I really enjoyed A Merry Little Meet Cute but a word of warning this book may get you a little hot under the collar this Christmas!
I was sceptical that a co-written book wouldn't flow or work but I was proved wrong!
Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone A Merry Little Meet Cute is 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, alongside the former bad-boy pop star who she falls in love with.
Strap yourself into the sleigh for this one.

Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star but she’s always dreamed of being in a mainstream movie. Her wish is granted thanks to the female star having an accident and being unavailable for the tight filming schedule and Bee is accidentally selected as her replacement.

Forced to keep her work as Bianca a secret, Bee quickly learns easier said than done.
Her co-star is none other than childhood crush Nolan Shaw, an ex-boy band member in desperate need of this project working – so much is hanging in the balance for him.
It may be snowing in Christmas Notch Vermont but it soon starts to heat up when Bee and Nolan cross the co-star line.

There’s some steamy scenes, drama and romance as well as lots of festive references to get you feeling right in the mood for a cosy Christmas!

With grateful thanks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very cute and original romance. It takes place during Christmas, but I feel like you can kind of disregard that aspect of it, since the majority of the story plays out in a small town in Vermont that gets used year-round to film those typical Hallmark-y Christmas movies. So except for a few characters referring to not being able to spend the holidays with family, this could very well take place in the middle of summer.

Nolan, a former boyband member, and Bee, famous as a porn actress under the name Bianca, get cast in a romantic Christmas movie for a very clean "family values" kind of channel. He's trying to revive his career after a few scandals, she's looking to diversify the kind of work she's doing. It's paramount nobody finds out about Bee's other job, because it might jeopardize the movie. Which doesn't seem like a problem, were it not for the fact that Nolan has been following her for years on an OnlyFans-eqsue app and she's actually one of his favourite performers. Which actually turns out to be kinda good news, because Bee used to have a crush on Nolan when he was still in his boyband. Gosh, I wonder what will happen when two people with mutual crushes are staring opposite each other in a romantic movie?

You definitely need to suspend your disbelief quite a bit for this one, but once you manage to do that it's actually a fun read. Bee and Nolan are adorable together, and they have really good chemistry.

I had read from both authors before, but I had a hard time imagining what a combination of their styles would be like. Turns out, it's a near-perfect blend of cutesy sweet goo and steam hot enough to melt your glasses.

I switched between the ebook and the audiobook on this one. The audiobook narrators were really good. Nolan is read by Sebastian York, one of the gods of audiobook romances. Bee is read by Joy Nash, and she really brought Bee to life. I would recommend the audiobook over the physical book or ebook, if only to really make it easy to distinguish between both perspectives. It's really obvious who's perspective we're following in the audiobook, whereas they do tend to blend together a little bit in the alternative options.

This book had a split personality that didn’t help!
The cover, whilst we should not judge, suggested your classic Christmas cozy sweet romance….it was not this! Even with constant reminders it was set on a hallmark channel type movie. This book is littered with repetitive reminders about things I’m pretty sure any reader can retain, 1) the porn industry workers are to keep their career a secret 2) Bee is plus sized 3) Nolan has a bad reputation 4) the band is INK and the movie is being made by HOPEflix.
The cover miss-sold the story and the writing made me so annoyed that the author couldn’t believe we as readers were capable of remembering the basics.
Forget all that and the premise is good and something a little different. I liked Bee and Nolan and their romance could’ve benefit from some further development rather than reminders of the above mentions.
The supporting characters were a little blah and contradictory. To be honest either we’re capable of being adult about sex and can talk about it or we say we can and then lie, this book went with the latter putting all those in the sex industry in one big taboo secret for this book.

I liked this, it is porn meets Hallmark: that is literally the plot and also how it reads.
There is a lot that I liked about this. I think the rep was great- fab LGBTQ rep, loved having a fat MC and loved the sex positivity that was shown throughout.
I had a slight issue with the logic of the book: throughout we have Teddy and Bee vehemently saying that their porn work must remain secret (fair- logical). However, Teddy then employs crew from his porn business (makes sense) but apparently doesn't tell any of them that they are not working on porn....meaning that Luca the costume designer turns up with a case of ball gags and assless chaps... I get thats been done for the LOLs, but it makes no sense and took me out of the story.

Small critique, and this didn't impact my enjoyment all, but both the cover and title suggest a cutesy sweet romance, this book is not that. I think that the low ratings here are because of this discrepancy- we readers do definately judge books by their covers, and I think people pick this up thinking it will be a sweet Hallmark fade to black romance, and then get slightly shocked!

'A Merry Little Meet Cute' features a plus-sized lead, Bee Hobbes, who is better known by her online subscribers as Bianca Von Honey, an adult film star and x-rated photo enthusiast. After a mix-up, she gets cast as the lead in a schmaltzy Christmas film, starring opposite none other than former bad-boy boyband member Nolan Shaw, who's trying to turn his image around. What each of them doesn't know is that they've been crushing on each other for years - but they can't do anything about it if Nolan is going to turn his reputation around and Bee is going to keep her secret identity under wraps.

Ach.

I liked the plus-sized lead, but I felt like I was being bashed over the head with it repeatedly. Tell me she's a big gal once, and I'll remember, I promise. No need to KEEP mentioning it. Ditto with Nolan and the band. The name of that boyband was mentioned 52 times. FIFTY TWO. I looked it up.

Bee's best friend, Sunny, could've been a great side character, had her entire personality not revolved around being in the porn industry. Everything she said was either a crude joke or a double entendre, and it was really unnecessary.

The romance itself was very cute, I just think the whole thing was quite drawn out. Also, the notion of someone being familiar with both prominent online adult stars and Hallmark Christmas movies isn't THAT bananas, is it!? I mean I'm sure most of us would be aware if one of the Cock Destroyers showed up in a small town as a CEO hell-bent on bulldozing a family Christmas tree farm, right?! They know the internet exists and people would recognise Bee?!

And if consensual sex work and body positivity are to be celebrated, why did this man's entire reputation hinge on whether or not he was getting off with a porn star (with his gingerbread-scented willy, I might add, WHAT was that about, he must've mentioned that lotion 20 times)?

I just don't get it, 'twas not for me, but many have enjoyed it, and I'm thankful to the publisher for the Netgalley approval!

I thought this was great.
Firstly having a plus sized main character is so refreshing, then there's various queer representation and sex work shown in a positive way.
It's festive and funny and deliciously spiced - not your average chick lit/rom com!

I didn’t LOVE this book but honestly this genre is not really my thing (romance or spice). I did love the love interest being plus size, but there wasn’t any tension as they both liked each other well before they met. Parts were funny, but there was way too much reference to gingerbread lotion (forever scarred me). Overall not the worst but not my favourite either.

Okaaaay, I didn't know I needed a spicy Christmas book in my life before I picked up Merry Little Meet Cute, and now I need at least four more! I'm reaaaally hoping to see these two authors working together again and giving us more spicy Christmas books within this universe because there's a WHOLE Angel that needs his happy ending, as well as Sunny! I'm just saying.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit! So, I picked this up because of Julie Murphy, I'll be honest. That and the title and cover looked cute and I was ready for Christmas vibes! I slightly glossed over the porn star part of the synopsis because I was like "OMG CHRISTMAS MOVIE COSTARS" and you know, all the other little tropey things I love but I have to say...I loved it.

Merry Little Meet Cute is so sex positive given that Bee is a porn star herself but it's also fat positive too because Bee is plus-size. Add in the romance and the Christmas vibes and the general humour and I was absolutely living. I genuinely couldn't wait to carry on reading this but I also didn't want to finish reading it because I was having such a good time!

I loved the way the town was crafted as this little all year round Christmas haven because of it's use as a set, and I also loved the little nods to Christmas here and there from the flavoured hot chocolate, to the candy cane curtains to the street and bar names and so on.

Bee was brilliant. I loved her and I was rooting for her. She's strong, she doesn't take any crap from anyone and she's just brilliant. I don't know what else to say like she's so comfortable in her own skin and just so freaking cool! Nolan on the other hand is your typical misunderstood ex-boyband member. Or rather, sometimes misunderstood because he's involved himself in many hijinks but I loved the queer rep that he brought to the book along with Bee's mums and some other characters.

Honestly, that's why I'm describing this book as positive. Yes, there's a moment towards the end when the internet does it's thing, but for the most part this book has so much positive rep, so many positive vibes and is just super cosy....with a dose of spicy smut here and there to go with it all! It was a brilliant combination, but the story also had heart with Nolan trying his best to turn over a new leaf and take care of his mum and sister, while falling for Bee and Bee trying to make the most of this chance at a new opportunity!

Of course, to keep the Hopeflix production squeaky clean, the two of them can't get involved with each other but that doesn't stop the tension between them from smouldering and their chemistry was palpable!

Alongside the sweet and steamy romance, there's also plenty of humour and hijinks from what Nolan had previously gotten up to, to Teddy or 'Uncle Ray-Ray's' tales of the porn world. I actually really liked him okay, he's a porn mogul but he's out here in his Hawaiian shirts being so awkwardly sweet! He's also got an interesting sounding family who I'd love to meet, like we already met Angel but I need to meet the rest! There's some other brilliant side characters too by the way, from supportive BFF Sunny to eccentric costumer Luca and all of them have some wild tales and/or backstories to go with them!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this. I loved the characters, they were an interesting and entertaining bunch and Bee and Nolan in particular were so well fleshed out and brought to life. Yes, there's the odd cheesy moment here and there, and a fair few tropes but it just worked within this book. It's a cosy, sweet Christmas romance but it's also got some spice and it's a combination I couldn't have predicted loving quite so much! Like I said, please give me more, Julie and Sierra!

This was such an unexpected amazing read. Definitely a bit of spice included, maybe an 18+ warning for this. But my god I loved it all and I am not a huge chick-lit/romance lover. Perfect Christmas read for 2022 and deserves all the hype. I was hooked until the end. A huge shout out to Chapter 13 🔥 I loved Bee and Nolan and how they were already very familiar with each other from the past and who doesn't love a bad boy rock star turned good? A beautiful ending for everyone, parts had me laughing out loud. A well deserved five stars and highly recommend.

I think this was okay? Writing is inoffensive, some light banter, a few themes tackled (albeit very briefly) and ending nicely wrapped up with a festive bow 🎁

The characters and plot were relatively predictable and surface level which is pretty standard for your run of the mill cheesy Christmas movie style story, and hits the spot if that’s what you’re after 👌🏽 the location itself is festive but feel it could have been more Christmassy?

Talking about spots… 😏 This has some spice to it which doesn’t hold back on detail but isn’t as naughty as I thought it might be, some fade to black moments too.

I started listening to the audiobook but just couldn’t do it 😅 the male American narrator was just so monotone and the female American was too exaggerated, I couldn’t take either of them seriously! Much better when I switched to reading the print, and overall, mostly does what it says on the tin… although actually, it’s not very merry or little or meet cute!? 🫠

I did enjoy this as a light hearted Christmassy Romance. I did think it was better than other cliche ones but I had hoped for a bit more of a connection between the two main characters

Of all the Christmas romances I could have picked up, I was really looking forward to this one - and it was such a disappointment.

Remember when you were 14 and got put in a group at school with your friends but everything turned out ridiculous because you found anything hilarious with your mates? I think that's what the authors experienced writing this. They clearly had fun, but this book comes out cringeworthy instead of brilliant.

Honestly, the smut was some of the most awkward and unappealing I've read. What's irritating is, this storyline and these characters could have been GREAT - I think they would have been with one author maybe? Instead, the main characters are reduced constantly to their trope (fat female, ex boy band male), their sexualities are just add on facts, the male mc's mum is reduced to just filling a mental health storyline and the female mc's parents felt like they were only present for some diversity rep.

Not the best - an easy christmas week read yes, but overall I wouldn't necessarily rush to gift it to anyone.

I thought this was going to be a light hearted christmas romance judging by the cover. The story tells of 2 people coming together to make a hallmark type christmas film. The main players Nolan and Bea are ok but I found the story to be contrived and overly long in places. The steamy parts were all a bit cliched and the falling in love part a bit unrealistic.
An average read.

A sweet and progressive Christmas romcom like no other. Nolan is a washed up boy band star, Bee is a sex worker on this book’s equivalent of OnlyFans, but they’re both now working on a Christmas film. Cue a lot of things happening before a happy ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the proof! This was super enjoyable to read over the Christmas break.

3.75 stars
I was excited to get into the festive spirit with this one but I feel a little bit conflicted.
I did enjoy the fact that they were both secretly super fans of one another.
It was a super easy read that had me captivated but there wasn't quite enough of an emotional connection for me between Bee and Nolan.
Even when they are in the church and Nolan sees Bee in the wedding dress and you think, finally, there's going to be a declaration that they are maybe falling for one another, they just immediately start having sex and that's it.
I never thought that I would get a bit bored by how many spicy scenes there were but after you've read a few of those scenes, it starts to feel a rather repetitive. I also certainly cringed a few times at the descriptions and words used during those encounters.
I did like seeing the somewhat positive representation of plus size women, sex workers and sex more generally but then other times, the way that Sunny or the strippers are described feels almost caricature-ish.
And then Nolan essentially abandons Bee a few different times and releases that statement and there is zero conflict, they just end up together. That felt pretty unrealistic.
However, if you like a small town setting and seriously steamy scenes (I mean if you go into this thinking that a book about a badboy popstar and a porn star is going to be PG-13, I'm not sure what to say), this is an easy read.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bee Hobbes is acting in her first role opposite Nolan Shaw, her teenage crush, an ex boy band member with an x-rated past. Bee also has a secret, one that could ruin everything!

This is a Hallmark Movie in a book with a twist!

I liked the premise of the story and thought there was lot of depth to Bee and Nolan's characters.

The book is very raunchy in parts, which totally suits the storyline but if you prefer, like me, a less graphic read this might not be the book for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC

Not my usual read but I broke up for Christmas and I wanted to read something to get me into the Christmas mood.
This book was good I loved the characters loved the storyline I did guess what was going to happen but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.
The sex scenes were very 🔥

This is one of those books where the cover and book title don't represent the storyline one bit. But as someone who rarely reads the blurb it did come as a bit of a surprise. It's not exactly cute and it didn't seem little either!

I enjoyed the premise of the story and liked how a plus sized sex worker and a bad boy band member both had secretly fancied each other for years before working together on a squeaky clean Christmas rom com film. Oh and nobody had to find out what she does. There is a wide range of characters each bringing something different to the storyline.

It's such a contradiction because it's so far fetched but then is so predictable with what happens. Its a light hearted, fun, steamy and easy read. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I realised I had made a mistake when Christmas films were compared to porno. My expectations were what ruined the book for me, as I assumed it was a cute Christmas book, not a steamy romance. If you are looking for the latter you might like this book.

I could not get over the cringy dialogue and the porn star and the pop star storyline. The book also didn’t feel like Christmas. You could change the setting to summer and it would still work.

There were some good qualities to the book though. I liked the conversations around porn and how it’s not some shameful thing, and I loved having a fat main character who loved her body and was always seen as desirable. The representation was also great and I liked that both main characters were both bisexual.

The audiobook was exceptionally good. I loved the narrator’s voices, it’s just too bad I didn’t like the story.

Overall this book wasn’t for me but I can see some people who go in with the right expectations enjoying it.

I'm always on the lookout for seasonal stories (and I love Hallmark movies!) and it's even better when they come with a twist. This book managed to be fresh, funny and still Christmassy. Great fun