Christmas With A Chimera: a cozy, spicy monster romance

Claw Haven #2

by Isabelle Taylor

Cozy fantasy meets Christmas in this charming, spicy, second chance romance novella.

Welcome to Claw Haven, where monsters go to find some peace and quiet.

Going home for Christmas wasn’t on chimera Arthur Pineclaw’s to-do list, not since he left the sleepy town of Claw Haven over a decade ago. He’s back now for one reason only—to film a cozy holiday romance. Two weeks of smiling for the cameras and charming his fans, and he can go back to LA. Easy. After all, there’s no one he can’t charm.

No one except for Emma Curt, the high school sweetheart he dumped on Christmas Eve. The same woman who apparently owns the café they’re filming in.

Emma never would’ve agreed to let her café be a filming location for a rom-com if she’d known Arthur Pineclaw was the lead. She’d rather eat rocks than be civil to the guy who abandoned her to become a movie star—on Christmas Eve.

But as the two spend more time together, it’s easy to fall into old habits…and into bed. Just because things are still good between them doesn’t mean Emma’s ready for anything more, but when their unexpected reunion stirs up old feelings—and old arguments—a second chance romance might be the gift they both need.

Claw Haven

Genres: Christmas, Fantasy, Romance, Holiday, Paranormal Romance, Audiobook, Second Chance

190 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2024

Reviews

[Danielle Pulliam · Rating 3 out of 5]

**𝔄ℜℭ ℜ𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔢𝔴** ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔰 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞 ℭ𝔥𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔯𝔞 𝔟𝔶 ℑ𝔰𝔞𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔢 𝔗𝔞𝔶𝔩𝔬𝔯 (ℭ𝔩𝔞𝔴 ℌ𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫 #2)

Release Date: October 7, 2025

3.5⭐️4🌶

This is a cute little Hallmark-y book with a second chance romance premise.

Arthur Pineclaw is a very good looking Chimera who has been in a number of Romantic Comedies, when he's asking to return to the small town he grew up in to film a Christmas Rom Com. His ex girlfriend, Emma, currently owns the little coffee shop where the rom com is being filmed, and they're forced to see each other after over a decade of not seeing or speaking to each other.

Emma has never gotten over Arthur just leaving her one Christmas Even 13 years ago, and she's been trying to make herself happy ever since.

Arthur is starting to realize that fame and fortune aren't all their cracked up to be.

While this was cute, it fell a little flat for me. The characters didn't seem well thought through and seemed one dimensional. But it was fun fast read.

Themes/Tropes:
🍁Romantic Comedy
🍁Second Chance Romance
🍁Paranormal Romance
🍁Hallmark Vibes
🍁Small Town Romance
🍁Knotting

TW:
✨Knotting
✨Explicit Sexual Content

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡ (There is a lot of anger from the heroine and they jump in – it felt like out of nowhere to me)
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A bit, if you like snarky banter you will find it funnier
Perspective: third person from the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? plot?
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: soon in, the end of chapter 1 (7%)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with happy for now for the mains
Epilogue: No
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley in e-book form
Why I chose this book: Because I like monster romance and it’s a novella so I figured why not
Mains: Arthur Pineclaw and Emma Curt – This is a M/F relationship between a chimera hero and human heroine
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
This is fine alone even though it’s #2 in the series.

Basic plot:
Arthur is back in Claw Haven to film a holiday romance movie – and he’s shocked when the cafe they’ve booked for filming is owned by none other than his ex-girlfriend he dumped on Christmas 12 years ago.

Give this a try if you want:
- monster romance
- contemporary setting – this a contemporary feeling world with monsters as a part of society
- chimera hero / human heroine
- holiday vibes
- small town – Claw Haven
- second chance
- prodigal hero returns – he hasn’t been back in 10 years
- movie star hero
- coffee shop/cafe owning heroine
- shorter novel
- plenty of animosity between the mains
- medium steam – 2 full scenes in a shorter page count

Ages:
- heroine is 32, hero is a similar age as they went to school together

First line:
“Huh,” said Arthur Pineclaw as the limo cruised into town. “They changed the sign.”

My thoughts:
Sadly I struggled with this one! I ended up not really liking either main character here – and combined with some tropes that aren’t my fave (second chance and animosity to lovers) there was just not much I liked here.

So our heroine has a lot of snark and anger towards our hero – and I get it because he was a jerk and dumped her on Christmas and left for a decade. But her level of anger was really extreme to me, especially after 12 years of being apart. I wanted to see how she’d moved on but it seemed like she had this chip on her shoulder for everyone around her and was relatively mean to everyone – even her kind hearted coworkers and that really bothered me.

Then our hero I just felt was clueless and unlikable. He didn’t make up for what he did to the heroine for me.

Being second chance, I missed all my favorite things about romance and was left with their hurt and betrayal. Then they kind of just fall into sex and I didn’t feel any tension or longing from them.

So I think if you love enemies to lovers or second chance you will like this more than I did! Don’t let my feelings deter you ;)

Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my first
Average rating from me: 2 stars
Favorite book: This one by default

Cock/Hero Stats:

- hero has wings, a mane and a tail and has a mix of scales and feathers and hair.
- he has a knot


Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)

- being abandoned in a relationship at Christmas

Author given content warnings: Nothing noted (I always encourage you to check author’s websites, since Amazon penalizes authors for certain content warning words in their novels)



Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:

Safe sex: Condoms mentioned
How’s the consent? It’s good
Pregnancy/children in story? No
Chapter 7 – kisses, fingering for her, bj for him, her on top, knotting
Chapter 11 – kisses, her on top? I think? knotting

Total chapters: 15



Extra stuff like what my review breakdowns mean, where to find me, and book clubs


Full break down on what my ratings above mean here:
Overall: How I felt about it everything considered!
Readability: How ‘readable’ was the book? Did I fly through it? Did I have to tell myself to pick it back up repeatedly? Were any passages confusing? (I will probably score like (1) is literally unreadable due to formatting/typing errors, etc (2) There were lots of errors that made it difficult to read OR It was extremely confusing and I had to reread passages to make sense of it OR I disliked it so much I had to bribe myself to keep reading (3) I didn’t really want to keep reading and would have preferred to abandon the read and start something else OR some minor continuity issues/confusion (4) I liked it fine, maybe a minor error or 2. I was happy to pick it up when I had time. (5) I never wanted to put this down. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it. I hid in the bathroom from my kids to read. I threw inappropriate food at my children for dinner so I could read instead.)
Feels: Totally subjective to each person but did the book give me any tingles? Any butterflies? Did it rip my heart out (in a good way?)
Emotional depth: How well do I feel I know the characters at the end? How much did I feel their emotions throughout the story?
Sexual tension: Again, subjective, but how strong was the wanting and longing to me between the characters? A book might have strong sexual tension without a single touch.
Romance: Was there romance? Did romantic things happen? This can be actions/words/thoughts of the characters and again is subjective.
Sensuality: This is how the intimate scenes are written. Kisses and sexual scenes – how sensual were they? Were they on the mechanical side? Was there emotional pull tied in? Were the details explicit or flowery? These are subjective but generally (1) too short to get a good judgment (2) not all what I'm looking for - very vague or flowery prose (3) either not explicit enough or not enough emotional pull (too mechanical/physically descriptive without the emotions) (4) what I love in a scene (5) absolute perfection - perfect balance of emotional longing and explicit descriptions
Sex Scene Length: How long the bedroom scenes are (generally (1) is 1-3 sentences (2) is a few paragraphs to a page-ish (3) is about average, a few pages (4) more well developed scenes, quite a few pages with descriptions (5) the majority of the book takes place in the bedroom. This is always hard to tell for me on audio!
Steam Scale: Generally, each flame is a scene. If scenes are super close together I sometimes combine them. If a scene is super short or so vague I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t count it. There’s some levels of grey but generally the number of flames is how many sex scenes there are (I max out at 5 so I’ll put a + after if there’s more than that)



Find me
Instagram || The Storygraph || Bookbub

Book Clubs
The Ton and the Tartans (Historical Romance)
Upturned Petticoats and Undone Cravats (Historical Romance with Steam Requirements)
A Love Less Ordinary (Science Fiction, Paranormal, Monster, Fantasy Romance)
Modern Manuscripts (Contemporary Romance)
Words for the Wicked (Contemporary Romance with Steam Requirements)
Vintage Romance (Old School Romance – published 2000 and prior)

[PlotTrysts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically a small town Hallmark Christmas movie with monsters (and monster sex). Chimera* movie star Arthur is filming a holiday movie (at Christmas time) in the home town he left in his rear view mirror. The only problem? No one checked with him and they're filming most of their scenes in his ex's coffee shop. He dumped her on Christmas Eve 15 years ago and she's decidedly Not Over It.

It's a Christmas movie in monster romance form, so it should not surprise anyone that Arthur and Emma fight, kiss, make up, and find their HEA in a small town setting. Honestly, I'm not sure what the monster part added to the formula unless you're really into knotting. (So yes, if you're really into knotting and Hallmark Christmas movies, this was written FOR YOU.)

*yes, I did have to look this up; I assume that Arthur only has the one lion head instead of both a goat and snake head sticking out of his neck/back/tail.

7-Word Summaries:⁠
⁠
Meg: Small town romance. Monsters. Why? I dunno.⁠
⁠
Laine: Star returns home for Xmas ex sex.⁠

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

[Chapters & Chives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second Chances lead to Second Servings 😏😏😏

4/5 Stars ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐

Arthur and Emma were highschool sweethearts, but different dreams pulled them apart. Forever in love with her hometown, Emma stays in Claw Haven; while Arthur leaves for the big city to chase his dream of becoming a movie star. Arthur Pineclaw broke her heart, and Emma Curt never forgave him!

Fast forward to today, Emma is the owner of a successful cafe in Claw Haven ... exactly the one a film crew booked for their upcoming holiday movie, starring ... Arthur Pineclaw! 🙀

Both Emma and Arthur are forced to face each other. Will their second chance end with second servings, or will it end with claws coming out??

Thank you @hqn_shamelessromantics for the chance to review this book!

This book was such a delightful read from it's sassy banter, grumpy FMC, small town charm, and its lighthearted approach to high school heartbreak.

[Flirting with Fiction💕 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur left his hometown in Alaska to become a movie star in LA, leaving behind the girl who wouldn’t follow him there……Emma. When Arthur returns home to film a movie, both he and Emma are surprised to find that filming will take place in her cafe. Arthur thinks he can charm Emma back, but Emma wants nothing to do With the chimera who chose LA over her.

This was an adorably fun 2nd chance romance with lots of cozy vibes. I loved the contrast between Arthur and Emma and how good they ultimately were for each other. At multiple points, I was so frustrated by both mcs because they were realistically flawed. I love when I’m invested enough to care so much. This is a slow burn but still has spice and lots of yearning! The world building that Taylor has done in this series is sooooo good, and I really hope that we’re getting another story soon!

The narrator of this ALC did a great job of showing the contrast between the mc’s personalities and perspectives.

All in all, this was a cozy little holiday romance that you don’t wanna miss.
!

[Sam Kwiatkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just wish there was more of a Christmas feel to this!

[Brittanica Bold · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of you, I’m your go to monster romance girlie, and let me tell you, this one was so cute!!

I love a good second chance romance, but mix it with a black cat FMC and sly/charming MMC, and I am PUTTY!!!

I loved that despite them being polar opposites, they were both hiding: her behind her anger and him behind his smile. They were both so similar in a lot of ways, and that just made their hate flirting that much better!

I loved how Emma was not a perfect FMC at the beginning of the book. She was a woman scorn and she had a temper in general that she often took out on those around her to hide how much she cared. I enjoyed watching her come to terms with not being able to control everything around her and learning to use techniques to not take her anger out on people. By no means did she become a Sorry Susan, nor did her underlying anger go away, but she learned to control it better, which I think is so much more relatable!! I loved watching this transition because it felt so realistic.

I enjoyed watching big movie star Arthur Pineclaw come back to his roots both physically and mentally. The book starts out making the reader really dislike him, from his over the top star persona to learning that he pushed Emma away in high school because he thought she was holding him back!! Along the way, the reader is able to see that a lot of his personality is all for show and that he is truly lonely behind the mask. I loved getting to see him come out of his fake persona and feel love again with Emma.

I also enjoyed getting to meet other characters in the town, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading Luna’s story next!

Thank you to Harlequin Books and Isabelle Taylor for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

4.25 stars!

[Raechel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my typical book or book review: Christmas with a Chimera is a cozy fantasy with the right amount of spice by author Isabelle Taylor.

I read this sweet novella in a single sitting and never since did I think "well that's not realistic" - A reaction I have to many novellas - a book format where plot and depth of chatacters are hard to balance.

Arthur and Emma are both complex characters learning to be better people than they were in the past.

Although the story takes place around the Christmas Holiday, it's not about Christmas per se.

Enjoy!

[Uyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

arc
dnf at 75%

yay to a fmc who hides behind anger and uses cutting words and yay to a mmc who smiles and uses charm to hide his emotions.

we're 75% of the way through and they're still emotionally constipated and unintelligent? I have no more interest in losing more brain cells listening to this.

[thebeespot72 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

I had such a fun time reading Accidentally Wedded to the Werewolf; I did not doubt that Christmas with a Chimera would be next on my list to read in the Claw Haven series. The story is a sweet, steamy second-chance romance. The story is not long. It still provides readers with enough character development for both Arthur and Emma that I felt invested in them and their path back together.

I loved learning more about Arthur and what really happened between him and Emma. As well as Emma’s fears, how much Arthur had always loved her, and that love never went away. I liked how the little things about him being a Chimera were incorporated, especially when he was nervous or anxious. It was a fun story to read.

Thank you to @hqn_shamelessromantics and @isabelletaylorauthor for the gifted e-copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Isa Newbury | reading_isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC; all opinions are my own.**

4.25 ⭐️
2.5 🌶

This was an excellent sequel to Accidentally Wedded to the Werewolf! I really enjoyed getting to know Emma and Arthur and see them get to be happy- it'll be nice getting to see snapshots of them in later novels, too!!

If you like:
☆size difference
☆monster romance
☆knotting
☆second chances
☆friends-to-lovers to enemies-to-lovers
Give this a shot!

[Stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cool Whip does not come in a can. I almost threw my damn Kindle. And then a pumpkin spice latte turned into a gingerbread latte in one page. For a novella, it felt 500 pages long.

[Dawn Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this one. The fmc was too angry to be likable to me. It was never fully explained why she was so mean to everyone. I get the mmc hurt her when they were 19 but from the way he described her she was always angry or curt. Why? Seems she had a great relationship with her parents so no trauma there. There was no mention of anything else happening to her warrant such an abrasive personality. So what gives? And to hold a grudge against Arthur for over a decade didn’t make sense either. That should have been fleshed out more. There were just too many gaps for me to give this more than 2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC. I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a shorty and while enjoyable needed more for me.
I wanted a deeper connection and think if we had gotten a bunch of flashbacks to their teens that would have given me what I needed.
Still a fun read and the narration was bananas good!
Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Audio for my ALC.

[McKenzie On The Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 🌟

First u want to thank NetGalley, Harlequin Publishing, and Isabelle Taylor for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book before it releases.

This was a very short, easy read with a touch of romance. Emma, who is the FMC in this story, is the grumpy to this grumpy x sunshine trope. She’s been repressing all her emotions except for anger since a bad breakup when she was a teenager. Arthur, the MMC, is a chimera who comes to Claw Haven to film a new movie and ends up running into his high school love, Emma. These two go on emotional journey of finding themselves and discovering how to work through their emotions.

I think this book has potential to be a 5 star but unfortunately the story was too short. I believe if there could have been more expansion on the backstory and rekindling of romance then this book would have been perfect. I can’t wait to see more from Claw Haven in the future.

[Michaela | bumblebeeslibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas with a Chimera is a cozy fantasy romance novella.

MMC Arthur Pineclaw is a big Hollywood actor now, but is coming back to his hometown of Claw Haven for a movie shoot. Unbeknownst to him or his ex, FMC Emma Curt, he would be filming at her coffee shop. When they see each other again, Emma is angry and leaves, while Arthur starts to realize his feelings for Emma really never went away. Arthur asks Emma to dinner, really hoping to talk and they end up falling into old ways and having some....fun. But Emma simply cannot trust Arthur again with her heart, and Arthur is desperate to find a way to convince Emma he has changed.

This story is a cozy romance set in December. I enjoyed the fact that humans and creatures all lived amongst each other like it is just a totally normal thing. Claw Haven sounds like a really cute and quiet town with coffee shops and good dining. Emma has no intention of moving to LA , and I don't blame her! I would much rather live in a smaller town then a busy city. I feel that Emma is a little unreasonable in her angry outbursts, never giving Arthur a chance to explain anything. I realize it would be hard when he just walked out on her, but she makes a lot of assumptions about him without giving him a chance. Arthur seems to be the same as he always was, an expert at hiding his true feelings, yet Emma still knew all his tells. Even with her resentment of Arthur, Emma still can't seem to hold back when they have a chance to get intimate. Both Emma and Arthur admit to having never felt as good with anyone else as they do with each other.

The story took place over only a couple of weeks, so it seems a bit of a stretch that Emma would be able to change her behavior in such short a time. That was the only part that didn't quite work for me.

Otherwise, this is a cute and cozy Christmastime novella, with a chimera that takes the FMC flying, and maybe some knotting...so who wouldn't enjoy that!

Some Fav Quotes:
"Emma whirled on him, growling. She was fully human-even her sharpest teeth were woefully blunt-but she could still make some impressive noise. It was enough to make Arthur stop."

"He had laugh lines. The sight of them sent a white-hot rage through her stomach, curdling her iced coffee. How dare he look so hot without Photoshop?"

""This isn't a date," she reminded him, heart pounding from his proximity. "This is dinner. Where you promised to make me want to murder you less. I'm still feeling murdery.""

"Once or twice, he'd had the ludicrous thought that he was put on this earth to make Emma Curt smile."

"She did want him to know her. Even after all this time, she had wanted it, even if it meant they got stuck together for twenty minutes or even two hours like that memorable session in senior year."

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Harlequinn, and the author for a copy of this book!

[KnottyQuill · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️

Book 2 in the Claw Haven series has everything that works so well in Hallmark Christmas movies. Claw Haven is the cozy, wintery, town in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Arthur is the hot shot actor from LA. Emma is the coffee shop owner in the same small town where they grew up. The added bonus is the second chance romance and all the angsty trauma of a first love gone wrong.

Arthur is not very likable at the beginning of the story. The way in which he broke up with Emma when they were young was so sad. Apparently, Emma has never been likable because she has always hidden behind her anger and that just got worse after Arthur left for LA. This made it difficult to be too invested in their reunion. It was a bit jarring how quickly they resumed their physical relationship without really sorting out any of their baggage.

However, their relationship ended up being so bittersweet as they reconnected emotionally. When it seemed their relationship might still be impossible, I was a lot more upset about it than I expected to be. By the end, I was really rooting for their HEA and pleased with how things worked out.

I enjoyed Jade Wheeler’s narration. I read the first Claw Haven ebook rather than the audiobook, which is also narrated by Wheeler, and I didn’t enjoy it quite as much. I think the audiobook is the way to go for this series. She does a great job with both the male and female voices, especially with Emma’s attitude in this one.

Overall, this is a nice, quick, cozy read that’s perfect for the holiday season!

Thanks to Isabelle Taylor, Harlequin audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC, which allowed me to read the book and voluntarily provide an unbiased review.

[Amy (amyrose.reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Harlequin Audio for the free ALC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

When I initially requested this audiobook, I was interested in dipping my toes into the “monster” romance genre. I’ve read Bride by Ali Hazelwood and Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree and thought to myself, “Hey…why not give this one a try?”

Holiday novellas are all the rage and I was excited to discover this title! I felt like the concept of a celebrity, second chance romance with a Chimera twist was interesting! I enjoyed that element of the story.

However, the novella format made this feel very rushed. I felt like I didn’t understand Emma’s incessant anger. I needed more information on Arthur’s childhood. I just wanted to dive a little bit more into these characters because it felt like their relationship was built solely on sexual compatibility, not actually being a strong couple.

The audiobook was well produced and I thought that the narrator did a good job. Since this was single POV, I thought that the choice to use a single narrator was appropriate.

I think that fans of unique holiday novellas should give this book a try! I’m considering checking out the rest of the Claw Haven series because of this audiobook and I’m excited to see what other unique stories can come my way!

[Lynn_G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chimera and famous Hollywood actor Arthur is back in his sleepy hometown. He must face his high school girlfriend as she's central to his team's reason for his return. Old feelings die hard, however, and Emma's loathing of Arthur runs deep. Arthur is initially clueless as to why she's so intensely bitter towards him, but eventually he's reminded of his younger self's carelessness and ambition.

Over the course of filming his project, their attraction is rekindled, but can Emma move past her distrust of Arthur?

This was a difficult read to get into, because particularly in the opening chapters, it feels as if the reader is missing a great deal of back story. The plot drags in places, some of Emma's anger seems over the top after Arthur's years away, and it just didn't have that spark between the MCs for which I'd hoped. 3.25 stars out of 5.

I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley, and I’m sharing my honest review.

[Cara Niehoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas with a Chimera is a super cute Christmas novella following two exes unexpectedly back in each other’s lives. Set in the adorable and paranormal town of Claw Haven, we follow Emma , the owner of a local cafe, when her ex, Arthur, shows up to film his latest Christmas rom-com. The two ended on bad terms when Arthur left their small town to pursue his acting dreams in LA.

This was such a fun and unique take on a holiday romance and I couldn’t put it down! Easily readable in a single sitting, it’s the perfect length for a cozy, steamy read, or for those trying to catch up on reading goals!

I would have liked to see a little more development on Arthur’s side, since he could come across as a bit of a jerk, but understandably the story needed to be short and sweet. Other than that, I enjoyed the romance between the two!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cute entry into this series. I am not a huge fan of second-chance romance, because it takes a bit more effort on the author's part to convince me that the couple belongs together in spite of their original break up. Unfortunately, I don't know that this was long enough to succeed on that front. By the end, I still had beef with Arthur in particular. The story was still cute, just not my favorite. I think if it had been a different type of romance but with similar characters, I could have enjoyed it a lot more.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Romance for providing this eArc for review!

[Olivia Adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should never get back with your ex.

Especially the hot movie star ones. And the ones who leave you and drive off into the sunset (LA).

Emma is the grumpy and super likeable main character in this novella who runs into her ex Arthur as he is filming in their home town. Arthur is doing his rounds and Emma isn’t here for any of that showiness. Love her, and yeah she’s angry but I guess it’s topical for me to read at the moment. I think their characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but this was so short. Arthur is a Chimera/Golden Retriever to the black cat of Emma and I didn’t hate it.

If Arthur’s character just had a bit more going for him, this would have been higher. Really good banter and a cute seasonal read.

[Elizabeth museumgrack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second chance romance in a magical monster filled small town and it’s Christmas? If homework made movies like this, then I’d watch. This was everything I could’ve wanted in book 2 of the series. This couple was heated, both with sexual tension and with unresolved anger from their breakup when our chimera left his small magical Alaskan town to become a big Hollywood star, leaving his small town high school girlfriend behind. Now he’s back, filming a movie in his hometown that is unrecognizable from when he left it. It also just happens that several scenes are being filmed in her bakery. Sparks and scones fly.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, the publisher, & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sooo totally read this in less than 12 hours. Oops.

This was a great follow-up to Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf. It was great to see post book 1 life and to learn more about the town. I really related to Emma and loved seeing her journey. Just the right amount of spice and such a cute little holiday novella.

Will for sure keep reading the series!

[Critter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC.

This was the first book I've read by this author and it was really cute. I loved the characters. Arthur really stood out as a character to me. I do wish there was a little more time spent with developing the romance and for the character arcs. I just think this would be fantastic with a little more development. Otherwise I liked the narrator and had a lot of fun listening to this book.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin, and Harlequin Audio for both the ARC and ALC

This was a cute, and cosy holiday monster romance novella set in the same world as Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf. This is a second chance, grumpy-sunshine romance between Emma, the cafe owner, and Arthur, the chimera movie star who comes home to film scenes for his new movie. Both Emma and Arthur have their own way they hide behind their emotions, Emma with anger, Arthur with fake happiness. The tension, hurt and yearning between the two is so well done, and the growth each goes through makes their ending feel well earned. Jade Wheeler does an incredible job narrating and bringing the characters to life.

[High Lady of Delulu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I tried. I tried to like (and finish) this book but it just wasn't for me.

What is supposed to be a cozy monster romance with second-chance love and small town vibes, sadly left me hanging with anger. Specifically at the MMC.

To be completely blunt, I think he is an asshole on all levels and I hated him more the longer I read. After their reunion, the MMC keeps saying things like he thought she’d gotten over her anger, when what he really means is that he thought she'd gotten over not being what he wanted her to be.

He can't understand her resentment, yet never apologised or spent a moment thinking about why what he did was hurtful. So what we have is a presumptuous, commitment-phobe celebrity with an inflated ego, zero empathy and complete lack of self reflection.


I hoped this would get better, I really did. Instead, the story progressed in a way that felt so wrong to me while he gets worse. Where I needed redemption, he literally thought that seducing her and maybe playing the martyr - still not seeing the actual problem - were the way to make her like him again. Because he can't stand the thought of not being liked. So their rekindling of sorts gave me the biggest ick and personally, I kept wanting to tell her to run.


So, anyway... I'm sorry, I really wanted to like this and there are surely people who don't mind his behaviour. But to me this was sadly not it. It's not that I didn't like the author's general writing style and I heard good things about book 1 and might give it a chance eventually. It's just that the plot and the MMC did not make me want the characters to have a HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Audio and the author for an ALC of this book

[samantha ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ✨

Thank you to Harlequin for the ALC in exchange for a review.

Ya girl is apparently in her second chance romance era. This was quick and cozy, the narration was excellent. I love the small town of Claw Haven and can't wait for the next one.

I didn't vibe with the FMC as much as the first book but overall I enjoyed this 🎄

[Em Meurer (emcanread) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry, I simply adored the first book in this series, but I have never disliked two main characters in a book as strongly as I did reading this.

Also they’re in Alaska in the middle of December, but the sun is clocking in for a normal shift every day? It shouldn’t have bothered me, but boy howdy! It did!

[Sierra Nathans Lightner · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 21% both of the main characters were absolutely insufferable holy shit