Book Review: This Is Not a Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley

I am so excited to be welcoming Camilla Isley back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest novel, This Is Not a Holiday Romance.

Two sworn enemies, snowed in over Christmas with chemistry that will melt the ice!

Nina Thompson has one Christmas wish: to avoid her brother’s obnoxiously handsome best friend, Tristan, like the plague. From the moment he humiliated her as a teenager to their escalating revenge schemes, Nina and Tristan’s relationship can only be defined as an all-out prank war! And there is yet to be a winner.

But it just so happens the ghost of Christmas present has other ideas. When Tristan unexpectedly crashes her family’s Christmas, Nina’s dreams of a peaceful holiday vanish faster than Santa up a chimney. Determined to end their rivalry for good, she braces herself for one last prank-filled showdown.

But when they find themselves snowed in, with no way of avoiding each other amongst the holiday festivities, they discover their heated exchanges have been masking a different kind of sizzle. Caught in a snow globe of holiday romance, they decide to let their fiery chemistry burn bright—but this is absolutely and unequivocally nothing more than a secret fling destined to melt with the snow, this is not a forever romance…

This Is Not a Holiday Romance is an enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, forced proximity rom-com perfect for fans of Sarah Adams, Abby Jimenez, and Lynn Painter.

*****

Nina is looking forward to spending Christmas with her family or she was until her brother’s best friend, Tristan joins them. Can she get through the holiday with her sanity and her heart in one piece?

I have become such a big fan of this author. I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for This is Not a Holiday Romance.

Nina is a brilliant character. She has strength and doesn’t let anyone walk over her. I was cheering for her all the way through.

Tristan, or as Nina calls him, ‘The Prince of Darkness,’ is more of a mystery and there are a lot of layers to him. He is potentially not the horrible person Nina thinks he is and I loved witnessing their relationship throughout the novel. They play some great pranks on each other. There is a great chemistry between them, whether they like it or not. Haha.

The supporting characters are great and I am hoping that Hunter, Dylan and Rowena get their own stories. I didn’t want to finish this one if I am honest.

Camilla Isley has a wonderful skill of pulling you into her stories and making you feel as though you’re there, amongst friends and therefore you care a lot about the characters and their fate.

The plot is well developed and unfolds well. I pretty much devoured this novel but at the same time, I didn’t want it to end and have a book hangover. The festive setting is wonderful (I love this time of year when the Christmas novels start appearing.)

If you’re anything like me, this novel will have you laughing out loud one moment and crying the next.

This is Not a Holiday Romance is a magical, fun, festive story full of love, humour and new beginnings. It reminds us that something you think is one thing can be something else completely. That misunderstandings are the source of a lot of grief and that love can be found where you least expect it. I really hope you add this to your Christmas Book pile. For me, this one is getting read every year.

(Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for the advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.) 

About Camilla Isley –

Camilla Isley is an engineer who left science behind to write bestselling contemporary rom-coms set all around the world.

She lives in Italy.

Say hello to Camilla via Facebook, X, Instagram and Bookbub. Click here to sign up to her newsletter. 

This is Not a Holiday Romance was released by Boldwood Books on 4th September 2024. Click to buy on Amazon and Waterst0nes. 

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.