Miss Humbug by Stephanie J. Scott: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

A Christmas tree farmer meets his match when his holiday-despising childhood crush returns to town with a favor to ask...

Marlowe Holly:
Me and Christmas aren’t on the best of terms. I’ve only ever wanted to make a name for myself apart from my family, but my holiday-loving town can’t see past the traumatic event that rocked the Holly clan all those years ago.

When a summons from my strong-willed grandmother has me hightailing it from California back to my Midwest blip-on-the-map hometown, wow is there news.

The beloved Holly family home is up for grabs, with a wild contest to compete for inheritance. The criteria? Participating in the month-long holiday festivities in town, with points tallied by my grandmother’s hand-plucked judges.

Ethan Sawyer:
I can hardly believe my eyes when she walks into the local watering hole the night before Thanksgiving. Marlowe Holly. The girl I grew up with. The girl I grew to love, but never made a move on to preserve our friendship.

Now she needs my help to invoke holiday cheer, which I’m never short on working at a Christmas tree farm. And I need something from her: land acreage tied to the Holly estate. If she wins the house, our family business can pull off the farm expansion we desperately need.

Now if I can only manage not to fall for her all over again…

Miss Humbug is a sweet, small-town, grumpy sunshine, holiday romantic comedy. Get ready for:

• Return to hometown
• Larger-than-life family
• A secret contest to win an inheritance
• Childhood friends to more
• Slow burn romance
• Mandatory caroling
• Public shenanigans*

*no actual holiday displays were harmed in the making of this book

Stephanie J. Scott writes light-hearted, quirky romance and young adult. She enjoys dance fitness, everything cats, and has a slight obsession with Instagram. A Midwest girl at heart, she resides outside of Chicago with her tech-of-all-trades husband and fuzzy furbabies.

Instagram: @stephaniejaynebooks

TikTok: @stephaniejscottbooks

Twitter: @stephjaynebooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniescottauthor/

Website: https://www.stephaniejscott.com/

She's a bit of a humbug and he's a Christmas tree farmer... sounds like the perfect match, doesn't it? 

Oh my goodness, this was such a fun holiday read! Right from the start, I found myself drawn into the premise of a holiday competition with the prize being the beloved family house! It truly sounded like the stuff Christmas movies are made of and it absolutely did not disappoint! As you can imagine, with such high stakes in the competition, this led to loads of funny moments of competition... and oh so much family drama too! I won't give anything away... but let's just say there was a moment with a holiday display and the Baby Jesus that STILL has me laughing out loud when I think about it! This book was certainly not short on Christmas joy... and I absolutely loved it. While I'm not always the biggest fan of big family drama like this... the humor balanced it out and there was really a lot of heart to the story too... so, while I wanted to shake some people in the middle of it, in the end it all worked out well. 

While I definitely found the family aspect of this story took center stage for me, the romance between Ethan and Marlowe was done incredibly well too, and I couldn't help but love these two together--- different as they may have been! If you're looking for a holiday romance that will have you laughing out loud, you'll absolutely want to check this one out.

Miss Humbug is a closed-door romance with kisses only and no language.