What do you think?
Rate this book
Wine Over Cocoa
From USA Today best-selling Authors ML Preston and Sade Rena comes this steamy enemies-to-lovers Christmas Romance.
Callie Radford
When I made plans with my besties for this Christmas season, it consisted of sandy beaches, luscious waves, and cabana boys. But instead of arriving in the Bahamas with a rum punch waiting for me, I'm zipping up my winter coat in the snowy plains of Denver, Colorado. When your boss needs you to finalize the deal on an important merger, you pack it up and suck it up.
What's a one-day delay, right? The plan was simple. Show up, make nice, and ensure all of our needs are met in the deal and book it on the next thing smoking. Easy-peasy. What I didn't expect was for this trip to shape up to be the worst I've ever had.
First, I'm somewhere I rather not be, and then some hot-as-sin jerk tries to take my luggage. Only to later be snowed in with said jerk in his massive suite after learning all flights have been grounded until further notice.
What's the big deal? He's handsome, obviously rich, and nice enough to help me out. The problem is, he's my soon-to-be boss.
Ryan Griggs
While the rest of the world is wrapping gifts and preparing for holiday cheer, I'm on a last-minute stop to Denver in hopes of finalizing a deal before the New Year. Everything was in order. Show up, discuss any requested changes, and collect signatures on the dotted line, then get back to California as soon as possible. It's a drop in the bucket, right?
Wrong.
Instead, I have my head nearly chewed off by the gorgeous vixen in baggage claims when I mistake her luggage for mine. Then I realize that I accidentally booked a rideshare with said vixen, who ignores me the entire way to the hotel. Just to learn that not only is she who I'm meeting with but she's stranded in the middle of the unexpected snowstorm.
She has no place to go, so I suck up my pride and offer for her to stay with me. Tis the season, right? So we make a pact to let bygones be bygones and make the best of the situation. Only I didn't expect to find her so damn tempting.
Wine Over Cocoa is a stand-alone, BWWM Christmas Romance complete with HEA. This book contains mature content and is suited for readers 18+.
Callie Radford
When I made plans with my besties for this Christmas season, it consisted of sandy beaches, luscious waves, and cabana boys. But instead of arriving in the Bahamas with a rum punch waiting for me, I'm zipping up my winter coat in the snowy plains of Denver, Colorado. When your boss needs you to finalize the deal on an important merger, you pack it up and suck it up.
What's a one-day delay, right? The plan was simple. Show up, make nice, and ensure all of our needs are met in the deal and book it on the next thing smoking. Easy-peasy. What I didn't expect was for this trip to shape up to be the worst I've ever had.
First, I'm somewhere I rather not be, and then some hot-as-sin jerk tries to take my luggage. Only to later be snowed in with said jerk in his massive suite after learning all flights have been grounded until further notice.
What's the big deal? He's handsome, obviously rich, and nice enough to help me out. The problem is, he's my soon-to-be boss.
Ryan Griggs
While the rest of the world is wrapping gifts and preparing for holiday cheer, I'm on a last-minute stop to Denver in hopes of finalizing a deal before the New Year. Everything was in order. Show up, discuss any requested changes, and collect signatures on the dotted line, then get back to California as soon as possible. It's a drop in the bucket, right?
Wrong.
Instead, I have my head nearly chewed off by the gorgeous vixen in baggage claims when I mistake her luggage for mine. Then I realize that I accidentally booked a rideshare with said vixen, who ignores me the entire way to the hotel. Just to learn that not only is she who I'm meeting with but she's stranded in the middle of the unexpected snowstorm.
She has no place to go, so I suck up my pride and offer for her to stay with me. Tis the season, right? So we make a pact to let bygones be bygones and make the best of the situation. Only I didn't expect to find her so damn tempting.
Wine Over Cocoa is a stand-alone, BWWM Christmas Romance complete with HEA. This book contains mature content and is suited for readers 18+.
197 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 23, 2022
202 people are currently reading
493 people want to read
About the author
M.L. Preston
40 books272 followersML Preston is a USA Today Bestselling Author who writes Contemporary, Multicultural Romance. Encouraged to nurture her active imagination, she quickly found a passion for storytelling. She spins sagas of passion and romance where the lines between race and creed, physical perfection and social norms disappear in the face of love. Novels of real love; erotic connections with a heart and soul that everyone can relate. She makes a home in Texas with her husband, three children, one fur-babies, and two grandchildren to rule them all.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
December 30, 2023
i picked this up for the romance but it felt like i was sitting in a boring business meeting about a damn merger for about half the book, fuck
this is the last time i’ll be “stuffing my kindle” for free
this is the last time i’ll be “stuffing my kindle” for free
January 5, 2024
2.8 stars - exactly as I expected! Silly and dumb. Read like if you asked an AI bot to write a Christmasy-hallmark movie-type book.
December 11, 2024
While it did make me want a glass of wine, this book didn't do much else for me. The characters were rude and unlikable for half the book. The writing was stilted, with weird focus on unnecessary details, typical of self-published books. There are surprisingly long business conversations. Some sweet Christmas memories were shared, but those came a bit out of left field and didn't really bring the holiday spirit to the book overall.
January 1, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
enemies to lovers holiday romance with the perfect mix of business and pleasure. sped through this one and enjoyed it
enemies to lovers holiday romance with the perfect mix of business and pleasure. sped through this one and enjoyed it
May 15, 2023
Right before the holidays, A businesswoman has to go to Colorado to finalize a deal. A man accidentally almost takes her luggage. Of course, he's the person she will be negotiating with, and her future boss.
She gets snowed in, and has to stay in the guy's suite.
They fall in Loooovvvveeee.
Not really any conflict, or twists, or turns, or even subplots, to keep things interesting.
She gets snowed in, and has to stay in the guy's suite.
They fall in Loooovvvveeee.
Not really any conflict, or twists, or turns, or even subplots, to keep things interesting.
February 11, 2024
3.5* I like the plot, the first couple of chapters and the last couple of chapters were really rushed though. It was a bit weird that MC suddenly started saying y’all basically every other word from about 85% onwards. I don’t think she said it once before that.
December 29, 2023
You take a gamble when you get a bunch of books for “stuff your kindle” day. This was one of them. It was okay. The style of writing just wasn’t it for me.
February 14, 2024
Cute story! Love that it is an easy read with some good spicy scenes
March 24, 2024
This book was fabulous and so cute. A slow burn of a love story among two enemies and a heartfelt grow into love.
April 21, 2024
Mixed feelings
I delved into this book with eager anticipation, enticed by the promise of a gripping narrative woven through the tantalizing web of an enemies-to-lovers trope. Initially, the story held me in its thrall as the tension crackled between Callie and Ryan, sparking a flame of intrigue that danced across the pages. However, as I journeyed further into the tale, I found myself stumbling over the tangled threads of a subplot involving mergers and business dealings. It felt like an unwelcome detour, disrupting the flow of the narrative and leaving me feeling disoriented amidst the flurry of disjointed events. The pace, which had been steady in the beginning, soon accelerated to breakneck speed, whisking me through the remainder of the book in a blur. The spicy scenes, while abundant, lacked finesse, leaving me cringing at their awkward execution. Moreover, the resolution and conclusion, though brief, felt like an afterthought, hastily tacked onto the end of a narrative that had lost its way. I longed for more depth, and substance, but instead found myself skimming the surface of a story that failed to deliver on its initial promise. The lack of significant conflict or plot development left me feeling unsatisfied, yearning for the kind of character growth that never materialized. And while I appreciated the presence of Callie's friends, their multitude and complexity only served to further overwhelm an already hurried narrative. In the end, this book left me with mixed feelings. While it provided a pleasant enough diversion for a holiday read, the pacing issues and awkward moments prevented me from fully immersing myself.
I delved into this book with eager anticipation, enticed by the promise of a gripping narrative woven through the tantalizing web of an enemies-to-lovers trope. Initially, the story held me in its thrall as the tension crackled between Callie and Ryan, sparking a flame of intrigue that danced across the pages. However, as I journeyed further into the tale, I found myself stumbling over the tangled threads of a subplot involving mergers and business dealings. It felt like an unwelcome detour, disrupting the flow of the narrative and leaving me feeling disoriented amidst the flurry of disjointed events. The pace, which had been steady in the beginning, soon accelerated to breakneck speed, whisking me through the remainder of the book in a blur. The spicy scenes, while abundant, lacked finesse, leaving me cringing at their awkward execution. Moreover, the resolution and conclusion, though brief, felt like an afterthought, hastily tacked onto the end of a narrative that had lost its way. I longed for more depth, and substance, but instead found myself skimming the surface of a story that failed to deliver on its initial promise. The lack of significant conflict or plot development left me feeling unsatisfied, yearning for the kind of character growth that never materialized. And while I appreciated the presence of Callie's friends, their multitude and complexity only served to further overwhelm an already hurried narrative. In the end, this book left me with mixed feelings. While it provided a pleasant enough diversion for a holiday read, the pacing issues and awkward moments prevented me from fully immersing myself.
January 2, 2024
This was a bit of a miss for me. It started out strong. I liked the tension between Callie and Ryan and the enemies-to-lovers/one room at the inn trope. The pacing in the first half of the book was pretty good. The subplot about the merger and business was too involved and felt disjointed and out of pace. The rest of the book went by incredibly quickly. The spicy scenes had almost no breaks and were awkward... plenty of spice but kind of cringe the way they were written. The resolution and ending took up the smallest percentage of the book and I wished we had gotten more. There wasn't much conflict or plot. Just a lot of tension. I was hoping for major character development but the epilogues kept everything moving very quickly. And a final aside, I enjoyed Callie's friends but there were too many with their own backstories and dialogue to really connect. It was a lot to keep up with and added to the speedy ending since each friend had their own resolution too. Overall this was a spicy holiday read, but the pacing and awkward moments kept me from really enjoying it.
June 18, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
I thought this is a decent romance! I read the first and I thought it was also decent, but the only difference between the two is how fast the romance took place. This novel’s romance took a while longer to actually progress romantically. I felt like the sexual and romantic tension was very high and nothing really happened besides them describing feelings towards each other and meaningful glances toward each other. I thought a lot of the content was slow as well, but once they confessed to each other that they liked each other things started slowly picking up. I felt like grammatically I didn’t notice anything off like quotation marks or any spelling errors, but some of the word choices could’ve been better (cringed really hard when Ryan “skeeted” and Callie’s coochie “roared”). If you’re into slow burn with a happy ending, you’ll love this! The ending was nice even though I wish it was stretched out a bit more since I would’ve liked more romance between Ryan and Callie, but nonetheless I thought this was a quick holiday romance for BWWM fans!
I thought this is a decent romance! I read the first and I thought it was also decent, but the only difference between the two is how fast the romance took place. This novel’s romance took a while longer to actually progress romantically. I felt like the sexual and romantic tension was very high and nothing really happened besides them describing feelings towards each other and meaningful glances toward each other. I thought a lot of the content was slow as well, but once they confessed to each other that they liked each other things started slowly picking up. I felt like grammatically I didn’t notice anything off like quotation marks or any spelling errors, but some of the word choices could’ve been better (cringed really hard when Ryan “skeeted” and Callie’s coochie “roared”). If you’re into slow burn with a happy ending, you’ll love this! The ending was nice even though I wish it was stretched out a bit more since I would’ve liked more romance between Ryan and Callie, but nonetheless I thought this was a quick holiday romance for BWWM fans!
December 26, 2023
Started on the wrong foot but ended up on the right!
Great story about two people who started off on the wrong foot, but love came unexpectedly!
Callie, the h, was representing her company in the go between for a wine company. Ryan, the H, was try to obtain the company and wanted to get everything settled before the holidays kicked off. They were snowed in and Ryan offered to share his room and the romance takes off from there.
Callie was a little annoying when there was a mix up at baggage claim with Ryan. She was annoyed that she had to be there for business when she had her annual vacation planned. Overall great story and I liked that we got 2 glimpses into the future!
Great story about two people who started off on the wrong foot, but love came unexpectedly!
Callie, the h, was representing her company in the go between for a wine company. Ryan, the H, was try to obtain the company and wanted to get everything settled before the holidays kicked off. They were snowed in and Ryan offered to share his room and the romance takes off from there.
Callie was a little annoying when there was a mix up at baggage claim with Ryan. She was annoyed that she had to be there for business when she had her annual vacation planned. Overall great story and I liked that we got 2 glimpses into the future!
December 30, 2023
Devoured it🔥💖
I absolutely love this story! It was beautiful, captivating, and sweet. Ryan is the most down to earth man. He is really good looking, smart, sweet and persisted. Ryan is a amazing man. Callie is fierce. She is smart, beautiful, honest and sassy. She is one tough woman. She is straightforward and amazing. These two both have to attend a business meeting with each other after a bad first impression. And now they are stuck with each other. What will happen next? This story was really good and it's about family and friends. The writing was done beautifully. Grab this book and you will not be disappointed. Amazing work again Sade Rena and ML Preston!
I absolutely love this story! It was beautiful, captivating, and sweet. Ryan is the most down to earth man. He is really good looking, smart, sweet and persisted. Ryan is a amazing man. Callie is fierce. She is smart, beautiful, honest and sassy. She is one tough woman. She is straightforward and amazing. These two both have to attend a business meeting with each other after a bad first impression. And now they are stuck with each other. What will happen next? This story was really good and it's about family and friends. The writing was done beautifully. Grab this book and you will not be disappointed. Amazing work again Sade Rena and ML Preston!
January 4, 2024
DNF @ 70%
I was annoyed at how hyperfocused the book was about Callie's poor attitude. For the first 50 pages in Ryan's POV, all he could talk about was her attitude.
**She's beautiful...but her attitude.
**I'd love to ask her out for dinner...but her attitude.
(There were a lot more examples, but yeah.)
The book seemed to follow the Black woman with an attitude trope, but I pushed on. I made it to 70% of the book when Ryan (a white male, I'm assuming in his 30s, from Denver, but lives in California and was raised like royalty) refers to oral sex as "gawk gawk 3000."
TELL ME SOMETHING I BELIEVE!
I was annoyed at how hyperfocused the book was about Callie's poor attitude. For the first 50 pages in Ryan's POV, all he could talk about was her attitude.
**She's beautiful...but her attitude.
**I'd love to ask her out for dinner...but her attitude.
(There were a lot more examples, but yeah.)
The book seemed to follow the Black woman with an attitude trope, but I pushed on. I made it to 70% of the book when Ryan (a white male, I'm assuming in his 30s, from Denver, but lives in California and was raised like royalty) refers to oral sex as "gawk gawk 3000."
TELL ME SOMETHING I BELIEVE!
November 13, 2023
Another Cute Story
We follow the same friends from Kisses with Eggnog. In this book we are introduced to Callie and Ryan. They meet in the airport and start off on not so great of a meeting. Ryan mistakes Callie’s luggage as his own and the turmoil begins from there. Their paths cross several times while in the snowy mountains of Colorado. They get to know each other while snowed in for a business trip and things just go from there. It is a cute Christmas story with a happy ending.
We follow the same friends from Kisses with Eggnog. In this book we are introduced to Callie and Ryan. They meet in the airport and start off on not so great of a meeting. Ryan mistakes Callie’s luggage as his own and the turmoil begins from there. Their paths cross several times while in the snowy mountains of Colorado. They get to know each other while snowed in for a business trip and things just go from there. It is a cute Christmas story with a happy ending.
December 2, 2023
This had a potential to be a really good book. Some parts were really rushed, especially the ending, the transition and flow could’ve been better. For Ryan to be a main character he didn't have a lot of depth to his story. His background was vague, no previous dating history, no friends outside of his estranged brother that didn’t show up until the end basically. He essentially uprooted his life for Callie but that wasn’t really expressed thoroughly enough to really understand Ryan’s identity and personality
September 28, 2024
3.5⭐️
A very cutesyyy Christmas read! It’s definitely your typical hallmark romance, only that this is bwwm oriented. There were elements of humour which made it light hearted.
Callie and Ryan were a perfect pair, and considering how relatively short the book was the “rushed” time stamps and quick progressions were valid.
Overall it was a nice book but it left me feeling like it needed something more, because when there were scenes building up and I was getting into it, it kinda just fell flat.
A very cutesyyy Christmas read! It’s definitely your typical hallmark romance, only that this is bwwm oriented. There were elements of humour which made it light hearted.
Callie and Ryan were a perfect pair, and considering how relatively short the book was the “rushed” time stamps and quick progressions were valid.
Overall it was a nice book but it left me feeling like it needed something more, because when there were scenes building up and I was getting into it, it kinda just fell flat.
June 14, 2023
Callie and Ryan-A love match
Great read. I’ve had this book in my library for months and now wonder why! I loved the interaction of Callie and Ryan…I never thought they’d end up together, especially with their first meeting. I have read both authors other books and I love the way they managed to tell this story, bringing the characters to life, making the reader feel as if they are observing every action and reaction in technicolor! Wonderful!
Great read. I’ve had this book in my library for months and now wonder why! I loved the interaction of Callie and Ryan…I never thought they’d end up together, especially with their first meeting. I have read both authors other books and I love the way they managed to tell this story, bringing the characters to life, making the reader feel as if they are observing every action and reaction in technicolor! Wonderful!
November 27, 2022
Re-Introducing Callie and Ryan
If it seems familiar it is, but this is more fleshed out and full...better than the short released by ML Preston. The premise of the story is the same but you get a deeper look into the characters. I also love how this ties into the Kisses Over Eggnog storyline. This duo is amazing and I'd love to see more from them outside of the Holiday season.
If it seems familiar it is, but this is more fleshed out and full...better than the short released by ML Preston. The premise of the story is the same but you get a deeper look into the characters. I also love how this ties into the Kisses Over Eggnog storyline. This duo is amazing and I'd love to see more from them outside of the Holiday season.
December 1, 2022
Good book
Loved he girls and love and friendship they share. Great that Ryan and Dylan rebuilt their relationship. The storyline was good, though . Made the connection with Shani and Caleb. Great to connect again with them. Is there a connection with LaTresse and Dylan. Let's see how that goes.
Loved he girls and love and friendship they share. Great that Ryan and Dylan rebuilt their relationship. The storyline was good, though . Made the connection with Shani and Caleb. Great to connect again with them. Is there a connection with LaTresse and Dylan. Let's see how that goes.
December 4, 2023
Wine is always a good start!!
Ryan and Callie started out a bit rough but they managed to finally get to the good part. Ryan was such a gentleman, he was there to rescue Callie in her times of need. I loved how their relationship started with a friendship and then love. Love how well they worked together. Wonderful story.
Ryan and Callie started out a bit rough but they managed to finally get to the good part. Ryan was such a gentleman, he was there to rescue Callie in her times of need. I loved how their relationship started with a friendship and then love. Love how well they worked together. Wonderful story.
December 30, 2023
The pacing leaves something to be desired but I love be a sweet romance with a beautiful black woman!
It was short and had decent sex scenes but I could have had more. It was very fast to get through which isn't always good for a slower burning romance. Once they fell they fell hard but I wanted MORE!
Also, some weird word choices (skeeted). Felt kinda childish and more awkward than actually sexy.
OTHERWISE... I'd recommend
It was short and had decent sex scenes but I could have had more. It was very fast to get through which isn't always good for a slower burning romance. Once they fell they fell hard but I wanted MORE!
Also, some weird word choices (skeeted). Felt kinda childish and more awkward than actually sexy.
OTHERWISE... I'd recommend
December 30, 2023
Loved it!
Enemies to lovers never gets old. An airport incident, then something with the Uber. Callie just doesn’t get a break. To top it off, she’s braving the cold for a business meeting instead of frolicking on the beach with her besties. The fun part is that this whole ordeal works out way better than she ever could have anticipated.
Enemies to lovers never gets old. An airport incident, then something with the Uber. Callie just doesn’t get a break. To top it off, she’s braving the cold for a business meeting instead of frolicking on the beach with her besties. The fun part is that this whole ordeal works out way better than she ever could have anticipated.
January 9, 2024
Skipped a lot
I skipped a lot because it was boring. Can anyone please write a book these days? The plots are slow and the sex is a lot. At least there wasn't a slew of it in here, but enough. I waited for it to get interesting, to no avail. Some body please write a book on kindle. This is good though, because it makes me go old school and get hard and paperback books.
I skipped a lot because it was boring. Can anyone please write a book these days? The plots are slow and the sex is a lot. At least there wasn't a slew of it in here, but enough. I waited for it to get interesting, to no avail. Some body please write a book on kindle. This is good though, because it makes me go old school and get hard and paperback books.
January 22, 2024
Wine over Cocoa...4.5⭐
Just the right mix of minx, alpha male, tension building, chemistry and good sex!!! Loved getting to know Called and Ryan. Loved their love story! Its so sad that toxic matches are more the thing with too many books nowadays. Good ole romance, manners with a little twist and heat thrown in gets me every time!
Just the right mix of minx, alpha male, tension building, chemistry and good sex!!! Loved getting to know Called and Ryan. Loved their love story! Its so sad that toxic matches are more the thing with too many books nowadays. Good ole romance, manners with a little twist and heat thrown in gets me every time!
January 30, 2024
This book made me cringe so badly that I had to put it down ASAP. The main heroine felt like an angry and miserable person. I dislike nasty people and discourteous assholes on principle and that, added to very bad writing and a serious need for editing made adding this book to the do-not-bother pile a very easy decision.
February 16, 2024
Dialogue was extremely stiff and there were so many mistakes that needed editing. I was under the impression this would be a cozy read but there was so much time spent on the business plot that I was really bored and struggling to get through this. The spicy scenes weren't even worth it 😭 I wish I had just DNF'd it.
February 17, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The first 60% is a cute Christmas hallmark movie. And then it gets rated R. It’s fun and predictable.
I did not see that elevator scene coming. #doubleentendre
If someone isn’t returning your one text message, you do NOT — i repeat, YOU. DO. NOT get on a plane and fly to meet them in a foreign country to crash their vacation. You 👏do 👏not 👏do 👏this 👏sir. 👏 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
🌶️🌶️/5
The first 60% is a cute Christmas hallmark movie. And then it gets rated R. It’s fun and predictable.
I did not see that elevator scene coming. #doubleentendre
If someone isn’t returning your one text message, you do NOT — i repeat, YOU. DO. NOT get on a plane and fly to meet them in a foreign country to crash their vacation. You 👏do 👏not 👏do 👏this 👏sir. 👏 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
🌶️🌶️/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2024
Loveeeeeeeee this book omg, the close proximity, the bickering, it was just so good. Ryan and Callie are literally so cute and the surprise Christmas tree 🎄😭 definitely worth the read and perfect timing with the Christmas season!!❤️ Also the fact that he called all the hotels just to find her and she turns around to find him right behind her before bringing her into that kiss!!! I can’t!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews