I enjoyed reading Holly and Nick Hate Christmas, a delightful romcom set in Ohio. The story opens two weeks before Christmas when Holly loses her marketing job in Detroit. She’s a Christmas Day baby who hates Christmas, and she’s not looking forward to her milestone thirtieth birthday. Holly’s brother plays matchmaker and convinces her to attend their family Christmas celebrations at the family farm in Ohio with Nick as her date. Nick is Holly’s brother’s best friend and work colleague who hates Christmas.
Nick refuses to spend the holidays with his dysfunctional family. He’s setting up a nonprofit and talking with Holly’s parents about the possibility of buying their farm to build a teen camp for troubled youth. Holly’s parents don’t want their adult children to know they’re considering selling the farm. Nick reluctantly agrees to keep their secret and he embraces the opportunity to visit the farm for Christmas.
Holly and Nick’s meet cute at the farm is awkward and adorable. Their romance is sweet and I loved how false assumptions and misunderstandings, combined with family drama and secret reveals, created numerous problems for Holly and Nick to overcome. I appreciated how the importance of truth, and the consequences from not being honest and truthful, were highlighted and explored in the story.
I recommend Holly and Nick Hate Christmas to contemporary romance readers who like brother’s best friend, matchmaking and fake relationship Christmas romcoms with depth that…
