e-ALC, 03:15:27
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus & Valentina Ortiz
Release Date: September 30, 2025
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: November 20-21, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: LibroFM (I received this ALC free from the publisher and LibroFM. I also received a hardcover of this from the publisher so I did immersive read with both editions. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Alcoholism, Addiction, Sexual Content
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+, Audio, Contemporary Romance, Dual POV, Own Voices, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Holidaze (Christmas), Short Stories/Novellas, YAFor Alex and Molly, the last three years have felt like Christmas every day. So what better way to celebrate their final winter break of college than a romantic holiday getaway in a town right out of a Christmas-card?
Aside from sampling all the holiday cheer Barnwich has to offer, Alex and Molly have an important mission this weekend: to help their friend, Cora, get her crush to fall for her. But in between ice skating, snowball fights, and matchmaking schemes, it becomes obvious that both of them have another mission this weekend: to not reveal the huge secrets they’re each keeping from the other. Secrets about their post-college plans that just might threaten to tear them apart.
Will these two be able to help Cora get the girl and keep theirs—or will this be the last Christmas of Alex and Molly’s love story?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have a love/hate relationship with novellas lol I love them because there’s sometimes a glimpse at some of the older characters that I missed or I hate them because they always make me want some more. And this one was crazy because it did both for me lol This one was good!
One thing that I don’t normally see in novellas is a lot of emotion and heart. And this one had exactly that. One of them is keeping a really big secret and the other is holding a really sentimental secret. My heart was in my throat the entire time because I knew that this was going to end up with someone getting hurt. And that part annoyed me. I HATE miscommunication, especially when it something this big. But I also was dreading the tell all because I knew that it would hurt. Does that make sense? I really felt for the both of them just trying to make it work.
The small holiday town that they went through was so amazing! Idk what it is, but those little towns that are specifically for the holiday are always so cute. This one was more so told to us vs shown, but there was snow and all these different places to get presents, so I was fine with it. And the hotel being called Mistletoe Motel lol it was cute.
The romance was cute! And by the romance I meant the match making. I do wish there was more of it and less mention of the miscommunication. They were flirting so much and they both were acting like they didn’t like each other to themselves and their friends. They were so bashful and I thought it was adorable. I hated that we didn’t get the actual play by play without Molly and Alex being involved lol
This was more fun than I thought it would be as it was a novella. This was a fun holiday romance that I felt so much while reading. It was surprising to say the least and I really enjoyed being back with these characters. Interesting to see how she put them with her other characters as well. Pick this one up from your library if you haven’t read it already!
Overall, I give this
