As always, I am back with more book recommendations. I first gave you some non-fiction book suggestions on Jane Austen (as it is the 250th anniversary of her birth), and then my favourite fiction reads of 2025. However, as Christmas is now right around the corner, I wanted to share some festive books if you are in the mood! Sometimes it can be nice to escape the craziness of the holiday season with a great book, and these can be a great vacation. These are four of my favourite festive fiction books!
My Four Favourite Festive Fiction Books
I expect that everyone can find A Christmas Carol or Hercule Poirot’s Christmas if you are looking for a classic novel to read during the holiday season. (And they are great books!) However, I thought I would share some newer novels across different genres that you might not have come across yet.
Christmas Is All Around, Martha Waters
Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won’t let her move on. When a piece revealing that her reluctance nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister.
But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she’s accidently left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London by Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business—and the funds to keep their historic house running—relies on holiday cheer, and Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors.
Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission illustrating iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs. Graham offers to help escort her, as long as she’ll commit to an art workshop at Eden Priory. But as Charlotte’s chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham. Charlotte may not love Christmas, but is it so bad if you’re also falling in love?
Why You Should Read This…
I will recommend Martha Waters’ books literally anywhere I can. (I recommended her newest book in my favourite fiction post last week, if you missed it!) This is her first contemporary novel, and I think she has transitioned to the present perfectly. (Her historical fiction is still chef’s kiss, though.) Christmas Is All Around is a great mix of holiday classics (beloved meals, Christmas movies) and a beloved historic family home to save. Charlotte and Graham (and their assorted friends and family) are a great anchor for a heroic holiday season.
The romance in this was funny and sweet, and feels genuine in a way that a lot of holiday stories don’t! (I love Hallmark movies but the romance often feels… rushed and not real.) I also love that the romance does not take over the full story- I felt like we got to spend a lot of time trying to save Eden Priory, giving the story a lot of heart.
I also recommend reading this when in London for the holidays, if you can! I read this before wandering around Selfridges and Liberty to take in the Christmas windows and it made everything all the more magical.
Christmas with The Queen, Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor
December 1952. While the young Queen Elizabeth II finds her feet as the new monarch, she must also find the right words to continue the tradition of her late father’s Christmas Day radio broadcast. But even traditions must evolve with the times, and the queen faces a postwar Britain hungry for change.
As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, old friends—Jack Devereux and Olive Carter—are unexpectedly reunited by the occasion. Olive, a single mother and aspiring reporter at the BBC, leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration, but even a chance encounter with the queen doesn’t go as planned and Olive wonders if she will ever be taken seriously.
Jack, a recently widowed chef, reluctantly takes up a new role in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. Lacking in purpose and direction, Jack has abandoned his dream to have his own restaurant, but his talents are soon noticed and while he might not believe in himself, others do, and a chance encounter with an old friend helps to reignite the spark of his passion and ambition.
As Jack and Olive’s paths continue to cross over the following five Christmases, they grow ever closer. Yet Olive carries the burden of a heavy secret that threatens to destroy everything.
Christmas Day, December 1957. As the nation eagerly awaits the Queen’s first televised Christmas speech, there is one final gift for the Christmas season to deliver…
Why You Should Read This…
A fantastic piece of historical fiction, if I may say so! While we do get glimpses into a young Queen Elizabeth II’s point of view, we spend most of our time with Olive Carter, a BBC reporter establishing herself, and Jack Devereux, a chef who has recently begun working for the Royal Family. The story very much focuses on their lives and families but shows the role that royals played (and still play) in many people’s lives.
The two authors have clearly done their research, and I more than appreciate it. Many of us have grandparents and parents who remember this time period, and with the popularity of The Crown, many of us younger folks are also somewhat familiar- the details and “finishings” on this novel allow you to step into the 1950s easily.
I chose the audiobook, and I am so glad that I did- both narrators brought their characters to life for me. (Also, their “royal accents” were great- the Royal Family had a particular way of speaking in that generation, and they nailed it.)
The Christmas Bookshop, Jenny Colgan
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop—and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?
Why You Should Read This…
Jenny Colgan is a beloved author, and a beloved Christmas author, for a reason. Firstly, I loved getting to know Carmen and seeing her create a new and wonderful life for herself. Her complex family was sometimes frustrating but that is true of all of us- we don’t always do what everyone else wants us to. The wider cast of characters was very engaging for me, they felt like real people I would meet, making it much easier to get lost in. Everyone connected to the bookshop stood out to me in particular, as someone who used to work in a bookshop once upon a time!
And speaking of the bookshop. Both the bookshop and Edinburgh were not only the setting for the story but their own characters. I am fortunate to have visited Edinburgh and I could picture the bookshop. Unless you happen to live in Edinburgh (Hi! I am jealous!), this is a great way to “visit” for the holidays.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, Ally Carter
The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.
Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.
She hates his guts.
He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)
But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.
That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.
She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?
As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.
Assuming they don’t kill each other first.
Why You Should Read This….
This book is often compared to Knives-Out, and that comparison is very accurate, in a great way. I loved that Carter continually built up the “fabric” of the mystery and slowly wove in one thread at a time. And just when you think that you have an idea of who might have done it and how, that is disproven. It makes for very entertaining reading, and a book that you can’t put down. There are characters you will love, characters you will hate, and a possible murder that you just have to solve.
If you want a mystery novel that will suck you in and truly let you escape for a while, this is a great pick. There are some romantic elements here but the mystery is at the heart of the book, and you won’t be able to put it down!
What are your favourite festive fiction books?
Cheers,
The Historian
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