If you’re anything like me, you love to set an overly optimistic reading goal at the beginning of the year and then wind up panicking as the end of the year approaches because you are nowhere near meeting said goal. I tend to do this to myself every year and then proceed to have regrets when December hits. With less than two weeks left in 2024, I have compiled a list of holiday novellas under 250 pages to not only help me reach my reading goal for the year but also to get me in the holiday spirit. Here are three you should add to your holiday TBR.
1. My December Darling by Lauren Asher
An ex-boyfriend’s—who also happens to be her brother-in-law—best friend who is an overly charming doctor, loves to build Lego, and buys an expensive espresso machine to make her late-night shifts as a nurse more tolerable? Yes, please! Catalina and Luke had such a great dynamic with incredible banter and so much tension. Lauren truly did an incredible job telling the story of these characters in such a small number of pages. A great addition to your holiday reads and only 250 pages!
2. The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese
This an enemies-to-lovers and close-proximity holiday novella that follows a Scrooge-worthy man and a holiday-obsessed woman working in the same bookstore that is on the brink of financial ruin. With the assumption that one of them will lose their job in the near future, they make a bargain: whoever has the highest number of sales before the new year gets to keep their job and whoever loses the bet will quit. High tension, opposite personalities, the magic of the holiday season, AND under 200 pages? Definitely a must-read!
3. Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood
73 pages doesn’t seem like a lot of time to tell an angsty story about two people who have been in love since they were teenagers, but Ali accomplished just that. Childhood friends-to-lovers who are trapped inside during an icy blizzard must face their past—and their undeniable feelings for each other—in this tension-filled novella that is told from both the past and present. This cozy winter novella can be read in one sitting, so be sure to add this to your holiday TBR.