Sexy Christmas read! When Charlie, her childhood ex sweetheart is in her doorstep looking to catch a ride Bea realizes she didn’t read the updated emails for the families annual Christmas get away. During a tense car ride to their destination Charlie realizes that he’s ready to rekindle their past relationship. Through the magic of Christmas and two meddling families things start going his way. Just as things start turning his way he returns to the workaholic that broke them up in the first place. Realizing it’s more important to get the girl he changes his ways and realizes money is not the most important thing in his life. Bea is his priority and nothing is going to stop him from getting the girl. Thank you to NetGalley and Liz Alden for this free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily

Ghost of Ex-mas Past can be described as a "friends to lovers to exes to lovers" novella. It is a quick read, but at times gets bogged down with narration, whether it be about all the different characters (which felt like way too many to keep track of) or the business dealings the characters are dealing with. It was almost a DNF for me as the beginning was much slower-paced.

I received a digital ARC thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

This was a great quick to read holiday romance that would be perfect to read over a weekend where you don’t want to leave the couch. The characters were relatable and it was easy to keep track of the other characters in the story. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys quick storylines while also looking for a holiday story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the gifted eARC.

Ghost of Ex-mas Past
by Liz Alden

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Second chance, childhood best friends to lovers.
🤩 Such a great surprise “You’re giving me a ride” moment.
🤩 It took me a while to get into the holiday family times, but the ski lessons finally captivated me.
🤩 When Charlie helps Bea after skiing, I finally feel like I’m experiencing the scene.
🤩 The intimate and steamy scenes are really well written and super fun!!

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 The business talk almost lost me.
💫 A lot of narration to get the back story.
💫 I would have liked to be more immersed in the interactions instead of feeling like I’m being told a story.
💫 It might have taken me too long to like Charlie. I really like to love my MMCs.
Thanks to NetGalley for the gifted eARC.

“What better person to fall in love with than your best friend?”

Ghost of Ex-Mast Past is the perfect book to get out of a reading slump. It is a short read (174 pages) very fast paced, but with all the necessary information, all at once (no plot hole or huge missing parts, especially for the sentimental journey, as it’s so often the case in novellas). I love second chance stories, and Bea & Charlie’s isn’t the exception. This is a soft and tender one, like a pretty and cosy plaid you’d curled into during winter, in front of a crackling fire.
One more time, Liz Alden delivered the book I needed, when I needed it (but didn’t know I did). Like the other book I read from that author, I read it in one go. Pages turn by themselves, characters are super fleshy, you just have to let yourself be carried away by the story and the feelings.
In one word, this book is perfect to get into the Holidays season! And Liz Alden remains one of my auto-read authors.

Thank you Liz Alden and NetGalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

With the holidays approaching who doesn't love a story centered around Christmas? Every year since they can remember Bea and Charlie have spent Christmas together since their parents are best friends. They were friends until they because more than that. They loved each other but when college distance got too much they broke up. But now Charlies realizes, 8 years later, that the lavish lifestyle he has doesn't mean anything without Bea in it. Does she still care for him? Will she give their relationship another shot?

This story is cute and it has just the right amount of spice. Great second chance romance!

Thanks to NetGalley and Liza Alden for allowing me to review this ARC!

Thank you for approving me to read this book. I haven't been able to finish reading this as early on in the book the author makes a flippant, tasteless joke about CPR being performed after eating food that was 'to die for'. I have had to give CPR for real this year and I cannot get on board with jokes being made, even if there was no ill intent behind it.

This is such a perfect Christmas novella! The pacing is fast but you get so much in terms of plot! Liz Alden is the QUEEN of novellas! If you want something to get you in the holiday spirit or knock down your reading goals, highly recommend this.

This was a really cute holiday novella. It was pretty much exactly what I expected - a Hallmark movie in book form (but with some spice)! Two workaholic exes spend their holidays in a small, cute town. Their families are there - and they all get along well and have adorable relationships with each other.

If you’re looking for a cozy, quick, Hallmark-esque read, this is a solid choice!

I so appreciated getting an advance copy of this spicy holiday novella. Having read Clara and Nash's story last winter, it was fun to go back into the same world with some of the same characters. I love me a second chance romance, and I enjoyed the characters in this one. In my reading, it felt like the pacing of this one would change really abruptly, and that threw me off some. I'm glad I got to read it and I did enjoy it.

All right, let's be straight about it. I'm "only" giving 4 stars cause the "second chance" thrope isnt my favourite...
If you like it then go ahead, and even if you're not super fan like me, I still had a good time reading it.
Liz Alden makes once more a cute, short Xmas story full of family/love and steam.
While I preferred "Frosty Proximity" last year (yes its a serie but you just get a small overlap of characters, you do not need to read the others to follow this book) this is still a strong short story from Liz in my opinion.

*Thanks t NetGalley and Liz Alden for the access to the ebook against an honest review.*

First of all, Thank You Netgalley for the ARC granted to me. Liz Alden has written another cozy and compelling christmas story. Second chances small town and reunited lovers are ne of the best tropes to read. One thing I didn't like was the spicy scenes- A little too hot for the plot itself (I found it a bit disconeted from the vibe of the whole book) but it was a good narrative anyway.

This was a classic right-person but wrong time second-chance romance. Charlie has never felt like he deserved Bea, which led to their inevitable breakup years ago. Since then, he has tried to get richer so he could be deserving of Bea. Bea has never had any interest in money, but she had always had a lot of anger towards Charlie for breaking her heart all those years ago.
This is a cute christmassy romance with characters that will make your heart feel cozy and banter that will make you giggle into your cup of tea.
I had a lot of fun reading this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

4.5 stars!

This was such a fun and cute read for a novella and the fact it is set around Christmas makes it even better! I really enjoyed the story of Bea and Charlie who had so much chemistry together that made me laugh out loud multiple times and I loved the banter! This story was also fast paced which in some novellas can be a bad thing since it will lose the plot but this one didn't! It was great for what it was and I didn't finish it with any unanswered questions or anything.

This book was cute and so much fun! It made my week! I love all the fun characters! Bea and Charlie stole my heart! The writing was good. The conflict was great. Fantastic emotion. Humor and lots of heart! It was the perfect holiday romance. This is my first Liz Alden book, but it definitely won’t be my last. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read and review this book.

🎄🎄🎄🎄

Bea and Charlie were together when they were 18, they broke up and now they have a second chance when they go on a Christmas vacation with their families.

•second chance
•novella
•best friends to lovers
•he takes care of her
• She’s a romance reader
(The scene I'm thinking of is hilarious, but is a spoiler)
🌶️🌶️

This was a cute, quick, spicy Christmas read. This is the third book in the Winter Wanderlust series

Thank you NetGalley and Liz Alden for an arc!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was super cute! I loved the second chance romance trope and all the holiday vibes. This book had so many moments that made me laugh out loud. It also had just the right amount of spice.

This was a cute holiday read. I liked both Charlie and Bea as characters and really enjoyed their family dynamic. I only wish there was a little more romance. We know that they were once sweethearts but split 8 years ago when Charlie went off to college and left Bea behind. They've also spent all those Christmases together since then with their families, but didn't rekindle that relationship and kept their distance. So now it's 8 years later and they're once again spending Christmas together in NY with their families. Charlie is trying to sell his company so he can take a step back and start a family with the love of his life, Bea. She doesn't know any of that when the book begins though. But after Bea pushes him off for a while, she gives in and they start their romance back up. But the romance was so abrupt and short that it honestly didn't feel believable to me. We're told they were perfect together in the past and we only get a small glimpse into their current life together over just a few days. So I wasn't feeling the intense connection that I should have felt with a couple who had spent so many years together. I'd have rather been shown than told they loved each other. I'm a fan of this author and enjoyed the last book, so I still recommend this series to those who like a sweet Christmas-like romance.

This is the second Christmas novella I’ve read from Liz Alden and yet again, I wasn’t disappointed. Liz Alden really deserves more recognition – I think people who enjoy reading Elsie Silver would LOVE these spicy romances!

Charlie and Bea are exes whose families are such close friends they spend every Christmas together. This year is no different, except Charlie has decided he wants Bea back. Lots of cute banter between the two and I appreciated that it wasn’t overly Christmassy but just enough! Liz’s travel theme continues as this one is set in upstate New York, in a small town.

One quick point of confusion – in Chapter 26. I read this 3 times as I thought I’d missed it, but Bea says “I love you too” but Charlie hasn’t said it in the first place (or alluded to anything similar). I assumed this got edited out but it had me reading it and rereading! This is a big spoiler so won’t post this part on public reviews.

Ghost of Ex-mas Past is book three in the Winter Wanderlust series by Liz Alden..
A great spicy second chance novella.
A sweet romance with a bit of spice to heat things up! I really enjoyed the characters and the will they/won't they aspect of the story.
This holiday novella is super cute.
I need to read book one Nutcracker with Benefits. Because the second two are so good!

Thank You NetGalley and Liz Alden for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!