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The Naughty List Agreement
Win a free print copy of this book!
20 days and 05:44:36
30 copies available
U.S. only
She needs a toy maker. He needs a wife. The only problem? It's giving alarm bells instead of sleigh bells…Cora Quill’s Winter Wonderland festival is the gold standard of holiday magic, until her toy supplier implodes. Her only hope? Nick Bari―the infuriatingly hot but grumpy toymaker she already fired.
Nick’s got his own problems – he needs to find a wife before Christmas Eve so he can stay Santa Claus and save the holiday season. Helping Cora out isn’t exactly a high priority. And she’s on the naughty list. (He checked. Twice.)
But when a desperate Cora comes knocking, he agrees to make her a deal…
Could this be the Christmas miracle they both need? Or the most festive trainwreck ever?
Readers LOVE The Naughty List Agreement:'It truly felt like Christmas magic come to life' ★★★★★
'I couldn't just read a chapter a day because I was hooked from the very first page' ★★★★★
'Such a great concept! … really engaging from start to finish' ★★★★★
'I am a huge fan of Christmas reads and this one was … amazing' ★★★★★
'So fun and whimsical … a great way to spend the Christmas season!' ★★★★
'This is sweet, ridiculous holiday chaos with exactly the right amount of sincerity' ★★★★
'Plenty of holiday charm, witty banter, and swoon-worthy chemistry' ★★★★
Nick’s got his own problems – he needs to find a wife before Christmas Eve so he can stay Santa Claus and save the holiday season. Helping Cora out isn’t exactly a high priority. And she’s on the naughty list. (He checked. Twice.)
But when a desperate Cora comes knocking, he agrees to make her a deal…
Could this be the Christmas miracle they both need? Or the most festive trainwreck ever?
Readers LOVE The Naughty List Agreement:'It truly felt like Christmas magic come to life' ★★★★★
'I couldn't just read a chapter a day because I was hooked from the very first page' ★★★★★
'Such a great concept! … really engaging from start to finish' ★★★★★
'I am a huge fan of Christmas reads and this one was … amazing' ★★★★★
'So fun and whimsical … a great way to spend the Christmas season!' ★★★★
'This is sweet, ridiculous holiday chaos with exactly the right amount of sincerity' ★★★★
'Plenty of holiday charm, witty banter, and swoon-worthy chemistry' ★★★★
408 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2026
About the author
Katherine Garbera
863 books685 followersKatherine Garbera is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 novels, which have been translated into over two dozen languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. She is the mother of two incredibly creative and snarky grown children. Katherine enjoys drinking champagne, reading, walking and traveling with her husband. She lives in Kent, UK, where she is working on her next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cora Quill fired Nick Bari in a one-line email. A ONE-LINE EMAIL. Then her Winter Wonderland toy supplier imploded and she discovered that, unfortunately for her dignity, the grumpy hot toymaker she had just dismissed was exactly the man she needed. Except Nick is not just some guy in Hearthvale making wooden trains and holding a grudge. Nick is Santa Claus. Actual Santa. Which Cora does not believe in. Despite standing there talking to him. I need you to understand the kind of December we are having.
And Cora runs Winter Wonderland. This woman is professionally in charge of creating Christmas joy while personally treating Christmas like an obligation she would unsubscribe from if she could find the link. Everything is schedules and problems and getting it DONE, right up until the toys fall apart and she has to go back to the man she fired and essentially say, remember when I removed you from my life with the efficiency of canceling a dentist appointment? Tiny favor.
Nick would have every right to enjoy this more, but unfortunately Santa also has problems. He has almost hit five years in the job, he needs to increase Christmas cheer worldwide, and he has to find a wife before Christmas Eve if he wants to remain Santa and keep the whole holiday operation going. WHO WROTE THIS EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT? Also, Cora is on his naughty list. He checked twice. That second check is where I started looking at Nick differently because sir, either the system works or you wanted another reason to pull up her file.
And being on the naughty list is not just getting coal and moving on with your life. No. Apparently there is a whole Krampus side of this operation because Christmas in Hearthvale has departments. Nick gets the light, Krampus gets the darkness, and Cora is over here trying to save her festival while unknowingly becoming a matter of supernatural holiday administration. Meanwhile she still does not believe Santa is real. Cora. Babe. At a certain point the evidence is standing directly in front of you being hot and irritated.
Then these two decide a deal between them is the sensible solution, which is incredible considering neither of them currently has a sensible solution to anything. She needs toys. He needs a wife. She does not want to get married. He is operating under a literal Christmas Eve matrimonial deadline. She does not believe in Santa. HE IS SANTA. Every new piece of information makes their arrangement sound worse, and somehow these two keep looking at each other like, yes, excellent, this seems manageable.
The thing with Cora, though, is that she has spent so long making sure she can handle everything herself that even accepting help feels like somebody trying to sneak past security. Nick keeps showing up anyway. He does not magically turn her into a different person, and she does not suddenly become delighted by the concept of depending on somebody. She just starts realizing that maybe letting another person carry something for five minutes does not mean she has failed. Oh. RUDE. I was having fun with Santa's marriage emergency and suddenly we are discussing trust issues.
And I really, really loved the Advent setup. The Naughty List Agreement is built to be read one chapter a day through December, with the physical edition using perforated sections you open as you go, and for once this idea actually belongs to the story. These people are already racing toward Christmas Eve like the holiday itself has put them on a performance improvement plan. Nick has a wife deadline. Cora has a festival disaster. Christmas cheer needs saving. Krampus is lurking in the organizational chart. Of COURSE I should only be allowed to check on them once a day. For their safety and mine.
I did not have that kind of self-control, obviously, because once Cora had fired Santa, landed herself on his naughty list, needed him to save her Christmas festival, and continued insisting the magical man directly involved in all of this could not possibly be Santa, I was staying until somebody made a reasonable choice. That was foolish of me. These are not reasonable-choice people. These are Christmas-emergency people, and I had a very good time being nosy about it.
Four stars. This is sweet, ridiculous holiday chaos with exactly the right amount of sincerity underneath it, and the Advent concept actually made me want to behave like a person with restraint and read one chapter every December day. I will not be doing that, but I respect the book for believing in me.
Merry Mayhem Prize: For Making “Find a Wife by Christmas Eve” an Apparently Binding Condition of Continued Santa Employment
Thank you HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the ARC and for giving me a Santa Claus whose December workload includes worldwide Christmas cheer, naughty-list administration, emergency matrimony, and dealing with the woman who fired him by email. Somebody get this man a union.
And Cora runs Winter Wonderland. This woman is professionally in charge of creating Christmas joy while personally treating Christmas like an obligation she would unsubscribe from if she could find the link. Everything is schedules and problems and getting it DONE, right up until the toys fall apart and she has to go back to the man she fired and essentially say, remember when I removed you from my life with the efficiency of canceling a dentist appointment? Tiny favor.
Nick would have every right to enjoy this more, but unfortunately Santa also has problems. He has almost hit five years in the job, he needs to increase Christmas cheer worldwide, and he has to find a wife before Christmas Eve if he wants to remain Santa and keep the whole holiday operation going. WHO WROTE THIS EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT? Also, Cora is on his naughty list. He checked twice. That second check is where I started looking at Nick differently because sir, either the system works or you wanted another reason to pull up her file.
And being on the naughty list is not just getting coal and moving on with your life. No. Apparently there is a whole Krampus side of this operation because Christmas in Hearthvale has departments. Nick gets the light, Krampus gets the darkness, and Cora is over here trying to save her festival while unknowingly becoming a matter of supernatural holiday administration. Meanwhile she still does not believe Santa is real. Cora. Babe. At a certain point the evidence is standing directly in front of you being hot and irritated.
Then these two decide a deal between them is the sensible solution, which is incredible considering neither of them currently has a sensible solution to anything. She needs toys. He needs a wife. She does not want to get married. He is operating under a literal Christmas Eve matrimonial deadline. She does not believe in Santa. HE IS SANTA. Every new piece of information makes their arrangement sound worse, and somehow these two keep looking at each other like, yes, excellent, this seems manageable.
The thing with Cora, though, is that she has spent so long making sure she can handle everything herself that even accepting help feels like somebody trying to sneak past security. Nick keeps showing up anyway. He does not magically turn her into a different person, and she does not suddenly become delighted by the concept of depending on somebody. She just starts realizing that maybe letting another person carry something for five minutes does not mean she has failed. Oh. RUDE. I was having fun with Santa's marriage emergency and suddenly we are discussing trust issues.
And I really, really loved the Advent setup. The Naughty List Agreement is built to be read one chapter a day through December, with the physical edition using perforated sections you open as you go, and for once this idea actually belongs to the story. These people are already racing toward Christmas Eve like the holiday itself has put them on a performance improvement plan. Nick has a wife deadline. Cora has a festival disaster. Christmas cheer needs saving. Krampus is lurking in the organizational chart. Of COURSE I should only be allowed to check on them once a day. For their safety and mine.
I did not have that kind of self-control, obviously, because once Cora had fired Santa, landed herself on his naughty list, needed him to save her Christmas festival, and continued insisting the magical man directly involved in all of this could not possibly be Santa, I was staying until somebody made a reasonable choice. That was foolish of me. These are not reasonable-choice people. These are Christmas-emergency people, and I had a very good time being nosy about it.
Four stars. This is sweet, ridiculous holiday chaos with exactly the right amount of sincerity underneath it, and the Advent concept actually made me want to behave like a person with restraint and read one chapter every December day. I will not be doing that, but I respect the book for believing in me.
Merry Mayhem Prize: For Making “Find a Wife by Christmas Eve” an Apparently Binding Condition of Continued Santa Employment
Thank you HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the ARC and for giving me a Santa Claus whose December workload includes worldwide Christmas cheer, naughty-list administration, emergency matrimony, and dealing with the woman who fired him by email. Somebody get this man a union.
October 11, 2026
I received a free copy of, The Naughty List Agreement, by Katherine Garbera, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Cora and Nick are at odds, over everything it seems, this Christmas season. This book was to steamy and spicy for me, I prefer cleaner romances.
September 25, 2026
This was a fun read, it’s an advent calendar in a book, a chapter for each day. It’s an easy Christmas read with great characters and a great storyline. I read it quickly, but would have liked to do a chapter a day if I wasn’t reading it for reviewing. It’s Christmas wrapped up in a book. A great way to start December. 4 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
ARC Review
The Naughty List Agreement by Katherine Garbera
Release Date: October 6, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎄 Advent Calender Book
🎅 Christmas Book
🤶 Enemies to Lovers
🎁 Timeline to get Married
🌟 Christmas Romance
The naughty list is a large, heavy, leatherbound book that lands on Nick Bari's desk like a brick. Nick updates the folio every year based on the Yearweave tapestry. This will be his fifth year as Santa Claus and he sees his world is already in crisis. His office is in the North Pole of course, where his headquarters reside. His assistant Martha comes clamoring into the office and reminds him, "the list was due last week." Nick is extremely cautious writing down names for the naughty list as once it's been written down it's close to impossible to remove. The thread in the Yearweave darkens when someone acts selfishly or cruel. Once the name is written in the naughty list they belong to Krampus. Krampus always enforced through fear while Nick worked through wonder and reward. If Krampus took over, the world would be a darker place and therefore the Christmas magic would be gone. The only problem was that if Nick didn't find a wife before Christmas Eve his days of being Santa Claus were over. Will Nick find a wife in the "Nick" of time to save Christmas?
"I brought you here because I didn't want the day to end. Being with you, Cora, is something of an addiction at this point. And I never want to stop."
Whoever invented advent books for Christmas needs a raise and a massive hug from me. This is the greatest thing of all time. I read my first Christmas advent book last year and nothing is greater than opening up a new chapter every day. It makes the holidays that much more fun! This book suggests opening a chapter a day unless your naughty. 😜 It suggests using a letter opener to open the perforated edges. I like that each chapter has a warning - Do Not Ooen Before Date Above! They know we are naughty and don't listen anyways but this made me laugh. I love nothing more than an enemies to lovers trope and man did this book deliver. Cora, the Queen of Christmas herseld and hot Santa who constantly clashed with each other but man did I want them to fall in love. This was book was the epitomy of the perfect Christmas Hallmark movie; a greedy toy seller and of course sexy Santa. I liked the character development in this book. Cora never had good memories as a kid during Christmas time and now that she's older she feels it's something to be endured not celebrated. She's never been in love and she's isn't even interested in being in a relationship. While Nick has less than a month to find a wife or he won't be CEO anymore and his life will come crumbling down. I like that Cora's character she is a bit of a crumudgen or a grinch but she slowly softens over time and opens her heart up. I wish I was like Nick and could conjure up snow. That would be so magical. It's cool that Nick lives in Hearthcrest and it sounds like a magical place to live. I loved the description of his house and all the carvings in the walls. I liked how in the book they described how Nick makes all the deliveries on Christmas Eve with his ring. How his ring makes it easy for him to jump back and forth between rooftops and portal back to the workshop when the sleigh is empty. Using the ring he could manipulate time and always returned to the mortal realm by 10 pm. I thought it was an imaginative and new explanation on how Santa delivers gifts and I appreciate the author coming up with something new. This book was a cute, Hallmark Christmas romance. It definitely gave Hallmark vibes and I can see this being made into a movie. I liked the new spin on Santa and his world and where he from. The only thing that really confused me was at the beginning. I felt like the book just jumped in without explanation, like what is the Yearweave? I felt I needed some more back story or explanation as I didn't get that until chapter 24. Other than that I really enjoyed this Christmas romance book! Super cute and fun!
The Naughty List Agreement by Katherine Garbera
Release Date: October 6, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎄 Advent Calender Book
🎅 Christmas Book
🤶 Enemies to Lovers
🎁 Timeline to get Married
🌟 Christmas Romance
The naughty list is a large, heavy, leatherbound book that lands on Nick Bari's desk like a brick. Nick updates the folio every year based on the Yearweave tapestry. This will be his fifth year as Santa Claus and he sees his world is already in crisis. His office is in the North Pole of course, where his headquarters reside. His assistant Martha comes clamoring into the office and reminds him, "the list was due last week." Nick is extremely cautious writing down names for the naughty list as once it's been written down it's close to impossible to remove. The thread in the Yearweave darkens when someone acts selfishly or cruel. Once the name is written in the naughty list they belong to Krampus. Krampus always enforced through fear while Nick worked through wonder and reward. If Krampus took over, the world would be a darker place and therefore the Christmas magic would be gone. The only problem was that if Nick didn't find a wife before Christmas Eve his days of being Santa Claus were over. Will Nick find a wife in the "Nick" of time to save Christmas?
"I brought you here because I didn't want the day to end. Being with you, Cora, is something of an addiction at this point. And I never want to stop."
Whoever invented advent books for Christmas needs a raise and a massive hug from me. This is the greatest thing of all time. I read my first Christmas advent book last year and nothing is greater than opening up a new chapter every day. It makes the holidays that much more fun! This book suggests opening a chapter a day unless your naughty. 😜 It suggests using a letter opener to open the perforated edges. I like that each chapter has a warning - Do Not Ooen Before Date Above! They know we are naughty and don't listen anyways but this made me laugh. I love nothing more than an enemies to lovers trope and man did this book deliver. Cora, the Queen of Christmas herseld and hot Santa who constantly clashed with each other but man did I want them to fall in love. This was book was the epitomy of the perfect Christmas Hallmark movie; a greedy toy seller and of course sexy Santa. I liked the character development in this book. Cora never had good memories as a kid during Christmas time and now that she's older she feels it's something to be endured not celebrated. She's never been in love and she's isn't even interested in being in a relationship. While Nick has less than a month to find a wife or he won't be CEO anymore and his life will come crumbling down. I like that Cora's character she is a bit of a crumudgen or a grinch but she slowly softens over time and opens her heart up. I wish I was like Nick and could conjure up snow. That would be so magical. It's cool that Nick lives in Hearthcrest and it sounds like a magical place to live. I loved the description of his house and all the carvings in the walls. I liked how in the book they described how Nick makes all the deliveries on Christmas Eve with his ring. How his ring makes it easy for him to jump back and forth between rooftops and portal back to the workshop when the sleigh is empty. Using the ring he could manipulate time and always returned to the mortal realm by 10 pm. I thought it was an imaginative and new explanation on how Santa delivers gifts and I appreciate the author coming up with something new. This book was a cute, Hallmark Christmas romance. It definitely gave Hallmark vibes and I can see this being made into a movie. I liked the new spin on Santa and his world and where he from. The only thing that really confused me was at the beginning. I felt like the book just jumped in without explanation, like what is the Yearweave? I felt I needed some more back story or explanation as I didn't get that until chapter 24. Other than that I really enjoyed this Christmas romance book! Super cute and fun!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’m always up for a holiday romance, and The Naughty List Agreement definitely brought the festive vibes, chemistry, and a little bit of holiday chaos.
This was a fun, easy read with a romance that had plenty of sparks. I enjoyed watching the relationship develop and seeing the characters navigate the lines between what they agreed to and what they actually wanted. There were some predictable moments, but honestly, sometimes predictable is exactly what I’m looking for in a holiday romance!
The Christmas setting added that extra cozy feeling, and the story was a nice escape when I wanted something light and romantic. While I didn’t completely fall in love with every aspect of the story, I had a good time reading it.
If you're looking for a quick, festive romance with chemistry, holiday magic, and a little bit of naughty mixed in with the nice, this one is worth adding to your holiday TBR. 🎅🏻❤️
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
This was a fun, easy read with a romance that had plenty of sparks. I enjoyed watching the relationship develop and seeing the characters navigate the lines between what they agreed to and what they actually wanted. There were some predictable moments, but honestly, sometimes predictable is exactly what I’m looking for in a holiday romance!
The Christmas setting added that extra cozy feeling, and the story was a nice escape when I wanted something light and romantic. While I didn’t completely fall in love with every aspect of the story, I had a good time reading it.
If you're looking for a quick, festive romance with chemistry, holiday magic, and a little bit of naughty mixed in with the nice, this one is worth adding to your holiday TBR. 🎅🏻❤️
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I am really loving the advent books for Christmas, and this one was so fun and filled with all the Christmas joy and spice!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an arc of The Naughty List Agreement in exchange for an honest review. This was such a fun and unique take on the magical world of Santa. Nick had a complicated past with Cora and initially put her on the naughty list, but second guesses himself as they reconnect and can tell their is more behind the persona she presents. As they work together to create a new toy and plan the festival, feelings arise, attraction is real, and Cora starts to open up to Nick in ways she hasn't thought of since a child. Nick needs a wife by Christmas Eve, but he only has eyes and his heart is set on Cora. I loved seeing Cora lower her walls and open herself to the joy and magic of love and holidays as her feelings for Nick evolve.
I highly recommend this Christmas romance! Everyone deserves a sexy Santa showing us the gifts the season brings!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an arc of The Naughty List Agreement in exchange for an honest review. This was such a fun and unique take on the magical world of Santa. Nick had a complicated past with Cora and initially put her on the naughty list, but second guesses himself as they reconnect and can tell their is more behind the persona she presents. As they work together to create a new toy and plan the festival, feelings arise, attraction is real, and Cora starts to open up to Nick in ways she hasn't thought of since a child. Nick needs a wife by Christmas Eve, but he only has eyes and his heart is set on Cora. I loved seeing Cora lower her walls and open herself to the joy and magic of love and holidays as her feelings for Nick evolve.
I highly recommend this Christmas romance! Everyone deserves a sexy Santa showing us the gifts the season brings!
September 25, 2026
Nick is Santa and needs to get married by the end of the month or else his cousin will be taking over his role as Santa. Cora is the head of a winter wonderland festival who just made it on the naughty list bc she’s more interested in monetizing the season than celebrating it. When she needs to re-hire Nick (who she fired before) to be the lead toy maker for winter wonderland they’re back in each others orbits trying to make it through the holiday season.
I really liked this book. It was fun, festive, spicy, the right amount of Christmas cheesiness and I love the advent calendar idea for a book club or just even a solo-read during the month of December. This has good spice, hot Santa, and all the tension that comes with enemies to lovers.
NetGalleyARC review.
I really liked this book. It was fun, festive, spicy, the right amount of Christmas cheesiness and I love the advent calendar idea for a book club or just even a solo-read during the month of December. This has good spice, hot Santa, and all the tension that comes with enemies to lovers.
NetGalleyARC review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
was lucky enough to read an ARC of The Naughty List Agreement, and it completely stole my heart. Katherine Garbera has crafted an absolute holiday gem with Cora and Nick's story. It is incredibly adorable, whimsical, and left me feeling so warm and cozy.
If you love the grumpy-meets-sunshine dynamic mixed with a bit of holiday chaos, you will adore this. The chemistry is top-tier—giving us the perfect level of spice to cuteness without losing any of that sweet Christmas magic. I couldn't put it down! A must-read for the upcoming holiday season.
Thank you to Netgally for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
If you love the grumpy-meets-sunshine dynamic mixed with a bit of holiday chaos, you will adore this. The chemistry is top-tier—giving us the perfect level of spice to cuteness without losing any of that sweet Christmas magic. I couldn't put it down! A must-read for the upcoming holiday season.
Thank you to Netgally for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Naughty List Agreement is a whimsical Christmas romance about a Santa who needs to find a wife prior to Christmas. Nick Bari has almost been Santa for five years and needs to have a wife by Christmas for the Christmas season to continue as is. Cora Quill is a workaholic who is in charge of promoting a Winter Wonderland festival and recently Nick had to put her on the Naughty List. When Cora comes to Nick with a deal, he agrees and their chemistry is undeniable. Cora has never believed in Santa and does not want to get married. Is there any way Nick can not only get her off the Naughty List, but also make her his wife and a believer?
This story is so fun and whimsical. I really appreciated the world of Santa and the seasons that was created. It felt a bit like an adult version of the old claymations that had Mother Nature, Santa, Heat Miser etc. Nick and Cora's chemistry is palpable and I loved watching Cora be able to finally trust someone. This book is written to be read one chapter for every day leading up to Christmas and would be a great way to spend the Christmas season! Highly recommend!
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story is so fun and whimsical. I really appreciated the world of Santa and the seasons that was created. It felt a bit like an adult version of the old claymations that had Mother Nature, Santa, Heat Miser etc. Nick and Cora's chemistry is palpable and I loved watching Cora be able to finally trust someone. This book is written to be read one chapter for every day leading up to Christmas and would be a great way to spend the Christmas season! Highly recommend!
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
September 22, 2026
This was witty, sexy, festive and lots of fun. I loved Nick as a hot new Santa. I loved his moral compass after putting Cora on the naughty list and then struggling with that. Cora was devoted to her job not naughty and she was for a reason from her past. This was a good book. A spicy Santa was lots of fun to read about. Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
October 10, 2026
I was incredibly excited to finally try a book advent calendar this year after seeing them in stores for years! Reading exactly one chapter a day starting December 1st is such a fun, cozy concept, and the story made it very hard to stop reading at the end of each daily chapter.
This book delivers festive vibes from start to finish. If you love that comforting, small-town Hallmark holiday energy, you will enjoy this book.
The Plot:
The setup is great. It’s a dual-POV story where the main character, Nick, isn't just playing Santa for the community—he is the actual Santa! He needs to find a wife to keep his position, and she needs a master toy maker to save her upcoming Christmas festival. To make it even better, she actually fired him five years ago, prompting him to put her on the naughty list! (We quickly discover that Santa himself can be a little naughty, too).
Why it wasn't a full 5 stars for me:
While the premise and atmosphere were great, the heavy focus on "instalust" held it back slightly. I really wanted the book to prioritize building a strong emotional connection and letting that enemies to lovers dynamic simmer. Instead, the physical attraction was instant and became quite repetitive.
Overall, if you can look past the heavy instalust and want a book with holiday cheer, fun tropes, Hallmark vibes, and plenty of spice this is a great addition to your holiday tbr.
Thank you @katherinegarbera @onemorechapterhc @NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book delivers festive vibes from start to finish. If you love that comforting, small-town Hallmark holiday energy, you will enjoy this book.
The Plot:
The setup is great. It’s a dual-POV story where the main character, Nick, isn't just playing Santa for the community—he is the actual Santa! He needs to find a wife to keep his position, and she needs a master toy maker to save her upcoming Christmas festival. To make it even better, she actually fired him five years ago, prompting him to put her on the naughty list! (We quickly discover that Santa himself can be a little naughty, too).
Why it wasn't a full 5 stars for me:
While the premise and atmosphere were great, the heavy focus on "instalust" held it back slightly. I really wanted the book to prioritize building a strong emotional connection and letting that enemies to lovers dynamic simmer. Instead, the physical attraction was instant and became quite repetitive.
Overall, if you can look past the heavy instalust and want a book with holiday cheer, fun tropes, Hallmark vibes, and plenty of spice this is a great addition to your holiday tbr.
Thank you @katherinegarbera @onemorechapterhc @NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!
**3.5 stars**
The advent-book concept is really fun—one chapter a day leading up to Christmas—and I can absolutely see this being a cute little holiday reading ritual.
The actual story is very fluffy and very predictable. Like, a few pages in and you already know where this train is headed. There were basically no surprises for me.
But honestly, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing here. This is pure Christmas brain candy: cute, easy, festive, and low-stakes. If you want something cozy to read during December that doesn’t require much emotional energy, this fits the bill.
**3.5 stars**
The advent-book concept is really fun—one chapter a day leading up to Christmas—and I can absolutely see this being a cute little holiday reading ritual.
The actual story is very fluffy and very predictable. Like, a few pages in and you already know where this train is headed. There were basically no surprises for me.
But honestly, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing here. This is pure Christmas brain candy: cute, easy, festive, and low-stakes. If you want something cozy to read during December that doesn’t require much emotional energy, this fits the bill.
October 7, 2026
This is my first book I have read written by Katherine Garbera, and man it was amazing.
I do not want to spoil any of the book since it is a read by day sealed deal... BUT TRUST ME... spice, hope, joy, and romance all in one...
Get a copy of it, you will be glad u did.
I do not want to spoil any of the book since it is a read by day sealed deal... BUT TRUST ME... spice, hope, joy, and romance all in one...
Get a copy of it, you will be glad u did.
October 11, 2026
I adored this book so much, I was excited to see that it was in advent format and so I wanted to read it as intended by reading a chapter a day. It was so lovely! So much so that I have ordered a physical copy to enjoy in December!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews