Here are 18 holiday romance novels to tickle your mistletoe this season

Trim the tree and light the menorah, it's time for another holiday season!

Once you've got those presents wrapped or cookies baked, you'll probably want to curl up with a good book that puts you in the festive mood for the season. Entertainment Weekly has 18 swoony holiday romances that we think will make any Grinch's heart grow three sizes.

Love You a Latke by Amanda Eliot

'Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot.
Berkley

Fake dating at the holidays is a tradition all its own, but Amanda Eliot puts her own spin on it with this Hanukkah tale, Love You a Latke. As the only Jewish person on the tourism board of her tiny Vermont town, Abby Cohen is tasked with organizing their first-ever festival. But she finds an unexpected ally in the sunshine-y Seth, who pledges to help her with the festival if she’ll play the “nice Jewish girlfriend” for his parents on a trip to New York City. But once they’re in Manhattan, Abby can’t help but be swept off her feet by the holiday cheer.

Christmas Sweater Weather by Jacqueline Snow

If all you want for Christmas is a big brother’s best friend romance, Jacqueline Snow has you covered with Christmas Sweater Weather. Charlotte Calhoun has had a crush on her brother’s bestie, Hayden Porter, since she was a teenager. But when now single dad, Hayden, is thrown together with Charlotte at a ski resort for her brother’s bachelor party, they can’t stop sneaking away to find some mistletoe. But can they keep a secret of their weekend fling under wraps until the wedding day?

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay

What happens when two best friends switch places for the holidays? Mayhem and romance! After Holly is jilted, she convinces her BFF Ivy to go on her Hawaiian honeymoon in her stead, while she takes Ivy’s Hudson Valley Airbnb. But both women are in for a shock when Holly discovers the Airbnb owner is her high school rival all glowed up, and Ivy is kicked out of her hotel room by Holly’s ex and his new lady — only to find comfort in the arms of the hotel bartender. Can their mix-up lead to their best holiday season ever in The Holiday Honeymoon Switch?

Lone Wolf in Lights by Stacey Kennedy

Lone Wolf in Lights is for everyone who dreams of getting a cowboy for Christmas. Willow Quinn is hitting reset on her life with her move from Arizona to Montana and her new bar, The Naked Moose. She’s intent on creating an empowering space for women and decides to launch a craft circle for the holidays. But she’s not expecting so much pushback from the locals for being an outsider. When former bull rider, Eli Cole offers to fake a romance to help her fit in, she agrees. But she can’t help but putting something real with Eli on her Christmas list.

The Anti-Social Season by Adele Buck

Firefighters may be dedicated to dousing blazes, but The Anti-Social Season is all about stoking the embers between former firefighter Thea Martinelli and librarian Simon Osman. Thea is suffering from serious burnout, but she decides to try to stay on with the fire department in a new role: social media manager. When she turns to Simon, who once crushed on her in high school, their attraction starts burning as hot as any flame.

How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn

Meghan Quinn brings readers an enemies to lovers romp with a Grinchy twist in How My Neighbor Stole Christmas. Cole Black wants nothing to do with Christmas and the traditions of his quaint small town — that is, until Storee Taylor moves in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy and decides to enter the Christmas Kringle contest in Cindy’s honor. Cole decides to enter the competition, as well, as a way at getting back at Storee for the nightmare she’s made of his life. And that includes pretending he’s falling for the girl next door. But when their fake relationship turns real, Christmas isn’t the only thing that’s coming.

I'll Get Back to You by Becca Grischow

Murphy and Ellie find themselves — and each other — in this delightful queer fake dating holiday romance, I'll Get Back to You. Murphy is hoping to move on from community college, but she’s in danger of failing a class for a second time when she reconnects with a former classmate, Ellie, who just happens to be the daughter of the professor preparing to flunk Murphy. The two decide to fake a relationship for the holiday weekend to get Murphy a passing grade and Ellie a shot at getting her mom on board with her unconventional dreams.

Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters

Martha Waters takes Love Actually and turns the holiday movie on its head in this delightful, hilarious rom-com, Christmas Is All Around. Ever since she appeared in a modern holiday classic as a child, Charlotte has hated Christmas and the film’s fans who won’t let her move on with her life. When word drops that Charlotte is holding up a potential reboot of the movie, she escapes to London, hoping for a holiday season sans angry fans. But when a mix-up leaves her stranded at one of the movie’s locations, Eden Priory, she ends up bumming a ride from the son of the estate’s owners, Graham. Charlotte agrees to lead an art workshop at the priory if Graham will escort her to holiday locations around London for her new illustration job. But before long, Charlotte realizes that love actually is all around at Christmas — or at least it is whenever Graham is near.

All the Jingle Ladies by Beth Garrod

After her parents went viral with an earworm of a Christmas song (and music video featuring her childish antics), Molly has been a true Grinch. In All the Jingle Ladies, her nightmares are revisited when the song gets used in a new hit film, bringing it back into the mainstream. Still, not all is bad when Molly meets a hunky guy at the movie’s premiere. All she has to do is keep the secret of her ties to the mortifying song. This cheery tale of misdirection has plenty of holiday surprises.

I'll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone

Inspired by The Holiday, I’ll Be Gone for Christmas finds San Francisco techie Bee Tyler and Ohio resident Clover Mills home-swapping for the holiday season. Bee retreats to the storybook town of Salem, Ohio, for some much-needed R & R, while Clover tries to push herself outside her comfort zone after losing her mother and ending her engagement. But as Clover spends more time with Bee’s charming sister, Beth, and Bee can’t keep away from Clover’s ex-fiancee, Knox, the two women discover that a change of scenery might have been the perfect gift to themselves.

A Novel Christmas by Charity Shane

If you’re looking for a story as sweet as a candy cane, A Novel Christmas will give you that sugar rush. Prominent Black romance author Saira Wright is facing a dilemma — either she writes a chart-topping holiday romance or she loses her deal with her publishing house. Despite hating holiday romance novels for being cliché, she decides to book a vacation in a festive location to put her in the mood. Sharing the other side of her rental is hunky, Dorian Black, a local volunteer firefighter and Mr. December in their fundraising calendar. Sparks fly between the two of them, and suddenly, Saira doesn’t think holiday romance is so clichéd after all.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is Knives Out with a rom-com twist. When mystery writer Maggie Chase and thriller novelist Ethan Wyatt are invited to a Christmas party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, they’re shocked to discover their host is legendary mystery author Eleanor Ashley. But when Eleanor disappears from a locked room, it’s up to Maggie and Chase to uncover what’s happened to their host — and maybe get a little cozy along the way.

The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky

The Santa Clause gets a queer twist in this zany, hilarious holiday romp. Patrick and Quinn haven’t even been married a year when they start to feel the pressures of domestic life and their mortgage weighing on them. That is, until Patrick and Quinn realize that the “burglar” that Patrick attacked in the middle of the night is none other than Old Saint Nick himself. After taking the reins of the sleigh to save Christmas, the couple are whisked to the North Pole where they must assume the roles of Santa and the first ever “Merriest Mister” to make sure Christmas continues. With its wildly imaginative plot, The Merriest Misters examines the ways that the pressures of everyday life can make any of us a Grinch.

The Most Wonderful Time by Jayne Allen

Jayne Allen brings a little of the house-swap sparkle to her own holiday tale of unexpected connection and personal growth in The Most Wonderful Time. After her engagement implodes, Ramona Tucker is desperate to avoid going home for the holidays. So she swaps houses with artist, Chelsea Flint, who needs the money to keep the beach house she inherited from her parents. But when an unwelcome stranger interrupts Ramona’s first night in the Malibu cottage, the entire scheme could go up in flames. But Chelsea is desperate for Ramona to stay, and so, she decides to hide the truth of things, even if it risks damaging her own connection with the charming Carlos. Who says we can’t make a little of our own holiday magic?

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

If you’re more a fan of spooky season than Yuletide joy, you’ll want to read The Wedding Witch, which brings some witchy magic to the holidays. When loner Bowen Penhallow and seller of magical items Tamsyn Bligh are invited to the witchy wedding of the century, the two can’t help sneaking around the mysterious Tywyll house in pursuit of magical objects and lore. But a mishap sends them back to the 1957 holiday season at the house, and the two warm to each other as they work to find their way back to the present.

Deadlines, Donuts & Driedels by Jennifer Wilck

When journalist Jessica Sacks returns home for Hanukkah, she has one major task — land an interview with firefighter and local hero Thomas Carville. But Thomas has no interest in discussing his heroics, particularly because he knows that both he and the man he saved are lucky to be alive. But how long can he keep his secret as he increasingly falls for the woman intent on digging it up? Find out in Deadlines, Donuts & Driedels.

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

Ashley Herring Blake delivers a second-chance romance designed to melt even the iciest heart with Make the Season Bright. Charlotte Donovan has slowly pieced her life back together after being left at the altar five years ago. But when she joins a friend in Colorado for the holidays, she’s perturbed to discover that one of the other house guests is her ex, Brighton Fairbrook, who is trying to distract herself from being kicked out of her band. Pretending not to know each other, Brighton and Charlotte are subjected to all manner of cozy seasonal activities — and suddenly, the past stops feeling quite so insurmountable.

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Is “no room at the inn” the ultimate source of the “only one bed” trope? Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone put that theory to the test with their latest Christmas Notch novel. Former adult film actress-director Sunny Palmer is staring down a deadline for her first-ever screenplay (ironically sold to the Hope Channel). When she decides to return to the town that first inspired her pitch, she’s not expecting to shack up with sad former boy bander Isaac Kelly, who lost his wife at a young age. But after the two wake up in a freezing motel together after their best friend’s wedding, Isaac invites Sunny to stay in Christmas Notch’s historic mansion (and his current home). He helps her trawl for local lore for her movie, while she searches for a new muse for his upcoming holiday album. Despite being total opposites, the holiday spirit casts its spell over the two creatives in A Jingle Bell Mingle.