My Red, White, & Blue Christmas

by Julie Christianson

Fireworks plus mistletoe equal one explosive kiss…

Beauregard Slater sure brings the fireworks. Too bad they aren’t the good kind. My brother’s best friend was so hot he blew up my graduation day with one humiliating almost-kiss. It took me five years to diffuse that memory. So when we’re thrown together for my mother’s hair-brained Christmas in July, I won’t let Beau reignite my heart. Which leaves me with one question…

How close can I stand to this old flame without getting burned?

Kasey Graham is pure mistletoe. Beautiful and tempting and more out of reach than the star on a Christmas tree. Why? Because my best friend made it crystal clear his little sister is off limits. To keep my heart free from her, I kept myself on the opposite side of the world. Now her lips are inches from mine and sweeter than candy canes. Which leaves me with one question…

How much am I willing to risk when Kasey’s all I want for Christmas?

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Contemporary, Clean Romance, Holiday, Novella, Family

116 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2021

About the author

Julie Christianson writes sweet romantic comedies—but only when she’s not reading them. Born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she loves her hilarious family, her three crazy rescue dogs, and laughing at her own jokes.

Julie dreamed of being an author the first time she held a crayon, and after the library where she worked closed in 2020, she decided to try her hand at penning her own small-town romcoms.

She’s a former high school English teacher and lapsed marathon runner, the mother of two great kids, and the wife of one very funny man. Her goal is to write books that make you laugh out loud, fall in love, and live happily ever after.

To connect with Julie, follow her on instagram (@juliechristiansonauthor), Facebook (@juliechristiansonauthor) or visit her website, juliechristianson.com.!

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book had all the tropes all of them, the brothers best friend, the fake dating, the enemies to lovers all in 114 pages. I had so much second hand embarrassment i had to keep stopping to cringe for what this girl was saying. I felt like the story jumped around so much i was so lost all of the time and none of it felt natural it was such forced plot development. The writing style also get stiff and forced and just generally wasn’t something real people say, and the way things were described wasn’t for me, some random metaphors carried throughout the whole book idek.

[Pixie Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

My full review can be read here: bit.ly/36nwnkT

He meets my gaze and holds it steady, speaking with his eyes. Speaking to my soul. “I do have feelings for you.” His voice is hoarse, like he’s been shouting the same words forever and I never heard.

“You do?”

“I do.” He squeezes my hands and all the air leaves my lungs. “I have all the feelings for you. Every single one of them. I always have.

I honestly can't say toooooo much about this book, because it wasssss a novella and I don't want to spoil anything, but just know that it was a super cute read! I love celebrating Christmas in July, and this book made it fun to do so with the perfect combination of Christmas AND summertime activities.

As far as content goes: Any suggestive material/innuendos were pretty minor, so no worries there. And there was no language that I can remember.

I really appreciated how the past was woven in throughout the book to give a better picture of what happened between Beau and Kasey, it explained why she "hated" him so much and also why he treated her the way he did when they were teenagers. Oh! And I loved that the book ties in with Julie's other book,The Mostly Real McCoy...which is on my TBR, and I'm even MORE excited to read it now!
​
If you love Christmas-themed and/or summer-themed romances with unrequited love/hate-to-love vibes and crazy family antics, I recommend giving this quick (but sweet) romcom a chance. 😊

[Erica Gabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean overall this was pretty stupid. It kept getting good like building up a good scene or sweet declaration or witty banter, and then you were left extremely disappointed. However, I LOVE the Christmas in July plot. Rating a 3 for that part alone.

[Maria Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars New to me author.
While the idea of mixing Christmas with 4th of July for a story is great, I didn't really love this book. I didn't like the way any of the characters treated each other. They all seemed like bullies which made it hard for me to like them or root for them. Even the mom was super bossy and not in a charming way. The siblings have an ineffective plan that made no sense. And the main characters have no real reason to even like each other beyond physical attraction.
I think there are lots of people that will like this story but there were just too many things I didn't like. I would like to try this author one more time though. I'm wondering if a longer length story will be a better choice for my tastes.

Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: some bullying in the past and unkindness in the present

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you come from a large, wacky, extended family or just enjoy reading about them, you will enjoy this book. From the small town traditions to the close neighbors the bonds are strong, and the history, though not always smooth, is one of the threads that holds them together.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story sucked me in from the beginning. I love the zany, crazy characters and laughed out loud for much of the book. What a cute premise to hold a family Christmas in July! This is my first book by Julie Christianson and I will look for more books by her!

[Kimberly Sims · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read My Red, White, and Blue Christmas over the 4th of July weekend and I loved it!! I was a little wary at first because I’m really not a Christmas in July kind of person, but it turned out to be a super fun novella!

Kasey’s family hasn’t been able to get together for Christmas in years. With the passing of two family members and the declining health of their grandmother the whole family decides to get together to celebrate Christmas. However the only time they can all get together is the 4th of July. When Kasey comes home to a small town full of quirky families she learns that Beau, her brother’s best friend from high school who teased and tormented Kasey relentlessly, is also in town and has been invited to celebrate with Kasey’s family.

Beau is in between gigs as a professional photographer and decides to spend the 4th of July at home. He soon discovers that his family will be celebrating Christmas in July with the girl he has loved since high school but never had the opportunity to date.

Will Kasey and Beau forgive and forget the past to be together?

This is the cutest enemies to lovers/forbidden love novella! I love how Julie used the high school experiences to build up the conflict and tension quickly. I loved all the humor, craziness, and swooniness packed in this novella! The way Julie described the family get together reminded me so much of the various holiday celebrations I spent with my cousins growing up! She really nailed the laughter and chaos that is a family reunion.

There really isn’t anything I didn’t like about this book! It was so cute and had lots of funny moments and you can’t help but fall head over heels for Beau! Julie did a fantastic job with this novella and I can’t wait to read her upcoming book My Own Best Enemy!

P.S. if you haven’t read The Mostly Real McCoy you should put it on your TBR! It’s just as cute and funny as My Red, White and Blue Christmas!

[Jerry Walch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julie Christianson’s, My Red, White & Blue Christmas was every bit as entertaining a read as her Pretending I Love Lucy was. Maybe even more entertaining because it was funnier. Julie is slowly, one book at a time, turning this blood and guts, action/thriller fan into a rom-com fan as well.

My Red, White & Blue Christmas is all about two families coming together to celebrate Christmas and the Fourth of July over the long Fourth of July weekend. Like with Pretending I Love Lucy, Julie Christianson uses two POV characters in My Red, White & Blue Christmas—Kacey and Beau—to tell the story. Kacey had been in love with Beau ever since high school, but she felt he hated her. Her feelings were based on the way he had treated her. They both went to college. Beau became a globe trotting photographer and she a budding journalist. He was on his way to winning his first Pulitzer, she to becoming the youngest department head at her newspaper.

When they were forced together that July... well, go read the book to find out what happened.

[𝕸𝖎𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖑 𝕮. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas on July 4th? I’m here for it!

This book was super cute and all the chapters that were Beau’s POV were the best!

I found Kasey to be extremely annoying and manipulative. Everything she said and did was kind of irritating. All the fake-dating crap at the last minute and her trying to “get revenge” on everyone, when all they did was wish her well..
She was annoying also when she pushed Beau away just because of their different jobs in different cities. If you REALLY love someone, you tell them so AND THEN you work out anything else. If you love someone, everything else will ALWAYS work out.

I at first rated this book five stars, but now have settled on 3 or 4 just because while it truly was a cute read that gave me butterflies 🦋, Kasey was annoying 😂

I loved Beau and his lines were so great. I wish 80% of the chapters were of Beau’s POV because Kasey is just plain annoying.

Wanted to read this in the month it’s set in, and I did! Just a couple days after the 4th.

[A.A.B · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried this book to check out a new to me author. Safe to say, it's not my cup of tea. The writing style is too verbose and unnatural. The amount of filler is so overwhelming, especially for such a short story, that I had to work really hard to find and finish the actual story. I guess the characters were supposed to be quirky, but they seemed obnoxious and disgusting instead.

The "pranks" in this book are a codeword for outright brutal bullying, which instead of being properly addressed gets laughed off or ignored, but then it's hardly surprising given the outwardly sacharine, but actually self-absorbed self-centered, casually neglectful and abuse-enabling parents.

The novella is 3 parts incompetently written, 2 parts aggravating, and 5 parts irrelevant obnoxious filler of people doing cooky stuff for cooky reasons to be "charming" or "entertaining", apparently.

Just No.

[Chelsea | chelseadennreads Dennison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief Synopsis: Kasey’s home for her mom’s crazy Christmas in July celebration. She’s expecting to see all of her family, but she doesn’t expect to see Beau, her brother’s best friend. He’s supposed to be traveling the world taking photographs. Not here in her living room, reminding her of all the ways he and her brother messed with her growing up. But the more time they spend together, the more Kasey realizes that Beau isn’t so bad.

This was such a cute little novella. I have really been enjoying the brother’s best friend trope lately and this one delivered. This is a dual POV novella and I loved reading Beau’s point of view. I did not realize that this was basically a precursor to Christianson’s Apple Valley series. I read The Mostly Real McCoy last month and loved it, so I loved getting a glimpse of Mac and Daisy in this novella.

4⭐️
💗Clean romance

[Imfullybooked2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swoony read

Beau and Kasey's love story is so romantic, extremely swoony, heart melting, fun, sweet and so much more that you will feel all giddy and excited inside all throughout the read. There are so many sweet swoony moments between the two love birds. I have so many favorites. There are also so many happy and a bit surprising scenes. Let's just say as you read on it gets better and better. 


The confessions will melt your heart and make you swoon. Make you feel all giddy and happy for the couple. I was hooked from beginning til the end. The excitement of seeing your old childhood crush is such a fun storyline. What will happen!? This book is a amazing and entertaining read if only it was a movie 🤔!

[Leann Arave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, quirky contemporary romance. You hear of Christmas in July, but really! Kasey was raised in a small town where everybody knew everybody. Growing up with and older brother and his best friend teasing her at every monument, had taken its toll. When Kasey graduated she made sure to move far away. But this year her mama planned a big Christmas in July bash, with caroling, gingerbread houses and ugly sweater contest. She was excited to be with her family and share her big news. But when she found out Beau (brothers best friend) would be there, her world turned upside down. Entertaining, comical, and sweet is why I recommend this book. My only drawback is the “pranks”, were never properly dealt with. You can’t just sweep bullying under the rug and ignore it.

[Priscila · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Red, White, and Blue Christmas was a fun introduction to Julie Christianson's work. I enjoyed getting to know both Kasey and Beau since after reading the blurb I honestly wanted to know how it all would work out. Turns out, Kasey's family took some getting used to (especially her mom - I almost didn't make it past the first chapter) and the names were a bit hard to keep straight since they are a big family, but still, they were intriguing, at times fun, but always unique, lol.
I also knew Beau had some major making up to do based on the last time/prank he played on Kasey, but I still enjoyed most of his POV, as well as loved his friendship with Brady (though maybe he took loyalty to an extreme... but oh well, he's grown up now and on the redeeming path).

Since this is a novella, it all happened within a week, but with all the shared past between the MCs, that didn't bother me as it'd usually do. Oh, and the mix of Christmas and 4th of July activities was also fun to see :)

Overall, a great introduction to this new series that I think will show the growth of the author in the rom-com genre. Can't wait for Mac's book! ~ 3.75 stars

PS: my only (though biggest) issue with this book was the caroling scene, where the author used some of the lines in my favorite Christian carols to further the MCs flirty thoughts (it felt pretty much like equalling Jesus to Beau, and that was a huge turn off for me).

[AKC_more books to read Booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute little story, though I would’ve loved for it to have been a little longer. I loved the complications of Kasey and Beau’s relationship- brothers best friend- and their interactions were both funny and cringey. Reunited after 5 years, the two basically picked up where they left off, which is secret feelings and a whole lot of distrust which resulted in some immaturity. But, it’s only been 5 years so I can kind of understand that. No one is at their best at 23 when it comes to old flames, especially ones with complications! Like I said, I would’ve loved if this book had been longer, but I did quite enjoy the story.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet clean romance about Kasey, a journalist and Beau, a photographer who went to school with her and is her brother's best friend. The story is about her wacky family celebrating Christmas in July and Kasey and Beau meeting up again after five years and feeling their attraction to one another. It is an enjoyable read with some humour and their family members were amusing. The HEA was not embellished enough and should have had an extra page for a more complete ending. A cute tale which I rate 3.5*

[Het · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won't lie but the first chapter was so slow and confusing that I actually went into a reading slum. It actually took a lot of willpower to get back to reading it.
2nd chp onwards it gets better, picks up pace and above all gets more structured so that you have a clearer picture of what's happening.
I would say it could have been a light filler read but given my experience I don't know what to say.

[Marilyn Burrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so funny. I laughed a lot. These 2 families have been friends all their children’s lives. Their actions are predictable. Today they are celebrating 2 important holidays at one time. The real story is about one person from each family who had been friends. They are adults now but the are not friends with each. But the things they go thru together,

[Sarah Beth G. (a.neverending.tbr) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, sweet and cute novella. Warp speed on the romance but it kind of worked since they were childhood frenemies. I had this copy from a free promotion but I may also read through the reworked version in KU. I am glad I read this one to set the stage for Brady and Natalie’s story.

Content Notes: Kisses

[Katie Andersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and fun!

This is the 2nd book I've read by this author and I'm so excited to find her! I really enjoyed this book and the wacky cast of characters. I love books that make me smile and laugh and this one did.

[Kayla Sullinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first read by this author. I happened to snatch it up to read to get me in the holiday spirit.
I actually liked it. It was a cute little romance book.
There was a good back story and the characters were pretty funny.

[Barbara Hackel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny little Christmas over the 4th of July story, involving enemies to lovers troupe. Lots of family and quirks that make this a super fast read. There's some overlapping of characters from other books, but it isn't essential to have read those books.

[milcent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aw hell nauuurr. What just happened here? ALL OF THEM ARE PRETTY CHILDISH AND ANNOYING NGL EVEN THE PARENTS AND, OH GOD, THE ENTIRE FAMILY! ALL OF THEM! There were moments where Beau was kinda funny and I hoped the story picks up from there but it just fucking didn't.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I started this, I couldn’t put it down. This was such a sweet and short novella about misunderstandings, forgiveness, and love. The family is crazy and whacky but that just adds to the story. If you are looking for a cute love story that you can finish in a day, this book is perfect for you.

[The Swoony Awards]

Eligible for a 2021 Swoony Award, to nominate/vote click here: https://tinyurl.com/y593ce67

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beau was the one thing that made this book super cute. Kasey was not making me want to like her, especially with her immature antics. At least she figured it out in the end.

[Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book by this author that I have read. A light, fun rom-com, I really enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfectly sweet Christmas in July story about Kasey and Beau!

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Co · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/3
I guess I enjoyed it but it was a bit too fast and maybe immature for my taste.