The Nightmare Before Kissmas (Royals and Romance #1) by Sara Raasch – Holiday themed queer romance

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is an engaging, heartwarming, and magical Holiday themed queer romance with an amazing concept and lovable characters.

Synopsis

Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky romcom where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween.

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make- out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

Review

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is a delightful and heartwarming queer romcom that blends holiday magic, royal politics, and sizzling romance.

It follows Nicholas (Coal) Claus, Prince and Heir of Christmas who used to love Christmas until his father, the reigning Santa, turned their holiday into PR facade and cheap commodity. Coal, known for being irresponsible and always joking, tried to do something good once, but it ended in disaster.

Ever since, he’s kept a low profile. When his farther suddenly announced his engagement with his best friend, Iris – Princess of Easter, who is crush of his younger brother- Kris, Coal is determined to find an escape. But then Prince of Halloween, Hex Hallow, challenges Christmas for Iris’s hand. Hex is also the same man Coal kissed in a drunken stupor two years ago, a moment Coal has never been able to forget.

As Coal and Hex spend more time together, their attraction becomes undeniable. Amidst their growing chemistry, Coal uncovers a manipulative scheme by his father that goes against everything Christmas should stand for. Now, Coal must decide how to navigate this fake engagement, confront his father’s deception, and figure out what his relationship with Hex means for both his holiday and his heart.

I loved the concept of Holidays royals with seasonal Holidays having their court and playing politics, and their power comes from how much more joy it creates. And of course, Christmas is big and powerful Holiday.

Writing is engaging and fun with lots of banter, Christmas jokes and puns, Christmas activities, sizzling chemistry and mild politics and tension. Themes of healing, grief, courage, and standing up for what’s right are central to the narrative. I rooted for main characters from the beginning.

Coal is a smart, fun-loving character who hides his real emotions behind a joking façade. He deeply cares about Christmas but struggles with self-doubt and fear of failure. His vulnerability, his longing for his father’s love, and the hurt caused by his mother’s abandonment is touching.

It was amazing how meeting Hex and being with him healed the hurt he felt from his parents, how his love for Hex bought out the best quality in him, take responsibility of undoing the damage his Holiday did so far, find courage within him to stand up for what he believes in and fight for his Holiday and people he loved.

Hex was broody, serious, mysterious and responsible, exactly opposite of Coal. He didn’t wanted to marry Iris but was in competition for his Holiday. I loved how put together he is throughout the book. He is wise, observant and dedicated to his Holiday and his love for his holiday and family shines through out the book. I didn’t understand why he was helping Coal until the reason was revealed in the climax and after knowing his full story, I liked him even more.

What I loved the most is friendship and sibling relationship. Bond between Coal and Kris was like twins. It was amazing how they understood each other. Kris is caring and brilliant, always stands with Coal in all situation and Coal is protective of Kris. The way their parents separation changed their family dynamic and impacted their relationship was touching.

Iris plays a key role in their dynamic. She is as funny as Claus brothers but is always compliant, keeping her image clean by never rebelling no matter how much royal politics hurt her. But I liked her for pushing Hex and Coal together and for standing with Coal in his plans. Their dynamics, group chats, and banter reminded me of Red, White and Royal Blue.

Romance is a kind of insta lust/love but I liked that author took time to develop. Chemistry between Hex and Coal is sizzling and sexy. There were many lovely moments between them. I especially loved those almost kissing scenes during the Christmas activities. All those scenes felt magical.

Climax is predictable and I was expecting it happening as soon as Coal put forth his plan but I wasn’t expecting it resulting in third act break up and the reason was unexpected. I mean one moment they were sure about their relationship and next one chickening out. But I liked how things changed after that.

End is satisfying with Coal finally standing up to his father, Hex coming to his senses, and Kris finally coming out with his feelings but that was kept behind the scene and I know why after reading the snippet of the next book.

Overall, The Nightmare Before Kissmas is an engaging, heartwarming, and magical Holiday themed queer romance with an amazing concept and lovable characters.

You might enjoy The Nightmare Before Kissmas if you like,

Queer Romance
Holiday themed plot
Royalty Romance
Fake engagement
Bisexual characters
Rival Priceses
Mild politics
Holiday magic
Lots of banter
Amazing sibling dynamic and friendship

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

#TheNightmareBeforeKissmas by Sara Raasch – engaging, heartwarming, and magical Holiday themed #queerromance with an amazing concept and lovable characters. Many thanks @torbooks fore eARC. Check out full review –> Share on X

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What is your favorite Holiday romance or Queer romance?

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