‘Tis the season to cozy up with your favourite holiday romance books.
CBC Books recommends these love and romance-themed Canadian titles to read during the holidays.
The Crush of Christmas Past by Nova Adams
Isla Greene is down on her luck: unemployed, evicted and forced to return to her hometown that doesn’t feel like home at all. At least, she can look forward to spending the holidays with her best friend. What she didn’t count on is being in the presence of Theo Thorne, her best friend’s brother and Isla’s former crush. In The Crush of Christmas Past, Isla must decide if her crush from the past can have a place in her future.
Nova Adams is a Canadian romance author. She writes rom-coms with humour, heart and heat. The Crush of Christmas Past is her debut novel.
A Baby for Christmas by Keira Andrews
Jake Gregson is a single dad to baby Cora. In A Baby for Christmas, he is overwhelmed and exhausted when he meets Cam Walsh, a cowboy who works at the ranch where Jake and his daughter get stranded because of a blizzard. Except Cam knows exactly who Jake is, he was a high school crush and things ended very badly. Stuck together in Cam’s cabin, will their journey repeat itself or will they have a happy ending this time around?
Keira Andrews is a Toronto-based author who writes 2SLGBTQ+ romance books. Her other titles include Kiss and Cry, If Only in my Dreams and the collection Festive Fakes.
Mistletoe Moments: A Holiday Anthology
Mistletoe Moments is a collection of short stories celebrating the winter season, written by 15 Canadian authors. The book’s proceeds will go to Food Banks Canada.
The collection features stories by: Brenna Bailey, Hannah Brixton, Kate Cole, Amelia S. Fletcher, Maggie Francis, Marron Kaye, Marie Landry, L. Meredith, Alyssa Milani, Madeline Nixon, Shelby Rae, Joseph Tam, Becky Tzag, L.E. Wagensveld and Rochelle Wolf.
Set the Record Straight by Hannah Bonam-Young
Set the Record Straight is a holiday novella that tells the story of Clara and Evan who are lifelong friends. When Clara’s photography idol, and now boss, mistakenly assumes she will be bringing her girlfriend to the gallery opening, Clara doesn’t correct her.
Evan is recently single and looking to bring a date to her staff holiday party that her ex will be attending. Both their problems are easily fixed if they simply pretend to date each other. But what if it’s not pretend anymore?
Hannah Bonam-Young is a writer whose books often feature disabled, marginalized and 2SLGBTQ+ characters. Her other romance novels include Next of Kin, Out on a Limb and Out of the Woods. She lives near Niagara Falls.
Prescription for Love by Mia Denson
After a grueling internship at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Meera has to carpool back to Toronto with her rival, Owen, on Christmas Eve. When a blizzard forces them into a quirky bed and breakfast, they are forced to share a room and learn more about one another. The characters in Prescription for Love thread the thin line between rivalry and romance.
Mia Denson is the pen name of two friends and romcom writing partners based in Toronto.
Autumn Nights, Holiday Lights by Elle Douglas
In Autumn Nights, Holiday Lights, Maya Monroe can’t believe her novel is being turned into a Christmas movie. Unfortunately, the movie director, Will Hastings, is the man who broke her heart years ago. Maya thinks Will knows nothing about romance, but Will is determined to complete the job. Problem is, their feelings are stealing the show.
Elle Douglas is a Toronto-based romance author and school guidance counsellor. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s creative writing program. Autumn Nights, Holiday Lights is the second book in Douglas’ Sugar Maple Farms series following Her Fairy-Tale Farmer.
Check the Halls by K.M. Gillis
Madelyn Clairmont has a perfect life. That is, until she runs into the man who stole her heart a decade ago: hockey player and playboy Ben Michaels. When Madelyn needs a host for a charity gala, Ben steps in without hesitation, but spending all this time together has old feelings resurfacing. Check the Halls is a second chance hockey holiday romance.
K.M. Gillis is a writer of contemporary romance novels. Check the Halls is the second book in The Ottawa Otters series following O Goalie Night. Gillis is based on P.E.I.
Christmas at Fox Ridge by Bailey Hannah
In Christmas at Fox Ridge, after a steamy night with Lucas McKinney, her best friend’s brother, Eira Davies thought it was harmless fun and nothing more thanw a fond memory. Six months later, Lucas is struggling to keep his ranch afloat and decides to rent out the spare cabin on his property. His first guest happens to be the woman he’s been trying to forget, but now thinks that maybe fate is trying to tell them something by putting them on each other’s paths again.
Bailey Hannah was born and raised in small-town British Columbia. She is best known for her cowboy romance books, notably her Wells Ranch series.
The Maverick’s Mistletoe Bride by Brenda Harlen
The fifth book in the Montana Mavericks book series, The Maverick’s Mistletoe Bride sees Winter Hernandez entering a marriage of convenience with her childhood friend, Luca Sanchez, in order to protect her unborn baby from her abusive ex.
As the holidays approach, Luca finds it more and more challenging to keep things in the friends zone.
Brenda Harlen is a former attorney and seasoned Harlequin author with dozens of books under her name. Some of her other titles include Her Favorite Mistake, Snowed In with a Stranger and Countdown to Christmas. She lives in Toronto.
A Little Holiday Fling by Farah Heron
Ruby Dhanji loves Christmas and everything to do with the United Kingdom. In A Little Holiday Fling, she’s on the verge of realizing her and her late mother’s dream of owning a small inn in England.
She just needs hotel experience to make it happen. When she meets Rashid, the son of luxury hotel chain owners who hates the holiday season, she offers to give his nieces a Christmas they’ll never forget — if he’ll introduce her to his parents. But the more time they spend together, she starts to fall for him, even though she’s planning a move across the Atlantic.
Farah Heron is a writer from Toronto. She is the author of the romantic comedies Just Playing House, Jana Goes Wild, The Chai Factor, Accidentally Engaged, Kamila Knows Best and the YA novels Meet Me on Love Street and Tahira in Bloom.
The Best Christmas Choir Ever by Elizabeth Hrib
For professional soprano Charlie Ward, music was everything. When her grandmother moves into a retirement home, Charlie is roped into directing their new choir for the Annual Christmas Choir Competition in The Best Christmas Choir Ever.
Julian Guerrero is the home’s activities director who works closely with Charlie in order to lead their seniors’ choir to victory. Together they make magic that surprises everyone, especially themselves.
Elizabeth Hrib is from London, Ont. While she studied nursing in university, she ultimately turned to writing and has published several books including Meet Me in a Mile, Flirting with Disaster and Lightning Strikes Twice.
Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
In Yours for the Season, Sameera Malik and Tom Cooke meet when neither of them is looking for romance. However, when Tom’s social media posts start a viral rumour that they’re a couple, they decide to keep the ruse for a few months.
The only problem? Their parents.
Sameera’s very Muslim parents insist on meeting Tom’s very not Muslim family over Christmas, during which time Sameera and Tom realize that maybe their attraction isn’t fake after all.
Uzma Jalaluddin is a teacher, parenting columnist and author based in Ontario. Her previous works include the novels Detective Aunty, Ayesha At Last, Hana Khan Carries On, Much Ado About Nada and Three Holidays and a Wedding, which she co-authored with Marissa Stapley.
Sheep Calm and Merry On by Ashlyn Kane
It’s been three years since former hockey player Devon Hughes hung up his skates. He’s now driving home for Christmas when he comes across a stranded Noah Bell. In Sheep Calm and Merry On, Noah is returning home after his short stint in professional hockey. When they hunker down together, they find out that they have more in common than just their hockey past.
Ashlyn Kane is former teacher and bookseller who is now a writer and editor from Southern Ontario. She is also the author of Homecoming for Beginners, The Inside Edge and the Hockey Ever After series.
The Twelfth Night Before Christmas by Keri Lane
In this holiday retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Viola Pearson pretends to be her brother Sebastian at his job as Snowspruce Christmas Village’s Santa. While she has to deal with all the demands of being Santa, she begins to fall for her coworker, Duke, who believes she’s a man. Viola has 12 days to find her happy ending or lose everything. The Twelfth Night Before Christmas is ultimately a story of finding one’s strength after your world is upended.
Keri Lane writes romance books mostly set in Canada, where she is from. She is the author of Sea Monsters and Sunrises, Bewitched by Love and Hunted by Love among others.
Magically Generated by Jackie Lau
Nora Blackburn is suspicious of everything in Magically Generated. With her neighbour from across the hall, Everett Sun, they go visit mysterious snow sculptures that start popping up in Toronto. As they try to solve the mystery of the sculptures, Nora begins to find Everett more and more alluring, but can she trust him?
Jackie Lau is a Toronto-based author of over a dozen romantic comedies, including Time Loops and Meet Cutes, Donut Fall in Love, Love, Lies and Cherry Pie and the Holidays with the Wongs series. She went to school for engineering and worked as a geophysicist before writing romance novels.
Rookie Season by Piper Lawson
After a night together, rookie basketball player Ryan and bartender Sierra both pretend it never happened. Problem is: neither of them can forget it. As they spend more time together, Ryan is determined to make Sierra believe in both Christmas and love again. Rookie Season is the fourth standalone book in the Denver Kodiaks basketball romance series.
Piper Lawson is a contemporary romance writer living in Canada. The other books in the Denver Kodiak series are Hard to Fake, Hard to Take and Hard to Break. She is also the author of the King of the Court series.
Holiday Unscripted by Natasha Madison
When Elizabeth comes home for her brother’s wedding in Holiday Unscripted, she realizes her parents don’t have a room for her, forcing her to go live with Nate, her brother’s best friend and the man who broke her heart years before. Living together is upsetting at first for Elizabeth but eventually both her and Nate realize that they are still deeply attracted to each other and must figure out if they can make it this time around.
Natasha Madison lives in Montreal where she writes romance novels. Her other titles include Something So Right, Shattered Dreams and Only One Kiss.
Holly Jolly July by Lindsay Maple
Mariah and Ellie are complete opposites — Ellie is a cheery small-time actress while Mariah is her grumpy makeup artist. Stuck on set in a small Canadian town, they pass time going out with guys who they eventually find out are cheating on them so they decide to get revenge. While planning all their elaborate pranks, Ellie and Mariah eventually realize they are falling for each other. Holly Jolly July is a Christmas in July love story.
Lindsay Maple is a Chilliwack, B.C-based romance writer and yoga instructor. She is the author of Not Your Basic Love Story and the upcoming Awkwardly Ever After.
Christmas at the Ranch by Julia McKay
In Christmas at the Ranch, disgraced journalist Emory Oakes doesn’t know where to turn with the holidays approaching. Trying to get away, she ends up stranded in Evergreen, the town where she spent her best Christmas as a teenager. Evergreen is also where she fell in love with Tate Wilder, until everything went wrong. Now that they are back in each other’s lives, will their relationship last longer than last time?
Julia McKay is the romance-writing pen name of Canadian author Marissa Stapley. Stapley’s novel Lucky is currently being adapted as a series for AppleTV. Under her pen name, she published Something About September and The Holiday Honeymoon Switch. She is also the author of Three Holidays and a Wedding, which she co-authored with Uzma Jalaluddin. Stapley is based in Toronto.
Deck the Hores by Megan McSpadden
After Nancy Walker has a very bad day, she impulsively elopes with Karl Hore. For Nancy, marrying Karl was a way to escape a world that had become suffocating. For Karl, marrying Nancy is the only thing that makes sense, even if he can’t explain why. Set in Ontario, Deck the Hores is a story of love at first sight and opposites attract.
Megan McSpadden is a writer and photographer from Hamilton, Ont. Deck the Hores is the prequel novella and fourth book in McSpadden’s Right Place, Right Time series. Her other books include An Unexpected Christmas and The ABCs of You & Me.
Time to Shine by Rachel Reid
In Time to Shine, hockey player Landon Stackhouse has just gotten his call up to the big leagues from the Calgary farm team, though he doesn’t get to play much. When he and Calgary’s star player Casey Hicks hit it off, the bromance evolves into a romance between the two, culminating with a wholesome Christmas spent together. But what will happen to the budding relationship when Landon’s time in Calgary comes to an end?
Rachel Reid is an author from Nova Scotia, best known for her queer hockey romances. Her other books include the Game Changer series and The Shots You Take. Her book Heated Rivalry is being adapted into a television series by Letterkenny‘s Jacob Tierney.
You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Sophie Sullivan
Maisie Smart is a photographer who made what she considers an embarrassing mistake of sleeping with Nick King, a professional hockey player in You Make It Feel Like Christmas. After he’s benched because of an injury, he heads home to his sister’s Christmas tree farm. Nick doesn’t expect to find Maisie there and for them to be stuck in close quarters together. And neither of them expect romance to bloom again.
Sophie Sullivan is a B.C.-based writer and teacher. She is the author of Ten Rules for Faking It and How to Love Your Neighbor, which both won the Canadian Book Club Award for best romance. Sullivan also writes under the pen name Jody Holford.
The Christmas Cure by Kristine Winters
In The Christmas Cure, Libby Munro returns to her idyllic village after a painful breakup and wants to rediscover her holiday spirit. What doesn’t expect is to fall for local baker Liam Young. After she’s knocked unconscious during the magical tree-lighting ceremony, Libby wakes up and finds herself in the past, specifically one year ago. As she relives her previous Christmas, she begins to wonder how she can change her life and where Liam fits in her future.
Kristine Winters is the pen name of Toronto-based novelist and journalist Karma Brown. She is best known for her novels Recipe for a Perfect Wife and Come Away with Me. Brown has also co-authored two holiday rom-coms, All I Want for Christmas and The Holiday Swap, with Marissa Stapley, under the pen name Maggie Knox.
The Ex-mas Breakup by Zoe York
In The Ex-mas Breakup, Garrett and Rory are exes who shared what they thought would be a one-night stand. Months later, they’re forced to drive back to Pine Harbour together and it solidifies why they don’t work as a couple. However, upon their arrival, they’re faced with a family crisis that has them entering a fake dating situation in order to save Christmas.
Zoe York is the pen name of Canadian author Rebecca Young. She also writes under the pen name Ainsley Booth. As Zoe York, she has authored the Wardham and Pine Harbour series, among others. Her books have been translated in French and German. Young is based in London, Ont. and all her series are set in Canada.
