7 holiday romance book + movie pairings to enjoy under the mistletoe

You’ve got your chestnuts roasting on the open fire (be careful, they pop!), and Jack Frost is not only nipping at your nose, but also your fingers, toes, and whatever other extremities that rascal can get to! Seems like it’s time to cozy up, grab your device, and ready yourself to enjoy all that this season has to offer through Libby and Kanopy. Or, if you’re like me and have approximately 4,000 presents to wrap, but are incapable of doing so without a holiday movie or audiobook, that works, too (though it’s approximately one million times less cozy)!

There are so many wonderful books and movies to enjoy to get into the holiday spirit, and I’m a sucker for pretty much all of them. And we here at Libby Life want to make sure that these are all titles that are from the “nice” list, so take a peek! We give you permission to look even before the holidays! What fun it is to read and watch these book and movie pairings all night!

If you know someone who might be getting coal in their stocking...

📺 The Snowball Effect starring Anjali Khurane & Landon Moss
📖 The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore
🎧 Audiobook

Everyone knows that love and hate are two sides of the same (chocolate) coin. And sometimes, that slow simmer of feelings can come to a full boil and lead to things that would melt a snowman!

In The Snowball Effect, two rival meteorologists find themselves trapped in a small town for the holidays, both desperate to get out of there to get to their story, but also finding that they might be both predicting the same things: a 100% chance of love.

The Gingerbread Bakery returns us to everyone’s favorite small town, Dream Harbor, where this time the local bakery owner finds herself forced to spend time with the grumpy local bar owner, as they are both involved the same wedding. Will this be sugar, spice, and everything nice or will their time together be overserved?

If you’ll be home for Christmas...

📺 Dear Christmas starring Melissa Joan Hart, Ed Begley Jr. & Faith Prince
📖 You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Toni Shiloh
🎧 Audiobook

Sometimes it feels like everyone else is in love, especially this time of year. But don’t give up hope, sometimes you just need to head home and see who’s waiting for you there.

A holiday romance podcaster who has never been in love? That’s who we’ll meet in Dear Christmas, but don’t worry, once Natalie comes home for Christmas, we can be sure that there will be more waiting for her than just holiday cheer.

The holidays are when Starr is feeling her lowest, and add in her sister’s wedding to the mix, and she’s feeling like a real Grinch. But in You Make It Feel Like Christmas, we’ll find if this big city girl can find some hometown love.

If you’re looking for love under the tree...

📺 Feliz NaviDAD starring Mario Lopez, AnnaLynne McCord & Paulina Chávez
📖 Just a Little Christmas by Janet Dailey
🎧 Audiobook

While the holidays are full of good cheer and acts of kindness, sometimes it can be hard for those who feel alone and wistful during the season, even when surrounded by those they love. If you need hope through the hard times, these titles are for you.

The holiday season brings up painful memories for widower, David, in Feliz NaviDAD. Surviving the holidays is all he ever hopes to do, but that’s not enough for his family, who schemes up ways to make sure he isn’t alone under the mistletoe this year.

Newly divorced, but still very pregnant, Ellie, returns home to get her life back together, but ends up finding that gifts come in lots of different packages when she reconnects with her former flame, Jubal, and meets his 8-year-old daughter. Can this city girl and cowboy lasso up love? Read Just a Little Christmas to find out.

If the best surprises aren’t always wrapped with a bow...

📺 Sappy Holiday starring Vanessa Sears & Jon McLaren
📖 While It Was Snowing by Julia London
🎧 Audiobook

Sometimes the gifts that we think we want the most aren’t always what we need, so make sure when you’re making your list, you check it twice.

In Sappy Holiday, a chef finds herself stranded in a small town, while still reeling from her discovery of her boyfriend’s pending proposal. As she’s having second thoughts, the handsome maple farmer who rescued her might have some answers that are sweet as a peppermint stick for old St. Nick.

A painter looking for some time to herself and a professional golfer looking to rehab for the holidays find themselves double-booked in the same picturesque lake house, and neither of them want to leave. Read While It Was Snowing to find out if their love twinkles like a fresh strand of lights or goes out like the one you’ve had in the attic for years.

If you like a small town fixer-upper...

📺 The Christmas Classic starring Malin Akerman, Amy Smart & Ryan Hansen
📖 Snowball’s Christmas by Kristen McKanagh

Things are different in small towns, but sometimes when the big city comes to home for the holidays, Christmas miracles can happen.

Sometimes, a friendly competition is just the thing, but sometimes the stakes are a bit higher. In The Christmas Classic, a woman returns home to try to convince an old flame to sell his ski resort to her fiancé's family corporation, and he agrees, but only if she competes in the town’s Christmas competition.

Join Snowball as she narrates a tale (tail?) of sweet holiday treats and love at the B&B she in which she lives. Snowball’s Christmas tells of baker, Emily’s, plan to make sure that the B&B’s owner’s nephew doesn’t succeed in his plan to sell the place, and maybe to find a bit of joy while they’re at it.

If you love a royal wedding...

📺 Christmas with a Crown starring Lisa Durupt, Marcus Rosner & Teryl Rothery
📖 The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
🎧 Audiobook

The magic of the holidays plus the sparkling romance of royalty blends together like a perfectly balanced cookie to frosting ratio.

In Christmas with the Crown, a woman returns home to help revive her family’s Christmas tree festival, and finds an ally in a stranger who has arrived to help with the event. Little does she know that this pauper is actually a prince, who is on his own quest for holiday spirit.

While not royalty of this world, The Nightmare Before Kissmas, tells of the heir to Christmas, and son of the current reigning Santa, who is set to be wed to the Easter Princess, until a rival, the Prince of Halloween comes for her hand. As they compete to see who will win her heart, will they find that the true gift might be each other?

If you know that the holidays are a time for second chances...

📺 A Christmas in New Hope starring Katrina Bowden, Ryan Cooper & Mia Analise Armstrong
📖 The Christmas Stocking by Fern Michaels

Miracles abound this time of year, and we all love to read and watch stories that are brimming with possibility and joy, but keep those tissues nearby!

Everyone’s an influencer, and in A Christmas in New Hope, an aspiring star and her daughter find themselves in a home improvement competition to save their home. As they roll up their sleeves, will the handsome man next door help or hurt their chances to win and to be the family they both long for this season?

Can you have a list of holiday books and movies without one on a Christmas tree farm? NOPE. So, enjoy The Christmas Stocking, where Amy is trying to raise money for the local senior center by selling trees from a local farm, but Gus, has different ideas of what to do with the land. This puts the star at the top of the tree!

*Title availability may vary.

May your season be merry and bright and may all your holidays be full of reading, watching, and listening joy!

RELATED READ: 9 heartwarming romance reads to hibernate with this winter