e-ALC, 12:06:00
Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor, Teddy Hamilton, J.F. Harding, Vanessa Edwin, Robert Hatchet, & Shane East
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Published by: Hot-Lanta Publishing, LLC
Read from: December 6-8, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Audible
Content Warning: Sexual Content, Cursing, Injury/Injury Detail, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Cancer, Pregnancy, Arachnids
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Audible, Audio, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Full Cast Audio, Holidaze, Sparkly Covers, LOL, Realistic Fiction, Retellings (Hella Loose retelling of Home Alone), RomanceFrom New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a brand new holiday rom-com with all the humor and heat her fans adore.
Nothing says I love you like trespassing, public humiliation, and a town-wide Christmas spectacle to win your crush back.
Atlas “Max” Maxheimer did not sign up for this. One minute, he’s anxiously trying to keep his family’s Christmas tree farm from imploding. The next? He’s passed out in the snow after getting clocked by a suspiciously strong bottle of soda.
Enter Betty: new in town, full of holiday cheer, and helping her uncle open a rival tree farm next door. Max is convinced she’s out to destroy everything Evergreen Farm stands for. Betty thinks Max might be one sleigh short of a winter parade.
Cue the holiday chaos.
Between blizzards, blown reputations, wildly misguided romantic plots, and one stolen ornament with a seriously tragic backstory, this small-town war turns into something far messier―and much more delicious―than either of them expected.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I read the first one I thought there was no way there could be a follow up to that book. It was hilarious and weird and a Grinch retelling, so I thought that was it. Imagine my surprise when I saw there was another one coming out and it’s rumored to be a retelling of Home Alone. Y’all I was so confused lol I had no idea how she was going to pull this off, but now that I’ve finished it I know that I never should have doubted her lol
Ok so off the rip I know people are either going to love this or hate it. Why? Because this was actually stupid lololol For the most part I spent this whole book mad at the decisions they made and the way she was listening to her uncle the jerk and never asked the people around town what they thought about her uncle or anything. She just ran in guns blazing and then suddenly it was everyone else’s fault. I guess I don’t understand because I’ve always been part of a community in some way. I might stay to myself, but I pay attention and try to support those that need it. So her coming there, seeing how they do things, and then going rogue when you KNOW there’s two sides to every story? Yeah it didn’t sit well with me.
HOWEVER, I was able to ignore all of that because of the fact that it was absolutely hilarious. This year I didn’t get into the holiday spirit at all. I didn’t read my holiday books until December when normally I read them during October as I read my Halloween books. But this year I just never felt it. I’ve just been existing if that makes sense. But when I started reading this I started howling with laughter. And no that is not an exaggeration. I have never laughed so much while reading like ever. And that one scene that I mentioned on that Two for Tuesday with the popcorn garland, let me tell you, I damn near woke up my kid laughing at that.
The Home Alone part of this isn’t super prominent tho. There is the Filthy Animal part, but there’s also a tarantula in it as well. And of course I was almost ready to DNF it right there, but it wasn’t in a lot of scenes. And there was a lot of times where Max was knocked out from different things, including a bottle of soda. I think there was also a mention of a ropes course at her new facility and I was so shocked at home Quinn was able to make up this stuff lol And there’s of course the cover with the famous Kevin pose. Some scenes that I wish were there was the “Give this to Kevin” and the pizza thing. Or at least the hotel and the ice cream. So yeah, if you’re looking for this to be in your face, it’s not. So watch it before you read this and let me know if you can catch anything else.
The romance was really cute tho. I actually liked the two of them. Both of them needed some therapy, but I thought it was pretty solid. I DIDN’T like that she and her uncle got off scott free from the the town and they weren’t held accountable for their part in any of this. They acted like everything was Max’s fault, but no one said anything about what she was planning to do before Max got caught or before Max changed her mind. If Max was told to do XYZ, I think she should have done the same. Other than that I thought they were pretty cute tho. As for the spice, this one is just as spicy as its predecessor. Although this one has two food scenes that people are still talking about.
I was so glad to see so many people read this. Not because it was great, but because I read this at a time when I needed it and I hope they did too. I went through almost every range of emotion this, but for the most part I was smiling and laughing. I know this isn’t going to be case for everyone, so I fully accept that this like a hate it or love it kind of book. I hope those that need it can find it.
Overall, I give this
