13 Books You'll Love If You Can't Stop Streaming Holiday Romance Movies This Season

Holiday romances that leap off the page!

1. If you loved 12 Dates of Christmas, read In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

ABC Family, Gallery Books

Both 12 Dates of Christmas (starring Mark Paul Gosselaar and Amy Smart) and In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren have that perfect dash of holiday magic. In 12 Dates of Christmas, a young woman relives the same Christmas Eve date until she gets it right. Mae, the protagonist of Christina Lauren's In a Holidate is also stuck in a time loop full of holiday hijinks designed to get her true love under the mistletoe. I don’t know about you, but Groundhog Day loops really appeal to my anxiety brain because when someone goes wrong, you have a second, third or fourth chance to make it right.

2. If you loved Dash & Lily, read the book it is based on: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Netflix, Ember

The dynamic duo that gave us Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist knocks it out of the park with this holiday romance. I binged the 8-episode Netflix series Dash & Lily in a single night. Dash is a cranky teen who hates Christmas. Lily is pure sunshine and loves Christmas more than anything. They come together through a red notebook left in the Salinger section of The Strand Bookstore. What ensues is a series of truths and dares that force Dash and Lily out of their comfort zones and into their best selves.

3. If you loved Happiest Season, read Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Hulu, Avon

Happiest Season is a Hulu Original movie starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis who play a lesbian couple going home for the holidays. When Harper (Davis) tells Abby (Stewart) that she isn’t out to her family, both young women are forced back into the closet. This is not exactly the fluffy romantic comedy advertised (TW for a cruel outing scene) but it does have a HEA. The book I’d pair with Happiest Season is Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur. This is a 100% feel-good holiday novel following a free-spirited astrologer who agrees to fake a relationship with an uptight actuary (a literary risk manager) until New Year’s Eve. All signs point to *heart eye emojis.*

4. If you loved A Very Country Christmas, read His Country Cinderella by Karen Rose Smith

Netflix, HARLEQUIN

You know how it goes. A superstar country singer needs to escape the paparazzi and holes up in a small town where a chance encounter with a single mom makes for a very romantic and very country Christmas. The movie is based on the Harlequin romance novel, His Country Cinderella by Karen Rose Smith.

5. If you loved Last Holiday, read Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

Paramount Pictures, Berkley Books

Lady Holiday is a rom-com favorite starring Queen Latifah and L.L. Cool J. Queen Latifah’s character is told she has three weeks left to live. She's done with playing it safe, so she takes out a loan and has the best (and last) holiday of her life, including getting with her long time crush. Yes, Jasmine Guillory's Royal Holiday is a way different premise. But, the movie and novels both star heroines who have never taken a spontaneous jump. Guillory's holiday romance follows Vivian Forest, who has been out of the country exactly one time. This holiday she tags along with her daughter to a job at the palace and falls into a fling with a private secretary.

6. If you loved Double Holiday, read Miracles and Menorahs by Stacey Agdern

Tule, Hallmark

One thing I hope to see more in holiday romance movies is Jewish stories. In Double Holiday, Rebecca (Carly Pope) and Chris (Kristoffer Polaha) are company rivals tasked with planning a Christmas party. Stacey Agdern's Miracles and Menorahs is a celebration of Jewish family love and traditions. Sarah is lives for the Hollowville Hanukkah Festival. Isaac hates the commercialization of it all. Can Sarah change his mind about more than just the holidays?

7. If you loved A Christmas Prince, read Finding Christmas by Karen Schaeller

Netflix, Harpercollins

A Christmas Prince spawned a whole trilogy surrounding a resourceful journalist and the dashing prince of Aldovia. This is a holiday romance favorite because it is sheer joy. The first movie follows Amber, a journalist who goes poses as a tutor in order to get the scoop on playboy Prince Richard who is more than he seems. Finding Christmas has nothing to do with royalty, but Karen Schaeller did did write and create the characters of A Christmas Prince. In Finding Christmas, Emmie creates a scavenger hunt to get her boyfriend into the holiday spirit. Only, he doesn't get the clues. Another guy does. Sam is a mystery writer who thinks the clues are from his agent. When he arrives at the town of Christmas Point where Emmie is waiting, the mistake just might reroute her idea of who "the one" is supposed to be.

8. If you loved The Holiday Calendar, read Wrapped by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Netflix, Rebekah Weatherspoon

In The Holiday Calendar, a photographer stuck in a dead-end job inherits her grandmother's antique advent calendar that helps her find her one true love, and reignite her passion for her career. There are themes of family, love, and heroines who make mistakes on the way to their HEA. Wrapped by Rebekah Weatherspoon follows pastry chef Shae Kenney who is recently divorced and ready to date again. She's matched with a hunky guy from her past, but just as sparks fly, she begins to self-sabotage. True love is the theme of both enduring holiday romances.

9. If you loved Christmas with a View, read Mangos & Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera

Netflix, Adriana Herrera

You can't do holidays without delicious food. Hot chefs are on the menu in this holiday pairing. In Christmas with a View, Clara hates her new celebrity chef boss, until their interactions make her realize first impressions aren't always right. In Mangos & Mistletoe, Kiskeya and Sully are Latina pastry chefs partnered in the Holiday Baking Challenge. They need to win, but their growing attraction and possible betrayal threaten their chances. Can they overcome it all? Also, Latinas in Scotland? Yes, thank you.

10. If you loved The Holidate, read Gigolo All the Way by J.N. Welsh

Netflix, Createspace Independent Publishing

The Holidate was a movie...that happened. I will always give something with a "fake dating" premise a shot. J.N. Welsh's Gigolo All the Way not only wins best holiday-related title pun, but it is also just escapism fun. Like our heroine Sloane from The Holidate, Noelle "Elle" Rudolph is relegated to the kids table for being single. Sad. This year, she hires an elite gigolo from an escort service in an attempt to get her Caribbean family to back off her personal life. What could go wrong? The answer is "everything" but in the steamiest, delightful way.

11. If you loved Nothing Like the Holidays, read The Holiday Home Run by Priscilla Oliveras

Overture Films, Zebra Books

All I want for Christmas is more Latinx romances. Nothing Like the Holidays is about the chaotic Rodriguez family who come together for a Christmas family reunion in Chicago. The book I'd pair with it is The Holiday Home Run by Priscilla Oliveras. Also set in Chicago and starring a Boricua heroine, the novella follows Julia Fernández, an event planner who is organizing a huge charity event and trying to escape her family's expectations. Ex-MLB pitcher Ben Thomas knows all about familial expectations when he's forced to retire after an injury. When he's set to host the fundraiser, Julia doesn't have romance on her mind, but Ben is about to change the game.

12. If you loved A Christmas Kiss, read Missing Christmas by Kate Clayborn

Ion Television, Zebra

Both of these picks are about a spontaneous kiss that changes everything for all parties involved. In A Christmas Kiss, Priscilla gets stuck in an elevator with a handsome stranger (sweet Roswell alien prince Brendan Fehr), and they share an ~amazing~ we-might-die-trapped-in-here kiss. The next day, Priscilla discovers her mystery man is her terrible boss's boyfriend who is torn between these two women. It's all about the kiss, as you'll find in Missing Christmas, a story found in A Snowy Little Christmas by Kate Clayborn. When friends turned business partners share a romantic kiss, Kristen and Jasper have a lot of feelings to work through. Good thing they're unexpectedly snowed in by a New England blizzard.

13. If you loved Wrapped Up in Christmas, read Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert

Hallmark, Kobo / Via kobo.com

It isn’t all holiday cheer for these Scrooge-like heroines. Wrapped Up in Christmas is about Heather Nash, a mall manager (Tatiana Ali) tasked with shutting down several stores. Ryan McKee (Brendan Fehr) is helping at his aunt’s shop get through the holidays and tries to melt Heather’s heart by showing her the meaning of Christmas — clearly through kissing. In Talia Hibbert’s Wrapped Up in You, "Sexiest Man Alive" actor Will finally works up the courage to try and win over his best friend’s little sister, the frosty Abbie Farrell. He gets the chance to be alone with her (and 27 pets) when they’re snowed in for Christmas at her grandmother's cottage.