites, so working together is the last thing that Melody wants. But if they can manage to work together, their opposite personalities and differing skills just might come in handy to help them get the band back together.
I love a Christmas story that focuses on reuniting a family, and this is an interesting take on that because when you’re in a band together, you are family.
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
This may be more of a Winter story than a Christmas story, but it takes place in NYC so I just had to add it to the list.
Iris is new to the city, but she’s familiar with it because she grew up watching movies set in the city with her Mom, while they ate homemade gelato. Her friend Bobby takes her to a fair in Little Italy and they stumble upon a family owner gelateria, which catches Iris’s attention. It just might be the same one that she saw in a picture with her Mom.
Iris introduces herself to the family (and a cute nephew!) and finds out that their business is in danger of closing. She may be able to help them stay afloat, but the reason why brings on more questions than answers.
Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
Kerry Winfrey is an author who I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, so I love that she just released a Christmas romance novel for me to check out.
Faking Christmas is exactly what it sounds like! Laurel Grant is a social media manager for a loca tourism website/magazine and she has a misunderstanding with her boss, where he thinks she owns her sister’s farm. It happens, right? So rather than risk upsetting her boss she keeps the white lie going.
But when her boss decides to come to the Meadow Rise Farm’s big Christmas dinner (as advertised online, but Laurel herself) she realizes she is in trouble. So she and her sister hatch a plan to present Lauren as the perfect homemaker, complete with husband and kids. That hard part will be getting her “husband” to play the part.
I love a good Christmas masquerade and the plot kind of reminds me of this historical romance I read previously.
The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy
Bella Ross is a real estate developer from Los Angeles with one major goal. She wants to acquire Always Noelle, a failing Christmas shop in the small town of Maple Falls. The only problem is that the owner’s grandson, Jesse Harrison, is determined to not let her get her way.
They come up with a plan. The two of them will compete in the Maple Falls Holiday Games and whoever wins will get to pick the selling price.
Honestly, I love this concept because of how much it seems like a Hallmark Christmas movie! Haha. I’m sure Jesse Harrison will teach Bella Ross quite a few things about Christmas in a small town. What do you think?
The Trouble with Tinsel by Juliet Giglio & Keith Giglio
The Trouble with Tinsel is a second chance romance and a fake dating romance that takes place in Hollywood. Kerri Williams and Jon Romano are a former screenwriting team who wrote scripts together, but also once dated. For the month of December they will be reunited as they work together on an old script that they wrote, that is now becoming a movie.
Reuniting with an ex is always awkward, but it sounds like this Christmas is going to be especially awkward as they have to pretend to still be in love because of a misunderstanding by the star of the movie. Eek!
Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
Another fake dating christmas romance! I love it. In Snowed In, Megan and Christian take each other home for the holidays so they they can convince their families that they are totally fine. But the thing is, they’ve only just met at a bar. But they sign a contract (on a pub napkin) and prepare themselves to wow each others families.
This sounds really cute and I’m assuming maybe they get snowed in at one of their houses? The holidays are such a difficult time with all the family commitments and Christmas craziness, so I’m sure this one will have some laughs in it as well.
The Christmas Cafe by Eliza Evans
The Christmas Cafe is about Sylvie West, a passionate baker with a love for fruitcake and the small town bakery that she works at. But when she finds out that the cafe might be sold, she knows that it’s up to her to save it. The Holiday Channel is coming to film in their small town of Silver Bells and she realizes this may be her chance. If she can get them to film a scene at The Christmas Cafe, that will be the publicity they need to bring in more customers.
Along the way she gets help from her Gramps, and even garners the interest of Royce, an actor from The Holiday Channel. One thing is for sure, the Christmas season just got a whole lot busier.
Christmas at the Lake by Anita Hughes
Christmas at the Lake by Anita Hughes is a honeymoon alone story that takes place at Lake Tahoe. Rebecca is left at the altar, and decides to take her honeymoon trip alone. She and her ex were supposed to visit the Christmas Cove Inn. She runs into an old friend while at the hotel, and friendship with him (and maybe more) might be what she needs to help her feel better. But after a misunderstanding, will they have missed their opportunity?
I read A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes last year and it seems like this author is very fond of “mix up” type stories. Lol. But anyway, this one sounds cute. I’ve never been to Tahoe and look forward to reading about it.
The Christmas Letter by Emily Stone
Holly is part of the lonely hearts letter writing club. Each Christmas she writes a letter to someone who will be spending the holidays along, and then she receives a letter from someone else. It’s a letter writing chain.
Normally it’s a one sided thing, but this year Holly receives a reply back to her letter, and it really tugs at her heart strings. She really empathizes with the letter writer because she is also familiar with grief.
Determined to help, she sets out to reunite the letter writer, Emma, with her grandson Jack. But Jack is someone who Holly has met before. But now Holly is faced with another problem. She wants to help fix Emma’s life, and she also wants to help fix her own.
The Ex-Mas Holidays by Zoe Allison
A second chance romance? Yes please. In The Ex-Mas Holidays by Zoe Allison, Maya and Sam are reunited after he broke her heart 8 years ago. But when she stumbles upon him at a party, and he’s a naked bartender, he has a lot of explaining to do.
The two must work together over the holidays season as Maya reclaims her old job working alongside Sam as a ski instructor. But will these two be able to figure things out by the holidays, or are they in for a crash landing?
It Happened One Christmas by Chantel Guertin
I would just like to say how much I love all of these books popping up about filming holiday movies in small towns. It’s taking one of my favorite things (Christmas movies) and turning them into another one of my favorite things (romance novels).
In It Happened One Christmas, film director Zoey must somehow convince the mayor of Chelsea to let her film her upcoming movie in their small town. See, Benoit Deschamps is a bit grumpy.
Sounds like the perfect romance set up to me. I’m adding this book straight to the top of my list.
Meet Me At Christmas by Jenny Hale
Jenny Hale has written so many Christmas books! In fact, I have quite a few of them on my bookshelf at home. But today we’re talking about her latest christmas romance novel release which is called Meet Me At Christmas.
Stella is a traveling writer and researcher who comes home to spend the holidays with her mother in Leiper’s Fork, because it’s the first Christmas without her father. She must deal with a run in with Henry Dutton, a man from her past, as well as deal with some drama within her family.
It’s a feel good holiday novel that will probably leave you wishing you lived in a small town. I know I always do!
Holly vs. Mr. Ivy by Amanda P Jones
Holly vs. Mr. Ivy is advertised as a sweet Christmas rom com, and from the description it sounds great. Main character Holly is a chef, and although she doesn’t want to, her boss forces her to work with the new general manager. She doesn’t have a choice if she wants to keep her job, and she really needs this job to keep up with her mom’s medical bills.
Rhett, the new GM, takes a liking to Holly. But she’s not exactly into his upbeat spirit and fondness for flirting. But he has a good feeling about her. Will they be able to work things out so that the kitchen (and their relationship) doesn’t go up in flames? I guess we’ll have to read and find out.
Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaludding & Marissa Stapley
2 women (named Maryam and Anna) find themselves sitting next to each other on a plane ride while Maryam is on her way to her sister’s wedding and Anna is on her way to meet her boyfriend’s parents for the first time.. When their plane hits turbulence, they get scared and confess their biggest hopes and their biggest fears to each other. They’re probably about to die, so who cares?
Well, they obviously don’t die. And unfortunately Maryam’s crush Saif is sitting a few seats behind them and may have overheard the things she said about them. Oops.
Their plane takes an emergency landing in Snow Falls, a picturesque winter town. Maryam, Anna, Saif, and a bunch of bridesmaids are stuck in town. It’s unexpected, but it just might be the thing that Maryam and Anna both need.
This sounds so adorable, and definitely like it could be a great rom com movie.
Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains
Through the Snow Globe is a story of love, grief, and finding the true meaning of Christmas. The main character Diana is not looking forward to Christmas. It’s been just a couple of weeks since her fiance was seriously injured while riding his bike, and now he’s in a coma. That makes it a little difficult for Diana to get into the holiday spirit.
But after she comes into possession of a snow globe that her fiance Dennis had hidden, she finds herself in a miraculous situation. She’s transported back to December 4th, the day of Dennis’s accident, to live it over. And over and over. She’s given the chance to try to change what happened, but instead is thrown into every different scenario available for what could have happened.
It’s up to Diana to try to change her life and make it to Christmas, whether she’s ready for it or not.
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you enjoyed reading this list of 15 Christmas Romance Novels Released in 2023. It’s always fun to read romantic holiday stories during this time of year. There are so many settings to choose from, like Christmas parties and small town Christmas events.
What’s not to love?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing with a friend who also likes these kinds of books!
xo Marian
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