Carole´s Monday: The Nightmare before Kissmass

Author: Sara Raasch

Title: The Nightmare Before Kissmass

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, LGBT

Format: ebook

Pages: 357

Published: October 8, 2024

Where I got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make- out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

Review:

I was scrolling through some Halloween books on my Libby app and then I stopped dead when I came across this one. I knew I HAD to read it!! 

Coal used to love Christmas until Santa, his dad, turned it into a PR facade. He wants to escape it and avoid even, but he is the heir to Christmas. However, duty calls and now duty is making him marry his best friend and the love of his brother's life....the Easter Princess. Things get even worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess' hand.......the prince of Halloween, Hex. Funnily enough this is the same mystery man that kissed him years ago at some seedy bar. This fake competition between the two holiday princes will lead to a messy, but sexy holiday season. 

This was really amusing. I had a good time following Coal around. He is a hot mess but a hot mess with a big heart. Hex was dark and smexy.

This concept was a lot of fun and I loved how holidays are pretty much like countries. So refreshing and different!!

I enjoyed every bit of this story, but I really cringed at the text exchanges. They were aiming to be funny and modern, but it didn't vibe with me for some reason. Super awkward attempt at humor for me. 

Other than the texting threads, I had a lot of fun. I loved watching the fake engagement competition. I loved the princess. I loved Kris. So fun.

Minus the cringey texts, I would 100% recommend this. It was entertaining and you can't help but root for this adorable couple. 

4 stars from me. 

 Challenge(s):

- Library Love #29

- Romance Reading #22 (MC is a royal)