Stranded for the Holidays - Daisy Landish, Marie-Hélène Lebeault, & Peyton Lawson

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Authors: Daisy Landish, Marie-Hélène Lebeault, & Peyton Lawson

Genre: Clean Holiday Romance
Rating: 3 stars.

A collection of four “clean” romance novellas set around Christmas time.

Each of these novellas has been independently published and is available individually as well in this collection on KU.

As the title clearly suggests, there are several common elements to the stories:

🎄 All occur during Christmas.

🎄 All are clean romances. (The “action” is restricted to kissing.)

🎄 All involve the idea of being ‘stranded’.

So you might feel a sense of déjà vu while reading this collection. However, it isn’t that much because the situations are quite different in each story, as are the subgenres.


1. Clueless at Christmas - Peyton Lawson

Genre: Cosy contemporary romance.

Synopsis: A beautiful woman knocks on Jacob’s door during a blizzard. She has evidently been in some accident but with the storm raging outside and no connectivity, they are stuck together until the weather clears. It doesn’t help that the woman has no recollection of her identity. Can Jacob help her while her memory is gone? What happens if she does regain it?

Opinion: For me, this was the best story of this anthology. Though the connection between the two leads is almost insta, they get enough of time even within the short length to show their personality. It feels like a complete story. Moreover, the two first person perspectives were well written. The only thing I didn’t like was the stress it placed on looks and physical appeal.

4 stars.


2. Grounded for Christmas - Daisy Landish

Genre: Sapphic Romance with a Christmas Grump sub-trope.

Synopsis: Jamie hates Christmas and is regretfully going to visit her mum for the holidays. However, her flight is delayed due to a storm and she is stuck at the airport, where she bumps into Emma. There is an instant connection between them and they bond over a game of twenty questions. Will cheery Emma help Jamie to appreciate the holiday better?

My Opinion: There is a lot of fun banter in this story and enough of cute moments. However, after a while, it become repetitive. Also, the connection is too instant. I did appreciate the inclusion of a lesbian romance in this anthology – it adds to the wholesomeness. Overall, a quick and fun read.

3 stars


3. Stranded with a Shifter - Marie-Hélène Lebeault

Genre: YA Romance with Fantasy elements.

Synopsis: After a hectic day of Christmas shopping, Kayla stops at a café, where a cute guy offers to buy her coffee. Just as they are about to have their drinks together, the guy rushes off in panic after making a flimsy excuse. Imagine her surprise when she bumps into him a few moments later, this time in the department store elevator. As luck would have it, the elevator malfunction and they are stuck. What will happen next?

My Opinion: As the title tells you, one of the characters is a shifter (and it is easy to guess who it was!) The ‘shift’ might be farfetched but it was fun to read. This had the potential to be a full-fledged novel. As a novella, it was wasted because the characters didn’t get time to make a mark, the proceedings were too rushed, and many points were left incomplete. The “stranding” is quite minor this time and not the main focus of the story. There is also not enough of an encounter between the lead pair to make it feel like a romance. I did love the concept though and wish this story could be extended.

3 stars.



4. The Yuletide Thief - Daisy Landish

Genre: Historical Romance

Synopsis: Emily is the vicar’s daughter who has resigned herself to being a governess due to few marriage prospects in the country. Before leaving for London, she decides to arrange a proper Christmas for the orphans of their church. While on the way back after purchasing the gifts, her carriage is accosted by Robin of Sussex, a highwayman who fancies himself the next Robin Hood. You can guess what might happen next.

My Opinion: I usually love historical fiction but this one just felt off. (TBH, we only guess it is historical because of some details such as the costume and the carriage. There is no year or time period attached to the story.) Moreover, the connection is unbelievably insta. Imagine just seeing half of someone’s face and feeling a stirring! Yeesh! (As you might have guessed by now, insta romances aren’t really my thing.) The turnaround in the plot also was too abrupt. Also, I hate the enemies-to-lovers trope, all the more when it comes out of nowhere. As such., I didn’t enjoy this one. It was just about okay.

2 stars



Overall, not great, not bad. Readers who love insta connections will certainly enjoy this far more than I did. I guess novellas don’t have that much of space to develop slowburn romances, but as the first story showed, it is not impossible. A couple of these would work wonderfully as full-length novels.

3 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each of the four stories.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the authors through ‘StoryOrigin’ and these are my honest thoughts about it.

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