Book Review: The Nightmare Before Kissmas

by Damla

“I point at the starlit sky and the rolling hills of ivory and the cozy bookshelves and the pulsing light of a crackling fire like all of it is solely responsible for being so picturesque that we may as well be standing in a romance novel.”

What do you get when you wrap The Nightmare Before Christmas and Red, White, & Royal Blue with a Hallmark-movie shaped ribbon?
This perfectly cheesy, uplifting, funny rom-com that is perfect for the holidays, of course.

On one hand, we have the unruly and troublemaker Christmas prince Coal (short for Nicholas of course), who used to love Christmas until his overbearing, power-grabbing father has managed to turn the holiday into a materialistic PR opportunity. Now, he is pressured into cleaning up his act as the heir to Christmas by forming a marriage alliance to the Easter princess.

On the other hand, we have the broody and dark prince of Halloween, Hex, who is also competing for the princess’s hand at marriage to bond the holidays together against the growing influence of Christmas.
Except, is he really?

It is little wonder that I enjoyed this book as much as I did, since it’s no secret that I love everything Halloween, and it is impossible to resist the warm and cozy allure of the Christmas ambiance. But this book also manages to combine the sweetest and funnest parts of these holidays with an adorable romance between a skinny goth boy and a golden retriever chaos magnet, multiplying the laughs and the aww’s. Not to mention a low-stakes political intrigue of sorts. It was just fun, fun, fun.

However, do not be fooled into thinking that this just is a cozy Hallmark-style wholesome romance, as it definitely has some spice in it. Except, it is accompanied by beautifully romantic prose (because this is a holiday romance, first and foremost.)

And what’s more, the Royals and Romance series continues with the next book called Go Luck Yourself, about the spare prince of Christmas and the crown prince of St. Patrick’s Day. After all, March is just around the corner and I do love a holiday-themed reading session.