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Christmas Street #2

KISSING SANTA: A Pining for the Wrong Firefighter Romantic Comedy

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Keep calm ... and kiss a fireman. The right fireman!It was supposed to be just an innocent kiss at a charity kissing booth — but it turned out to be fireworks. ‘Volunteered’ to dress as Santa, firefighter Zeke Pepper is blown away by the kiss and feels he may have met The One, but school teacher Hannah Cooke is still trying to win back her high school sweetheart Jackson. When Zeke runs into Hannah on Christmas Street, they make a In exchange for him making her ex jealous at a New Year’s Eve party, she agrees to go on three dates with Zeke. It seems like her plan to win Jackson back is working perfectly — but Zeke has other plans. Could she be falling in love with the wrong firefighter?Join Hannah on her enchanting journey in Kissing Santa, the second heartwarming installment in USA Today bestselling author Heather Horrocks’ beloved Christmas Street series. If you adore the laughter and warmth of holiday rom-coms, reminiscent of the tales spun by Caroline Mickelson or the classic movie While You Were Sleeping, and if you crave sweet, humorous, Hallmark-esque love stories set against the backdrop of a snowy Christmas, then this enchanting series is your festive cup of cocoa. Each book in the Christmas Street series is a standalone story, interwoven with familiar, endearing characters from the uplifting universe of this series. Come home to Christmas Street and rediscover the joy of the season's greatest gift — love.Buy this feel-good romantic comedy filled with love and laughter today!Christmas Street Where Santa brings a romance to everyone who believes in the magic of the season.Each book in the Christmas Street series is a stand-alone book, though the characters are interwoven throughout the series.REVIEW OF BOOK #1 BAH, HUMBUG!: "This isn't a book; it's magic. What could be a sappy Christmas story turns into a wonderful, magical, bring-the-family-together Christmas story. I wasn't merely reading Lexi and Kyle's story, I was there with them, being part of their story. I came up for breath only when I was done with the book (I read it at one sitting). I've never given 5 stars to any book. But this is such a wonderful, heartwarming read that I felt compelled to."Other books set on Christmas Bah, Humbug!2. Kissing Santa3. The Naughty List4. Deck the Malls5. Tying the Knot6. Tangling the Tinsel7. Better Not Pout8. The Ugliest Christmas Sweater Ever9. Holly’s Jolly Christmas10. Looks Like Reindeer (2024)11. Merry and Bright (2025)12. Home for the Holidays (2026)

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2013

73 people are currently reading
263 people want to read

About the author

Heather Horrocks

101 books244 followers
I’m an author who had a somewhat unorthodox upbringing. I was raised in South America and the Middle East, and wrote my first stories as a teenager in Kuwait, where my sister and I proved it really is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. I wrote my first novel in three months on a typewriter when I was 21, I used every romance cliché possible (including amnesia — need I say more?), and never rewrote anything, which is why it’s so much fun to pull it out occasionally when I need a good laugh. I wrote sporadically until my youngest child (who is now 18) was two, when I decided it was time to either actually start writing, or to stop saying I was a writer. So I took a class and started doing the scary things that writing requires. Now I’ve written about twelve novels and several children’s books.

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5 stars
138 (34%)
4 stars
144 (36%)
3 stars
97 (24%)
2 stars
16 (4%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Cyndi.
2,450 reviews124 followers
December 14, 2017
Probably the cutest in the series! Hot fireman Zeke gets roped into manning the kissing booth. Drama teacher Hannah has been dumped by her longtime boyfriend because he wants to explore his options.
She wants the jerk back even after the explosive kiss from Zeke. But Zeke thinks she is The One.
That’s the set up for a cute romance set in Christmas time. Adorable love story! 😁💕

P. S. There is an excellent cheese ball recipe in the end of the book. 😊
Profile Image for Berls.
1,027 reviews43 followers
November 22, 2016
The first book was MUCH better. I enjoyed this one, mainly because of the hero, Zeke. But I had major problems with the heroine, Hannah. She's hung up on her ex and quite frankly treats Zeke like crap as a result. On top of that, she has this crazy notion that fireworks - aka real passion - ruin a relationship and she's stuck in it. Pushes Zeke away because of it. Finally she's a drama teacher and has an incredibly inappropriate relationship with her 9th grade students. She talks to them about her relationship problems. They are at her house talking "girl talk" with her about the men in her life. I'm sorry, but as a teacher this REALLY bothered me. You can have friendly relationships with your students, but they are not your friends. That's a line that you can't blur. I guarantee that had she been a male teacher this would have been obviously problematic. But it is for female teachera too. So yeah that bothered me, a lot.
Profile Image for Deb.
427 reviews24 followers
December 28, 2015
Sadly, I know too many women like Hannah.

Hannah's ex, Jackson, wanted to date other women, and she has been patiently waiting for him to get it out of his system and come back to her. Hannah doesn't want fireworks in a relationship - she wants sparklers, at most. Her parents had a very volatile relationship, and ended up divorcing and marrying other people. She wants boring....until she meets Zeke!

Due to one of his fellow firemen getting a cold sore, Zeke's captain orders him to take the man's place in the kissing booth. He's not enjoying it in the least, until a kiss sets off fireworks.

Hannah is a high school drama teacher, and at a fundraiser at the school, her best friend Roxy and her students conspire against her and buy her 3 tickets to the kissing booth. She resists, but finally caves when one of the firemen is delivering chaste kisses. Expecting to receive the same, she's so stunned by the resulting fireworks, she bolts.

Zeke is determined to find this woman - the only one to have ever had this effect on him - hoping to make her 'his' so he can have the 'whole enchilada'...which includes wife, kids, etc. But can he make her forget about Jackson? How can he make her realize that she wants fireworks too?

As book two in this series, it's not necessary to have read book one first. It can stand on its own, since characters from book one appear in this one, but not in a way that affects the overall storyline.
Profile Image for Katie (hiding in the pages).
3,503 reviews328 followers
December 25, 2013
Who wants fireworks when she could have sparklers? Hannah, that's who. When she is pushed into kissing a Santa at a fundraiser, sparks fly and Hannah isn't comfortable with that.

I loved the chemistry that Hannah and Zeke had together. I loved how hard she tried to stay away and push him away, but how hard it was for her to do. I really loved watching her realize what she wants and it was soooooo sweet how she went about getting it. These two are a perfect match.

I thought the supporting characters were almost as great as the main characters. I couldn't stand the slimy Jackson; I adored her best friend; and loved Cheyenne (the sister).

I also enjoyed seeing characters from the previous novel show up in here. Even though they showed up, this novella can stand alone.

Content: kissing; clean.
Profile Image for Carrie.
316 reviews
December 17, 2015
Super cute. I actually really liked this series! Hoping for more next Christmas!
108 reviews
November 5, 2022
Just as sweet as first.

The first Christmas Street book was so wonderful, I didn’t think that the second could measure up. But I forget, this is a Heather Horrocks book. Each of her series get better and better. And yet, each book is a joy in itself.
This year, when I started the series again, as I do every Holiday season, I was going to skip this one, because for some insane reason, I miss remembered it being not as good as the first. Well, the only thing about it that is not as good, is that it isn't in audio book format. So I started reading and was enjoying it, but then it reminded me why I avoid this one. It hits me a little hard as I totally feel both sides of this, and the hurt strikes home. But, again, this is a Heather Horrrocks Christmas Street story, and they will find their way by the end. And then they do, and I feel that joy all over again.
So thank you Heather for bringing me back to the joy, and helping me feel the Christmas spirit again.
Now if you could just get the rest of these in audio format, so I can buy them all over again. 😉
202 reviews
December 5, 2022
Another cute Christmas Street romance that needs a bit better editing, but still a fun, light-hearted read. The thing I like about this one is that although it does have a potential communication problem, the problem is dealt with quickly and doesn't become a big deal.
Profile Image for Bob.
117 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2018
Love this book and series

Heather Horrocks did it again.I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
13 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2019
Fireworks

This book makes me believe in Fireworks and that passion can be a good thing. Firefighters, fireworks, mistletoe and passion.
2,833 reviews20 followers
December 22, 2019
Review of Kissing Santa

This was a wonderful story and I will recommend her books to anyone who loves romance books. She keeps you involved from page one until the end.
Profile Image for Jaime Scarfuto.
Author 3 books7 followers
November 23, 2020
Cute Christmas read, however the heroine got on my nerves a lot. I just wanted to yell at her to get over it. It was cute for a Christmas read but I definitely liked the first one better.
72 reviews
July 20, 2021
Another Great Book

Love this series and like that these books can be read by my grandchildren. It is really sad that it is so hard to find good clean romance books.
Profile Image for Kristen.
1,711 reviews47 followers
April 12, 2022
4.5 - super sweet and fun

Moral Note: Mentions married couples have sexual relations.
Profile Image for Shauna.
743 reviews4 followers
Read
October 1, 2024
I'm looking forward to seeing Heather at the Utah Readers Luncheon in a few weeks. This was a cute, clean, put-a-smile-on-your-face novel.
Profile Image for Gwen|| Bookish Blondie.
1,284 reviews11 followers
November 28, 2022
Kissing Santa was funny and cute and I completely relate to the heroine and I'd probably react the same way she did to Zeke. I loved the end of this novella a lot.
Profile Image for Melindeeloo.
3,268 reviews158 followers
December 25, 2020
I didn't like this one quite as well as I liked the first book. I agree with another reviewer who mentioned the inappropriateness of the teacher leading lady discussing her dating life with her students - these were really the only scenes with her being a teacher btw - these discussions would have felt less odd if the group had been a group of adult friends instead of junior high-ers. My other nit was that I don't really like the 'make the old boyfriend jealous trophe' - it feels unfair to the new guy ( who was great) and makes the leading lady feel fickle.
Profile Image for Rae, shutupandbookup.
379 reviews2 followers
December 25, 2013
It is Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is having a fantastic day with their friends and family. Try not to eat too much food.

Kissing Santa is the second book in the Christmas Street novella series. I liked this one but a warning to all. This one is a little more serious than the first one. The fist one, Bah, Humbug!, is about comedy and laughter. This one is more serious, yes comedy is in it.

Throughout this book I wanted to strangle Hannah! Hannah is a drama teacher at a high school and is still stuck on her ex who told Hannah that they should date other people. We all know what that means = I am moving on and so should you, bye. But Hannah wants her old flame Jackson back and she is waiting for him to wake up and realize this.

Roxy, Hannah's best friend, along with some ninth grade girls who adore Hannah get tickets to help the firefighters. They are having a donation night by several of the organizations in town and one of them is by the firefighters. There booth is kissing Santa. Reluctantly Hannah goes and kisses the Santa who looks the safest.

But for Zeke, the Santa Hannah kisses, it is more than a simple kiss. FIREWORKS! He realizes that this is the woman, THE ONE. But Hannah is too stuck on safe old Jackson. So Zeke and Roxy come up with a plan. For Zeke to get more dates with Hannah and maybe put out that old flame for Jackson. Zeke agrees to help Hannah make her ex jealous.

The story goes from there. It is funny how it comes together but the things in both Zeke's and Hannah's life make the story a little more serious. I mean c'mon! Hannah is using poor Zeke to get her ex to realize he should have never let her go. The ending was amazing and I wanted to cry in places.

No language except the usage of Hell, but in the location, not the usage as a curse word. There is no sex scenes or anything in the book. Kissing is done, but the title clearly warns you about that. My Kindle screen did not fog up and I didn't feel like I was trudging through mushy pages. It was a great story and I CANNOT wait to READ the next book in this series. I wish it was out already!
Profile Image for Michelle .
466 reviews128 followers
December 18, 2014
My Review:
The first book in this series was adorable and reminded me of a Hallmark movie, so without hesitation I got the next two books in the series. Kissing Santa has such a cute story idea that I couldn't wait to read this one but....

I thought it was cute  and I loved Zeke the handsome kissing firefighter Santa but I hated Hannah. She was so whiny and annoying and Zeke totally deserved someone else. Hannah was so suck on her ex boyfriend that I found her to be rather rude. She got fireworks when she kissed Zeke but all she talked about was the sparkler affect she got kissing Jackson her ex. WHAT who wants sparklers?!?! I want FIREWORKS Big LOUD FIREWORKS...Stupid sparklers!!! She wasn't a strong person I was hoping she would be and at times Zeke was sort of a weak person for wanting someone that honestly didn't want him. I loved the cameo of the Lexi and Kyle (from the first book) but I was looking for awesome characters like them, these two just kind of fell apart for me.

This one wasn't my favorite but it was cute. I did like Zeke's family and the idea was really cute it just didn't work with Hannah. Which was a huge bummer for me. I sort of realized early on that this was going to be a 3 for me but Zeke totally bumped it up .5 which is why I gave this 3.5 stars.


Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my review

Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!

Name2014 This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life
Profile Image for Angie.
2,849 reviews15 followers
October 20, 2014
Synopsis: "PG-RATED FUN

KISSING SANTA (A Christmas Street Romantic Comedy Novella #2)

It was supposed to be just an innocent kiss at a charity kissing booth—but it turned out to be fireworks.

‘Volunteered’ to dress as Santa, firefighter Zeke Pepper is blown away by the kiss and feels he may have met The One, but school teacher Hannah Cooke is still trying to win back her high school sweetheart Jackson.

When Zeke runs into Hannah on Christmas Street, they make a deal: In exchange for him making her ex jealous at a New Year’s Eve party, she agrees to go on three dates with Zeke.

It seems like her plan to win Jackson back is working perfectly—but Zeke has other plans. Could she be falling in love with the wrong firefighter?"


My Review: This was a fun, clean romance for the holiday season. I am beginning to wonder where all these super hot firefighters are because they aren't around here (not that I am looking but a little eye candy doesn't hurt). While I really enjoyed Zeke and many of the sub-characters I couldn't help but wanting to smack Hannah upside the head. It was a fun light read (and thankfully did not push religion like some of Horrocks other books).
740 reviews3 followers
February 16, 2014
This is a short novel about Hannah, a junior high teacher. All through high school and up until a couple of months ago, Hannah had gone with Jackson, who she thought she truly loved. However, Jackson walked out on her. She keeps hoping he'll come back, and so she spends a lot of time pining for him. She meets Zeke, and, although she is very much attracted to him, she knows that Jackson is her true love.

Of course, she finally figures out that Zeke is the one she loves.

It was an okay book, but I got really tired of Hannah's undying love for her loser ex-boyfriend.

I also had a hard time with her being "best friends" with four of her 9th grade students. She treated them like her equals and told them all of the juicy details about her love life. They even visited her at her home so they could talk about Zeke and Jackson. I don't believe it is appropriate for teachers to make the students their best friends and confidantes.
Profile Image for Elaina.
370 reviews5 followers
December 10, 2024
This is another good book from Heather Horrocks.

Zeke is a good-looking firefighter who gets roped into working at the kissing santa booth. Hannah, a school drama teacher, gets roped into going to the school's activity with her friend Roxy. With the help of Roxy and her three favorite students, she gets talked into going to the Santa kissing booth.

After the fireworks kiss Zeke and Hannah had in the kissing booth, Zeke didn't want to let her go. Hannah was surprised and confused about the amazing kiss and ran away.

Hannah gets really stuck on getting back with her ex boyfriend through out the whole book. Her ex-boyfriend strings her along, making her believe he will get back with her. It does get annoying sometimes to read about. Reasonfor the 4 stars.

Zeke wants to help her and at the same time get to know her more because he likes her. He gets Hannah to go on 3 dates with him, and hopefully, after 3 dates, Hannah will want him back.

I will let you read the book to find out.
Profile Image for Shauna.
975 reviews23 followers
October 28, 2013
Is this not the cutest cover and title ever!
It really is about kissing a Santa!

FUN FUN FUN story!
I LOVE this series

When fireman Zeke is forced to be a Santa in a kissing booth he is not too happy.

And when Hannah's drama students pitch in to help buy her tickets for the kissing booth she is not to happy either...for she is trying to win back her high school sweetheart Jackson.

But that one kiss is pure fireworks and Zeke feels that Hannah is THE ONE.

So how does he end up volunteering to help make Hannah's ex jealous at a New Year's Eve party?

It could cost him...big time!

ADORABLE STORY!
LOVED IT!
Profile Image for Kelly Boyd.
647 reviews
December 13, 2018
I really like the Heather Horrocks' Christmas street novella's but this wasn't as good as book one.
The characters were solid enough but I didn't fall in love with them as much as I did Lexi and Kyle.
It was great to see the characters from the first book appear in this one, a nice tie in.
not sure if I have much more to say about this book. Good enough to give book 3 ago and as it's so short I'll add to my Christmas reading each year to get me in the Chrimbo mood
Profile Image for Kim  Dennis.
1,163 reviews7 followers
December 6, 2014
Very cute story, although I did like Bah, Humbug better. There was a little too much of Jackson in the book. I would have enjoyed this book a little more if she had resolved that one differently. Having said that, it was definitely an enjoyable read. Fun around Christmas time, and a sweet romance.
43 reviews2 followers
December 29, 2015
Loved it

This is perfect for the holidays. Fireman and kisses go hand in hand. Especially when you have mistletoe. The story was was awesome . I enjoyed it. You smile and feel good during the book. The names of the fireman and the sister are interesting. I got a good laugh from that.
I love this writer. She has some amazing talent. Keep it up
Profile Image for Paula Bothwell.
1,622 reviews44 followers
January 1, 2016
Kissing Santa (Christmas Street Romance Novella #2)
PG
Sex: No sex, a few great kisses
Language: No bad language
Violence: No violence
WAY better than the first novella in the series. There was a bit more exposition and character description. The conflict was cute and the h and H's vulnerability were more endearing.
Profile Image for Patricia.
3 reviews
July 8, 2015
I enjoy reading Hearther Horrock's books. This is a light-hearted, cute romantic Christmas tale of a young women who can't seem to recognize what a jerk her ex-boyfriend is, and keeps wanting him back, nor the giving, caring man who has grown to truly love her. Can't say more---spoilers.
Profile Image for Stacy.
1,069 reviews20 followers
December 26, 2015
I was thrilled to hear that there were three other books in the Christmas Street Series. This one is as cute as the first, still sweet, still clean, with a whole different story. Fund Christmas read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews

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