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Unlike most people who usually leave their Christmas reading until it’s actually almost Christmas – at least until after Halloween – I decided to get an early start on my Christmas reading list.
And of course, if you’ve been following my reviews on the blog, you know that I’ve been really into monster romance novels lately. So what better way to kick off my Christmas reading binge than with a monster Christmas romance novel?
One of my favorite tropes in monster romance – and even in Christmas romance, or any romance in general, if I’m being honest – is grumpy and sunshine.
But this particular book surprised me because the male lead was the most affectionate, warm-hearted, and sweet I’ve read in a while and I still enjoyed the heck out of it.
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I don’t know why, but if someone asks, I usually say my favorite trope is grumpy and sunshine romance. Yet somehow, I absolutely always fall in love with the warmer, tender male leads.
Every time I read a book like this, I feel like we need more and more of them.
I love that authors are starting to branch out from the traditional grumpy-and-sunshine mold, and we’re getting many more stupidly cute and affectionate male leads who aren’t fluent in grumpiness.
This is actually a romance novella, so it’s rather short, and the story is simple and straightforward. Our female lead, Ivy, is a baker, and it’s almost Christmas. She has booked a holiday getaway with her boyfriend only to find out he’s cheating on her.
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But she isn’t left to brood for long because she decides to make the most of the trip anyway – with a particular dragon customer who has been visiting her bakery for years now.
We later find out that this dragon, Tairon, has essentially become fixated on her – he’s in love with her and has been quietly stalking her for a couple of years to learn everything he can.
So when they end up at the cabin together, secrets are spilled, they get to know each other, and this is when her feelings start building.
I really liked this part. It’s not instant love, at least not on her side. Instead, we actually see her fall for him gradually, and I appreciated that process more than anything.
Now, you might be tempted to think this book drags on and on – even though it’s a novella – but actually, we get right into the thick of things. We see the drama, we get the love story, and it’s all beautiful. Nothing lingers too long. It all feels very organic.
We watch them truly fall for each other, learn more about the dragon customs, and see him finally be in his happy, natural element now that he has his girl by his side.
Surprisingly, it’s very steamy. Though I did find the dirty talk a little awkward because of our male lead’s sweet and gentle personality.
In the front matter of the book, there’s a list of tropes, which I think a lot of authors are doing now. So I already knew this was going to be an older-woman/younger-man romance, but honestly, this element doesn’t factor much into their relationship.
It’s mentioned a little at the beginning but never really becomes a thing. And as I said, this is a novella, so there isn’t any major conflict. The focus is more on them realizing the depth of their feelings for each other.
On his part, he’s pretty certain all along. It’s really her who has the emotional growth and development over the course of the book.
My favorite thing about this book is definitely how the author made me super curious about the world. We actually get quite a bit of world-building.
I was already excited to get into another book set in this world, and I quickly signed up for the author’s newsletter.
She also has a whole bunch of other monster romance books, and something tells me that some of them might have warm-hearted male leads too (which, if I’m being honest, isn’t usually my favorite in monster romance), but I did enjoy this one.
So I’m not closing myself off to any future ones I might end up liking. I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work.
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One thing I’ll say – because you guys know I always comment on this – is about the title of the book.
When I saw it, I imagined they’d have some sort of forced-proximity, snowed-in, reluctant situation going on, but that’s not what we get here. In fact, they aren’t even snowed in, if I’m being completely honest.
Once you read the book, you’ll understand why this isn’t a factor. I feel like the title is more of a nod to the Christmas theme than to the actual tropes in the story.
But like I mentioned, there’s a trope list in the front matter, so you can check that out to see if this is something you’d be into.
In the meantime, if you want to get started on your Christmas reading list, check out this list of my favorite spicy Christmas books that I think everyone should read.
I’ve also compiled another list of the very best Christmas movies that I think everyone should give a chance.
So if you enjoy old classics, you should definitely check out this list of the very best vintage Christmas movies that deserve to be part of your holiday tradition – wherever you are in the world.
Let me know what you’re doing this Christmas and which books are on your own Christmas reading list.
