December 2025
- Katie Peterson
- Dec 1, 2025
- 6 min read
Something old, something new, something steamy, something true-ish
(Hint: If you click on the image of a book below, it will take you directly to the section about that book!)
Something old: One Day in December by Josie Silver
Something new: Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Web
Something steamy: Holly & Nick Hate Christmas by Betsy St. Amant [Change of plans]
Something true-ish: December 6th by Martin Cruz Smith
Book club pick: Love, Mom by Iliana Xander
The Ratings:
Like plain, black coffee. Strong dislike.
A little cream, a little sugar. Not bad. Not great.
Add some flavor or syrup, it's getting good.
I liked this a latte!
Love! Refill please!
The Steam:
No peppers: Love/romance not a major part of this story
One pepper: Mild! Some love scenes; nothing risque on the page; fade to black
Two peppers: Moderate! Slightly descriptive romantic scenes may occur on page; some implied innuendos
Three peppers: Hot! Blushing while reading may occur; lots of spice
One Day in December
Josie Silver
As Laurie commutes home one December evening, she catches a man's eye through the window at a bus stop. In the short moments before the bus pulls away, something unspoken sparks between them. Laurie can't get 'bus boy', and the potential future between them, out of her mind. With the help of her roommate and best friend, Sarah, she spends the next year looking for him everywhere she goes in the city. Just when she's given up hope of ever setting eyes on him again, she finds herself introduced to him at a party...as Sarah's new boyfriend, Jack. Instead of telling the truth of why she feels uncomfortable around them, Laurie chooses to keep his identity a secret, having to watch the couple fall in love from the sidelines.
This book takes place over the course of ten years. Every year, Laurie makes New Years resolutions...for her well being, her job, and her non-existent love life. During one especially heavy season, Laurie and Jack make a colossal mistake. Or is it? Laurie's feelings about Jack are extremely muddled...she spent an entire year being in love with him from afar, and it's hard to suppress those feelings. Through moves, heartbreaks, and marriages, Laurie and Jack circle around each other for a decade before finally confronting their feelings once and for all.
Cute, sometimes aggravating. Predictable. A nice, easy read for the holidays.
Steam rating:
(Alluded to-nothing detailed)
Christmas with the Queen
Hazel Gaynor & Heather Web
A heartwarming tale combining history, royalty, and romance. As young Queen Elizabeth II prepares for the continuation of her late father and grandfather's beloved Christmas Day radio broadcast tradition, she struggles for find the right words for a country still reeling from the after effects of war. As Sandringham House in Norfolk gets ready to host the royal family for the holidays, two old friends, Jack and Olive, find themselves thrust together for the celebration. Olive is a single mother working at the BBC and is given the opportunity to cover Christmas with the Queen. Jack is a recently widowed chef, who accepts a last minute invitation to help in the royal kitchens. Spending time together in the present sends both Jack and Olive into the depths of memories and forgotten promises.
Over the next five Christmases, Jack and Olive find themselves spending more and more time together, and old sparks rekindle. But Olive's been keeping a secret, one that might cause a fissure so deep it can't be overcome. Should Olive come clean, hopeful for forgiveness? Or keep the burden hidden, in hopes of keeping Jack forever?
The glimpse into royal life feels both magical and homey. The cozy Christmases around the radio will have you longing for quieter, less complicated times.
My rating:
Holly & Nick Hate Christmas
Betsy St. Amant
So. I put my name on the queue at the library an entire month ago for this one, and I never made it to the top of the list. I'll try and catch it another month. For now, I made do with two other bonus Christmas reads:
SURPRISE
Kiss Me at Christmas
Jenny Bayliss
Harriet is normally Ms. Christmas herself. The first to haul the decorations out; the first to bake all the Christmas goodies; and the first to spread cheer to everyone around her. But when her daughter opts to spend the holiday abroad with her host family, Harriet can't even convince herself to put up the tree. Why bother for just herself? But then some of the students she's in charge of get caught trespassing in an old theater and to keep the owner from pressing charges, she's forced to confront her apathy to the holidays head on. They are tasked with reviving the decrepit building to put on 'one last show', none other than A Christmas Carol. Between renovations, rehearsals, and struggling to stay afloat at work, Harriet finds time to embark on a whirlwind romance with the theater owner's lawyer.
As the pieces come together and opening night creeps closer and closer, Harriet is reminded why Christmas, and life, can be so special.
A true feel good story with a happy ending for all.
My rating:
Steam rating:
(Mentioned, but nothing explicit)
SURPRISE
Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist
Codi Hall
Nick is finally done with his enlistment, and after spending most of the last eight years deployed or on duty, he's ready for an at-home Christmas with his longtime girlfriend, Amber. Upon returning home, Nick finally realizes what his best friend Noel has against Amber...she's cheating on him. To pass the time and occupy his mind, he picks up shifts at his family's Christmas tree farm and spends time with Noel making holiday playlists. Nick and Noel have always communicated through music, and this year, the lyrics to some of their favorites hit different. Suddenly, Noel doesn't seem so girl next door. And Nick is feeling less brotherly by the moment.
Should Nick and Noel risk the friendship (we know what Taylor's vote would be) and see if love is in the cards this year? Or will Nick's ex and Noel's hesitations combine for a 'Blue Christmas'?
Predictable but cute. Sometimes you pick up a Christmas book and just want the town to be called Mistletoe, and the siblings names to be Holly & Merry, and know that love is going to be pronounced at the annual Christmas concert.
My rating:
Steam rating:
(Hardly warrants a pepper)
December 6th
Martin Cruz Smith
Harry Niles is an American boy of missionary parents, raised in Tokyo, Japan. Spending most of his upbringing in Japan has essentially made Harry feel as if he's Japanese. He speaks the language, runs the streets, goes to the schools. Harry has a gift for scams, whether at a backroom poker table or altering the books at an oil shipping company. But in late 1941, messing with Japanese oil is an offense that even Harry may not be able to recover from. As a gaijin, or foreigner, with self-proclaimed knowledge of hidden oil tanks, he's caught the attention of police and military officials alike. When Harry makes up non-existent tanks in Oahu, Hawaii, he thinks he'll cause uncertainty, helping stave off a war for Japan. What he does instead is cause confusion...if they're storing tanks of stolen oil at Pearl Harbor, Japan wants to eliminate it.
Harry tries to warn the ambassador of a potential attack on U.S. soil, but finds that he's no longer welcome or trusted at the embassy. The last flight out of Tokyo scheduled for December 8th is cancelled and the Emperor is seen parading about in his regal attire. Something is stirring and Harry is desperate to escape Japan alive. But with his name crossed off the embassy's evacuation list, he's finding his options extremely limited. When news breaks of the attack, many Japanese are celebratory. Only those who know that the mission was actually a failure, the alleged tanks nowhere to be found, are certain that the war has already been lost. And who better to pay for this gamble and loss, than Harry himself?
Slow start, but picked up. Harry is such an unlikeable character, and although this was fiction, his actions and consequences made me indescribably angry, and I truly think he got his due.
My rating:
Love, Mom
Iliana Xander
Mackenzie is a college student who, not unlike many people in their twenties, has a tumultuous relationship with her parents. Raised in the shadow of her mother, renowned author with the pen name E.V. Renge, Mackenzie was never close to either parent. When her mother suddenly dies, Mackenzie finds herself caught up in a world of lies, secrets, and...murder? Leaving the funeral, she finds the first of many letters in her car. Signed 'Love, Mom', these notes seem to have been written by her mother...but if she wrote them, who's sending them?
With the help of her best friend EJ (self-proclaimed computer nerd) Mackenzie attempts to untangle the web of information she's being given in short doses via each letter. Online searches, visits to her parents' hometown, and dangerous confrontations lead them to a truth no one could have guessed. Can Mackenzie get to the bottom of the mystery regarding her mom's death...or will she be the next victim?
Far-fetched but entertaining.
Read along with me in January!
Something old | The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner |
Something new | The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley |
Something steamy | Good Spirits by B.K. Borison |
Something true-ish | Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery |
Book club pick | Deep End by Ali Hazelwood |
As always, send me book recs to sosnssst@gmail.com or tag me on IG @ktpete23.
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