5 Diverse Holiday Reads
And a bonus series suggestion!
Hello dear readers,
In an effort to view this big, amazing world through different lenses, I've put together a list of holiday romances that celebrate the joy of the season in all its forms. From Hanukkah to Kwanzaa to Diwali, there's a little bit of everything here for you to read.
These stories offer heartfelt celebrations, diverse traditions, and the warmth of love and family—perfect for cozying up this holiday season.
I have read some of these authors before, but all the books mentioned are new to me. And I should mention, since I am such a big library user, I will be sharing plenty of books in my posts that are not brand new release that have already been requested by 978 other library patrons. :)
So, here’s my suggested reading…
1. A Novel Christmas by Charity Shane
Dive into this delightful Christmas romance that captures the magic of the season and the joys of unexpected love. Charity Shane’s tale is sure to warm your heart and lift your holiday spirits.
A prominent romance author has a slump in her love life and book sales, but a chance encounter with a hot firefighter helps her reignite her muse in this swoony holiday romance, perfect for book romantics.
Saira Wright is a prominent Black romance author who has been signed to the most prestigious publisher of African American works, Brownstone Literature. Her career has been successful for the past five years. However, she’s in a slump, and so are her sales and reviews. The romance she has been known for seems to be zapped out of her stories . . . and her love life.
Eager to get Saira back on top of the charts, her publisher has given her an ultimatum—write a chart-topping holiday romance or be dropped from the publishing house. There’s only one problem: Saira strongly opposes penning holiday books. To her, they are cliché and off-brand, but with her career on the line, she’s forced to give it a shot. To capture the spirit of the holidays, she books a vacation in the most “Christmassy” town she can find.
Sharing the other side of her rented duplex is the owner, Dorian Black, a volunteer firefighter, and the town’s little league football coach. He’s also “Mr. December” in the firefighter’s annual fundraising calendar . . . and every woman’s dream. Years ago, Dorian was happily married to the love of his life until cancer took her away from him. Still coping with the loss, a romantic relationship is the furthest thing from his mind. However, when he encounters his new tenant for the holiday, sparks fly and a fire is ignited that not even he can extinguish.
As the two navigate through various encounters, holiday festivities, and a snowstorm, will the magic of Christmas help them rediscover a long-awaited connection?
(this on is a newer release, but it is available in Kindle Unlimited)
2. Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliott
Settle in for a sweet Hanukkah romance full of charm, wit, and delicious latkes. Amanda Elliott delivers a story that will warm your heart and leave you smiling.
Love comes home for the challah-days in this sparkling romance.
Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.
Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one other: Seth.
As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.
3. Kissing Kosher by Jeannie Meltzer
This holiday novel blends humor, love, and mouthwatering food traditions into a story that is equal parts delightful and romantic.
Step 1: Get the secret recipe. Step 2: Don’t fall in love…
Avital Cohen isn’t wearing underpants—woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing.
She needs hired help.
And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit.
Except Ethan isn’t there to work—he’s undercover, at the behest of his ironfisted grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe.
As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief—and pleasure—she’s been missing.
But perfecting the recipe for romance calls for leaving out the lies…even if coming clean means risking everything.
4. Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley
Discover a multicultural celebration of love during Christmas, Eid, and Hanukkah, all wrapped up in one enchanting story. A perfect holiday read for those who love romantic tales with a twist.
Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.
As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.
An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.
5. A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonia Lalli
Travel to India in this heartwarming Diwali romance that explores the magic of finding love and embracing traditions during the Festival of Lights.
One type-A data analyst discovers her free-spirited side on an impulsive journey from bustling Mumbai to the gorgeous beaches of Goa and finds love waiting for her on Christmas morning.
Twenty-nine-year-old Niki Randhawa has always made practical decisions. Despite her love for music and art, she became an analyst for the stability. She's always stuck close to home, in case her family needed her. And she's always dated guys that seem good on paper, rather than the ones who give her butterflies. When she's laid off, Niki realizes that practical hasn't exactly paid off for her. So for the first time ever, she throws caution to the wind and books a last-minute flight for her friend Diya’s wedding.
Niki arrives in India just in time to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, where she meets London musician Sameer Mukherji. Maybe it's the splendor of Mumbai or the magic of the holiday season, but Niki is immediately drawn to Sam. At the wedding, the champagne flows and their flirtatious banter makes it clear that the attraction is mutual.
When Niki and Sam join Diya, her husband and their friends on a group honeymoon, their connection grows deeper. Free-spirited Sam helps Niki get in touch with her passionate and creative side, and with her Indian roots. When she gets a new job offer back home, Niki must decide what she wants out of the next chapter of her life—to cling to the straight and narrow like always, or to take a leap of faith and live the kind of bold life the old Niki never would have dreamed of.
6. Holidays with the Wongs Series by Jackie Lau
This hilarious and heartwarming series follows the Wong family through various holidays, blending romance, cultural traditions, and plenty of laughs. Jackie Lau’s stories are as sweet and satisfying as your favorite holiday treats.
From book two…
Greg Wong hates when things don’t go according to plan, so he definitely doesn’t appreciate it when his mother insists he drive Tasha Edwards back to Mosquito Bay for the Christmas holidays. He likes peace and quiet when he’s in the car, and that’s the opposite of what he’ll get with Tasha, his high school sweetheart. The first woman he ever loved.
Not that he has feelings for her now. Of course not. Though while he’s trying not to smile at her laughter and terrible singing, he can’t help noticing how beautiful she is.
And then his plans veer further off course when a snowstorm forces them to spend the night in an unheated motel room with only one bed…
This season, I hope you’ll join me in celebrate the beauty of diverse stories and cultures by grabbing a few of these books.
Do you have any recommendations for us to add to our TBR? (yes, it’s our collective TBR now) Please feel free to share!
Which one will you be picking up first?
Happy reading,
Melissa
Three posts I’ve saved this week…
living in unprecedented times by
28 festive reads and bookmarks by
(you will see a little bit of cross-over in some of the holiday books mentioned)
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I loved Best Served Hot, so now I really want to read I love You a Latke! I tried Holly Jolly Diwali a few years ago, and I just couldn't get into it, sadly.
I saw someone recommending ‘26 Ways to come home for the holidays’…Put it into my TBR♥️📖