The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch | Contemporary Fantasy Romance Mini-Review

I didn't like this one nearly as much as I thought I would.

My 2 Cents for Free!

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

Released October 2024
Source: Purchased
See more @ Goodreads

I thought I was going to love this one, but I only ended up liking it. The plot had too much political nonsense that was no fun at all. I picked it up to escape reality and instead I found myself reading about yet another man attempting to control the world (holidays) to enrich his holiday and make himself look like some sort of savior. Ugh. I wasn't at all in the mood for this so it's probably me not the book. And, oof, the capitalism of it all. 

Anyhow, the romance was cute and the two MC's adorable although I wish Hex had been given more of a POV, but the bigger plot overshadowed it all for me and sucked a lot of the joy out of it. A 2.5 bumped up to 3 because though I was bored and annoyed by the political wrappings, the characters weren't awful and I'll probably read the next one because a big thing was not at all wrapped up here.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐


Publisher Plot Synopsis 

Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky rom-com where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween.

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

Comments

  1. BarbThursday, March 19, 2026

    I'm trying to avoid political anything in stuff I am reading right now. I get enough of it in real life right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bark At The GhoulsThursday, March 19, 2026

      Yeah, it's too easy to fall down a dark deep hole. I need some safe space to escape from the ugliness of it all.

      Delete
  2. Lark Saturday, March 21, 2026

    I hate when political stuff finds it's way into books like this. I read to escape real life, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bark At The GhoulsWednesday, March 25, 2026

      Yep, I need time where I can just tune out for a little bit.

      Delete

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