A Merry Little Meet Cute: A Novel: 1 (Christmas Notch)

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I got a little stressed halfway through just waiting for everything to blow up and cause issues for them, so the middle dragged a bit and was a little slow for me, but overall I loved the book. Bee is an absolute icon and I can’t express how much I loved her representation as a plus size woman and a sex worker. Both MCs are bisexual and I loved that representation too! The side characters also added SO much to the story and I can’t wait to learn more about them in future books. c) I’m pretty sure you don’t need lotion in the shower to jerk off. Wouldn’t you just use soap or shampoo or conditioner???? Do I not know how sex things work? Don’t answer that. It’s probably a yes. Once they set their eyes on each other, their attraction is INSTANTANEOUS and absolutely steamy! Could they put aside their attraction for the movie? What could go wrong?

The way Nolan is constantly objectifying Bee during his inner dialogue made me want to punch him in the face. Yes, she's the film star you've been masturbating to for the last 6 years, but she's more than her body, you disgusting POS. Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he’s making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee’s career is about to take a more family-friendly direction. This was the perfect balance of everything I love in a spicy romcom and everything i love about cheesy hallmark movies! It had the over the top Christmas setting and names, but with a spicy flare I’ve never seen before in this setting! The characters were absolutely hysterical and I found myself laughing out loud constantly. And the smut was cringe and sex scenes are written so clunkily I legit can’t believe this was meant to be taken seriously. There was zero sensuality! Everything from the words chosen to the actual vibe of the scene completely pulled me out of the story. Examples: Cowritten by #1 New York Timesbestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Todaybestselling author Sierra Simone—a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boypop star she falls in love with.A merry little masterpiece . . . this is a read for those who want a winter romcom but with some X-rated antics’ Metro As we read, it was fun to imagine that Bee and Nolan exist in a slightly skewed version of our reality, one in which the Winter Olympics took place in Duluth and boy bands created by reality TV shows actually made it big. Also one where our two lovable doofuses of main characters actually believe that the holiday movie aficionado fanbase doesn't interact at all with the adult industry fanbase. Look, is it ridiculous that they believe they're going to get away with making a completely chaste Christmas movie without a single person recognizing Bee from her (quite popular!) CloseDoor account, much less her (even more popular!) adult films? YES, it is ridiculous. But it's ridiculous in the same way that a time traveling ducal romance that teaches you the meaning of Christmas is. He needs this movie gig so bad to find more gigs for steady income. But when realizes his co-star is the same woman he’s been obsessed for three years as Bianca vim Honey, his agent’s strict rules about staying away trouble will be more challenging than he expected! While I wish I could've enjoyed the surface level festiveness of a Christmassy/holiday-themed movie being filmed over the holidays, the promised fun and hilarity and tension of both the bad boy ex-boyband member trying to rehab his image paired up with an actual sex worker trying to branch into a different kind of film -- and also stay wholesome so as not to let anyone in on the secret of her career -- just never panned out. This wasn't really fun, there was only some token forced humour (which wasn't funny), and the tension was flimsy at best considering how painfully oblivious the non-sex industry folks were to who was both starring and working on this movie. Also, I feel like every conflict could've either been avoided or was brought on by the dumb actions of the main characters (the picture in the strip club? you've got to be kidding me). I wanted to be able to give this one a higher rating solely because of the inclusion of a fat FMC who also happens to do sex work (like, hell yes, more of this rep) but ultimately the good bits, which were more in concept than any kind of execution, just didn't make up for the rest. And in that sense I mean mostly that this was boring, frustrating, and unbelievable.

He has to support his family : his mother who is still grieving his father, suffering from bipolar needs his help and his little sister who needs to be taken care of! I totally fell in love with Bee. From how she embraced her body and her career in sex work to how she knew exactly what she wanted in and out of the bedroom and refused to settle for less. Nolan’s ~broody reformed bad boy yet total simp for Bee~ vibe was the icing on the cake. He wanted her and had zero issues making it known. I felt like they had such a mature relationship and communicated what they wanted and how they felt which I really loved for them. It was steamy but I didn’t really feel their connection nor did I really care that they were having sex. There were maybe four full scenes? I’m really not sure. It’s probably a 3.75🌶 but again I just didn’t care. Him watching her videos online in a separate room was way hotter than them together. And yes I know figging doesn’t make sense for this book but I had to do it for the pun of it all. Something I really enjoyed and appreciated about this book is all the body positivity and sex work positivity. They’re not topics I often see together in books, and I adore the authors for writing about them! I cannot stand this book, but I really tried. I listened to the first 40% on audiobook (didn’t like it but thought maybe it was the narrators). So I switched to the physical book, and . . . OMG. . . it was so much worse. I thought maybe I needed to give it some time, but nope. Besides the fact I can read these sentences coherently, I don’t like a single thing about this story.

d) And speaking of lotion. FOURTEEN mentions of jerking off with gingerbread lotion. Dear Bath and Body Works: It’s Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone’s fault I will never again buy one of your holiday scents. What am I ending up with recently? Bait and switch. No other way to call it. So let’s go down the bullet points of why this highly anticipated release is landing on the Naughty List - and spoiler alert - it ain't for the pornstar sexytimes! I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. ** Looking for a little bit of spice from your Christmas romance? . . . A refreshingly entertaining and sexy read, which also features some great plus-size representation’ Popsugar

Overall, this was a bummer. I do think a lot of readers will enjoy it for what it is -- spicy holiday zestiness -- I just expect a lot more from my romance than this. Having said that, I would warn any mostly-YA readers from jumping into this one. For all that it read YA-ish, there is a lot of adult and sex content, so maybe work yourself upto this one if you're new to the steams. Or don't, YOLO!

All that is to say we had a TON of fun reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone who can suspend their disbelief for 25 chapters. It's truly an Xxxmas book for anyone who loves romance AND the holidays. (Yeah we've been trying for 3 paragraphs to work that pun in, sorry if it doesn't land.) The audacity of this magical author duo to sneak in and steal Christmas in the sexiest way possible . . . the charming holiday romp you absolutely need in your life!’ TESSA BAILEY Also I despised that he used gingerbread soap to jerk off. I’ve been horrified of the stuff ever since my grandma had Bath & Body gingerbread man hand soap. I spent the night oscillating between wanting to vomit and wanting to saw my own hands off with a rusty butter knife.

Sarcastic, smart, entertaining creative mind of Julie Murphy is teaming up with steamy, stimulating, sexy, tempting writing of Sierra Simone and voila: here’s the most enjoyable and delicious combination of romcom meets semi-steamy erotic romance! I loved that this was a co-written book, and you honestly wouldn't know it at all just from reading it. I thought Murphy and Simone did an exceptional job of making the story completely seamless and their styles blended together perfectly to make a funny, emotional, and HOT cohesive story. Another thing that maybe made me love A Merry Little Meet Cute even more was the audiobook which is narrated by Joy Nash & Sebastian York. They made the characters even better, and I LOOOOVED York's voice. It was such an enjoyable read and listen, and the romance was top-notch. I would also say that if they made this a closed-door romance, I could totally see it on the Hallmark channel. If you are ready for a hot and heavy story with some holiday vibes, I urge you to get your hands on this book. Bonus, the physical copy is beautiful and includes a map of Christmas Notch, VT! You're welcome. As soon as I saw the cover and authors, I knew I had to get my hands on this! A Merry Little Meet Cute is Julie Murphy's and Sierra Simone's first book collab! And it is a Christmas Book! I adore holiday books and am so happy to have read this because I’ve been missing the holidays! Christmas in July!!! Overall, a fun and extra steamy Christmas rom-com with lovable characters! Definitely read if you like: Overall: Sierra’s naughty, stimulating, steamy power combine with ultra entertaining, smart and sweet mind of Murphy! The result is amazing! I had so much fun and wonderful time! I think I’m so open to read sequels! I’d like to read other Ink members’ stories as well!

a) The porny cat is gonna get outta the bag. Unless the time traveling witch curse from the fake movie premise also eliminated the intertubes from existence. There should have been some semblance of a plan on what to do when it happened. Or at least put Bee in a wig or glasses or something as an attempt to disguise her identity. My only other complaint is that they kept referring to Bee’s “suit case full of sex toys” but they NEVER USED THEM and I definitely wish they had lol Now, she’s filming in Christmas Notch, a small town with Christmas trees and festive tunes all year round. Her costar is Nolan, who is actually a childhood crush of hers - he was in a popular boy band years ago, but now he needs help with his career and money. That’s why he takes on this movie… and unfortunately for Bee, Nolan instantly recognizes who she is, because he’s definitely watched her ✨ spicy ✨ films, AND he has a huge crush on her. Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone—a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with.