Book Recommendations: Spicy Holiday Romances (18+.a la BookTok)
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Happy Black Friday! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday.
Today I am kicking off a few holiday episodes. This first one is all about the Spicy Holiday Romances. If you are a fan of holiday reads, you will know that most of them as PG-rated/Closed Doors. My guest today is Kelly from the Boobies and Noobies podcast and we do a deep dive on spicy/high-heat holiday romances.
BOOKS RECOMMENDED;
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.
Life at sea sharpened Captain Phillip Dalton into a shrewd and strategic military man…yet none of those skills prepared him for the intricacies of planning his daughter’s upcoming Christmas wedding. His family, most especially his wife, are all but strangers to him thanks to his service to the Crown. But if Phillip finds himself bewitched by his practical, charming, and guileless wife, he does his best to hide his struggles.
Annalise Dalton raised two children and built a comfortable life for herself while her husband of convenience provided for them from afar. But now Phillip’s home to stay, and she finds it impossible to ignore his gruff manner, brilliant blue eyes, or the gentle way he looks after her needs. And if Annalise is unnerved by the budding feelings her husband inspires in her, she does her best to hide how they unsettle her.
When past secrets and misunderstandings threaten the tenuous steps they’ve taken to create a real and loving marriage, can Phillip and Annalise overcome the years they spent apart to forge a happy future together, and for every Christmas to come?
Gabriela Romero is a single mother struggling to make ends meet. With Christmas fast approaching, she’s lost work, she’s late on rent, and the zeroes in her bank account are on the wrong side of the decimal point. Fortunately, she has a couple bright spots in her life—her amazing daughter, Ana, and her brief interactions with her gorgeous neighbor from across the street, Mason Lee.
He’s big, strong, kind, and he’s great with Ana. Plus, he looks at Gabriela like he wants to devour her. How could a man like him be real? When he finally asks her out—and an unexpected job comes her way—it seems Gabriela’s luck is finally turning around.
Until the universe decides to give her a reality check and disaster strikes.
In Gabriela’s most desperate moments, Mason rushes to the rescue. But her savior isn’t what he seems. He’s a seven-foot-tall alien with horns and glowing violet eyes. Did she run into the arms of an otherworldly demon or will this unusual being save Christmas—and claim Gabriela’s heart in the process?
When Holly wakes up on Christmas Eve to find an intruder in her home, she does what anyone else would; grabs her replica medieval broadsword and sneaks downstairs to deal with him.
But he isn’t a burglar. He wears a big red coat, big brown boots, and his big round belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly. He’s Santa Claus. He’s thick. And he’s HOT.
What begins as a simple misunderstanding, develops into a passion Holly never knew she needed, with a man who knows her every want and desire. But Holly has a secret, one she can’t ever let Claus discover; the true reason she hates Christmas.
While delivering presents on Christmas Eve, Santa gets a gift of his own.
Kate isn’t sure if Nikolai is the real deal, but this silver fox with big hands and thick thighs might just make her believe in Christmas miracle
Sasha Holiday is so over the holidays after getting left at the altar last Christmas Eve. But as the marketing maven for Lady Robin’s Intimate Implements, she’s stuck not-so-merrily pitching naughty toys at a romance book club’s Christmas party. Her loathing of the yuletide only intensifies as a snowstorm rolls in and traps her at the Winterberry Inn. Stranded with her is Perry Winters—a hot bearded book club member trimmed in flannel and tattoos.
Perry’s a romantic with an unerring belief in the magic of the season, and he recognizes a Christmas miracle when he sees it. Brave, smart, and confident—Sasha Holiday is a gift. And the gifts keep coming when she suggests they pass the time with some no-strings fun. After all, she has a big bag of toys that would make even Santa want to stay in bed on Christmas Eve.
But the frisky festivities turn complicated as feelings spark between Sasha and Perry. Perry wants to see Sasha once the snow clears, but Sasha is reluctant to take the relationship sleigh ride again. Perry will have to show her that love is more than just a holiday feeling.
Three…
Amanda Ellis knows three things: she’s tired of doing what’s expected of her, she hates her job at her family’s business, and the last thing she wants to do is attend her parents’ boring New Year’s Eve ball with a date her mother picked. A few days of fun with her online best friend is exactly what she needs to ring in the New Year on her own terms.
Two…
Wren Rebello is impulsive and always ready for fun. A last-minute girls’ getaway sounds like the perfect way to spend New Year’s. But even Wren isn’t prepared for the spark of attraction she feels when she meets Amanda in person for the first time. Good thing Wren loves popping Amanda’s cork.
One…
After days spent sharing end-of-year resolutions and the one bed in their cottage, the clock strikes midnight and the ball drops on their time together. As Amanda and Wren go their separate ways, they leave new resolutions unfulfilled. Is there enough New Year’s magic left to turn their online friendship into real-life love?
It all started with Jack & Diane…
And no, not the couple from the popular 80’s song—the couple that signed a five-dollar bill with their names and the location of The Livingston Cabin in Copper Ridge, Colorado.
And I just so happened to acquire that five-dollar bill on the same day of the funeral of a close friend AND the day I was supposed to be getting married.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
A sign? I think so.
After a short internet search, I found the cabin in question and wasted no time booking a trip for myself to the magical house tucked high in the mountains.
But apparently someone else wanted to experience The Livingston Cabin during the same ten days as I did—and he was hotter than sin.
Carson took five years off of my life when I discovered him in my place of solitude. But he also became Santa’s helper as he opened me up to more fun and adventure than I ever thought possible.
The magic of Copper Ridge cast a spell over us for those ten days, and then one question remained when our time was up…
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach
But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg.
Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.
Sarah Goldman loves Hanukkah, and she’s thrilled to be appointed as vice chair of the Hollowville Hanukkah Festival. So when the festival is threatened with cancellation, she comes up with an idea: a new slogan and advertising campaign topped off with a metal menorah large enough to fill the center of town. But even though her heart and dreams are large, the committee’s budget constraints threaten to stop her grand plans right in their tracks
Famous metal sculptor Isaac Lieberman also loves Hanukkah. But his vision of a perfect Hanukkah isn’t a commercial community event—it’s spending time with family, following age-old traditions. He’s not interested in the festival, no matter how many times his grandmother, his bubbe, asks him to contribute one of his sculptures.
Then Sarah comes tumbling into his life…can she change his mind about more than just the holidays?
Sarah Goldman loves Hanukkah, and she’s thrilled to be appointed as vice chair of the Hollowville Hanukkah Festival. So when the festival is threatened with cancellation, she comes up with an idea: a new slogan and advertising campaign topped off with a metal menorah large enough to fill the center of town. But even though her heart and dreams are large, the committee’s budget constraints threaten to stop her grand plans right in their tracks.
Famous metal sculptor Isaac Lieberman also loves Hanukkah. But his vision of a perfect Hanukkah isn’t a commercial community event—it’s spending time with family, following age-old traditions. He’s not interested in the festival, no matter how many times his grandmother, his bubbe, asks him to contribute one of his sculptures.
Then Sarah comes tumbling into his life…can she change his mind about more than just the holidays?
Sometimes the perfect Chanukah gift can change everything.
Newly divorced stone butch Jordan moves into her friend Leah’s spare room, ready, at 49, to take on a new job and finally explore kink and polyamory. But moving to NYC during the holidays sends grief crashing through her, and Jordan realizes that when she isn’t solely focused on caring for others, her own feelings are unavoidable. Including her feelings for Leah.
51 year old queer femme Leah, an experienced submissive kink educator who owns a sex shop, has recently come to terms with being gray ace and is trying to rework her life and relationships to honor that.
Leah has a brainstorm to help them both: she offers Jordan eight kink lessons, one for each night of Chanukah, to help Jordan find her feet as a novice dominant, and to create a structured space where Leah can work on more deeply honoring her own consent, now that she knows she’s gray ace.
She’d planned to keep it casual, but instead the experience opens cracks in the armor Leah’s been using to keep people at a distance and keep herself safe. Now she needs to grapple with the trauma that’s been impacting her life for years.
Can these two autistic queers find ways to cope with the changes they are making in their lives and support each other, as they build something new they hadn’t thought was possible?
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