There’s something about a snow-dusted main street, twinkling lights in every shop window, and a grumpy local who somehow turns into the softest cinnamon roll by Christmas Eve.
If your December TBR needs small towns, slow-burn tension, and rom-com chaos wrapped in holiday warmth, this list is your sign.
These picks are all:
- Set in (or centered around) small towns / tight-knit communities
- Packed with holiday vibes, humor, and swoony romance
- Perfect for curling up with a blanket, hot chocolate, and zero real-world responsibilities
Heat guide (very scientific, obviously):
- 🔥 = closed-door / low spice, mostly kisses
- 🔥🔥 = mild–moderate on-page heat
- 🔥🔥🔥 = steamy
- 🔥🔥🔥🔥 = very steamy
1. The Christmas Fix – Lucy Score
Blurb
Merry, Connecticut is in trouble. A late-season storm wrecks the town right before its big Christmas festival, and the mayor is desperate. Enter Cat, a tough-as-nails reality TV renovation star who shows up to save the day—and the festival—while constantly clashing with Noah, the grumpy single dad and city manager who does not want cameras in his town or feelings in his life.
Why it’s worth reading
This one feels like a Hallmark movie that got left alone with a bottle of wine and some very suggestive mistletoe. The banter is sharp, the town is adorable, and underneath all the chaos, you get a surprisingly emotional story about burnout, expectations, and second chances—for both the town and the people in it.
What you’ll get
- Enemies-to-lovers with serious tension
- Single dad + sunshine hurricane of a heroine
- Home renovation shenanigans and town politics
- A full cast of meddling small-town locals
- A Christmas festival that actually feels worth saving
Read if you like
- Hallmark vibes but with real steam
- Reality reno shows + holiday romances
- Grumpy/sunshine where both have sharp edges
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥🔥 – Steamy, dirty talk, very much not fade-to-black
- Mood: Festive, funny, emotional in the last third
Grab The Christmas Fix on Amazon if you’re in the mood for small-town chaos, a grumpy single dad, and serious holiday heat.
2. Lovelight Farms – B.K. Borison
Best of #BookTok
Blurb
Stella has poured everything into Lovelight Farms, the Christmas tree farm she dreamed about for years… and it’s going wrong. Dying trees, missing shipments, and mysterious mishaps threaten to ruin the season. To save the farm, she enters a contest run by a famous influencer and lies that she runs it with her devoted boyfriend. Tiny problem: the “boyfriend” is actually her best friend Luka, who’s as confused as anyone when he suddenly finds himself fake-dating her in front of the whole town.
Why it’s worth reading
This is peak cozy: found family, warm humor, and the quiet ache of longtime friends who are absolutely in love and absolutely in denial. The small town is full of quirky side characters that feel like they’ve known each other since kindergarten—and they’re determined to shove Stella and Luka together under every available sprig of mistletoe.
What you’ll get
- Friends-to-lovers + fake dating
- A chaotic but charming Christmas tree farm
- Cozy farm-core vibes (cabin, cocoa, flannel, animals)
- Soft, quiet pining from both sides
Read if you like
- “We were friends… until we weren’t” slow burns
- Tension that’s more emotional than angsty
- Books that feel like being wrapped in a blanket
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥 – Warm, on-page intimacy but not ultra-explicit
- Mood: Soft, tender, very “curl up and stay awhile”
Add Lovelight Farms to your cart on Amazon for soft, friends-to-lovers vibes and all the cozy Christmas tree farm feelings.
3. How My Neighbor Stole Christmas – Meghan Quinn
Best of #BookTok
Blurb
In the over-the-top festive town of Kringletown, Storee and her neighbor Cole are sworn enemies. She’s determined to protect her holiday traditions; he’d be fine if the whole town dialed it way down. A clash over decorations turns into a fake relationship, a high-stakes town competition, and more “oops, that kiss was definitely not fake” moments than either of them is ready for.
Why it’s worth reading
If you want pure rom-com energy, this one’s loud, chaotic, and hilarious. The town is obsessed with Christmas, the competition is ridiculous in the best way, and the chemistry between Storee and Cole is off the charts. You get big laughs and big feelings.
What you’ll get
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Fake dating with very real attraction
- Over-the-top small-town traditions
- A hero who starts grumpy and ends up hopelessly soft
Read if you like
- Holiday rom-com movies that do not take themselves seriously
- Neighbors who argue like it’s their full-time job
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥🔥🔥 – High spice, playful and explicit
- Mood: Loud, funny, chaotic, and very festive
Snag How My Neighbor Stole Christmas on Amazon when you want loud, funny, over-the-top holiday rom-com energy.
4. The Christmas Cookie Wars – Eliza Evans
Blurb
Single mom Melody just wants her twin boys to feel the magic of Christmas again after losing their dad. Volunteering at their school’s cookie committee seems like a safe, wholesome idea—until a clash with the annoyingly handsome principal, Jonathan, explodes into a full-blown town-wide bake-off. Suddenly, everyone’s choosing sides, the ovens are always on, and the competition hits closer to the heart than either of them expected.
Why it’s worth reading
This is one of those stories that feels like fresh cookies and second chances. There’s grief, yes, but handled with a light touch and warmth. The banter between Melody and Jonathan is sharp and fun, and the small town rallying around the bake-off makes everything feel bigger and cozier at the same time.
What you’ll get
- Single mom + school principal romance
- Bake-off competition that takes over the town
- Family feels and healing woven into the humor
- Lots of food descriptions—do not read hungry
Read if you like
- “Gilmore Girls” small-town energy
- Baking shows with flirting on the side
- Rom-coms that balance comfort and emotion
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥 – Sweet with some warmth; not ultra-graphic
- Mood: Comforting, heartfelt, gently funny
Pick up The Christmas Cookie Wars on Amazon for sweet single-mom romance, cookie competition drama, and warm small-town charm.
5. Christmas at Holiday House – RaeAnne Thayne
Blurb
Abby, a widowed single mom, heads to Silver Bells, Colorado, to help her friend’s grandmother get a historic Victorian house ready for the holidays. The town is postcard-perfect: snow, decorations, community events—the whole package. The only person not in the spirit? Ethan, the grandson, who is prickly, skeptical, and absolutely not looking for love…until Abby and her son slowly melt his defenses.
Why it’s worth reading
This is pure Hallmark-core: gentle, sweet, and heavy on community and family. If you want low angst, cozy streets, town fundraisers, and a slow, respectful romance that feels emotionally safe, this hits the spot.
What you’ll get
- Grumpy/grieving hero with a big heart
- Single mom heroine choosing hope again
- A charming Victorian house and town traditions
- Little-boy side character who will steal scenes
Read if you like
- Low-spice, high-heart holiday reads
- Found family and healing arcs
- A book that feels like a snowy Sunday afternoon movie
Heat & mood
- 🔥 – Very sweet, mostly kisses and warm moments
- Mood: Gentle, nostalgic, comforting
Order Christmas at Holiday House from Amazon if you want a gentle, Hallmark-style small-town Christmas read.
6. In a Holidaze – Christina Lauren
Blurb
Mae’s favorite place in the world is a snowy Utah cabin where her family and close friends gather every Christmas. When she finds out this might be their last holiday there, she spirals—and makes a desperate wish to the universe to show her what will make her happy. Next thing she knows, she’s stuck in a time-loop Christmas, reliving the holiday again and again until she finally stops running from what (and who) she really wants.
Why it’s worth reading
Think “Groundhog Day meets messy found-family Christmas.” The cabin setting gives you all the cozy vibes, while the looping timeline lets you watch Mae slowly choose bravery over autopilot. There’s plenty of humor, awkward moments, and a genuinely satisfying romantic payoff.
What you’ll get
- Time-loop hijinks
- Friends/childhood crush to lovers
- Snowy-cabin traditions and found family dinners
- A heroine figuring out what she actually wants from life
Read if you like
- Time-loop tropes with heart
- Christmas cabins and family game nights
- Rom-coms that sneak in a tiny quarter-life crisis
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥 – Sexy but not super graphic
- Mood: Whimsical, emotional, hopeful
Grab In a Holidaze on Amazon for a time-loop Christmas cabin romance with found family, second chances, and plenty of snow.
7. A Merry Little Meet Cute – Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone
Best of #Booktok
Blurb
Plus-size adult-content star Bee jumps at the chance to clean up her image by starring in a saccharine Christmas movie…filmed in Christmas Notch, a town that lives and breathes the holiday year-round. What the studio doesn’t know: her co-star Nolan, a former boyband member with a bad-boy reputation, is secretly her biggest fan. As they flirt their way through this aggressively Christmassy small town, they have to hide their very not-G-rated chemistry from producers and the public.
Why it’s worth reading
If you want body positivity, sex-positivity, and actual spice wrapped inside candy-cane aesthetics, this is your book. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, surprisingly tender, and doesn’t shy away from talking about shame, reputation, and pleasure.
What you’ll get
- Porn-star heroine in a Hallmark-style setting
- Himbo-ish, golden-retriever hero with a past
- Behind-the-scenes of filming a Christmas rom-com
- Strong plus-size and sex-worker representation
Read if you like
- Steam and humor
- Movies-about-making-a-movie
- Holiday books that fully embrace being a little extra
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥🔥🔥 – Explicit, playful, and very spicy
- Mood: Bold, hilarious, unapologetically fun
Get A Merry Little Meet Cute on Amazon if you want body-positive, sex-positive, gloriously extra Christmas rom-com fun.
8. Christmas at the Ranch – Julia McKay
Blurb
After a humiliating family scandal, journalist Emory escapes the chaos by returning to Wilder Ranch, near the small town of Evergreen—the same place where she first fell in love (and had her heart broken) ten years ago. A snowstorm strands her at the ranch with Tate, the cowboy ex she never really got over, forcing them to face old wounds, family tension, and the question of whether some loves are worth circling back to.
Why it’s worth reading
This one leans into second-chance angst in the best way: snowed-in tension, family drama, unresolved hurt…and all of it wrapped in a winter ranch setting. The emotional journey feels grounded and adult, but you still get the cozy holiday payoff.
What you’ll get
- Second-chance romance
- Snowed-in + small-town gossip
- Family scandal and reputation fallout
- Ranch-life details and quiet, tender moments
Read if you like
- Cowboy Christmas romances
- “We never really got closure” second chances
- Stories where the heroine reclaims her future on her own terms
Heat & mood
- 🔥🔥 – Warm and sensual without being super explicit
- Mood: Nostalgic, emotional, quietly hopeful
Pick up Christmas at the Ranch on Amazon for a second-chance cowboy Christmas romance with snow, tension, and a soft landing.
Final Thoughts: Building Your Cozy Holiday Stack
You don’t have to choose between sweet cocoa vibes and steam—you can absolutely have both on your December TBR.
- Want Hallmark-with-heat? Reach for The Christmas Fix or How My Neighbor Stole Christmas.
- Want soft, healing, cozy? Go with Lovelight Farms, Christmas at Holiday House, or Christmas at the Ranch.
- Want something a little offbeat and fun? Try the time-loop charm of In a Holidaze or the gloriously extra A Merry Little Meet Cute.
- Want family feels and baked goods? The Christmas Cookie Wars will hit the spot.
Stack a few of these together, add a blanket and a snack, and you’ve basically built your own small-town Christmas getaway without leaving the couch.
Helpful Resources
- When you’re done with cozy and ready for darker, edgier romance, head over to your favorite dark/spicy lists on Raunchy Reads and build a “Naughty List” TBR to balance all this sweetness.
- Want to support authors and still keep things organized? Consider grabbing these on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org—wherever you usually buy or track your reads.
Some romances leave a mark—and those are the only ones worth reading.
~Kay~
