Merry Little Kissmas
by Lauren Blakely

 

Released – 28 October 2025

 

Amazon  |  Signed & Personalized  |  Paperback  |  Audiobook
*Performed in duet by Vanessa Edwin & Connor Crais with a FULL CAST!

 

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Blurb

Dear Santa,
When I asked for a fresh shot at love for the holidays, I didn’t mean fake dating my brother’s grumpy best friend.
Especially since he’s also my new client.

As a professional matchmaker, my biggest job this holiday season should be simple: find a date for the sexy single dad hockey star—aka my brother’s best friend—for his team’s fancy Christmas Eve gala.

Sure Rowan’s hot as a crackling fire and spicier than a gingerbread man, but he hasn’t just sworn off romance. The Christmas hater has made a bet that I can’t find him a holidate.

What’s a matchmaker to do?
Win, of course. Even if it means fake dating the grinch myself to get him ready for the real thing.
Only…these fake dates at Christmas tree farms and hot cocoa competitions in the snowy small town of Evergreen Falls start to feel a little too real as I get to know the man behind the scowl. Somewhere between kisses under the mistletoe and a snowed-in night in his cabin curled up by the fire (where the stockings aren’t the only thing hung), I realize I’m in over my elf-loving head.
And when Rowan opens up to me at last about his painful past, I’m determined to give my brother’s best friend the holiday he deserves.
But what if the only gift I want him to unwrap this season is… me?

Tropes: Holiday romance, brother’s best friend, fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, small town, Christmas competition, matchmaker romance, workplace romance

Find Merry Little Kissmas on GOODREADS

 

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Review

4.5 stars!!

Merry Little Kissmas is exactly what everyone needs to get into the holiday spirit. It’s a sweet, swoony romance that brings us an entertaining grumpy/sunshine storyline for Christmas. Rowan is like the grinch. His heart was broken on Christmas years ago, and other then celebrating the bare minimum with his daughter, he stays away from anything that can bring holiday cheer.

Isla is the opposite. She loves Christmas and wants to share the joy with everyone.  When they are paired together by Rowan’s teammates, Isla as a match maker and Rowan as the client, Isla doesn’t want to fail at her matchmaking skills but Rowan makes it difficult when he has no desire to actually date anyone, let alone during the holidays.  These two are determined to do anything to appease the group but finding Rowan a date for the Christmas gala so when they decide to fake date to make everyone happy, they didn’t expect that feelings would get in the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Merry Little Kissmas and fell in love with Isla and Rowan’s love story. It has several tropes that I love including fake dating, brother’s best friend, single father, small town romance, and grumpy/sunshine, and each one is so well executed. Rowan and Isla are also wonderful characters that you can’t help by love. These two seem so different on the outside when it comes to dating and the holidays but as we get to see Rowan and Isla together, we see that they both have huge hearts and want to make the people around them happy. They are passionate about what the do and care about the people in their lives.

They also slowly open up the more time they spend together and we realize just how good they are together. Even though Rowan’s ex ruined Christmas for him, slowly bit by bit Isla brings back his love of the holiday, and in doing so, gives his daughter the Christmas’s she’s dreamed about since the day her mom left her. Rowan is a wonderful father and his affection for his daughter is beautiful but its even better when he brings holiday joy back into their lives.

I love that they turn everything into a bet and neither want to lose. Their banter is fantastic and I loved how they really got to know each other going on the “fake” dates when really you can tell they were never fake at all.  The chemistry is off the charts and I believed their feelings as they got more and more intense. Their sneaking around was also fun and turned up the heat. And let’s talk about the swoonfest when Rowan treats Ilsa to the things she loves. So good!!

I love love love that we get to see other characters we met before in previous books. Seeing everyone again ties the stories together and always brings a smile to my face.

*ARC generously provided by the author*

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Evergreen Falls

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About the Author

A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s cute but spicy. Lauren likes dogs, cake, and show tunes and is the vegetarian at your dinner party.

 

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