92 Books Like All's Fair in Love and Christmas

First of all—a holiday story set in New York City? Who can resist that? Like the heroine, I am one of those people who loves immersing myself in Christmas as soon as Halloween is over. That usually means reading several holiday-set novels. With this book, I found myself turning pages faster and faster, yet never wanting the book to end.

The hero worried me. He’d faced a tragedy and shut himself off from the world. Sometimes, that can be too dark for my reading pleasure. But Sarah is a masterful storyteller. Her heroine is so empathetic and caring (possibly at the risk of breaking her own heart) that the hero is ever-so-slowly coaxed back from the brink of disaster.

Even for readers not from the Christmas tradition, the unfolding story will be satisfying. 

I love that Royal Holiday features older characters—the main character in this book is the mother of the main character in another of the same series. Because yes, whirlwind love stories shouldn't be restricted just to the 20- or 30-somethings.

The maturity and self-knowledge of the main characters was so refreshing, and of course the setting is a part of why I love every single book on this list.

Ashley who is heading home for Christmas, meets a mysterious woman on a train, and wakes up wearing an antique charm bracelet.

Once home, Ashley keeps running into her former high school boyfriend, hot firefighter Aidan. If you love small town romances (and I do) then you’ll love Ashley’s hometown which is full of community spirit, family and friends and hot chocolate, and holiday traditions. Ashley soon realizes that each charm indicates an event that happens in real life.

It all adds up to the feeling that Ashley and Aidan are meant to be. Sweetly adorable and utterly charming.

I love books that draw you into the plight of the characters and make you ache for them.

Sent away from family and friends, Grace Miller is ashamed and isolated in the “sinner’s shack” as she calls it. Despite her heart-wrenching situation, I admire her pluck and courage. And when the community rallies around to help her, they show God’s love to a hurting stranger. But Grace isn’t the only one with hidden pain in the community.

As others around Grace open up and share their secrets, we discover that they, too, carry their own trauma they’ve hidden from the world. To love again, they need to forgive themselves and open up to God’s forgiveness and grace. I enjoyed the unexpected surprises, the strong emotional pull, the life-changing realizations, and the realistic story.

I can always count on Tiffany Reisz for a witty, banter-filled romance, and this sexy seasonal delight is no exception. After a bad breakup, Joey heads to her family’s Oregon cabin, where her troubles are eased by the presence of her brother’s gorgeous best friend, Chris. But this hookup with the handyman has the potential to last past October 31st.

The funny and flirtatious dialogue here kept me laughing.

I loved this "later in life" romance with the main characters being in their fifties and early sixties.

A novel filled with plenty of steam, humor, and passion. Widow Andi McDermott retreats to her mountain cabin at Christmas and runs into her grumpy neighbor, Wolf Enders. An instant attraction sparks between them neither can ignore.

Wolf is a military veteran who is intimidating and has a soft spot for the widowed Andy, as well as an aversion to committing to a woman. Intensely emotional, this novel focuses on family issues, love, and learning to trust again. A well-written novel I recommend.

Most baseball fans know that director Barry Levinson changed the ending to The Natural when he adapted the book into a film. Instead of striking out, Roy Hobbs hits a game-winning home run into the lights. The movie is full of hope, but the book is wonderfully grim.

It’s a story of hubris and corruption, a baseball noir published in 1952, just as the postwar American dream was starting to dissipate with the Civil Rights Era, McCarthyism, and fears of nuclear holocaust. Malamud writes beautifully about the game he loves while gazing with clear eyes at the country that invented it.

This is one of the funniest fake dating stories I’ve ever read with so many delightfully cringe-worthy moments. Olive is such a relatable character and Miles is everything you could want in a leading man. I was laughing every step of the way as these two workplace rivals fake-date their way through Christmas at a lodge in Vermont, surrounded by family members on both sides who have no idea it’s all pretend.

The setting is perfection. Cindy Steel does a great job making you feel like you’re actually sipping cocoa in front of a Christmas tree with snowflakes falling outside your window. It’s the perfect cozy holiday rom-com!

Yes, that J.R.R. Tolkien. Each year he took a break from Middle-earth to write and illustrate incredible letters from Father Christmas to his and Edith’s four children, John, Michael, Christopher, and Priscilla. Being Tolkien, he created an entire polar world and history in the letters, which feature elves, goblins—who launch a major attack one year—and Father Christmas’s great assistant and companion, North Polar Bear. Here is a high Yuletide adventure from the fantasy Master, himself. And somehow reading it makes you feel more creative yourself.

Each time the ‘Little House’ books cross my path, I am reminded of where and when I first discovered the series. My dad regularly took my sister and I to the (Otis) Children’s Library, then located atop the Church Street hill in downtown Norwich, CT. We devoured the Little House books and much of the library’s young reader collection, usually finishing the books before their due date, when Dad was happy to drive us again. 

I probably identified with the Ingalls family. Their experience in the American frontier echoed certain life patterns of my dad’s immigrant family (a half-century later). Self-sufficiency, frugality, gratitude for small blessings, and appreciation for Nature’s beauty and bounties were just a few. This “Treasury” brings together many of Laura’s wonderful Christmas memories.