A brilliant Christmas rom-com, complete with gingerbread, pj's, and snow, plus the added bonus of a TV star and a village that pulls together.
Loved the queer aspects, beautifully presented.
Feeling Christmassy in September, not a bad thing.

TW of seizures and light transphobia.
A light-hearted MM romance with the added joy of Christmas, cake and animals!
Christopher is in the first year of starting his own business, a small cafe in a tiny Welsh village. It's been hard, not feeling a part of the tight-knit community and far from his family.
But with the aid of one ally, a stash of Christmas films and a hunky actor in said films, he's got through.
Just as the festive season kicks in, he's looking forward to a break, with his small flat rented out to someone for a few days, allowing him the chance to visit his loved ones.
Then British weather happens. Snow falls. Planes, trains and automobiles grind to a halt. Everyone's except the soon to arrive lodger, who raps on the door, and Christopher finds himself face to face, not with a woman, but a man. A familiar, handsome male. Who he's been drooling over the last few months. Nash Nadeau, the Rom Com heartthrob.
Neither can they leave, nor can they realistically fit into his teeny flat above the cafe, but they're going to have to manage because there are no other options!
Oh, what fun! Forced proximity to the hilt!
I enjoyed the difficulties these two had to go through, as they navigated their own feelings, as well as those around them, as a community rallies together to get through the freak snowstorm!
There is another book featuring Christopher, but I could read this as a stand-alone with no problems.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC.

This book is what a full bodied warm hug that smells like Christmastime at your favourite bakery. I am not exaggerating: I read it in one go, thrilled at the chance to revisit some familiar faces and immerse myself in the festive romance by Lizzie Huxley-Jones. Treat yourself!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC.

Christopher used to work in finance in London, now he is a baker in a small seaside village in Wales, and while this was his dream, he is lonely. So when Christmas comes around he sublets his flat and prepares to visit his family. Then a lot of weather happens and all trains and planes and with them Christmas plans are cancelled.

Suddenly he gets a knock on the door and the person he let his flat to stands on his doorstep, annoyed about his long and somewhat strange journey, involving sheep. It's none other than the Canadian (NOT American, that's important) Christmas movies star Nash Nadeau who he is a great fan of. But Nash is grumpy, he just about made it here and now it seems there is no room at the inn?

So begins a fun, dual POV "forced proximity, only one bed, insta love" love story between two people who really aren't irritating but irritate each other because they are afraid of their feelings. Their banter is world class, and so is the interaction with the locals, predominantly a woman named Shaz who doesn't take no for an answer when she wants to make friends and get reindeer biscuits.

There is a real sense of community and the villagers start a concerted effort to help everyone who is affected by the snow, roping Christopher and Nash in as if it's totally normal to have movie stars hanging around the place. The food descriptions throughout are mouth-watering!

But Nash has a decision to make about his future, and how can it include a baker in Wales, which he only just learned is not in England?

This is book 2 in a series, with the first book being about Christopher's lesbian sister. I didn't know this but the book can be read as a standalone as the recaps happen organically throughout the story.

I have to say, the LGBTQ+ representation is exemplary. Christopher is bisexual and Nash is trans and no one clutches their pearls about it or makes it a huge topic. Just lovely. Nash's disability is also covered sympathetically.

The revelation that both Christopher's name and that of his sister Katherine can be abbreviated to Kit had me in stitches!

This is a heartwarming festive story with tons of snow, animals and brilliant side characters. The subplots with the quirky villagers are hugely entertaining, making this a well-rounded sweet and interesting story that is highly recommended for Christmas time.

4.5 stars

Whilst this is a sequel/companion novel to "Make You Mine This Christmas" I found it did a really good job of recapping what had happened previously without being too spoiler heavy.

This book felt like a huge festive hug! It had everything you could want from a Christmas romance and had Hallmark holiday movie written all over it!

Whilst the plot was straight forward and pretty predictable the two main characters were both layered and had you rooting for them from the begining. I enjoyed the dual perspective and it definitely helped to build the tension between the two leads.

This also has great lgbtq+ representation that felt natural and honest. It also covered topics such a disability and being on the spectrum sympathetically.

As this was partially set in a bakery I absolutely loved all the descriptions of food. Talk of gingerbread houses and roast dinners really helped set the festive tone.

I also loved the community aspects and feel of this. Every side character had a purpose and helped build a believable town.

The only reason this didn't quite hit 5 stars for me was everything did feel a little 'insta love' and I feel the final fee chapters everything moved quite quickly and could have benefited from slightly slower pacing and possibly an epilogue.

Overall this is the perfect romance to get you into the Christmas spirit and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

I'm a sucker for a movie star romance and even more so when it's set at christmas and they get snowed in together.

I enjoyed both Christopher and Nash as characters and enjoyed getting to know them. Christopher was a big fan of Nash and was so disappointed to find he was actually a bit of an ass!
This book had quite a good bit of representation from disabilities to gay, trans and bisexual which i appreciated how well it was written.
absolute perfection and highly recommend for the upcoming festive season!

4.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

Christopher has recently bought a bakery in a small village in the Welsh countryside and is trying to get it on its feet but struggling. He plans to shut up shop a few days before Christmas and spend time with his family to recharge his batteries, while renting out his flat while he's away. On the day he's due to leave a huge snow storm hits and suddenly the person who was supposed to be renting his flat appears at his front door and it's none other than Christmas movie heart throb Nash Nadeau who Christopher just happens to fall asleep watching on Netflix every night.

This book is a warm hug on a cold winters day. The characters are well developed and you can't help but laugh out loud at the banter between them. I will say that the characters do fall for each other insanely quickly but when you read everything that happens that ended up not bothering me that much.

The sense of community was an integral theme in this book which I really enjoyed. Extremely heartwarming. There were some really lovely sub-plots between characters which were a joy to read.

The book did keep referencing past events which made me think that there had been a book before this one which I have now discovered there was.

A highly enjoyable Christmas read, would definitely recommend.

Actual rating 3.5 stars.

Under the Mistletoe with You is incredibly sweet. And witty. And oh, so Christmassy with the snow and the baking and the coziness.

I loved the scene with the puppies, laughed out loud about the text messages Christopher exchanged with his friends and family, and smiled every time Christopher and Nash annoyed each other. I believe this book will be a huge Christmas hit, and many of you will adore it.

I didn’t love love it, though. I really liked everything I mentioned above, but it might have been a bit too insta love (the book takes place in only a few days), a little too sweet for me, and somehow I need a little more angst. And I felt that the conversation about Nash being trans came a little late. Nash is just trans like it’s no big deal, and of course, that’s fantastic. No one talked about it, and everyone assumed he was a guy. But somehow, I couldn’t believe that he never had any issues as a trans teen, and for a while, it almost felt like he was a cis man with a trans sticker on his body. Only in the last part of the book did Christopher and Nash have some meaningful conversations about Nash being trans. I simply had wanted to see those conversations a bit earlier in the book. But overall, this story is charming and romantic.

This was an incredibly sweet, easy read. Set in a small Welsh town, Christopher gets snowed in for Christmas having already planned to rent his flat to a stranger. Turns out that stranger is famous actor and celeb crush of Christopher's, Nash. But the two don't get along at first, driven into close quarters.

I found the dynamic between the two of them very entertaining. With so much early bickering, it has shades of an enemies to lovers story. Once we start getting there, it's a great mix of sweet and sour. It also features a whole cast of townspeople, all with quirky personalities. Good for people who enjoy the town in something like Gilmore Girls.

It also seemlessly wraps in conversation about love and sex as a trans gay man in a way that feels organic. Particularly refreshing given the setting of the book, I definitely appreciated it. Will be recommending to people this Christmas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with the eARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this, I hadn't read the other book with Christopher in it. However, that didn't cause any issues and I was able to catch up and understand what was going on with no issues. This book with 2 MMCs is the perfect blend of Christmas cheer and community spirit, along with romance. It almost felt like enemies vibes at some point though truly, they never really hated each other did they?

Christopher has a brand new (ish) bakery which he is looking forward to taking a break from to go away for Christmas. One morning he wakes and the entire UK is covered in dreadful snow so no one and nothing can go anywhere. How can he make the best of the situation of being stuck in his small flat? With only 1 friend locally? Not to mention, will the person renting his house turn up or is there too much snow?

This storyn was sad, funny, interesting and a thoroughly enjoyable read. A real mix of characters who made a community involving everyone. The conclusion, was the cherry on the cake!

Thank you to Lizzie Huxley-Jones and the publisher for this advance reading copy

***

Under the Mistletoe with You is the wonderful follow-up to Make You Mine This Christmas, and the second adult festive romance by acclaimed author Lizzie Huxley-Jones. While this delightful queer love story features some of the characters from Make You Mine, it also works just as well as a standalone.

I adored this original spin on the classic ‘only one bed’ romance trope, which stars bisexual baker Christopher, snowed in in a tiny Welsh seaside town with a surprise guest, festive romcom star Nash Nadeau, who’s escaping a difficult decision about his career by booking Christopher’s flat as a last-minute winter getaway. Except Christopher can’t get away — and nor can Nash; they must both suffer through the cringe and make the best of it.

As it turns out, there’s quite a lot to do in a snow-struck Welsh seaside community and, in no time, both Christopher and Nash are thrown into a series of errands, favours and an attempt to rescue Christmas for the village. Along the way, they get to know each other — and themselves — a little better, and to realise that maybe this was where they were both meant to be this Yuletide, after all.

Huxley-Jones is a master of festive romance. I loved the characters they created; every person felt warm, real, honest and fully realised and I hugely enjoyed the diverse and inclusive nature of the cast, too.

I have a feeling Huxley-Jones’ books will become a Christmas tradition for many readers.

I love Hux's work! I was so excited to get to read their latest, a follow on to Make You Mine This Christmas.

This installment tells Kit's brother, Christopher's story. He's moved to Wales to run a bakery and hasn't had much in the way of a romantic life - until a mysterious Canadian film star shows up...

The perfect Christmas novel, such a treat! Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher.

4.75/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

This was like a warm hug in book form. I absolutely fell in love with Christopher, Nash and the small town community that Lizzie Huxley-Jones created. The dual POV was great and provided so much depth for both of the characters. It was also amazing to read a cosy queer Christmas story where the characters’ queerness wasn’t used as plot device or to create tension between the characters. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a cosy Christmas story in a small town setting with bakeries, adopted animals and Christmas miracles.

Got it by mistake, wasn’t really my kind of book. However
I read it and really enjoyed it. A heartwarming story! Nothing beats a Christmas book!

Christopher thought being snowed in with his celebrity crush was the best thing ever. But he wasn’t counting on Nash being a prick! The fights and romance made for a fun little read

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for approving my request to read an arc of this book

I absolutely loved Lizzie Huxley-Jones’ first book and it became a personal favourite, and so I was over the moon to get the chance to read Under The Mistletoe With You early as well. This story follow’s Haf’s fake boyfriend, Christopher, from Make You Mine This Christmas, a character I loved so much when I was reading and so to have him as the main character and get to read his own love story was brilliant. Christopher and Nash don’t get on at all at first, despite Christopher being a huge fan of Nash from seeing him in his favourite made for streaming movies. It was so much fun reading their petty bickering and seeing the thaw of their hearts even among the icy setting of the book.
I loved the amount of representation in this book, both in disability (seizures and suspected autism) and in queer representation (trans, gay and bisexuality). The overall plot of the book was so heartwarming and written with so much respect for disabilities and also elderly people. I loved the whole cast of characters and I didn’t want this story to end!
I’m hoping for more stories about this cast of characters, perhaps Ambrose next time?