15 holiday romance books to get you in the festive spirit

Laurie wasn't expecting to find true love on public transportation, but that's exactly what happens on a blustery day in December when she locks eyes with a man through a bus window. For Laurie, it's love at first sight, but she doesn't get the chance to find out if her mystery man feels the same way before her bus drives away.

She tries in vain to find her true love over the next year, unable to track him down until she sees him again at a party. To her dismay, she discovers that her mystery man, Jack, is actually her best friend Sarah's new boyfriend.

Josie Silver's "One Day in December" spans a decade, following Jack and Rosie as they try to navigate the reality of their relationship and what it could have been. Tender and romantic, it's a great read for fans of "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle."

Jasmine Guillory always writes swoon-worthy romance, and her festive take on the genre is no exception.

In "Royal Holiday," Vivian Forest is thrilled to go on a trip to the United Kingdom when her daughter, Maddie, gets the opportunity to style a member of the royal family. She thinks she'll spend her vacation sightseeing, but she doesn't anticipate Malcom Hudson, the Queen's private secretary, becoming her personal tour guide.

There's no denying the connection between Vivian and Malcolm, but what will they do when Vivian's holiday comes to an end?

"Royal Holiday" is the fourth installment in Guillory's "Wedding Date" series, but it can also be read as a stand-alone novel.

Ever since a coincidental seating arrangement their freshman year of college, Molly and Andrew have been flying home from Chicago to Dublin together on Christmas Eve.

For nine years in a row, the pair have traveled side-by-side, forming a friendship in the hours spent crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Even though she doesn't care about Christmas much, Molly knows Andrew loves it, so she has big plans for their 10th trip together, even upgrading them to first-class tickets.

When a snowstorm cancels their flight, there's no way Molly is giving up on getting Andrew home to his family for the holidays. Instead, she leads them on a journey to reach Ireland by Christmas, embracing all forms of transportation to make it happen.

As Molly and Andrew set off on their unexpected journey, they may find that there's more to their connection when they're out of the friendly skies. Catherine Walsh's "Holiday Romance" will speak to fans of Emily Henry's "People We Meet on Vacation," and you can read its sequel, "Snowed In," if you're left wanting more when you finish.

"Kiss Her Once For Me" by Alison Cochrun offers a fresh take on a holiday romance and the fake dating trope.

After losing her dream job at an animation studio and getting her heart broken, Ellie Oliver is working at a café, wondering if her life will ever get back on track.

When the coffee shop's landlord, Andrew, asks her to enter into a marriage of convenience to help him obtain his inheritance, Ellie agrees. She hopes that the nontraditional marriage will alleviate her financial problems and help her get her life back on track, even if it took a few too many libations for Andrew to come up with the plan in the first place.

However, when Ellie joins Andrew for his family's holiday celebration, she discovers that his sister is Jack, the woman she fell head over heels for on Christmas Eve one year earlier — and who broke her heart. Will the security Andrew offers lead Ellie to go from fiancée to wife, or will Ellie risk her heart again for another chance with Jack?

Maelyn Jones just had the worst Christmas of her life. After moving in with her parents when her career hit a standstill, Mae had hoped that spending Christmas at a cabin in Utah with her parents' lifelong friends and their kids would bring her happiness, as it does every year.

Instead, Mae drunkenly kisses Theo, her best friend and the brother of the man she's loved as long as she can remember, Andrew. Then, she finds out the cabin is being sold. It feels like everything she had dreamed of, including any shot at a future with Andrew, is disappearing.

Mae leaves the cabin feeling more despondent than ever, but when she's in a car crash on her way out of town, she wakes up to find herself back on a flight to Utah. Christmas hasn't even happened, and Mae has a chance to do everything all over again.

Before she knows it, Mae is trapped in a holiday time loop, reliving Christmas over and over again as new troubles and hijinks ensue. She has to figure out how to get back on track, and being honest about how she feels about Andrew might just be the key to unlocking her future.

"In A Holidaze," Christina Lauren's holiday spin on "Groundhog Day," is a fun, romantic, and festive read.

Casey McQuiston's debut novel isn't technically a holiday book, but it qualifies for this list thanks to an iconic New Year's party scene in the novel.

In "Red, White, and Royal Blue," Alex Claremont-Diaz's life is going great. He's the beloved son of the first female president of the United States, he's killing it at law school, and his political future looks brighter than ever.

Things hit a snag, though, when Alex causes an international incident at a royal wedding with his long-held nemesis, Prince Henry. Alex has hated Henry since the moment they met, but with their public spat causing problems for both his mother and the monarchy, Alex and Henry will have to pretend to be best friends to appease the press.

Alex thinks spending time with Henry will be torturous, but after an intimate moment at a New Year's Eve party, their connection becomes something neither of them ever expected. The unlikely pair falls into a love affair that upends everything Alex thought he knew about himself, but for Alex and Henry, romance has political ramifications. What will they be willing to risk for a chance at true love?

In B.K. Borison's "Lovelight Farms," Stella Bloom is on a mission to save her beloved Christmas tree farm from going under. She's desperate enough to enter a contest that could land her a $100,000 cash prize.

To make her application more enticing, Stella may have claimed she owns the farm with her boyfriend. And Stella may be in quite a pickle now, considering she doesn't actually have a boyfriend.

Luckily, Stella doesn't have any trouble convincing her best friend, Luka Peters, to be her fake boyfriend. For Luka, a pretend relationship with Stella may lead him to get everything he's always wanted.

Meghan Quinn's "How My Neighbor Stole Christmas" offers a romantic twist on Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Cole King has always hated Christmas, despite everyone else in Kringletown celebrating it to its fullest every year. He's ready to continue bringing down the holiday spirit, until Storee Taylor, his longtime enemy, moves in next door to take care of her Aunt Cindy.

If there's one thing Cole hates more than Christmas, it's Storee, so when she enters the Christmas Kringle contest, he knows he can't let her win. Instead, Cole pretends he's fallen for Storee with some help from his pal Max, and she'll have to enter a fake relationship with him or risk losing the contest before it's even begun.

Despite Cole's intention to annoy Storee, they soon become smitten with each other, and their new challenge will be to keep their true feelings secret from Cindy. Full of Christmas-themed events and nods to the Grinch with some added spice, "How My Neighbor Stole Christmas" is the perfect book for the holiday season.

Cash Evans has been lusting after his barista, Bailey Cooper, for months, but he knows his longing is futile. As a broody tattoo artist, he doesn't think he has a chance with someone as kind and smart as Bailey.

Then, a twist of fate makes him Bailey's boss, and Bailey is everywhere. Still, Cash tries to keep a wall between them, but Bailey can't help but notice how dreamy Cash is, from helping people she cares about to giving her a job.

Bailey knows she's drawn to Cash, but she can't figure him out. Will either of them be willing to admit how they really feel?

"Consider Me," the first installment in Becka Mack's "Playing for Keeps" series, is perfect if you're looking for a wintry romance that isn't too focused on the holidays themselves.

Carter Beckett has loved being the NHL's playboy. He's as successful at dating as he is on the rink, but everything changes when he lays eyes on Olivia Parker. Carter knows Olivia is the one as soon as he sees her across a crowded bar, but it's going to take more than a smile for Olivia to believe Carter is ready to give up his bachelor days.

Delightfully corny and sexy, "Consider Me" is a fun entry point into the world of hockey romance.

Cat King is a fixer, as anyone who watches her home renovation reality series knows. She is ready to take on her biggest project to date in Merry, Connecticut, which is reeling after a hurricane tore through the town just weeks before its annual Christmas festival.

Cat is ready to renew the town and save the festival, but there's just one thing in her way: Noah Yates, Merry's town manager, who wants nothing to do with her. Protective of his town and his daughter, Noah is suspicious of Cat and her crew, doing everything he can to keep her at arm's length.

Cat and Noah can't stand each other, but a chance encounter unleashes sexual tension between them that threatens to change everything. Still, they'll have to work together to get Merry ready for the holiday season — and face feelings they have for each other that are much more complicated than hate.

Lucy Score's "The Christmas Fix" is the grumpy-sunshine holiday novel you've been waiting for.

"Cruel Winter With You" is Ali Hazelwood's contribution to Amazon's 2024 holiday novella collection, "Under the Mistletoe." There are five short romance stories in the collection, and each is simultaneously frosty and spicy.

In "Cruel Winter With You," Jamie Malek is perfectly happy with her life as a pediatrician, even if she's living it without Marc. She broke her best friend's brother's heart, and keeping any lingering feelings she has for him locked up just makes sense.

She sees no flaws in her plan until she needs to borrow a roasting pan from Marc for her Christmas dinner, and a freak snowstorm leaves her trapped with him. As snow falls, old feelings rise to the surface, and Jamie might realize her Christmas wish has been a second chance all along.

Abby Cohen isn't feeling very festive.

As the only Jewish person in her Vermont community, it has fallen to her to plan a brand-new Hanukkah festival, and she's having trouble getting local vendors to step outside their Christmas-oriented focus to bring her vision to life.

To her dismay, Seth, the most annoying customer at her café, offers the solution to her problem. It turns out he is Jewish too and is happy to help her with the festival — on one condition. He needs Abby to pretend to be his girlfriend when he visits his family in New York City for Hanukkah.

Abby is willing to put up with Seth's persistent optimism for the sake of her festival, but to her surprise, spending the week with Seth makes her see him in a different light.

If you're looking for the heartwarming feel of a Hallmark movie in a romance novel, "Christmas Is All Around" by Martha Waters might be right up your alley.

It might seem like Charlotte is in London to have fun with her sister for the holidays, but really, she's hiding. Charlotte starred in a beloved Christmas movie as a kid, and the film's devoted fans weren't too pleased when they found out she refused to film a reboot.

Charlotte thinks lying low in London will help, but when she's spotted by a fan checking out holiday decorations at Eden Priory, a location from the film, her cover is blown. Luckily, the property owner's son, Graham, steps in to save the day.

Soon, Charlotte, an animator in her adulthood, agrees to make holiday-themed portraits inspired by the movie to help Eden Priory stay in business, and Graham takes her around the area to bring them to life. As they work together to help the estate, it becomes harder for Charlotte and Graham to deny the sparks flying between them.

For readers who like a side of mystery with their love stories, "The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year" by Ally Carter is the perfect blend of romantic and suspenseful.

Mystery writer Maggie Chase has hated thriller author Ethan Wyatt almost since the moment they met.

However, she's willing to play nice with him for one night when they both land an invite to an elaborate Christmas party, which turns out to be hosted at an English estate by legendary mystery author Eleanor Ashler.

Her plan goes awry, though, when a snowstorm keeps them at the estate overnight, and they discover in the morning that Eleanor has disappeared from a locked room.

Unsure if Eleanor is truly in danger or if the elusive author has concocted a strange challenge for her party guests, Maggie has no choice but to team up with Ethan to try to unravel the mystery. Working with her nemesis should be a nightmare, but Maggie may discover the line between love and hate is thinner than she imagined.