Brothers of the Vine
Forever Evermore
Women of W.A.R.
Here at Romance.com.au we have an unabashed love for Netflix original holiday movies, and I am no exception. From the absurd screwball comedy of The Princess Switch (all three movies of course) to the warm-hearted sweetness of Operation Christmas Drop, and the utter madness of A Knight Before Christmas I have seen them all… multiple times.
In this ultimate guide to cosmic cuddles, I’ll explore the enchanting universe of Netflix’s holiday movies and find their literary soulmates in the form of romance novels.
So, grab your comfiest blankets, brew a cup of hot cocoa, and prepare to embark on a journey filled with heartwarming tales, swoon-worthy characters, and endless snuggles. Are you ready to find your perfect rom-com match? Let’s dive in!
Love A Christmas Prince? Read So This Is Christmas by Jenny Holiday
If you love the story of a brash American falling for a stiff-upper-lip European gentleman against all the odds you’ll devour this sweet and sparky holiday tale!
Matteo Benz has spent his life serving at the pleasure of the Eldovian crown. His work is his life and his life, well…he doesn’t have much of one. When he is tasked to aid a management consultant who has been flown in to help straighten out the king’s affairs, he is instantly disturbed by her brash American manner—as well by an inconvenient attraction to the brainy beauty.
Cara Delaney is in Eldovia to help clean up the king’s financial affairs, but soon finds herself at odds with the very proper Mr. Benz. As intrigued by his good looks as she is annoyed by his dedication to tradition for its own sake, she slowly begins to see the real man behind the royal throne.
As they work together to return Eldovia to its former glory during the country’s magical Christmas season, Matteo discovers he is falling hopelessly in love with the unconventional American. But a man who has devoted his life to tradition doesn’t change easily. Can he become the man Cara needs, or will their love be another sacrifice to the crown.
Love The Princess Switch? Read The Princess Sister Swap by Jessica Gilmore!
While this book doesn’t have a holiday setting, the story of identical cousins swapping places is the perfect accompaniment to Netflix’s Princess Switch trilogy.
Clem
Being a stand-in princess was easy…until she met the Vicomte!
Secret half-sisters Clem and Princess Arrosa have always wanted to walk in each other’s shoes! So when Arrosa needs time out, it’s the perfect chance. Posing as her sister seems simple for Clem…until Vicomte Akil D’Ortiz, Arrosa’s friend and potential convenient suitor, arrives unannounced, immediately recognising she is not the princess. And suddenly the real connection Clem develops with Akil makes life truly complicated…
Princess Arrosa
When a royal escape — leads to off-limits love!
Princess Arrosa is about to become Crown Princess. Facing pressure to marry, she’s escaped to Cornwall courtesy of her half-sister, Clem. Yet Rosy never expected her much-needed getaway to become a summer romance…she certainly never meant to fall for ex bad-boy turned single dad, Jack and his adorable daughters — or he with her! They don’t belong in each other’s world, but can they let each other go?
Love A Knight Before Christmas? Read The Modern Woman’s Guide To Finding A Knight by Anna Klein
While this one may not have a literal medieval knight, the hero is a knight and the romance is very courtly…
All’s Faire in love and war…
Connie leads a double life. During the week, she is an up–and–coming designer and dressmaker, creating sleek, elegant gowns for the wealthy elite. But come the weekend, Connie becomes Lady Constance, a member of the House Felicitous at the local Renaissance Faire, creating beautiful historical garments for herself and her friends and teaching dancing to fair attendees. Fearing loss of business should her stylish clientèle discover her extracurricular activities, Connie keeps her professional life and her faire life carefully separate. However, everything changes when she’s saved from certain death by Sir Justin: a rising star in the joust and an actual knight in shining armour.
Behind his mask as Sir Justin, Dominic is confident and charismatic, but out of his armour, his courage fails him, and to his own horror he finds himself accidentally pretending to be his own best friend. Suddenly, he is in Connie’s life as two different men: the elusive Sir Justin who courts her over the internet and from behind a suit of armour and Justin’s ‘best friend’ Dominic who hangs out at her apartment and helps her move. The lie only grows bigger and Sir Justin finds himself faced with the most frightening challenge he can imagine: extricating himself from his lie and winning Connie’s heart as his true self.
But there’s something rotten afoot at the Faire, something that threatens its future, the community that has grown there, and even Sir Justin’s life. Will Lady Constance find the courage to step up and risk everything to defend her friends, save the Faire, and rescue her knight?
Love Falling For Christmas? Read The Ex-Mas Holidays by Zoe Allison
Love a ski-chalet setting, heartwarming romance, Christmas light shows, and a burgeoning romance over mugs of hot chocolate? While The Ex-Mas Holidays doesn’t have an amnesiac heiress, it does provide those gooey feel-good feels of Falling For Christmas!
Falling in love can sometimes go off-piste…
There’s never a good time to bump into your ex – so Maya Bashir is shocked when she comes face to face with her old flame Sam Holland, who is wearing nothing but a tiny apron, working as a naked butler at her friend’s Christmas party.
Having driven home for the holidays after losing her boyfriend, flat and job – and dreading her father’s inevitable disappointment that she still doesn’t have a fifty-year plan – perhaps Sam is exactly the distraction Maya needs.
But as sparks begin to fly, Maya doesn’t know if she can let Sam back into her heart so easily… With Christmas day fast approaching, will Maya find love or disaster under the tree?
Love Love Hard? Read Meet Me In London by Georgia Toffolo
Love a ‘fake dating at Christmas’ story? This one is just as fresh, fun and full of romance as this iconic Netflix film!
What do you do when your fake engagement starts to feel too real…
Aspiring clothes designer Victoria Scott dreams of one day opening her own boutique. But these aspirations are under threat from the new department store opening at the end of her road. She needs a Christmas miracle, but one is not forthcoming.
Oliver Russell’s Christmas is not looking very festive right now. The opening of his family’s new London department store is behind schedule, and his interfering, if well-meaning, mother is pressing him to settle down. He needs a diversion. Something to keep his mother from meddling while he focuses on business.
When Oliver meets Victoria, he offers a proposition: pretend to be his fiancé at the opening of his store and he will provide an opportunity for Victoria to showcase her designs. Only soon this fake relationship starts to feel very real. But when secrets in Victoria’s past are exposed will Oliver walk away, or will they both follow their hearts and find what neither knew they were looking for…?
Love The Noel Diary? Read Christmas Together… Forever by Michelle Douglas and Nina Milne!
The Noel Diary is more of a bittersweet holiday movie, with more emotional depth than a lot of other holiday movies manage to achieve. While Christmas Together… Forever is not similar in terms of plot, it has the same BIG feels and huggable quality of this gem of a film.
Waking Up Married To The Billionaire – Michelle Douglas
During a conference, Ruby’s devastated she’s passed over for a promotion. Confiding in fellow hotel guest Luis turns her pity party into a wild night she’ll never forget…especially when she wakes up married! Her new (billionaire!) husband proposes a deal: he’ll help her with work if she’ll spend Christmas with his meddling parents. But can Ruby pretend to be in love with a stranger when she’s in danger of actually falling for him?
Snowbound Reunion In Japan – Nina Milne
Workaholic lawyer Thea never expected to literally collide with childhood friend, tech billionaire Zayne, on the slopes in Japan. Memories of their teenage kiss sizzle to the surface, yet so does the heartache of their goodbye. They clearly have unfinished and unforgotten chemistry! But, with their futures going in different directions, can a snowbound Christmas bring them back together — for good this time?
Love Holidate? Read Hot Holiday Fling by Joss Wood
Love the *spicy* will-they-won’t-they of Holidate? Check out this steam Christmas romance…
A Christmas fling makes the perfect gift for the bachelor who has everything…
Sparks fly the moment Adie Ashby-Tate and Hunt Sheridan meet. Too bad Hunt doesn’t do relationships. But career-minded Adie, working with him to boost her business, is too tempting for the millionaire influencer to resist. When she agrees to a no-strings tryst, he jumps at the chance. The only rule: no commitment. But the Christmas spirit might change all the rules…
Love A Castle For Christmas? Read Christmas at the Chateau!
A holiday romance set at a literal castle?! Sign me up!
Christmas At The Castle – Marion Lennox
Angus Stuart is more used to managing boardrooms than castles, but when his father dies he finds himself thrust into an unfamiliar world. Returning home, he intends to sell the estate as quickly as possible. However, with Christmas around the corner, Fate has other plans…
Showing up on his doorstep, Australian chef Holly McIntosh is bursting with festive cheer. But she’s desperate for a job, and she’s not taking no for an answer! Not usually one for taking a risk, Angus offers her a temporary position. But if anyone can melt this brooding Earl’s heart this winter, it’s Holly!
Snowbound In The Earl’s Castle – Fiona Harper
Forthright Faith McKinnon is driving English aristocrat Marcus Huntington crazy! Ever since she turned up at his castle to research a valuable stained-glass window, Marcus can’t stop thinking about her. Faith might try to hide her true self behind a facade of feistiness, yet to Marcus she’s as transparent as the glass she studies. What’s more, the vulnerable woman in hiding is frighteningly appealing…
Marcus and Faith don’t believe in fairytales, but being snowed in together over Christmas feels like magic. And the best gift of all would be discovering that happy-ever-afters really can come true…
At The Chateau For Christmas – Rebecca Winters
The Valfort and Holden families are sworn enemies. But when Laura Holden Tate’s grandmother dies just before Christmas, it’s devastatingly handsome Nic Valfort who delivers the news.
Returning to France to oversee the inheritance, Laura has no choice but to stay at Nic’s chateau. He’s the enemy, but at the most romantic time of the year Laura’s resolve is tested. And when it transpires that their family feud is not what it seems, it looks like this Christmas could transform both their lives…for ever!
If you love The Holiday Calendar read Home Sweet Christmas by Susan Mallery!
Loved watching the story of two friends finding their forever romance over the holiday season? Check out Susan Mallery’s sweet hometown romance!
With twinkling humour and heartfelt Christmas spirit, two friends find love in a town called Wishing Tree…
Until Camryn Neff can return to her ‘real’ life in Chicago, she’s in Wishing Tree to care for her twin sisters. She’s not looking for forever love, not here. But handsome hotelier Jake Crane is a temptation she can’t resist, so she suggests they pair up for the season. No golden rings, no broken hearts. At his side, she sees her hometown through Christmas-colored eyes. The cheer is cheerier, the joy more joyful. She thought she had put her future on hold…but maybe her real life was here all along, waiting for her to come home.
New in town, River Best is charmed by Wishing Tree’s homespun traditions and warmhearted people. When she’s crowned Snow Queen, she’s honored but wary. Dylan Tucker, her king, seems like the stuff of sugarplum dreams, but she can’t shake the feeling that he’s hiding something big. As they perform their ‘royal’ duties — tasting cookies, lighting trees — Dylan’s good humour and melty kisses draw her to the brink of love. But she can’t let herself fall until she uncovers his secret, even if her lack of faith means losing him forever.
Love Holiday in the Wild? Read Their Wildest Safari Dream by Suzanne Merchant
More in the mood for wild African vistas, elephants and a holiday romance than festive fun? Check out this safari-themed romance!
In this electrifying debut by Suzanne Merchant, temperatures soar under the heat of the African sun when this couple meet again, but will their sizzling chemistry be enough to make her stay?
Returning home…to a dream come true?
Stepping into the heat of the African sun is a reminder of the only place zoologist Anna ever called home. Yet the painful memories of leaving are still fresh. Seeing unrequited love Jack again sets her temperature soaring. With a fiercely shielded heart, Jack has always focused on the Themba game reserve, but he’s never forgotten Anna. Now she’s back and the chemistry they once tried to ignore is electrifying. Will it be enough to make Anna stay?
Love Operation Christmas Drop? Read The Christmas Pact by Kandy Shepard and Scarlet Wilson
Love a holiday story set in a Summer setting? So do I!
Mistletoe Magic In Tahiti – Kandy Shepherd
Healed…by a mistletoe kiss?
After a bitter divorce, Sienna is spending Christmas on a Tahitian beach! First stop on her ‘new me’ journey? Surf lessons with blazing-hot water-sports magnate Kai — and quickly adding fling to her itinerary! But Sienna hadn’t factored in falling headfirst for the cautious single dad and his adorable daughter. She knows she can’t stay, but will she walk away from a magical future — together?
Cinderella’s Costa Rican Adventure – Scarlet Wilson
A bumpy start…with a fairytale ending?
After her sheltered upbringing, Eliza’s exploring her adventurous side in Costa Rica! But her dream vacation is hijacked by gorgeous, brooding resort owner Matt. Enthusiastic Eliza’s determined to win him over. But, when they’re stranded in a cave on Christmas Eve, she can’t hide her vulnerability. Until Matt encourages her to continue grabbing life with both hands. Can she do the same for this tortured CEO?
Love Single All The Way? Read The Lights On Knockbridge Lane by Roan Parrish
Small town setting? Friends to lovers? Meddling family? Secret dating? Yes!
Can one man’s crowded, messy life…fill another man’s empty heart?
Raising a family was always Adam Mills’ dream, although solo parenting and moving back to tiny Garnet Run certainly were not. After a messy breakup, Adam is doing his best to give his young daughter the life she deserves — including accepting help from their new, reclusive neighbour to fulfill her Christmas wish.
Though the little house may not have “the most lights ever,” the Mills home begins to brighten as handsome Wes Mobray spends more time there and slowly sheds his protective layers. But when the eye-catching house ends up in the news, Wes has to make a choice: hide from the darkness of his unusual past or embrace the light of a future — and a family — with Adam.
If you love A California Christmas read Christmas On The Ranch by Julianna Morris
Loved the ranch setting and heartwarming vibes? Check out this sweet Western romance novel about a second-chance romance over the holidays!
Can the warmth of Christmas…melt his frozen heart?
Alaina Wright is finally following her dream of becoming a wildlife photographer. And Gideon Carmichael’s Montana ranch on the edge of Yellowstone is the perfect home base. After losing the love of her life two years earlier, Alaina isn’t looking for romance. But there’s something about the gruff, wounded rancher that makes her wonder…could they both get a second chance at happily-ever-after this Christmas?
Love Christmas Inheritance? Read Snowbound With The Rancher by Kit Hawthorne
Love the trope of a city girl and a country boy forced to work together over the holidays? Same!
A rancher and a city girl…trapped together by a storm.
Dirk Hager’s Texas property is under siege by city folk who know nothing about ranch life. That includes his new neighbour, Macy Reinalda, who is just looking for peace and quiet in her new home. When a storm leaves them snowbound, they try to find common ground. Can an old-school cowboy and an outsider looking for serenity learn to share the land — and love again?
If you love Christmas On The Square read The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
Love a small-town setting and a story about female friendship? Check out Sarah Morgan’s latest book!
Nestled in rural Vermont’s snowy landscape is Maple Sugar Inn, the boutique hotel Hattie Coleman and her husband, Brent, lovingly restored. But when Brent died a month after the opening, it was left to Hattie to carry on alone. With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, it’s considered the winter destination. And as the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel while being a dedicated single mum, Hattie dreams only of making it through the festive season.
When Erica, Claudia and Anna — lifelong friends who seem to have it all — check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life’s ups and downs. But Hattie can see they’re also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs. In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?
Happy holidays!
Featured image credit: Netflix