As a big fan of Christmas I knew I needed A Merry Little Meet Cute once I saw the cover and read the synopsis. I know it’s still October, but my Christmas loving heart can read them any time of the year! Today it’s time for me to review this one, so keep on reading to find out more about the book and what I thought!
A big thanks to Avon and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc to read and review.
Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone—a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with.
Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he’s making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee’s career is about to take a more family-friendly direction.
Forced to keep her work as Bianca under wraps, Bee quickly learns this is a task a lot easier said than done. Though it all becomes worthwhile when she discovers her co-star is none other than childhood crush Nolan Shaw, an ex-boy band member in desperate need of career rehab. Nolan’s promised his bulldog manager to keep it zipped up on set, and he will if it means he’ll be able to provide a more stable living situation for his sister and mom.
But things heat up quickly in Christmas Notch, Vermont, when Nolan recognizes his new co-star from her ClosedDoors account (oh yeah, he’s a member). Now Bee and Nolan are sneaking off for quickies on set, keeping their new relationship a secret from the Hope Channel’s execs. Things only get trickier when the reporter who torpedoed Nolan’s singing career comes snooping around—and takes an instant interest in mysterious newcomer Bee.
And if Bee and Nolan can’t keep their off-camera romance behind the scenes, then this merry little meet cute might end up on the cutting room floor.
Review
As someone who loves Christmas I basically binge Hallmark movies once they start airing, so when I read about A Merry Little Meet Cute I was sold. Think Hallmark movie meets a very spicy romance novel. I wasn’t expecting it to be so spicy, but it worked.
Our main characters go to a tiny Vermont town that is all Christmas (I seriously want to move there) to shoot a Christmas movie. I love that the author kind of made fun of how cheesy these movies are. I laughed out loud a few times reading about the scenes they were filming or the lines that they were rehearsing. The woman writing the movie was way out there and very unique, but it just worked. Things got interesting when a big part of the crew was in an accident and were replaced with people who do adult movies. That doesn’t really scream Hallmark does it? Haha.
Bee and Nolan were the perfect leads for this movie. Both of them were using this movie for their careers. Bee wants to try out family friendly movies and Nolan is trying to get rid of his bad boy image. Bee was such an amazing character. I loved how comfortable she was in her body and how body positive this book was. Yeah, she had some insecurities in the possible relationship with Nolan, but those felt very realistic. Nolan became a bad boy in the media and when his manager took off with most of his money things went downhill. I loved how sweet and caring he was. He’s really doing everything for his family. That really hit me in the feels.
Then let’s get to Nolan and Bee. Their chemistry jumped off the page. They kind of already have impressions of the other. Bee was a big fan of the boy band he was in and Nolan has seen some of her intimate pictures and videos she posts for subscribers. The scenes of them together were very steamy, but there were also quite a few sweet moments between the two. This is a five star read for me, but I would’ve loved a few more of their moments. There were definitely some bumps in their communication, but I loved how it all worked out.
Add some great side characters who definitely had me laughing and I was sold. I really hope this author duo gives us more books like these, because I’ll read them as soon as I can get my hands on them! If you love the holiday movies with a happy ending, but want more steam, A Merry Little Meet Cute is for you!
A Merry Little Meet Cute was a great way to start off my holiday reading. I’m now in the mood for all things Christmas, haha. Will you be reading any holiday themed books soon? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
