LGBTQ+ Christmas Romance Book Recommendations That Are NOT Candace Cameron Bure Approved
Hello everyone! How are you all doing? 'Tis the season for all the feel-good Christmas romance movies and books we've come to expect this time of year. Usually, I'm beyond excited to see all the inclusive recommendations that decorate my feed around the holidays.
However, recently online, I've been subjected to a bit more holiday romance discourse than I prefer. From my least favorite source of controversy, as it happens, Candace Cameron Bure herself. Yes, DJ Tanner is all grown up and has decided that, instead of holiday cheer, her Christmas tradition of choice is homophobia. A tale as old as time, or rather the holiday itself.
In a recent interview, Candace Cameron Bure talked about her newest bland Christmas movie that could easily be mistaken for literally anything else in her filmography to date. The only real difference this time for the decade-long Hallmark staple actress is that her movie can be found on the Great American Family Network. Where she happens to now hold the title of chief creative officer for its 'faith-based' programming.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Miss Fuller House said that viewers should NOT expect LGBTQ+ stories to be featured. She is quoted as wanting to keep 'traditional marriage' at the core of the network's projects.
In case you don't speak conservative Christian, let me translate for you. This can be taken as a nearly definitive sign of the network's lack of queer centered stories to come. A sad reality in a Christmas industry where readers have come to anticipate far more diversity in their sparkling holiday festivities.
So, today, I've decided to whip up a blog post with some LGBTQ+ Christmas romance book recommendations. Specifically, ones that would NOT be welcome on Candace Cameron Bure's new network.
Disclaimer: This blog post will contain affiliate and referral links. I may earn a small commission to feed my book hoarding tendencies if you use these links to make a purchase. This in no way impacts my opinions of the books listed - they are all my own.
Merry & Sprite
By Dani Lakely
Genre: Holiday Romance
Description: Opposites attract in this holiday rom-com with a little bit of magic and a whole lot of heart.
Jonathan’s to-do list:
1. Deck the halls
2. Throw Forrest off the nearest cliff
Jonathan Thomas moved across the country to escape his ex, only to end up planted next to a guy who drives him even further out of his mind. Forrest Wilde has no problem doing every little thing he can to work Jonathan’s last nerve, crashing into his tidy life and well-built walls with obnoxious flirtations and merry mischief.
When Jonathan is mysteriously hit with a spell that forces him to grant the wishes of the local townsfolk, he strikes a deal with Forrest to help him find a cure. As the saying goes, keep your friends close, and the impossibly hot guy who may just be an imp closer.
Toeing the line between naughty and nice, Jonathan and Forrest work together to break the spell. But as the tension between the two nears its breaking point, Jonathan is forced to decide if it’s really hate he feels—or something he’s willing to risk everything on for the greatest wish of all.
Merry & Sprite is a slow-burn MM Christmas romance set in a small beach town on the Southern California coast. The story features enemies-to-lovers, hijinks and banter, rival Christmas tree farms, and a little black cat. This warm-hearted romantic comedy is sure to cast its spell on you this holiday season!
Amazon Goodreads
The Christmas Catch
By Clare Lydon
Genre: Holiday Romance
Description: Two stranded travellers. One secret crush. Can they make it home without falling in love?
Thrown together when their plane conks out and a blizzard rolls in, Morgan Scott and her childhood friend Ali Bradford are on a mission to make it from Glasgow to Devon in time for Christmas.
The catch? Roads and trains are up the spout, Morgan’s patience is running low, and Ali has had a secret crush on Morgan since forever. But she can keep a lid on over two decades of unrequited love. Particularly when they keep having to share a bed. Absolutely no problem at all.
As Morgan and Ali inch south, they discover more about themselves and each other. This is one twisty road trip that takes them places they’ve never been before, and might just change their lives forever.
This holiday season, wrap yourself in the latest romantic comedy from the queen of British sapphic fiction, Clare Lydon. If you love riotous road trips, red-hot attraction, lashings of snow, plus all the festive feels, this is the book for you!
Amazon Goodreads
Merry Elf-ing Christmas
By Beth Bolden
Genre: Holiday Romance
Description: Aidan might be a bad elf, but he’s never been naughty.
Aidan has always landed on Santa’s nice list, thank you very much. But that doesn’t mean he’s cut out to be a North Pole elf; instead of worrying about the dwindling magic of Christmas, he’d much rather be back in Tir na Nog, calculating where the next end of the rainbow is going to land.
Instead he’s freezing his butt off in Santa’s sleigh.
His situation seems grim despite all the decking the halls, until on Christmas Eve, during a milk and cookies run, he meets Dexter, an engineering student.
They couldn’t be more different, and Dexter couldn’t be more forbidden, but Aidan is drawn to the handsome human anyway. Over the next year, their emails start out as a entertaining way to pass the time in all his interminable elf meetings, but soon, hearing from Dex becomes the very best part of his day.
And when they meet up on the next Christmas Eve? Aidan and Dex discover that their infatuation is so much more than just attraction. If they believe in each other and in the love they share, together their magic might be powerful enough to save Christmas.
Amazon Goodreads
Christmas Mouse
By Rachel Spangler
Genre: Holiday Romance
Description: What makes for the perfect Christmas? Where or how you spend it, or perhaps, who you share it with?
Small-town woodworker Ava Collins and big city doctor Bex Leone both love Christmas. Some might go so far as to call them obsessed. They love Christmas music, Christmas food, Christmas carols, and Christmas movies. When the two women meet over a Thanksgiving dinner, it seems for a second they might have finally found their mistletoe match, but their initial connection goes wildly awry when they realize their versions of what constitutes an ideal Christmas differ as drastically as the places they choose to spend their holidays. Ava is to idyllic, homespun Vermont as Bex is to the flash and sparkle of New York City. What begins as a good-natured argument about who has the superior way to celebrate the season ends in a friendly bet: The country mouse and the city mouse will each split the season in an attempt to convince the other their way is the truest path to holiday happiness.
Ava agrees to spend two weekends on Bex’s turf in Manhattan as long as Bex will visit her in the mountains of Vermont for the other two. For one whirlwind month, each woman works to showcase her favorite traditions, memories, and magic. As snowy days give way to starlit nights, Bex and Ava find the ideals that brought them together offer more common ground than either of them expected, but as they grow closer to one another, they begin to fear that in order to act on their deepening connection each of them may have to relinquish cherished parts of themselves.
With the big day rushing toward them, questions remain: Who will win their bet? And perhaps more importantly, what are they willing to lose in the process?
Amazon Goodreads
Honeymoon For One
By Rachel Bowdler
Genre: Holiday Romance
Description: A cancelled engagement. A non-refundable honeymoon. A Christmas Robin will never forget.
Robin Ellis has had a year she'd like to forget. She's tired, overworked and most definitely not ready to spend the holidays with her rowdy family in Manchester. So when she discovers she forgot to cancel her honeymoon she sees this as the perfect opportunity to get away; it's time to relax and embrace adventure!
The last thing she expects is to clash with standoffish ski instructor Neve. But despite their rocky start these two unlikely people can't help but fall for each other under the starry Canadian skies.
They know that holiday romances don't last, and Robin has had her heart broken one too many times before, but can they overcome the distance between them and find a happily ever after together?
Amazon Goodreads
Support Local Bookstores and Buy Online With Bookshop
Follow My Bookish Adventures:
- Goddess of Books
