Mini-Reviews of Christmas Books

Note: These titles were all offered through Freebooksy.

 

The Naughty List by L. A. Kelley: When Saint Nick's son has the Naughty or Nice book stolen on his watch, he enlists the help of a department store employee to help him find it before the world descends into chaos.

Gods, demons, and supernatural creatures from various mythologies live hidden among humans and are ruled by their own council. Each type of non-human entity had their own lore and abilities. I never thought I'd read a novel where a Medusa was a guard in a prison holding Santa Claus! The side characters were interesting and decently-written. The antagonist had zero issues with murder and clear motivation for doing what they did. The lore of Santa's lineage was memorable.

David and Rosalie are solid main characters. Their romance was sweet and clean, though more of a vehicle for shenanigans than swoony reading. The relationship seems to grow over the next few books in the series (which I haven't read yet). 

It didn't feel like the most Christmassy book, but I loved this urban fantasy and highly recommend it.

Santa Cutie by Jenny Alexandra: Melody loves Christmas so much that she wants everyone to love it as much as she does, especially the hot Grinch who volunteers with her at the retirement home.

This romcom with swearing and some open-door (explicitly consensual) spice was sometimes cute and charming and other times annoying. Melody came off as cringe more often than humorous (the majority of the book was from her POV) while Ebon felt like a bit of a pushover; they both read younger than they were supposed to be. Both MCs had great reasons for doing what they did and feeling what they felt, though Melody had severe trouble putting herself in other people's shoes. There was a solid HEA (with epilogue) but only after a brief third-act breakup.

The side characters were interesting with plenty of personality (especially the retirement home residents), but some of the choices in their arcs were confusing/unrealistic. 

It had a fair bit of Christmas, and I did chuckle once or twice, so I tentatively recommend this... even with its flaws.

Dachshund Through the Snow (A Very Murder Christmas) by Rosie A. Point: When Holly's first dog-walking client is found poisoned, she must clear her name with the help of the client's cute dachshund.

This is a short book, which does it a huge disservice. Characters are two-dimensional, suspects are few, and there are almost no twists. The backstory of what brought Holly to town never matters outside of her best friend trying to get her to date. The detective just believes her when she tells him she found out who the murderer was, even bringing multiple police cars to the location. 

Holly feels like a teenager in so many ways, including writing puerile diary entries that sum up the story periodically... and the book isn't even 150 pages. She gets attached to a dog she has for approximately two days and sneaks it into her apartment, which could be humorous or endear readers to her... but it doesn't.

On the plus side, Holly's mother is somewhat of a cute character and the cover art is adorable.

Maybe the other entries get better, but I wouldn't recommend this one on its own.