Book Club Part 2- A Holly Jolly Ever After
By: Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 432
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He’s living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends’ weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.
Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself—and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?
With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars…especially Winnie who can’t seem to fake on screen pleasure she’s never experienced in real life. She’s willing to do the pleasure research—for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there’s no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.
What I thought
Since it is December, my friends and I decided to throw in a bonus Christmas book for book club this year. If you’ve been a follower for a while, you’ll know that usually, my friends and I will pick a Christmas romance novel that was made into a Hallmark movie, but we don’t usually tie that into book club.
Meghan did a little research and found this one. It is the second in a series, but the first one is a bit spicy. Though I did read it because it kind of killed me to start at book two, even though romance novels don’t really care.
Winnie Baker was supposed to start in Duke the Halls. She was replaced by Bee Hobbs, porn star, due to an accident (this is book 1). When the Hope Channel found out Bee was a porn star, it could’ve been the downfall of the movie. However, they decided to create a new Hope After Dark network, which is basically Hallmark meets Cinemax late night. Since Winnie has an unfulfilled contract, she gets hired to fil the first Hope After Dark movie, a soft core Santa porn. Kallum is an ex-boyband member of the band INK. He is the K, and Nolan, who was in the first book is the N. Isaac also pops in here and there but isn’t in the book much. Now Winnie, whose persona has always been pure and virginal has to do a dirty movie with a man who just had a sex tape leaked.
I joked with Meghan that this book is pretty much sex with a side of Christmas as opposed to a true Christmas romance. Now, it does take place in Christmas Notch, which is the perfect Vermont Christmas town, but the romance itself could be set anywhere any time.
I do enjoy all the characters. Having read the first book, I was excited to get back to some of them. The commentary on purity culture was very interesting. Winnie was a child actress who was groomed to be pure and married her 18 year old boyfriend. Reading about how that impacted her and the thoughts her parents had was gross and infuriating. It was understandable how that influenced her views on sex and relationships.
I do think I enjoyed this one a little more because I had read the first than I would have if I hadn’t. And I will definitely read a third one if there is one. But, when I was reading it on a plane and a random person asked me if I’d recommend it, I hesitated. It’s definitely much more x-rated than other romance novels I read, so if you’re ok with that, then I would. If you prefer more fluffy wholesome Christmas romance, then I would no.
What Book Club Thought
Well, Meghan, Stephanie, and I were the only ones to finish this one. We all agreed that it was cute but not as Christmassy as we wanted it to be. I don’t think I would generally recommend this as a book club pick. Unless you know your members very well. But if you like spicier novels, it might not be a bad choice.