Title: Naughty-ish
Author: L.B. Dunbar
Series: Holiday Hotties #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2023

One of the things that I enjoy most about L.B. Dunbar books is that they always feature couples who are that little bit older. For Nick and Holliday, they are next door neighbours who find their joy and happiness with each other at Christmas. Both have a whole lot of issues to get over, but I love how they come together as lovers fairly quickly. Plus, for both of them, their primary love language is gifts and acts of service. The courtship between them is slow and occurs through their willingness to give to each other. It’s really cute and sweet. But also build towards being able to communicate and just be together.

Nick’s willingness to join in with Holliday’s life and jump into being part of a family unit is really sweet. Rather than trying to take control, or not understanding the importance of Christmas, he tries to make Holliday’s life easier. I love that Dunbar doesn’t shy away from how difficult it can be for a Mum at Christmas time. Reading this at Christmas time with my first intense Christmas as a Mum of two (my second born was only 2 months for our first Christmas as a family of four, so this one was intense) made me feel so validated and seen. It highlighted the difficulties (and the joys) of what the Festive Season entails for mothers and the pressure we feel to make everything perfect.

Naughty-ish is the first romance that I’ve read in a while with an irritating ex who doesn’t actually get any kind of, well, anything. He doesn’t help Holliday out, he is selfish, and at the end of the story, all of his crappy decisions and their impact on his children are just… nothing. It’s kind of irritating, but then, it’s also so much more realistic than a lot of the romances that I read. I mean, most of the time the selfish fool doesn’t ever realise that they are a selfish fool. And Holliday does, after all, have to co-parent with Mitch for the rest of their lives.

As a mum of two little ones, I am absolutely dreading the idea of Elf on a Shelf when they get old enough. And Naughty-ish did nothing to change my mind. I’m seriously hoping I can come up with a good idea as to why we don’t do this tradition – it just adds to the stress and difficulties of Christmas time and the festive season. This was such an adorable Christmas romance, and I love that it featured a single mum who has to deal with all of the nonsense of magic this time “magical”.

<- Scrooge-ish

Grouch-ish ->

Image source: The Reading Cafe