The Nice List: A Holiday Romantic Comedy

by Erin Scoggins

One viral video. Six million views. And absolutely no reasonable explanation for why Lucy Walsh pepper-sprayed Santa.

Lucy can spin any scandal—until she becomes one. Caught on camera shrieking "Ho-ho-no, you don't!" at a mall Santa, the cynical PR executive gets an save a struggling small-town children's charity or face charges and kiss her career goodbye.

The catch? The charity's infuriatingly cheerful director, Nick St. Clair, is the grandson of the Santa she took down.

Nick thinks Lucy is a spin doctor who's forgotten how to tell the truth. Lucy thinks Nick is a walking Hallmark card about to run his foundation into the ground on hope and hot chocolate. She wants to fix everything, including him. Neither plans on falling for the enemy.

Then her late-night, brutally honest letter to Santa surfaces, and Nick takes it upon himself to grant her wishes one by one. Meanwhile Lucy is fulfilling children's Christmas requests, teaching reindeer safety to kindergartners, and accidentally starting a tinsel fire at the town festival. She's also trying not to fall for the maddeningly merry man who keeps slipping past her defenses.

With the foundation in crisis, Lucy has to decide whether to return to the life she built or believe that sometimes the best things come from landing on Santa's naughty list.

THE NICE LIST is BRIDGET JONES meets ELF, a holly-jolly sweet romance packed with enemies-to-lovers sparks, small-town Christmas chaos, and one hilariously messy road to happily ever after.

282 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2026

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Erin Scoggins writes heartfelt small-town romances and lighthearted Southern mysteries where love is messy, community is everything, and laughter is always on the menu. Erin lives in North Carolina, and when she’s not writing, she’s wrangling three teenagers and dreaming up plot twists over a plate of chicken and dumplings.

Visit her at www.erinscoggins.com for book news and shenanigans.

Reviews

[NI☾KEY · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

“I want to stop editing myself. I want to say the weird thing or sing off-key or admit I'm lonely without worrying it will make someone else uncomfortable.”

I’m typically a horror, thriller, or dark romance reader, but after finishing this novel in less than a day, The Nice List has fully convinced me that I need to add another genre to the list. 32 year old Lucy’s past Christmas trauma helps set the stage for a less-than-ideal headline. What follows is nothing short of a Christmas miracle that even the biggest Bahumbug couldn’t deny. I wholeheartedly loved all the characters. There was enough depth to make them feel well rounded, but not so much that you felt like you were drowning in information. In fact, I felt that the whole book followed that same pattern. There is nothing that pulls me out of a story faster than poor pacing, but Erin Scoggins really nailed it.

This book warmed my heart. It had me laughing, and kept me thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. It’s your comfort show & the coziest season all wrapped up into one beautiful story. These delusional rivals didn’t even stand a chance. ♡

Thank you for gifting me an Advanced Reader Copy and allowing me to provide my honest review!

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a sweet story about finding family, love, and purpose in the most unexpected places. Sometimes the best gifts in life aren’t the ones wrapped under the tree, but the people who come into our lives when we need them most.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books are simply meant to be enjoyed with a cozy blanket, a warm drink, and absolutely no plans to put them down. The Nice List was one of those reads for me.

Charming, delightfully witty, and filled with just the right amount of Christmas chaos, this story had me entertained from the very beginning. Between Lucy's sharp humor, Nick's relentlessly cheerful personality, and their wonderfully amusing clashes, there was never a dull moment.

What I particularly enjoyed was how effortlessly the story blended laugh out loud mishaps with heartfelt moments and a little holiday magic. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic brought plenty of personality, while the small town setting added that comforting seasonal atmosphere I adore.

Quite frankly, this was such an enjoyable escape that I finished it in one sitting! The pacing felt natural, the banter was fantastic, and the romance delivered all the festive charm I was hoping for without losing its playful edge.

If enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract, small town charm, and Christmas rom-coms are among your favorite tropes, then The Nice List deserves a place on your holiday reading list.

Thank you to the author and BookSirens for the ARC.

[Becky Collins · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Lucy Walsh was the crisis management employee for PR Wardwell & Associates for the last ten years. She had just helped with a company that produced fun dough for children but it stained their hands. The executives of Smitten toy were coming in that morning to talk with the managers when the new girl Madison ran into Lucy and spilled coffee all down the front of her. Lucy headed to the mall to get a new outfit when what appeared to be the Santa being mean to the girl named June. So what does Lucy do but unload pepper spray into Santa’s face. So they put Lucy on a leave and that is when she ran into Nick which lo and behold Nick is Santa’s nephew. Lucy was going to save the company that he ran. They had a wishlist from the town children’s and others and they distributed them. So many things happened but Nick and her kept moving forward with their ideas. Such a cozy and uplifting read.

I received this ARC from Booksirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Stephanie Hathaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nice List by Erin Scroggins was such a cute, sweet holiday rom-com!

This story was full of hilarious mishaps that kept throwing our FMC right into the path of a grumpy, stubborn MMC who desperately needed a Christmas miracle of his own. I loved watching these two find their way to each other, even when neither realized just how much they needed saving.

Both characters were searching for something they didn’t even know they were missing, and watching them find their own version of a Christmas miracle was absolutely heartwarming.

This was such a sweet story about finding family, love, and purpose in the most unexpected places. Sometimes the best gifts in life aren’t the ones wrapped under the tree, but the people who come into our lives when we need them most.

A feel-good holiday romance with plenty of laughs, heart, and Christmas magic!

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to BookSirens for an ARC of The Nice List by Erin Scoggins. I received this copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What a fun, sweet HEA holiday romance!

I loved this from page 1 - it was hard to put down.

After Lucy Walsh is caught on camera pepper spraying a mall Santa, her boss at the PR firm where she works exiles her to Pinecrest, NC to help "Santa" charity clean up their image.

What she finds is a charity in need of a huge makeover. They are not making any money and Lucy has to take charge and figure out how to help them.

Nick, Santa's grandson has baggage of his own but he quickly charms Lucy and the two of them create some viral moments of their own. Can they save the big Christmas festival together? Will the magic of Christmas bring Lucy happiness?

There's lots of hijinks and laughs along with some deeper stuff and it all works great together.

[Nik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to BookSirens and Erin Scroggins for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Nice List is such a cute, cosy Hallmark-esque holiday rom-com. We follow the story of Lucy, the powerful disaster-fixing PR Manager and Nick, the stubborn, loveable manager of a foundation supporting families in the town of Pinecrest.

I loved how Lucy, an independent woman, finally let down her barriers to discover who she really was. Meeting Nick, the stubborn MMC who disliked change, helped them both on their journey of self discovery. I loved how theh put aside their differences, found love along the way, and worked together for the people of Pinecrest. Maybe this will be the best Christmas of all…?

To be, this book is Bridget Jones meets Elf kind of vibes, and I'm here for it!

This is such a heartwarming, easy to read book, and I enjoyed every line of it.

[Gin]

This was a fun read with likeable characters. I had some mixed feelings about some of the aspects of the book (small businesses in the off season being able to drop hundred of dollars at a moment's notice?) but decided to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the story.

I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[PS · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️arc review

Cute little Christmas read

[Suze82 · Rating 5 out of 5]

unconventional

I loved Nick and Lucy´s unconventional christmas story, it´s full of unexpected twists, hilarious situations but also important messages for everyday life.