Name: A Holly Jolly Ever After
Rating: 3.4 (15 reviews)
ISBN: 9780008655976

Julie Murphy

Sierra Simone

Opposites attract in this spicy holiday rom-com...

A Holly Jolly Ever After

Following the success of A Merry Little Meet Cute, a new holiday rom-com cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone--about an actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film. Kallum Lieberman is the funny one(tm). As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He's living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends' weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he's ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel. Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself--and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie? With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars...especially Winnie who can't seem to fake on screen pleasure she's never experienced in real life. She's willing to do the pleasure research--for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there's no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum's teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself. They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?

A Christmas Notch Novel

I am thoroughly enjoying it - I cannot wait for book 3!! 

Brittany Peterson

This series is laugh out loud at times!!

I am thoroughly enjoying it - I cannot wait for book 3!! 

What you can expect 

- good girl turned bad

- reformed playboy 

- teach me 

- surprise pregnancy 

These authors are pure gold 

Such a cute read, I liked it almost more than the first book. 

Brittnee Coffmen

This series is just so smutty! I appreciated the tear-down of purity culture in this one, but I didn’t always love Winnie and Kallum’s dynamic. Also accidental pregnancy is my least favorite trope, and this one had a redeeming ending at least but idk. 

1.5 stars for ❤️ & 1.5 stars for 🌶️

Amelia

This series is just so smutty! I appreciated the tear-down of purity culture in this one, but I didn’t always love Winnie and Kallum’s dynamic. Also accidental pregnancy is my least favorite trope, and this one had a redeeming ending at least but idk. 

1.5 stars for ❤️ & 1.5 stars for 🌶️

I loved this book so much. I enjoyed it more that the first standalone in the series, a very merry meet cute (4.5 stars) as the pacing is faster in this one. This had me laughing out loud and then tearing up by the end. I love the humor Sierra and Julie come up with together. I also loved the topic of religious and purity culture trauma that was covered in such a beautiful but also fun way.

Based on other reviews I saw people disliked the surprise pregnancy trope but it is an absolute favorite trope of mine so it made this that much better for me and made sense for what the FMC needed to work through.

Abigail

I loved this book so much. I enjoyed it more that the first standalone in the series, a very merry meet cute (4.5 stars) as the pacing is faster in this one. This had me laughing out loud and then tearing up by the end. I love the humor Sierra and Julie come up with together. I also loved the topic of religious and purity culture trauma that was covered in such a beautiful but also fun way.

Based on other reviews I saw people disliked the surprise pregnancy trope but it is an absolute favorite trope of mine so it made this that much better for me and made sense for what the FMC needed to work through.

This book....idk what to say about this book. I went in wanting a spicy little xmas novel and got the most icked out I've ever been in a romance book. Maybe it's because I'm so used to darker romance, but I struggled finishing. The writing felt childish, which is something i'd expect from YA but this was by no means YA. I felt the chemistry and potential of Winnie and Kallum as a couple wasn't believable and I strongly believe that they would've broken up two months after the book. The biggest indicator of this being the author's highlight of the dysfunctional relationship of the two. The smut scenes were so unserious and the writing was just not that good. The stars I did give it were for Winnie, who was an absolute queen the whole way through (except maybe for her obsession with Kallum's chest hair). Kallum, however...needs to grow up. Also...surprise pregnancy....just no.

ariah 

Almost as good as the first one, story-wise. The spice was definitely as good tho. Amazingly hot!

Alyssa deRaad

I impulsively picked this book up at my library to try to get into the holiday spirit, expecting a wholesome, adorable holiday room, and let's just say, I wrongly judged this book by its sweetpea cover.

This is probably one of the most sex-positive/sex-work positive books I've read and I loved it. Between the breaking free of religious shame to a cast of raunchy and hilarious co-stars, this gem of a story was an absolute pleasure to read. 

Ps: I did start with this book but I'll be going back to read the 1st book of the series soon. 

Unique enough premise that I forgot I was reading a contemporary romance: 4.5/5

Kate B-L

I impulsively picked this book up at my library to try to get into the holiday spirit, expecting a wholesome, adorable holiday room, and let's just say, I wrongly judged this book by its sweetpea cover.

This is probably one of the most sex-positive/sex-work positive books I've read and I loved it. Between the breaking free of religious shame to a cast of raunchy and hilarious co-stars, this gem of a story was an absolute pleasure to read. 

Ps: I did start with this book but I'll be going back to read the 1st book of the series soon. 

Spice level: 3/5

Fun level: 4.6/5

Unique enough premise that I forgot I was reading a contemporary romance: 4.5/5

A Holly Jolly Ever After

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