The Nightmare Before Kissmas: A Royals and Romance Novel

By Sara Raasch

AN INSTANT USA TODAY AND INDIE BESTSELLER!

DELUXE EDITION--featuring beautiful ruby sprayed edges!


Red, White & Royal Blue
meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky rom-com where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween.


Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

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Published Oct 8, 2024

368 pages

Average rating: 7.42

85 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

spacecowboy
Jul 25, 2026
7/10 stars
I have never had a book, make me nervous and sweat when it came to a conflict and blow up seen. ALSO, I almost forgot about the lover story as I got so caught up in the world building and magic system—SO MANY QUESTIONS. This book gave me a lot to experience and I can't wait to read more.
Kaskakween
Apr 27, 2026
8/10 stars
This was a cute book. I like how the holidays are separate kingdoms with royal families.
PhoenixTheNerd
Mar 03, 2026
10/10 stars
I passed this book over several times and am so glad I gave it a shot. This was definitely my book of the year last year (2025). It was funny, I loved the characters, and the sensitive topics were addressed appropriately. The topics of grief, I felt to my bones. This book is about finding real, lasting happiness and joy, not the commercial fleeting emotions we frequently attribute to the holiday season. This is the story of a privileged Prince of Christmas (Coal) who falls in love with the Prince of Halloween (Hex) while they are "competing" to marry the Princess of Easter, Coal's bestie who his brother has been crushing on for years. Just read it, I don't wanna spoil anything! IMO Hex has some of the BEST lines and I love how down bad Coal is for him. Some notes: - Queer-normative world - Hex in a corset vest 😉 - Disaster bi MMC (Coal) - Feuding holidays - "Rivals" to lovers - Banter for dayyyyys - Hurt/Comfort
misha belden
Apr 02, 2025
6/10 stars
3.5 what a fun ho ho holiday romp lol
Courtasaurus Rex
Mar 22, 2025
10/10 stars
I absolutely loved everything about this book.

I read this book when I needed a hug, when I needed comfort, and when I needed a good giggle. The banter in this book was everything!

This book exceeded my expectations and I am so glad I picked it up.
I'm begging you, read the book.

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