Hell for the Holidays

by Rachael Ogle

There’s no place like home for the holidays, right? Unless you’re snowed in with your difficult family and your best friend’s brother. In which case, it’s more like hell.

Augusta is a free-spirited, fun-loving, hopeless romantic. Graham is an uptight, brooding, commitmentphobe. In the past, their differences were things that pulled them together. Now, they’re things that have driven them so far apart, there’s no way back to anything they once were.

All that will change when Graham is roped into delivering Augusta to her parents’ house for Christmas and weather conditions force them to hunker down. And after an interaction with her toxic sister, Graham realizes that despite nearly twenty years of history, there are things he’s never known about Augusta and it has him questioning—and regretting—all of his past behaviors.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Augusta reluctantly agrees to team up with one enemy in the hopes of putting another in its place. Can these opposites pretend to be attracted to one another? What happens when the pretending begins to feel a little too real; a little too much like old times?

290 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2024

About the author

For as long as she can remember, Rachael has been a voracious reader. At the age of eleven, she discovered her grandmother's stash of clench-cover romance novels and she was forever changed. A lover of many fictional men and one very non-fictional one, she strives to write real and emotional characters who always get their happily ever after. Rachael lives in East Tennessee with her husband and two sons on their family farm. When she’s not tackling her endless TBR, she can be found drinking all the coffee in existence.

Reviews

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely more than just a cute holiday story! This book dealt with some heavy topics in a delicate, but honest manner. Keep some tissues on deck for this read!

Graham is asked to pick Augusta up from the airport after his sister, Augusta’s best friend, goes into labor. The plan is to survive a few hours in the car together before he drops her off at her parents’ home in Tennessee to spend the Christmas holiday. When they arrive Augusta’s sister stops Graham, basically to say really horrible things about Augusta and how she could never land a man like Graham. Cue Graham insisting he’ll stay and be her fake boyfriend to prove Augusta’s sister wrong, after all, they were actually a couple 5 years ago. The snowstorm that’s been brewing worsens, ensuring Graham and Augusta are trapped. Graham quickly sees that this is no loving, warm, family Christmas, and that Augusta is treated with at best, indifference and at worst, vitriol by her family.

Rating:
Stars - 5/5
Spice - 3/5
HEA - Yes!

Characters:
MMC - Graham, 40 years old, tall, dark and handsome, wealthy, uptight, lawyer, brother of FMC's best friend
FMC - Augusta, 35 years old, curvy, sassy, free spirit, self-assured, athletic trainer for a college sports team, comes from a toxic/abusive family

Tropes:
• Second chance
• Forced Proximity
• Best friend's brother
• Curvy/plus-size FMC
• MCs mid-30s/40
• Christmas setting
• Stand alone, but part of a series

Triggers:
• Miscarriage/pregnancy loss
• Abusive family (physical and emotional)
• Death of parent (mentioned, but not on page)
• Cheating (not MCs)
• Fat-shaming
• Alcoholism

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one surprised me because I didn't necessarily go in expecting much more than a Christmas novella. There is depth to the story of Augusta and the things going on in her life that makes her and Graham's story a page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend. (Wish I had a Graham tbh ❤️)

[Destiny Wilkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

FUCK YES! Carrie got what she deserved! With that being said, I am so glad she got taken down. I’m glad Augusta finally stood up for herself. I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down! I read it in one sitting. Not me sitting here hoping we get Lincoln’s story next.