Fabulous holiday rom com even if the title disagrees.
This is my 2nd Camilla Isley book and she hasn't disappointed yet. Easy to read, this one was also short at about 250 pages.
This rom-com comes in the form on enemy to lovers, forced proximity and best-friend's sibling/ sibling's best-friends trope as it is written in both Nina's and Tristan's POV. What is refreshing about this one is that the enemy to lovers trope is very well written. There is actual hatred and hurt there! The insults, the pranks and banter will have you either laughing and relating and it's nice to see proper insults thrown around throughout the book. Proper gritty family type fighting.
It starts of a slow with many many insults abut once the juicy part gets growing the rest of the book will fly past.
I also sense this might be the first in a trilogy? With the ending easily leaving the door open for 2 more instalments.
Happy reading!

Many thanks to Boldworld Books who provided me a copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Dnf at 25%

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. Didn't enjoy it at all at 25% and couldn't just not continue with it...

Sometimes you simply need a book that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling, and this book certainly delivered that! Christmas romances are my favorite of all time and I was more than delighted to get a chance to read this one.

This is a Christmas friends to lovers/siblings best friend romcom. Wow! That pushes so many positive buttons for me. Add witty and playful banter (Isley does that so well), and the pages just flew by.

It's not all fluff. Tristan's parents are totally dismissive of him that he is deeply affected by it. There is also the deep tie and allegiance he feels to Nina's brother and parents. He definitely needs someone to call his own. He's always had a thing for Nina, but animosity on her part has been the core of their relationship for years. Seeing them work through that was great.

This book is definitely along the lines of Sarah Adams and Jill Shalvis. Go forth and enjoy this Christmas romance like I did when the temp outside was over one hundred.

Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

⭐️4.5
A breath of fresh air. This one checked all the boxes for me after several average reads lately.

This was a quick, entertaining, couldn’t-put-it-down read. Every single character was extremely likable and I love a great enemies to lovers premise.

For fans of Christina Lauren and Abby Jimenez, grab this adorable read asap.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6683816591

Pub date: September 4, 2024

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood books for this gem of an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is definitely one of favorites of Camilla’s! It was really enjoyable and went at a great pace. I love that it was a holiday romance that wasn’t overly complicated or had too many things happening in it. As the reader you get to really see the romance grow into something meaningful and entertaining. Having the story be a dual pov also makes this such a good read because you get both sides which helps understand Tristian and Nina’s emotions better. One reason it’s not a 5 star is because I felt the pranks were becoming drawn out and super childish for 20 something’s and I wish Tristian and Nina talked more and built a friendship outside of the bedroom.

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood for allowing me a chance to read this fun story!

I’ve read other books from Isley, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed so I was excited for this one but unfortunately it fell flat.

It was difficult to connect with Nina and Tristan, as there didn’t seem to be much emotional depth and their pranks were just downright childish. It was hard to believe I was reading about thirty year olds when they were acting like immature teenagers.

It started off strong but I struggled to get through most of it as I just found it… boring.

I’m still an Isley fan and happy to give another book of hers a go in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

What an entertaining brothers best friend, enemies to lovers book. If you enjoy pranks, you will love this book! I honestly had so much fun reading this book. The stage is set for follow up novels with some of the supporting characters, and I can not wait!
Thank you to NetGalley, Camilla Isley and the Publisher for this very entertaining, highly recommended romantic comedy.

This book had a lot of potential. Ultimately, I found the characters a bit cliched or one-dimensional. I wanted more depth and more maturity from the characters, especially Nina. She acted very childish. I mean her mom scolding her for breaking a vase? Hiding from family members in her room with Cheetos? It all seemed immature to me. I wanted to love this, but it fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was a quick and cute read. This is an enemies to lovers that was so witty. I loved it.

I really enjoyed reading this book! It’s got quite a few of my favorite book tropes in it, too! Enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, but when you throw in forced proximity, a lot of pranks, and set it during the Christmas season: chef’s kiss. You could feel the hatred and tension between Nina and Tristan. It was such a fun read I loved every minute of it!

A huge thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions expressed above are my own.

This was a cute Christmas time story. Enemies to lovers, brothers best friend. I liked the banter between these two although I did find some of their pranks a little juvenile for 30 something’s. After years of battling it out they set down their swords and find they actually like one another. This was a pleasant read filled with love laughter and the magic of Christmas. I hope we get to see the continuation of their relationship if there are spin offs of Nina’s friends. Thank you to NetGalley for sharing his advanced copy . I’m leaving this review voluntarily

Its difficult what to say about this one as some of the way through I thought it was humorous and fun, however, this soon became very tedious and childish and the FMC had tantrums and moaning about being "blamed" for stuff when she had actually done them.. I know it a book but still this just left me very bored after a while. At about 50% though I skipped to the last few chapters and didn't feel like I had missed anything.

Sorry not the book for me.

This brothers best friend romance This Is Not a Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley centers on the relationship between Tristan Montgomery and Nina Thompson.

This is my first book from this author, and I'm disappointed. This is in no way a rom-com, even if it's marketed as one. This book was too insta-love for me, and their connection felt forced, and everything between them just came out of nowhere. This was cute but boring most of the time, and I was counting down the pages until it ended. I wish there had been more development and substance in the plot. I also hoped we would see Tristan working on his problems and growing on his own.

As for the characters, Nina pissed me off most of the time; she acted immature and childish for most of this book, even though she's an adult; it just felt as if I was reading about a teenager in an adult's body. Tristan was more mature than her, but there were moments when I questioned my decision to read this book. His thinking made me put the book down on more than one occasion.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and to the author, Camilla Isley, for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.*

Camilla Isley has quickly become an auto read author for me!! I was lucky enough to receive this book as an advanced reader copy and I absolutely adored it!!! Nina and Tristan have had a 15 year feud over some misunderstandings and after getting snowed in for Christmas, things take a turn!!! The banter is on point and I love all the side characters too! Of course, the epilogue is great and it makes me think there could be more in this universe! Definitely suggest grabbing it when it releases 9/4 so you can read it this coming holiday season!

This is Not A Holiday Romance
By Camilla Isley
3.5⭐️

This is a short and fast paced holiday romance! It went by in a blur but it was so fun and cute. I loved how Nina and Tristan messed with each other for years, their pranks and banter was my favorite part. I really wish the romance had been developed a bit more because it gave major insta love vibes. Everything fell together a bit too fast and the characters felt a little one dimensional which wouldn’t be a huge problem if this was a purely a smutty book but since its a clean romance that doesn’t have much of a romantic connection or development, it ends up reading more like a cute christmas-adjacent short story.

I didn’t know this would be a clean/closed door romance so it was a bit surprising to see that but I didn’t mind too much. The tension and flirting sort of makes up for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this gifted arc!

This book is everything & more. I had a right good laugh when I was reading it. It's fun & flirty and very fast paced. The characters have been written perfectly to the point I sometimes thought I was watching a Christmas film and not a book. I can't wait for this to come out so I can gift it to my friends!!

Utter perfection

Thanks to Boldwood Books, NetGalley and Camilla Isley for an advance reader copy of “This is Not a Holiday Romance”.

This is my first read of a novel by this author. The story was full of Christmas charm, family ties, sibling spats and a major crush that might just turn into something more.

I enjoyed this easy read for its simplicity and HEA. I felt like Nina was portrayed as a brat for much of the book, but this could be because I am well past the age of the characters in the book. I wish the author had gone deeper into the characters’ backgrounds but it is well set up for a series of books with several other characters we are introduced to. All in all a pleasant read.

Nina was looking forward to spending the holidays with her family, but her excitement quickly turns to horror when she discovers that her brother’s best friend will be joining them. Tristan happens to be Nina’s nemesis They’ve spent years in a constant state of bickering and pranking, and it all comes to a head when they’re stuck in the same house together. But it turns out that maybe the hatred that they’ve been harboring for each other all these years is actually pent up feelings that they’re too afraid to admit.

This book has holiday romance, enemies to lovers, and forced proximity. I couldn’t resist diving into this one. Unfortunately it started out as a slow read for me. I wanted to find the humor in the pranks and bantering between Nina and Tristan, but they often came off as childish and immature.

Once the turning point hit between Nina and Tristan, I felt the story pick up a bit and my interest was held in hopes that at some point I would feel the connection between them. But unfortunately their connection seemed more sexual/surface level and I just couldn’t buy into it. Given this book was on the shorter side, there didn’t seem to be enough time to allow the reader to see the deeper connection that was intended to be there.

I think this book had potential but the execution fell a little flat. If it were longer and focused more on a connection between Nina and Tristan and less on their immature pranks, it likely would have held up to my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Camilla for this ARC, and the chance to share my honest review.

The story revolves around Nina Thompson, who anticipates a quiet Christmas with her family, but her plans are thrown off course when her longtime nemesis, Tristan—her brother’s best friend—is unexpectedly forced to join them due to a canceled flight. With a 15-year history of pranks and insults, their animosity slowly shifts into an undeniable attraction as they spend more time together. As the tension between them intensifies, they are compelled to face their true feelings. Overall, this book is sizzling, easy to read, highly entertaining, and packed with expertly executed favorite tropes.

Definitely not a holiday romance for sure.

Besides the few mentions of Christmas and putting up the Christmas tree, there is zero festive atmosphere in this story. So much so, that I forgot this was meant to be a holiday romance.

I did not buy this romance at all. You're telling me that after seeing a girl naked, you all of a sudden have feelings for her with no other preconceived notions? Dude, this girl pined for you for years and you have no feelings until you see her in her birthday suit? Um...okay?
Then after a few days, you're saying I love you to each other? Jip, not buying it.

This felt like a write-by-numbers story written for a creative writing class. It was mediocre writing, an amatuer storyline and zero depth. I also don't like how the author writes enemies-to-lovers. It comes across as juvenile and immature rather than angsty.