Pretty cute enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, *not a* holiday romance.
I loved the tension, the play, the evil guy turned sweet. However i do feel like some parts might have been a bit cringy, such as how incredibly in love they suddenly were after like 3 days. Still definitely fun read and i recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

I've read a lot of Camilla Isley's books now and I think this would be one of my favourites. It's the first in the "Funny Feelings" series which I'm assuming will follow three best friends and flatmates. This book follows Nina and her brother's best friend Tristan.

Nina hates Tristan with her entire being and has done since the first night her brother, Dylan, brought him home for the holidays and she overheard him making fun of her ears and calling her a gremlin. From that moment on, the two would constantly bicker and pull pranks and dares on one another. For Nina it was a war, but for Tristan it was just a bit of fun - I think he's always had some kind of feelings towards Nina but could never understand her hostility towards him.

It's Christmas time again and Dylan once again brings Tristan home with him to spend the holidays with their family and Nina tears into Dylan about bringing him which is overheard by Tristan and her parents so he vows to keep his distance from her but he can't resist messing with her when she messes with him. Eventually things come to a head when a prank Nina pulls causes Tristan to knock over a family heirloom vase, smashing it to pieces. Her mother blames her and she can't stand that no one will take her side and storms off to her room.

Eventually she gets hungry and leaves her room only to find Tristan trying to piece the vase back together with superglue so she offers to help. It's at this point they start discussing why she's always hated him and he realises that what he thought was affectionate teasing actually became something hurtful for Nina. Once he realises this, he does whatever he can to make her realise that he was an idiot and never meant it be hurtful.

Things go well until Dylan finds out about them and forces Tristan to chose between him and Nina before kicking him out of the house. It takes a talking to from his mother for Dylan to realise that he has no say in Tristan and Nina's relationship.

I liked Nina but I thought she was a bit ridiculous at times and incredibly childish for a 28yr old. Screaming at the family that no one takes her side and storming off to her room when she's angry is dramatic! But it seems like Tristan brings out the worst in her, because she lets it, but still. She calms down a bit once they get together and she realises he was never intentionally trying to hurt her.

Tristan was my favourite character though. He is supposedly some billionaire playboy but with Nina he was all in and the perfect book boyfriend - despite coming from a family who never loved him, he's surprisingly good at loving those close to him.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

THIS IS NOT A HOLIDAY ROMANCE By Camilla Isley

Nina Thompson has one Christmas wish: to avoid her brother’s obnoxiously handsome best friend, Tristan, like the plague. From the moment he humiliated her as a teenager to their escalating revenge schemes, Nina and Tristan’s relationship can only be defined as an all-out prank war! And there is yet to be a winner.
But it just so happens the ghost of Christmas present has other ideas. When Tristan unexpectedly crashes her family’s Christmas, Nina’s dreams of a peaceful holiday vanish faster than Santa up a chimney. Determined to end their rivalry for good, she braces herself for one last prank-filled showdown.
But when they find themselves snowed in, with no way of avoiding each other amongst the holiday festivities, they discover their heated exchanges have been masking a different kind of sizzle. Caught in a snow globe of holiday romance, they decide to let their fiery chemistry burn bright—but this is absolutely and unequivocally nothing more than a secret fling destined to melt with the snow, this is not a forever romance…

What i liked -

Enemies To Lovers/Brothers Best Friend/Forced Proximity/He Falls Hard/Rom-Com.
OMG Nina and Tristan's banter or should i say pranks was a hoot. I have laughed so much.
Their chemistry was equally Spicy.
I liked the whole secret meet and all.
I liked Tristan and did feel a bit sad for him.
 


What could have been better-

Though I did laugh in the book, I did find Nina quite childish. That did bring the mood of the whole book down.



Who Should read :
Beginners
Romance Lover
Enemies To Lovers Romance
He Falls Hard Romance
   

My Rating : 3/5

Thank you, Camilla Isley, for a copy.

This is my second Camilla Isley book. And I loved it. It's the story of Nina and Tristan ( I am biased towards the name ❤️). Nina has always hated Tristan, for everything he stands for, she literally calls him the prince of darkness ( hmmmm.. interesting). And Tristan has always liked annoying Nina and giving back to her for her elaborate pranks on him. Everything is going great until Dylan, who is Nina's brother and Tristan's best friend decides to bring Tristan along for Christmas to their parents'home.

I loved the banter, the silly pranks and everything that goes on between them.
I loved the slow burn, the dilemma, the forced proximity, found family, and Enemies to lovers trope. It is a perfect holiday romance! It's like a hot cinnamon bun on a cozy christmas evening!
Thank you netgalley for the review copy!!

This is a holiday themed enemies-to-lovers, brother’s best friend rom-com featuring pranks, snarky comments, and enough childish behavior to make you question the age of the main characters.

Nina has despised her brother’s friend, Tristan, since she first met him and he made a joking comment about her ears. Yes, you read that right, she hates him - even after all these years - because he made fun of her ears. When they are snowed in together at the Thompson family holiday retreat, things begin to change and the sparks between them are undeniable.

I generally love Camilla Iseley’s books because they are fun and filled with romantic tension. This is no exception. It missed the mark a bit because of the immaturity exhibited by the FMC. Nina couldn’t get past an old teasing comment that hurt her feelings and her subsequent behaviors remained too childish for her age. The characters moved from ridiculous pranks to insta love in a heartbeat which did not feel genuine. As with all Ms. Iseley’s books, the banter is top notch and there were plenty of entertaining moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

4,5 stars
I really enjoy Camilla's stories. They are light and fun and the characters seem to jump off the page. This story had two very different main characters Nina and her brother's best friend Tristan. They had been enemies since they were teenagers, pranking each other to extremes, especially when they get snowed in at her parents' house over Christmas. I literally cringed and laughed out loud several times due to their pranks. Overall it was a sweet will they, won't they end up together because despite the pranks there was real chemistry and Nina's family was lovely!

Thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and the author for the chance to read this book.

This was a fast read. It's an enemies to lovers storyline that starts out with some misunderstandings during teenage years and continues for 15 years! When the attraction happens, it's quick and irresistible. There's some drama with the MMC being best friends with the MFC's brother, but that just adds to the spice with them trying to hide their newfound attraction. Overall, I enjoyed the story and sped through the book in almost 1 sitting.

I can't get enough of holiday reads and was so excited to read "This is Not a Holiday Romance". This book was so fun, full of forced proximity, and enemies-to-lovers and lots of humor. This would such a fun read!

The line between love and hate couldn't be more thinner than between Nina and Tristan. And what better way to clear it than with some holiday pranks and an enemies to lovers forced to be close to each other? Disaster? Not in this case! A trully funny and delíghtfull holiday read.

This was so fun! I had been craving a good brother’s best friend romance and this delivered!

I loved the forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers trope and I absolutely sailed through this in less than 48 hours. And I love that the author sets us up for two more books in the epilogue (including a marriage of convenience!).

My only notes: it’s a little insta-love for my liking though the characters have known each other for many years so it was a little more believable. I wish that the emotional connection had been more deeply developed, too.

But this was a great read with a holiday feel to it. It was highly entertaining and I will definitely read the next two books in the series. In fact, I wish I had them in my hand right now!

i didn’t particularly enjoy this one because the plot felt a bit flat for me! i love enemies to lovers but the actual reason for them hating each other rubbed me the wrong way and kind of make the book fall boring for me

This book was definitely black mirror inspired if you’re into that vide technology fast paced erotica. With vibrant colors and illustrations. If you’re not interested in spice, I would not recommend this book because it was definitely spicy but still focused on the plot moving with the technology really fun story.
Even though the story definitely kept pulling me in. It took me a while to read this book because of the level of erotica and how young they look. It just made me feel a little weird. So I can’t give it any more than three stars.. that being said, the art style was so beautiful if I can give like half stars, it would be like 3 1/2 just for how beautiful it was.

Holiday season ✔️
Forced proximity ✔️
Brother's best friend ✔️
Enemies to lovers ✔️
Miscommunication ✔️
Pranks ✔️
Dual POV✔️

Cute story of Nina and Tristan as the navigate being snowed in for the holidays with Nina's family. As they spend more and more time together they realize maybe they don't have each other as much as they thought🥰

Thanks NetGalley for this festive read!

This book is an enemies-to-lovers, brother's best friend plot narrative. While I "love" enemies to lovers, and found the reason of their hatred (at least of the FMC ) justified, it felt a little blank to me; it was almost childish and unreasonable the way they pranked each other; and the fact that he never really knew that she hated him, just thought of their relationship as a prank-not-giving-in relation.
The premise of the book was great, I love a cozy christmas story. However, the FMC acted as a teenager for the first 30% of the book almost to the point it got annoying. Tristan was actually ok, he was mature (for the most parts) and really centered. His background story was interesting and I wish they could explore it a bit further. I get his loyalty towards his friends, but seemed out of the blue he valued it too much.

The book is a fast read, and you can read it if you want to have a relax time, easy read. The book is written really good that makes it easy to digest and to finish it in one sitting.

This book had:
-brother's best friend (my favorite trope)
-forced proximity
-(sort of) enemies-to-lovers
-dual pov
-all the Christmas vibes!

It was a fun read, but not the most memorable. Nevertheless, I will continue to pick up pretty much anything Camilla Isley writes cause she knows how to deliver!

Hilarious and funny. Told from a dual point of view but I enjoyed that of the sarcastic and caustic FMC whose train of thoughts will make you laugh and laugh.

This plot follows the story of Nina and Tristan, ‘sworn’ enemies who can hardly stand each other and are now ‘forced’ to spend Christmas together.

Their volatile ‘relationship’ and antics was something else and initially it was fun to read about until it became juvenile and nervy.

I would love to see this on screen. The interactions and banter will make a great movie. This is such an easy read and a holiday romance despite the title.

If you love best friend’s sibling trope, enemies to lovers and Christmas then you will love this.

This was a great read! I would recommend it to a friend. I loved it! Five stars. This book is a captivating exploration of human emotions and relationships. The narrative unfolds through the lives of richly developed characters, each facing unique challenges and growth. The author’s prose is both lyrical and engaging, drawing readers into the story with vivid imagery and relatable experiences.

Ooh this was a lot of fun to read. The banter and pranks between Nina and Tristan are utterly brilliant. I couldn't get enough of them.

And as they say there is a very fine line between love and hate especially once you throw in some close proximity. Plus it's set at Christmas, and I just couldn't get enough of this book.

It's fun, it's flirty, it's festive, it's just fabulous.

We get to learn just why Nina and Tristan seem to be at war, as well as their true feelings that change over the course of the book. Of course Tristan being Nina's brother's best friend is an added complication and the fact they are all saying at Nina's parents for the festive period means that although there might be an attraction there is also a lot of subtle teasing, that is fabulous to read.

I devoured this book, read it in under a day and just loved every second of it. Another totally entertaining novel from Camilla Isley.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

First of all, I have to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a sincere review!🤍
I have to admit that Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the entire year and so reading books that take place at that time and convey that vibe to me always makes me excited. This book was really fun, I loved Tristan and Nina, and I loved their relationship! Nina gives Tristan the security he needs and Tristan brings a more fun Nina🥹
In short and in conclusion, they are both perfect for each other because they are able to understand each other's needs. I highly recommend this book if you want a fun Christmas romance that warms your heart!!!🤍🥹🎄

This is not a Holiday Romance is, as you guessed it, a holiday romance revolving around archenemies Nina and Tristan. Having kept up this rivalry since their teenage years, the two consistantly bicker, insult and prank one another whenever they meet. Doesn't help that Tristan is Nina's brother's roomate. Nor does it help that said brother invited Tristan to the family gathering at Christmas. During a snowstorm. Chaos naturally ensues.

I loved the beginning of this. The antagonism between our two leads was believable and the pranking was harmless and funny. It was really building up to be a sweet, kooky, holiday read. Things, however, took a dive massively around the middle. The instalove didn't sit too well with me and could've been developed a lot more, especially regarding Nina's feelings. There were times that I questioned the ages of the characters based on their mannerisms - their behaviour changed from late 20s/early 30s adults to teenagers.