Holiday magic helps two oblivious neighbors discover just how close they are in bestselling author Rosie Danan’s cheerful short story about big comedy, small tragedies, and the gifts found in between.
When stand-up comedian Piper has a panic attack outside the club, it’s not funny. But Scott, a handsome ER doctor from the crowd, gives her something to smile about as he calms her down. Turns out they’re neighbors—they just don’t know it yet. When Christmas Eve presents an opportunity for them to get even closer, Scott and Piper realize they share much more than just a wall.
Rosie Danan’s All Wrapped Up in You is part of Home Sweet Holidays, a cookie-sweet collection of holiday romances sure to bring color to your cheeks. Read or listen to each story in a single heart-fluttering sitting. And to fully immerse yourself in the charm of the season, don’t miss a special message from each of our holiday heroes!
Rosie Danan is an award-winning, bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romcoms. Her work has been optioned for film as well as translated into 10 different languages and counting. The New York Times describes her writing as "warmly funny and gorgeously sexy."
When not working on her next book, Rosie enjoys jogging slowly to fast music, petting other people’s dogs, and competing against herself in rounds of Chopped using the miscellaneous ingredients occupying her fridge.
To receive first look updates on Rosie's books as well as bimonthly musings on savoring the good stuff, looking respectfully 👀, and building a creative practice that embraces unapologetic striving, subscribe to her newsletter: https://rosiedanan.substack.com
That was very cute and kind of christmassy. The fact that it only has 76 pages though?! Unfair.
I was already invested in how the relationship between the hot doctor and the cute comedian would play out after their one-night stand that I didn’t even get to read, when the book ended and I found out that it was just a novella 🤦♀️
Okay, this collection of Christmas novellas ended on a high note. Half of them were pretty good and I would recommend if you’re in the mood for something festive, but the other half just ignore them. They are not worth a read tbh.
Available on Kindle unlimited with audio Narration well done!
Novellas are difficult to rate as it’s hard to pack a meaningful plot into such a small page count. However Rosie Danan did a great job with this one. Chicago setting with a medical professional- already I’m a happy girl! He’s an ER resident and she’s a comedian working Chicago’s amazing comedy scene.
Not a bunch of filler and fluff- straight up Hallmark style, instant attraction, Christmas meet cute. No real spice, a swear word or two, some silliness. Overall this is a quick, sweet story if you are looking for some happy, fluff and spice free, Christmas vibes.
▹TL;DR Review: This was my favorite of the four! It was sweet, funny, and the characters felt well developed and the plot was a classic trope that pairs well with the holidays.
▹My ⭐ Rating: ★★★★.25 out of 5 ▹Format: 📱 eReader Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and Rosie Danan for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. This comes out November 20. ─────────────────────────
○★○ What to Expect from This Book: ○★○
– About: Holiday magic helps two oblivious neighbors discover just how close they are. When stand-up comedian Piper has a panic attack outside the club, ER doctor Scott (from the audience) steps in to calm her. Turns out they’re neighbors—they just don’t know it yet. On Christmas Eve they get a chance to connect. – FMC: Piper. A stand-up comedian and improv teacher at Second City. Deals with panic attacks sometimes. Definitely not an octogenarian, but could fool you unless you see her with your own eyes. – MMC: Scott. An ER doctor who just needs a hot, homemade meal, a warm bed, and some color in his life. Has a “text-only” relationship with his mysterious neighbor, who he’s convinced is old. – Location: Chicago, Illinois – POV: Dual third-person – Spice: No (or low) spice. No explicit scenes. Kissing at most. – Tropes: neighbors (who’ve never met) to lovers, meet-cute, holiday romance, she’s quirky/he’s steady – Content warning: panic attack, pre-performance anxiety – Representation: nothing noteworthy
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↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ 1:00 ──ㅇ────── 4:12
Now Playing:Catching A Snowflake by Rosie Darling
╰┈➤ ❝Each day I learn to love you in new ways; wrapped in your arms by the glowing fireplace; no other love is the same, it’s like catching a snowflake.❞
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★○ If You Like the Following, You Might Like This Book ○★
➼ Watering your neighbor’s plant so it doesn’t die, even though you’ve never met him, and texting him to tell him that the laundry machine is broken, but then chickening out on meeting him when you accidentally open his mail
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⍟»This or That«⍟
Character Driven———✧————————Plot Driven Fast Burn——————————✧—Slow Burn Sweet—✧——————————Spicy Light/Fluffy——✧—————————Heavy/Emotional
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🎯 My Thoughts:
I fell in love with Rosie Danan’s writing earlier this year, and this story had that same warmth, levity, and emotional depth I’ve come to expect from her.
I really enjoyed the connection between Piper and Scott—and their meet-cute setup was so charming. I love when characters fall for each other’s personalities before even realizing who the other person is. The story also handles anxiety and vulnerability with care and nuance, which I appreciated, especially in a shorter holiday piece.
Where it fell just a bit short for me was in the holiday feel. Compared to the other stories in this collection, this one felt a little lighter on festive atmosphere. While it’s set around Christmas Eve, the seasonal touches don’t really show up until the last third. That final section gave me the cozy, heartwarming vibe I was hoping for throughout.
———————————- Pre-read thoughts: Gimme gimme gimme. I’ve been good this year. 🎅🏼
Fue super lindo ver cómo estos dos tienen encuntros accidentados, muy random pero no saben que son vecinos, y se gustan como vecinos pero también esos encuentros ocasiones que tienen, ameee,
Lo recomiendo bastante
Pd: la parte del pato que lo vestían dependiendo las festividades me encanto 🪿
I LOVED THIS!!!! (Rounded up bc I needed it be longer) but THIS is how you write a Christmas novella without it being too cringey, actually building up tension, AND a normal believable ending. BRB must go read everything this author has written.
Thoughts This was super cute, it didn't have much of the festive feels compared to the others but I still enjoyed the vibes and humour between the characters.
What to expect ▪︎ Comedian FMC ▪︎ ER doctor MMC ▪︎ Next door neighbour romance
Plot Summary Piper is used to making people laugh, but when she suffers a panic attack after a show, it’s stranger Scott—a charming ER doctor—who helps her. They go their separate ways, unaware they actually live next door to each other. When Christmas Eve brings them back together, they discover they share more than a hallway and a holiday—they might just be exactly what the other needs
Stand-up comedian Piper meets a handsome ER doctor, Scott, outside a club when she’s having a panic attack, and then at the ER when she has a little accident. What they don’t know yet is that they are neighbors too.
The story comes from their first-person POVs.
This is a cute story with plenty of laughs and a touch of Christmas vibe. Sure, it is winter, and there are some decorations, but the festive part is not prominent. Similar to other stories, this is also low-stakes, but I wouldn’t mind reading a longer version.
I started giggling from the very first page! What a wonderful holiday novella! I’ll definitely reread it next year! I fell in love with the characters—they’re adorable! The MMC works as a doctor, and the FMC is a stand-up comedian. My only downside: it ended at the most exciting part! I need more!
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This is a holiday romance built around forced proximity, emotional baggage, and that familiar “snowed-in with unresolved tension” setup. The story follows two characters thrown together during the Christmas season, carrying old wounds, complicated feelings, and a connection that refuses to stay buried.
Rosie Danan’s writing is sharp and self-aware, and the dialogue has moments of real spark. The emotional undercurrent: loneliness, longing, the desire to be chosen is clearly there, and when the book slows down to let the characters sit in those feelings, it works. The chemistry simmers more than it explodes, leaning introspective rather than explosive.
Where it stumbles is pacing and payoff. The story feels a bit too restrained, stretching emotional hesitation without fully delivering the catharsis it promises. Some moments that should hit hard glide past too softly, and the resolution feels neat when it could’ve been messier and more satisfying.
Overall, "All Wrapped Up in You" is thoughtful, cozy, and emotionally aware, but it never quite commits to going all in.
All Wrapped Up in You is a short holiday romance novella part of an Amazon Originals multi author, Home Sweet Holidays collection. This is a neighbors to lovers, holiday romance between a stand-up comedian x an ER doctor.
Piper is a stand-up comedian who has a panic attack outside the club she’s performing at and Scott is an ER doctor who happens to be at her show and keeps her company while she’s going through it. They run into one another again a few days later when she shows up at the ER needing stitches and he patches her up, and then later they realize they’re neighbors who have been texting back and forth for a while!
Another quick, easy read. Less holiday than the others in the series, takes place around Christmas but they’re both spending it on their own. The texting and not realizing they were talking to one another was fun. Kissing only, no steam just like the whole series.
I received an ARC, all thoughts in this review are my own.
I swear Rosie Danan wrote this just for me: neighbors-to-lovers and it's set in Hyde Park, where I went to grad school. When Scott encounters Piper having a panic attack at a Chicago comedy club, they have no idea they're actually neighbors who have been texting for months. It takes a couple more random encounters before they put two and two together and that's when things get interesting.
This could easily be expanded to something longer and not just because it ends right before a likely sex scene. I want to know more about Piper's estrangement from her mom and whether Scott can repair the relationships he's been benignly neglecting during med school and residency. I want to see how Scott can make time for Piper given his schedule and what her energy level is like given all of her jobs. There's so much that could be explored!
And yet, this was still a wonderful morsel, one I'll be sure to revisit in holidays future.
Characters: Piper is a white stand-up comedian and comedy teacher. Scott is a 32 year old white third year ER resident. This is set in Hyde Park, Chicago.
Content notes: panic attack, box breathing, head wound, stitches, spider, FMC is estranged from her narcissist mother, MMC's sister had leukemia when she was young (remission for 15 years), past death of grandparents, ableist language
Disclosure: I've provided sensitivity reads for the author in the past but had no involvement with this project.
Dos vecinos que no se han visto nunca pero se escriben por mensaje tienen un par de encuentros inesperados y parece que el destino quiere que pasen la Navidad juntos.
Doctor and stand up comedian/neighbours/you've got mail type short story that was quite cute but the writing style was a bit off for me. Can't quite put my finger on what it was.
Cute lil holiday romance with a lot of kismet!!! I had a fun time listening to this, it did take me a bit longer than I would’ve to get into the story but it was a short little palette cleanser!
Neighbors to lovers, patient x doctor, comedian x attendee!!
By far my favourite in the Home Sweet Holidays collection! This one follows a doctor and a comedian anonymously texting as neighbours, until they finally meet by coincidence, not realizing it's each other! I haven't read anything by Rosie Danan since The Roommate, and this definitely made me want to pick up more!
It had such great banter and genuinely funny moments! And I really liked the realistic progression of the romance. When characters start off as strangers in a novella, it's really tricky for the pacing to feel believable. But this does it so well. I especially loved the somewhat abrupt ending. It left me wanting more, in the best way!
“Scott remembers all at once why Christmas used to be his favorite holiday: Sometimes you get something so good, you didn’t even think to hope for it.”
All Wrapped Up in You is my favorite in the Home Sweet Holidays Collection and my first experience with author Rosie Danan. The story was sweet without being cringey. I like my romcoms heavy on the com and this story delivered. I laughed several times while reading. Very cute and short holiday story!
Home Sweet Home Collection: Snow Place Like Home - Laura Pavlov ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Merry and Bright - Ali Rosen⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ All Wrapped Up in You - Rosie Danan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ You Better Not Pout - Mia Sosa⭐️⭐️
I’m trying to read as many Christmas books as I can this season and this was a short and sweet novella! I loved the concept of Scott and Piper being neighbors and not knowing it and also a hot doctor?! yeah sign me up. Overall it was really cute and an easy holiday read to check off your list! 🎄
Ok definitely cute overload! Neighbors that exchange texts and know each other outside of neighborhood but only know it’s one another when he gets locked out of his apt- yes cheesy but cute!