There’s just something about a small-town Christmas romance that feels like slipping into your comfiest pajamas with a mug of hot cocoa. Snowy streets, twinkle lights, nosy neighbors, and the kind of slow-burn chemistry that makes you want to stay up way too late “just one more chapter.”
This list leans into all of that—small towns, messy hearts, and holiday magic—with a mix of cozy, funny, and definitely steamy. Think: Christmas tree farms, town festivals, baking competitions, and a few heroes and heroines who swear they hate Christmas…until love shows up with tinsel.
Use it as a TBR starter, a “read one a week until Christmas” project, or a quick way to find your next snow-covered escape.
Heat Key
- 🔥 sweet / low steam
- 🔥🔥 mild spice
- 🔥🔥🔥 steamy
- 🔥🔥🔥🔥 very hot
1. Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
Blurb
Stella poured her savings and her heart into Lovelight Farms, a Christmas tree farm in the tiny town of Inglewild—but instead of a winter wonderland, she’s stuck with missing shipments, dead trees, and a raccoon takeover of the Santa barn. Her big idea to save the farm? Enter a social media contest and pretend she’s happily in love…with her best friend, Luka. Fake dating in a struggling holiday business? What could possibly go wrong?
Why it’s worth reading
If you love friends-to-lovers, this one feels like a warm blanket. The pining is slow, sweet, and a little chaotic, with a small town that absolutely ships them harder than they ship themselves. There’s plenty of banter, found family vibes, and that specific brand of Christmas optimism where everyone stubbornly believes the farm—and the relationship—can be saved.
What you’ll get
- Best friends-to-lovers
- Fake dating for a contest
- Struggling Christmas tree farm chaos
- A cinnamon-roll hero who’s low-key obsessed
- Cozy, modern small-town rom-com energy
You can grab Lovelight Farms on Amazon when you’re ready to escape to Inglewild, and check if the audiobook is on Audible so you can listen while you wrap presents or decorate the tree.
Read if you like
- Hallmark vibes but with more heat
- Communities that rally around “their” couple
- Soft, slightly anxious heroines and quietly steady heroes
Heat & mood: 🔥🔥 — Warm, on-page intimacy but not ultra explicit. Sweet, small-town rom-com tone. This book is listed in my post Small Town Snowfall: Cozy Christmas Rom-Com Reads—click on the link to read.
2. The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score
Blurb
Cat is a reality TV renovation star sent to a storm-damaged town to fix everything on camera. Noah is the grumpy city manager who’s already exhausted, over budget, and not thrilled about cameras capturing every mistake. Their job? Work together to restore the town in time for Christmas. Their reality? Enemies-to-lovers, ridiculous tension, and the kind of chemistry that could burn down the renovated inn.
Why it’s worth reading
This one has big “the town is a character” energy. You get small-business owners, high stakes for the community, and a hero and heroine who bicker their way straight into bed (and feelings). If you like your holiday romances with actual problems to solve—not just “who’s going to the tree lighting?”—this hits that sweet spot.
What you’ll get
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Grumpy/sunshine dynamic
- Home renovation + small-town politics
- Christmas deadline pressure
- Plenty of humor and dirty talk
When you’re ready for a messy, steamy renovation story, snag The Christmas Fix on Amazon—and look for the audiobook on Audible if you want to binge it while commuting or baking cookies.
Read if you like
- Loud chemistry and sarcastic banter
- Small towns fighting to get back on their feet
- Heroes who pretend they don’t care…but absolutely do
Heat & mood: 🔥🔥🔥 — Medium heat. Fun, steamy (no fade to black), and a little chaotic, with a satisfying emotional core underneath the banter.
3. How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn
Blurb
Kringletown loves Christmas. Cole Black absolutely does not. He’s the neighborhood Grinch, perfectly happy to hibernate through the season—until Storee moves next door to care for her aunt and signs up for the town’s Christmas Kringle contest. Naturally, Cole enters just to beat her. Fake dating schemes, over-the-top festivities, and one very competitive small town later, the line between “enemy” and “something else” gets suspiciously blurry.
Why it’s worth reading
This is pure festive chaos in the best way: competitions, town traditions, and a hero who protests too much about hating Christmas. The humor is big, the side characters are loud, and the chemistry is the kind that makes you grin into your pillow. If you like your small-town holiday romance with a rom-com edge and actual laugh-out-loud moments, this delivers.
What you’ll get
- Enemies-to-lovers with a holiday twist
- Fake dating to win a contest
- A year-round Christmas town
- Childhood friends-to-enemies-to-lovers feelings
- A lot of festive shenanigans
When you’re ready to visit Kringletown, grab How My Neighbor Stole Christmas on Amazon—and check Audible for the audiobook if you want the banter brought to life while you decorate or do chores.
Read if you like
- Grumpy vs. relentlessly festive
- Holiday competitions and small-town drama
Rom-coms that lean into big, ridiculous set pieces
Heat & mood
Heat & mood: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 — Spicy, funny, and high-energy. Think naughty Grinch retelling with real heart underneath the jokes.
4. Season of Love by Helena Greer.
Blurb
Miriam returns to Carrigan’s Christmasland—a Jewish-run Christmas tree farm and inn in upstate New York—after the death of her beloved great-aunt Cass. She plans to sit shiva, keep her distance from old wounds, and leave. Instead, she inherits part of the farm…and discovers it’s in serious trouble. To save it, she must work with Noelle, the grumpy manager who isn’t thrilled about Miriam suddenly being a co-owner, even though the attraction between them could light up the entire property.
Why it’s worth reading
This one goes deeper than your average fluffy holiday romance. It’s sapphic, layered, and honest about grief, trauma, and recovery—while still delivering plenty of cozy farm details, found family, and winter magic. If you want a small-town holiday romance that actually says something as well as melts you, this is it.
What you’ll get
- Queer, Jewish holiday rep
- Grumpy/sunshine f/f romance
- Inherited business + save-the-farm plot
- Found family and complicated relatives
- Heavy themes handled with care
You can pick up Season of Love on Amazon when you’re ready to visit Carrigan’s, and look for the audiobook on Audible if you’re in the mood to listen while you walk or clean.
Read if you like
- Holiday romances with emotional weight
- Slow-burn sapphic love stories
- Cozy settings that still tackle serious topics
Heat & mood
Heat & mood: 🔥🔥 — Closed-door romance with strong emotional intensity. Cozy, snowy, and heartfelt with deeper undercurrents of healing.
5. The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
Blurb
Identical twins Cass and Charlie swap lives for the holidays when both need an escape: Charlie’s a burnt-out TV baking show co-host in LA, while Cass is trying to keep their family’s small-town bakery afloat. Cue mistaken identities, flour-covered flirting, confused crushes, and one very snowy mountain town where half the town has known them since childhood—and still gets fooled.
Why it’s worth reading
This is Hallmark-core in book form: baking, snow, dogs, and two parallel romances unfolding at once. The small-town bakery scenes are especially cozy—smells like cinnamon rolls and second chances. If you’re in the mood for something light, sweet, and still romantic enough to give you butterflies, this is a great pick.
What you’ll get
- Twin-swap hijinks
- Small mountain town with a beloved bakery
- Two romances, one book
- Holiday baking, TV drama, and family pressure
- Low angst, high charm
Grab The Holiday Swap on Amazon when you want a feel-good read, and see if the audiobook is on Audible so you can listen while you bake your own holiday treats.
Read if you like
Holiday movies where everything happens at the bakery
- Identity shenanigans and mistaken feelings
- Comfort reads with minimal emotional wreckage
Heat & mood: 🔥🔥 — Low-to-medium heat, very cozy and charming. Think comfort-watch holiday rom-com you could re-read every December.
6. A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh
Blurb
Lauren would rather do almost anything than be trapped in a car with her brother’s best friend, Will—the golden boy she once had a hopeless crush on. But she’s terrified of flying, so a road trip is the only way to make it home for Christmas. Days in a car, awkward motel stops, shared playlists, and old memories lead to a very different kind of holiday reunion when they finally roll into her family’s small-town Christmas.
Why it’s worth reading
This feels like the book version of that slow, surprising shift from “I can’t believe I’m stuck with you” to “I don’t want this trip to end.” The small-town setting shows up in the back half with warm, family Christmas vibes, but the journey there is half the charm. It’s sweet, reflective, and perfect if you like a bit of emotional ache with your holiday lights.
What you’ll get
- Road trip + forced proximity
- Brother’s-best-friend romance
- Unresolved feelings and old crush energy
- Small-town family Christmas at the destination
- Humor, heart, and a few teary moments
When you’re ready for a cross-country slow burn, pick up A Cross-Country Christmas on Amazon—and check for the audiobook on Audible if you want company on your own drives or walks.
Read if you like
- Long drives + soft confessions
- Second-chance vibes without a full breakup history
- Holiday stories that balance sweetness with real emotion
Heat & mood: 🔥 — Low-to-medium heat with a warm, nostalgic tone. Cozy, reflective, and a little bit tender.
Helpful Resources
Here are a few ways you can build on this list and keep your holiday TBR stacked:
- If you want more small-town seasonal goodness, pair this post with my Small Town Snowfall: Cozy Christmas Rom-Com Reads post and build a full mini theme for your December reading.
- If your mood swings a little darker, check out my dark holiday romance recsBlood On The Snow: Best Dark Christmas Romance Books post for twisted, intense winter reads to balance the cozy ones.
- You can create an Amazon holiday romance shelf or wish list and add all six of these titles, so they’re easy to grab during sales or when you’re ready for your next read.
- If you don’t have Audible yet, this is the perfect time to try a .99/ month trial and test a few holiday audiobooks from this list while you commute, clean, or wrap gifts.
Final Thoughts
Small-town holiday romances are comfort food: familiar, a little predictable in the best way, and exactly what your brain needs when life feels loud. Whether you want steamy enemies-to-lovers in a Christmas-obsessed town, queer tree-farm chaos, or cinnamon-scented bakery flirting, there’s something here to match your December mood.
Curl up, pick one, and let a fictional town adopt you for a few hundred pages.
Love hard, read harder—and always choose the wild ones. ~Kay~
