Booked for the Holidays by Erin Hawkins (Oct 24, 2025) I inhaled the first book in this connected stand-alone series and love it when the second book retraces some of the events from the first book but from a new POV.
Juniper has finally achieved her goal of opening a romance-only bookstore in her small town and now she’s prepping for the Christmas season rush. With one big problem. Liam, her brother Jasper’s best friend. He’s in town for the holidays for a surprise visit – the first since she kissed him last Christmas and he pulled away. Now, with the hotel full and all the family guest rooms taken, Liam is staying with her in her apartment attached to the bookshop. And he is so handsome and being oddly flirty for someone who rejected her last Christmas. But what she doesn’t know is that kiss a year ago rocked Liam’s world and turned his life upside down. And he’s been making plans ever since.
This novella is SO FUN! It has a ton of odes to romance novels – he reads her favorites and “recreates” scenes from them. Yep, that means what you think it means. It is super fun to see Juniper attempt to resist Liam so as not to be hurt again while Liam attempts to slow burn his way into winning her over the right way. They are adorable in their awkwardness, charm, and found family vibes. An excellent stand alone connected book that revisits the characters from the first book while moving them all forward!
🎧 Audiobook Thoughts: Please listen to this one on audio – it is so, so fun performed perfectly in duet by Victoria Connolly and Jason Clarke. Absolute fire.(6 hrs and 59 mins)
Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🎧 Audio performance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🔥 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Book Smart Kate 