Falling for the Scrooge Next Door

Vatan Valley #1

by Mari Mendoza

Kat Chua loves Christmas. Ben Manalo abhors the holidays. How will these next-door neighbors find peace amidst their stressful careers with their paper-thin walls?

Ben is minding his own business, focusing on work and writing his own recipes when Kat bulldozes into his life with Christmas songs. He automatically classifies her as a weird girl, and she confirms his perception by responding to his bad temper with kindness. Now he’s hooked and he can’t stay away. Kat is trying to get her life on track when she gets into a passive-aggressive standoff with her next-door neighbor, Ben. She is determined to take the high road but as her work and family struggles escalate everything starts falling apart. The last person she expects comes to help her, Ben.

Falling for the Scrooge Next Door is a slow-born enemies-to-lovers holiday romance novella. This is a story of how a horrible first impression can grow into friendship and how two people find support where they least expect it, right when they need it the most. Perfect for a quick read! There will be steamy scenes and some swearing.

Genres: Christmas, Holiday, Romance, Novella, Contemporary, Slow Burn, Enemies To Lovers

103 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2022

Reviews

[Paloma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uhm... tierno pero sin conflicto alguno.

[Mackenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay This book had the potential to be a super cute little Christmas novella. Unfortunately it just fell flat. The authors writing felt incomplete and awkward. There was no real connection between the reader and characters. It felt so rushed and like you missed out on sooooooo much. Kat and Ben felt very uncomfortable and I overall didn’t enjoy this novella.

[Cassie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uhm? I get it was a short story, but the story literally just ended? Felt totally incomplete. I have a feeling the version I bought on stuff your Kindle Day and the KU version are messed up. But I'm not wasting my money to physically buy and try to finish. What was there wasn't even that great for me to continue. Thank god I listened while cleaning my house, because if I would have took time to sit and read, I'd be even more mad about my wasted time 😆

[Kaela Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books I’ve ever read.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate and Ben's Story . . .

Kate Chua is fully invested in everything Christmas! She is one of those people who start playing Christmas music in September, and blast it out for the world to hear and enjoy. But it doesn’t occur to her that not everyone is ready for all that intense joy.

Ben Manalo is thoroughly annoyed by the loud music coming from his neighbor. He is not in the Christmas spirit, doesn’t even like Christmas, and just wants peace and quiet. So he bangs loudly on her door to make her turn it down! He has a project to work on and cannot concentrate with the noise. But meeting her face-to-face, he finds his full attention on her. Will one of them make the first move for something more? Is there any room for compromise? Perhaps they could talk it over at dinner?

This was a very short story, but I think it may invoke in the reader some memories of noisy neighbors and misunderstandings. Grab your copy and see if they decide to work something out. After all, it takes so much energy to stay angry, and only a little muscle twitch to bring up a smile.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

He doesn’t like Christmas; she believes that it’s never to early to hang a wreath or listen to Christmas songs. Kat and Ben are next door neighbours who haven’t done much more than see each other until the night in September when she starts playing Christmas music and Ben takes exception.

Falling for the Scrooge Next Door is a quirky, sweet romance with heart. These are two relatable characters who had me saying – been there, uh huh, oh man, that’s happened to me…. This book is a fun, short Christmas themed book that can be enjoyed at any time of the year. It’s one of those books that you pick up when you need a short, sweet pick-me-up. There are moments when I chuckled to myself and others when I sighed. Ben is the kind of man that we dream. I wish there had been more to this story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Michelle Heyboer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Falling for the Scrooge Next Door" is a delightful romance that captures the essence of holiday cheer and the unexpected twists of love. The story revolves around two endearing characters: Ben, who's a bit of a Christmas curmudgeon, and Kat, whose holiday spirit knows no bounds. They're neighbors who've barely exchanged more than a glance until one September evening, Kat's festive tunes spark an unlikely connection.

This charming novella is a perfect read for any season, embodying the joy and warmth of Christmas in its pages. It's the kind of book you reach for when you're in the mood for a quick, uplifting escape into a world where love triumphs and holiday magic lingers in the air. Whether it's the height of summer or a chilly winter's eve, "Falling for the Scrooge Next Door" is a heartwarming tale that proves it's never too early for mistletoe and merriment.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, sweet and fun!
Kate loves Christmas, she decides to crank up the volume and blast out Christmas songs in September! Her next door neighbour Ben is not a fan of this however, and bashes on the door demanding her to turn it down.
What starts as pure hatred for one another obviously ends up in them falling for each other.
A criticism with this book however was that it is too short, the novel had such a good story that I had really high hopes of it, I wanted to live Kate and Ben falling for each other rather than being told about their feelings.
Such good prospects unfortunately left me wanting more.
I received a free copy of this book, and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Rhea Morrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Falling for the Scrooge Next Door (Vatan Valley #1) is a short read. The plot is good, though I didn't see a lot of comedy in it. The one thing that drove me nuts was that Kate was too messed up in the head -- *everything* bugged her, and at times, she behaved like a spoiled brat. I loved Ben, even though he was the scrooge. He really came around by the end of the book, even though he didn't want to.

Ben was a chef, and Kate worked in a company where the male managers were rude and crude. That did make me like Kate a little more, but the fact that she had to be encouraged to leave somewhat took that away. Overall, a good read.

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit worried that the novelty of Christmas would make this story one-dimentional and cliché, but I was happily surprised with a semi-complex main character and almost no cringy moments. I enjoyed most of this book, although it fell apart at the end. An editor would've greatly improved this book, as would cutting out the spicy scene near the end. It had me cringing as I was reading, and I felt it didn't add anything to the plot. The ending was also rushed, and felt like the pacing could've been handled a lot better. Overall, it was enjoyable and a pretty decent quick read.

[cris.i.punto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para lo corto que es, es una historia muy bonita.

La autora nos cuenta como la dulce Kat conecta con su vecino poco amigable Ben. Ella es amante de la navidad y el, bueno, no ama nada más que la cocina.

Juntos forman una amistad y pasan los meses y él se pilla muchísimo, aunque dijeron que solo serían amigos, al final ambos caen.

Es una historia bonita, me ha hecho llorar con 50 paginas.

[Mykaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had so much potential to be a five star, but I felt like the ending was rushed, which is crazy because this is a pretty short book.

I was eating up the grumpy to sunshine trope and then somewhere towards the end, the ball was dropped. I’d say the first 50% of the book was worth reading and then it slowly declines.

Not bad though.

[JessMH · Rating 2 out of 5]

not really romantic or a comedy or with spice

For a short read, this one felt like it took me forever with the clunky writing style and how much it jumped around. It was hard to settle in and enjoy it and the “spice” was two pages near the very end so it may as well have not been in there at all.

[Synne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow. This was an amazing quick novella. I knew it was a new favourite from chapter one. I saw a lot of myself in the heroine and that made it hit deeper. The relationship was adorable and I loved the hero
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now hear me out. I did enjoy this as a sweet fluffy romance. There were a few spelling errors and such and I felt like it could’ve been more but there was a back plot for such a short read. My main issue lies where this is described as spicy and the spice isnt until the epilogue! Still cute though

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute story

This was a very cute and quick story. If you want to read something warm and fun for an hour or so this is a great book to pick up. No cliffhangers and they get their HEA.

[Kylie Casino · Rating 4 out of 5]

couldn’t sleep so i decided to read this. read it in one sitting, super short, fast paced. it was great for a quick read and some laughs. good short story.

wish it were longer and it left me wanting more!

[Benita Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and cozy

I loved how everything went at the perfect pace. It wasn't rushed.
This is definitely one of the best friends to lovers book I've ever read.
The perfect mix of grumpy and sunshine with a hint of holiday romance.

[Damien Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a seasonal read and was cuter than I expected it to be. I was honestly expecting it to be a little cringy, but it wasn't as cringy as I feared. The growth of both characters is moving and their story is cute. The writing is fairly good.

[Catarina Águas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book. Kat annoyed sometimes but I liked her. And Ben was sweet and grumpy sometimes, loved it

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/21/2023)! 🎁

[Taylor May · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect quick read to get me out of a slump. I have been reading a larger book (800+ pages) and was in a slump from not finishing a book. This was perfect!

[Jaidyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's was really cute. It's was a nice short read in between reads.

[Breana Dunbar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn’t a fan of the book, honestly was more interested in the drama between the dad and friend

[Josie Dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chief's kiss! (Literally)

[Lanae · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s a short story-yeah but they were only “enemies” for like two seconds lol..the switch from disliking each other to liking each other was a bit too fast for my liking..

[McAllison Grimes · Rating 2 out of 5]

abrupt ending. didn’t love the writing and the story felt rushed

[Autumn Penna · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot jumped and made not a ton of sense. Ended weird. Very little character development.

[Vic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not enough story for me.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright, a fast kinda holiday book. The virtual voice was extremely annoying though.