Yes, Christmas is over, but it’s still winter, so suck it.
Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall might have Christmas in the title, but I don’t feel like it’s solely a holiday book. There are events around the Christmas season, but aside from the ridiculously cheesy names tied to December 25th (Merry, Holly, Noel, and Mistletoe? COME ON….), it’s more of a setting in passing than something that feels like the center of the book, but I’ll get into that more in a moment.
Nick and Noel have been best friends their whole lives. Nick’s family took Noel in as a teenager when her parents both died in a crash on the way to a Christmas concert (Tada! Setting!). It’s something Noel has built some pretty high walls around.
Now, Nick is home from the military, and finds his girlfriend of eight years wasn’t faithful and isn’t interested in trying anything now that he’s home. Noel finds out her fling was flinging with someone else too. So, they decide to make both exes jealous at the same time with a kiss. It’s just a kiss, right?
Haha. That’s not how romance novels work! Of course, they become obsessed with each other and can’t deal with the idea of it messing with the good friendship they have. Naturally, they turn it into a big mess of will they/won’t they, all the while, their exes are trying to weasel back in their lives. The playlist thing is a factor, but I’m not going to blow the whole book for you. Just trust that music is a thing here.
Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist is a lot more than a romance novel, and deals a lot with the death of a family member, family dynamics, small town life, and female friendships. I love a good fluffy novel because I can fly through them without really thinking, but I also appreciate some substance and depth. I ended up enjoying this one more than I initially expected when I saw the string of cheesy Christmas names.
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