Christmas and books? It’s a match made in heaven!

The perfect cosy combination

Is there anything more comforting than curling up with a good book at Christmas? I don’t think so! The tree is twinkling in the corner, the fire is crackling and there’s a mug of something hot and chocolatey within reach (marshmallows absolutely mandatory). Outside, it’s all wind and drizzle (because let’s face it, we rarely get proper snow in the UK) but inside is pure, festive bliss.

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that my idea of the perfect Christmas romance involves a bookshop. A little independent one, of course - the sort with a slightly wonky sign, a bell over the door, and shelves that smell faintly of adventure, old paper, and freshly baked mince pies. And there’s something irresistibly warm and nostalgic about two people finding love amongst the paperbacks and poetry, especially when snow is falling outside.

The magic of the bookshop romance at Christmas

Bookshops are magical all year round, but at Christmas, they seem to come alive. Maybe it’s the fairy lights strung along the shelves, or the way the world outside feels a bit less in-your-face when you’re surrounded by stories. Add a bit of tinsel, a plate of shortbread and a Christmas meet-cute, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for love.

It inspired me to write a Christmas bookshop romance, The Tanglewood Bookshop and as I was writing my own festive story, full of old books, community spirit and the odd dose of holiday disaster (of course!), I tried to capture that lovely mix of comfort and joy that Christmas brings.

But mine isn’t the only story with a festive book-centred theme. Take a look at these!

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

Carmen has always worked in her local department store. So, when the gorgeous old building closes its doors for good, she is more than a little lost.

When her sister, Sofia, mentions an opportunity in Edinburgh - a cute little bookshop, the spare room in her house - Carmen is reluctant, she was never very good at accepting help. But, short on options, she soon finds herself pulling into the snowy city just a month before Christmas.

What Sofia didn't say is that the shop is on its last legs and that if Carmen can't help turn things around before Christmas, the owner will be forced to sell. Privately, Sofia is sure it will take more than a miracle to save the store, but maybe this Christmas, Carmen might surprise them all...

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/44FBbR3

The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan

A long-lasting friendship

Every year, Erica, Claudia, and Anna reunite for their book club holiday. They’re bonded by years of friendship and a deep love of books, but there is still so much they keep from each other…

A perfect Christmas escape

At the cosy Maple Sugar Inn, Hattie specialises in making her guests’ dreams come true, but this Christmas all she wants is to survive the festive season. Between running the inn and being a single mother, Hattie is close to breaking point.

The start of a brand-new story…?

Over the course of an eventful week, Hattie sees that the friends are each carrying around unspoken truths, but nothing prepares her for how deeply her story will become entwined in theirs. Will this Christmas be the end of the book club’s story or the start of a whole new chapter?

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/4rzHakg

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan

Step into the warmth and the cosy glow of the secret Christmas library...

Mirren Sutherland didn't expect an old book in her great-aunt's attic to change her whole world. But one minute she is staring resentfully at the sparkly London Christmas lights, dreading the thought of another Christmas alone. And the next, she is being whisked away on a secret night train to a grand old house in the highlands...

Jamie McPherson is desperate to save his family home - and he needs Mirren's ability to sniff out an antique to do it. There is a very rare, very valuable, and very lost book somewhere in the nooks and crannies of his family's crumbling estate. And if Mirren can find it, they might just be able to save the McPhersons from financial ruin.

But the house has its secrets, and when a snowstorm traps Mirren and Jamie in along with rival book hunter Theo Palliser, they realise that there is much more than just a book hidden in the halls. With old feelings and new sparks slipping through the cracks, it's a race against time - and snowfall.

With the help of a sprinkle of Christmas magic, will Mirren uncover the clues and find the book - without losing her heart?

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/48xrNjL

The Secret Christmas Bookshop by Cressida McLaughlin

Can their Christmas love story last a lifetime?

In a village by the sea, where wintry skies bring a dusting of sparkling snow, somebody is opening an unexpected gift…

When Sophie receives a surprise package, she’s intrigued to find a beautifully bound book inside.

Sophie is desperate to discover the mystery sender, and her hunt draws her to the enigmatic Harry. The subject of much gossip since his return from London, Harry keeps to himself in his crumbling manor house.

But they are both about to learn that the best stories can take on a life of their own.

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/3KwpHZe

A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton

A snowstorm. A stranger. A spark. It should be the perfect start to the perfect love story.

But real life is far messier and more complicated than in the pages of the books in Megan Taylor's family bookshop – the last few years have left this young widow in no doubt of that. Moving back home to York should have been a fresh start, but all it did was allow her to retreat from the world.

When prize-winning author Xander Stone rams his supermarket trolley into her ankles and then trashes her taste in books, Megan is abruptly awoken from her self-imposed hibernation. It's time to start living again, and she's going to start by putting this arrogant, superior – admittedly sexy – stranger in his place.

Just as she is beginning to enjoy life again, the worst happens and Megan begins to wonder if she should have stayed hidden away. Because it turns out that falling in love again is about more than just meeting under the mistletoe...

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/48ArIMa

Christmas at Bronte's Bookshop by Johanna Cogbill

Christmas chic lit set in a fictional Welsh village.

Bronte runs her bookshop in the sleepy village of Gwyn living a somewhat mundane life, but she has a secret, Ruby Diamond her nom de plume. Ruby is the best-selling author of erotic historical fiction.

Bronte keeps her secret from her family, her best friend Anna and her ex-Hari, who, by reappearing after leaving her practically standing at the altar eighteen months earlier, declaring his undying love, throws her calm life into chaos.

The distraction of sexy sparky Tal, her childhood sweetheart Dan and being railroaded into organising the village centenary Christmas fayre, Bronte continues to write in secret whilst also trying to spread Christmas spirit amongst those who need it most.

Will she finally reveal her double life? Will there be a happy ever after?

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/3MEc36Z

Christmas at the Little Bookshop by the Sea by Eliza J Scott

A festive treat brimming with the magic of bookshops and Christmas…

In the seaside town of Micklewick Bay, Florrie Appleton and Ed Harte are gearing up for a magical Christmas at the Happy Hartes Bookshop. Florrie’s book-themed decorations are the talk of the town, while Ed’s dazzling window displays could have been plucked straight from a fairytale. With romance in the air, this promises to be their best holiday season yet.

But after a surprise phone call from his father, Florrie worries that Ed is keeping a secret. Why is he spending so much time in the attic? And what’s making him act so distantly?

Determined to make this Christmas unforgettable, Florrie packs their days with festive treats from gingerbread hot chocolates to sleigh rides under the stars. But when Ed disappears just a few days before Christmas, Florrie fears the worst. Will her holiday dreams shatter like a dropped bauble? Or is Florrie in for a Christmas surprise of her own?

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/4rAVgC1

Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop by Jessica Redland

Nestled amongst the comforting shelves of her beloved Bay Books, Lily Appleton finds the peace and quiet she needs. But with Christmas just around the corner, Lily has to find an extra pair of hands to help her share the bookish magic.

After selling his business, Lars Jóhannsson is feeling lost. A job at Bay Books would give him the space he needs to contemplate his next move, but returning would mean confronting a painful past he's been avoiding. He’s also fairly sure he’s the one person Lily would never want to see again.

Lily is torn. Lars could be the perfect fit for Bay Books, but he once rejected her friendship and the hurt still lingers. But working together, Lily discovers a vulnerability that Lars has kept hidden away, along with a few surprising secrets. And as the Christmas season sprinkles its magic, Lily discovers the warmth of renewed friendship and the joy of heartwarming traditions from Lars’s Icelandic roots.

Surrounded by the quiet magic of the season and the soft glow of festive lights, perhaps there’s even the possibility of finding a love as enchanting as the Northern Lights on a winter's night.

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/4oy2AeK

Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop by Kiley Dunbar

With just two weeks until Christmas, everything in Clove Lore should be perfect. But the latest holidaymaker to the Borrow a Bookshop is feeling far from festive

Icelandic ex-bookseller Magns Sturluson might be surrounded by love stories in the Bookshop, but he's nursing a sadness that not even fiction can fix.

When Alexandra Robinson finds herself stranded in Clove Lore, she finds a safe place to hide from heartbreak. After all, all that's waiting for her at home is a cheater boyfriend and the memories of her parents. As Alex finds herself embraced by the quirky village community, she finds her tough exterior thawing and as she grows closer to Magns, she finds an equally soft heart under his gruff shell.

It seems that Clove Lore is working its magic once again until a great flood on Christmas Eve brings devastation in its wake. It's up to Magns and Alex to batten down the hatches and help bring the village back together again, while also introducing the locals to the Icelandic tradition of the jlabkafl Yule book flood where families and friends gather on Christmas Eve to exchange books and read together.

But can Magns and Alex truly rescue the ruins of the village, and salvage their Christmas spirit? Or is there another complication lurking even closer than they thought?

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/4asKmIb

Christmas Wishes at the Station Bookshop by Margaret Amatt

Maybe this Christmas, they’ll find their happy ending

After one toxic relationship too many and more failed jobs than she can count, spirited Scarlett Finch has lost her sparkle and doesn’t think she can face this year’s festive season. The last thing she expects is to land a Christmas job at Glenbriar’s Little Station Bookshop, especially not thanks to a slightly unhinged older woman with a parrot, a pug, a wild imagination, and some crackpot ideas for displays – not to mention a flair for making unexpected decisions, like hiring Scarlett without telling the owner.

Widowed dad-of-three Lloyd Miller is just trying to keep life on track. Between moving house, juggling his day job, and preparing to take over the bookshop from his retired mum, the chaos inside the shop is the last thing he needs, particularly when it includes Scarlett, the woman he shared a no-strings summer fling with… and hasn’t stopped thinking about since.

While Glenbriar twinkles with Christmas lights, both Scarlett and Lloyd are haunted by their pasts, drawn together in their present, and uncertain of their future.

A bookshop full of anonymous wishes might just give them the courage to make their own – but with neither convinced they deserve a second chance, it’ll take more than festive magic to open the book on a new romance. They can’t change the past – but they can still choose how the story goes.

Available from Amazon #ad https://amzn.to/4pIfqrW

Do you know what I love most about festive bookshop romances?

That they remind us that the best gifts aren’t always the ones you can wrap. It’s about belonging, kindness, and those little moments that remind us life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful.

So if the world feels a bit too loud and your to-do list looks longer than Santa’s nice list, give yourself permission to slow down. Find a cosy nook, light a candle and lose yourself in a story where the snow always falls on cue and the ending is as warm and satisfying as a Christmas pudding with extra brandy sauce.

Do you love a good festive romance? Have you read any Christmas stories set in bookshops lately that stole your heart?

I’d love to hear your recommendations, so pop them in the comments below!

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About the Author

Lilac Mills writes heartwarming romance inspired by life in the Welsh countryside, her love of simple pleasures, and the beauty of everyday moments. She’s the author of over twenty feel-good novels, and also writes as Liz Davies and Etti Summers.

Learn more about Lilac.

Lilac Mills' books

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