’Tis the season to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and open an enchanting book full of holiday magic. If you are a true romantic and obsessed with all things merry and bright, keep reading to check out YA holiday romance books that will help you fall in love this holiday season—no mistletoe required.
Eight Dates and Nights by Betsy Aldredge
If you need something to read during the eight nights of Hanukkah, this is the rom-com for you! New Yorker Hannah Levin is allergic to exactly two things, horses and tinsel. Unfortunately, she’s surrounded by both when she’s snowed in at her grandmother’s home in a small Texas town. Super lonely, missing latkes and reliable Wi-Fi, Hannah wanders into an old deli where she meets the only other Jewish teen around, Noah, who happens to be equal parts adorable and full of annoying, over the top festival of lights spirit that he’s determined to share with Hannah one itchy Hanukkah sweater at a time.
As the days pass—and a spectacularly memorable kiss following Noah’s made up game of truth or dare dreidel takes place—Hannah begins to wonder if maybe there’s more to Hanukkah than she thought. . .
All I Want for Christmas by Wendy Loggia
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and All I Want for Christmas is the perfect book to kick off the holiday season. Bailey Briggs is counting down the days to Christmas—she lives for holiday music, baking cookies, going on snowy sleigh rides, and wearing her light-up reindeer ears to work at Winslow’s bookstore. But all she really wants this year is the one thing she doesn’t have: someone special to kiss under the mistletoe.
Bailey’s story is full of Christmas cheer and romance—it’s the perfect holiday escape! As Bailey searches for her perfect Christmas kiss, you will be charmed by holiday magic and crushable characters, like Charlie, the mysterious stranger with a British accent who might possibly be the romantic lead of Bailey’s dreams. Grab your coziest Christmas sweater, blast your favorite holiday tunes, and get in the yuletide spirit with this festive read.
New Year’s Kiss by Lee Mathews
Make this a December to remember by reading New Year’s Kiss to prepare for the clock to strike midnight and to close out the holiday season before heading back to school. Tess and her opinionated older sister Lauren are spending the week after Christmas at the snowy Evergreen Lodge in Vermont, and they aren’t happy about it. Their stern grandmother, who owns the holiday resort, is not known for her warmth or good humor.
But when shy, straightlaced Tess meets Christopher in the lobby, things are suddenly looking up. Tess decides to get out of her comfort zone and create a bucket list of things to accomplish before the New Year—like singing in public and skiing a black-diamond slope. Christopher is happy to help, even as he keeps a secret that could turn everything upside down. When the ball drops, will Tess and Christopher share a magical kiss? Or will Tess start the New Year alone? You will be inspired to create your own New Year’s bucket list as you fall in love with the characters in this holiday season must-read.
The Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo
The Holiday Switch will have you dreaming of a romantic white Christmas. Lila Santos is ready for her last winter break of high school. The snow in her small town is plentiful, the mood is as cozy as a fuzzy Christmas sweater, and she’s earning extra cash working at the local inn—aka the setting of the greatest film of all time, Holiday by the Lake—while moonlighting as an anonymous book blogger. But her perfect holiday plans crash to a halt when her boss’s frustratingly cute nephew, Teddy Rivera, becomes her coworker.
Lila is type A, Teddy is type “Anything but Lila’s Way,” and the two of them can’t stop butting heads over tangled icicle lights and messy gift shop merch. But when they accidentally switch phones one afternoon, they realize they’ve both been hiding things from each other. Will their secrets—and an unexpected snowstorm—bring these rivals together? Reading this will be like watching your favorite romantic comedy with a Christmas twist, and you will be delighted by holiday magic from start to finish.
