Almost every year for the last decade, I’ve released a Christmas novella and it’s a tradition I hope to continue for a long time. I love writing novellas and I love Christmas, so it hardly feels like work at all! (That’s not true. Writing novellas is hard.) This year’s novella, One Christmas Eve, is a fun and sexy holiday story about a bookstore owner who’s living life on her own terms since her divorce, and the sexy but a little uptight man who opens a business next door. Like many holiday romances, it wasn’t actually written during the holidays, so we all have tricks for trying to summon that Christmas spirit when it’s hot and we want to be at the beach. Candles. Music. And Christmas movies! Here are the Christmas movies that are on my holiday rotation, especially when everybody around me is celebrating the 4th of July.
No list of my favorite Christmas movies would be complete without Die Hard, so I’ll just throw it out there first. Yes, it’s a Christmas movie! And if you’re arguing with me in your head right now, just wait. There’s a far more controversial choice down the list.
The Christmas Chronicles is a Netflix movie from 2018 and the very first time I watched it, it shot to the top five of my favorite Christmas movies. It’s FUN. And not just because it’s set in (overly picturesque because it’s probably Toronto) Lowell, Mass, so the kids are Patriots fans. Christmas movies that can be tearjerkers and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time are my thing, and Kurt Russell is a super sexy Santa. (Which is a weird thing to say, but that doesn’t make it not true.) Make sure you watch to the very end for a super fun surprise!
That Elf makes my list almost goes without saying. I gravitate towards humor and this is another movie that makes me laugh and get a little choked up. It’s very silly, but also very sweet and all about rocking that Christmas spirit just because you love it.
Jill Shalvis’s The Trouble with Mistletoe is a must watch (and re-watch)! It’s one of her Heartbreaker Bay novels brought to the screen and I absolutely adore the actors playing Willa and Keane. And the cat! If you love the Hallmark vibe, but crave more kissing and some rooftop sexytimes, this is the movie for you.
This will make a lot of people want to fight me, but my very favorite Christmas move is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Yes, I’m actually talking about the Jim Carrey version from 2000. He did an amazing job of being an over-the-top Grinch, the movie is so much fun, Max is adorable, and I’ll always be here for Christine Baranski’s Martha May Whovier.
And finally, I haven’t even seen Snowbound for Christmas, but I’m already claiming it as my favorite holiday movie EVER! It’s based on my novella, “Snowbound with the CEO”, I got to visit the movie set north of Toronto, and Zarrin Darnell-Martin and Henderson Wade are so freaking fabulous as Rachel and Adrian! It’s airing Sunday, December 15th at 7:00 ET on UPtv in the US, and it’ll be on Super Channel in Canada (I’m not sure if it’s the same schedule because I don’t have all the details yet) and I don’t even have words to express how excited I am!
About the Book: One Christmas Eve, Cedar Street #2 by Shannon Stace, pubs 11/11/19
Description: They couldn’t be more different. Or more perfect for each other.
New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey returns with a warm and cozy opposites-attract Christmas story.
Zoe Randall is busy living her life as she damn well pleases. She’s back in her favorite town, her divorce in her rearview mirror, and living out her childhood dream of running a bookstore with her cousin. She has no interest in the uptight nerd who opened his boring-ass business next to her shop…until he complains about one of her sexy window displays.
Then it’s game on.
Preston Wheeler knows he takes life a little too seriously. But when the saucy bookseller next door starts pushing his buttons, he can feel that changing. Beautiful, vivacious Zoe challenges him in all the best ways, and soon he’s pushing her buttons right back: teasing and flirting all the way through the holiday season.
As Preston loosens up and Zoe is treated to the man behind the suit (particularly his forearms), she realizes she’s more interested than she cared to admit. And Preston comes to see the beauty–the absolute delight–in adding Zoe’s bright splashes of color to his once very black-and-white existence.
Author Bio
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and driving her RZR. From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends off-road, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer. She prefers writing to laundry, however, and considers herself lucky she got to be an author when she grew up.
You can contact Shannon through her website, where she maintains an almost daily blog, or visit her on Twitter, her Facebook page, or email her at shannon@shannonstacey.com.
Social Media Links
Website: https://shannonstacey.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonstacey.authorpage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shannonstacey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonstacey/?hl=en
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/149808.Shannon_Stacey
Thanks for sharing your favorites, Shannon. Best wishes for the success of One Christmas Eve, and congratulations on the forthcoming movie version of your book. How very exciting!