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Top 5 Christmas Rom-Coms in the 2020s plus 5 Romantic Novels

Creatix / December 24, 2025

Watching TV is not something that we recommend, but here are five rom-coms that tend to be recommended fairly frequently by reviewers. 

1. Love Hard (2021, Netflix)

What it’s about
An unlucky-in-love dating columnist from L.A. flies across the country to surprise the guy she’s fallen for on a dating app. She finds out she’s been catfished by his awkward but kind childhood friend. (Wikipedia)

Why it became popular

  • It hit Netflix in November 2021 and quickly became one of the platform’s most-watched films worldwide, thanks to its modern “catfishing at Christmas” hook and stars Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Yang, and Darren Barnet. (Wikipedia)

  • It blends classic Hallmark-style coziness with dating-app chaos, making it feel familiar and very 2020s.

  • Critics note that the premise and cast give it strong rom-com appeal, even if it leans on genre comfort food. (Rotten Tomatoes)

Vibe: Big-city-girl-in-small-town holiday chaos, snow, family hijinks, and a surprisingly sweet slow-burn romance.

2. Single All the Way (2021, Netflix)

What it’s about
Peter convinces his best friend Nick to pretend to be his boyfriend when they go home for Christmas so his family will stop asking why he’s single. Once they arrive, Peter’s family starts matchmaking, and the fake-dating plan collides with very real feelings. (Wikipedia)

Why it became popular

  • Marketed as Netflix’s first gay Christmas rom-com, it delivered a cozy, family-friendly story centered on a queer couple without tragedy or trauma. (Wikipedia)

  • Holiday streaming guides now regularly highlight it as a go-to LGBTQ+ Christmas movie, especially among Netflix’s romantic seasonal titles. (EW.com)

  • Viewers appreciate the warmth: critics describe it as “harmless cheerful fun” that normalizes queer happiness at Christmas. (Rotten Tomatoes)

Vibe: Found-family warmth, meddling relatives, fake-dating, and Jennifer Coolidge in peak festive mode.

3. Falling for Christmas (2022, Netflix)

What it’s about
Lindsay Lohan plays a spoiled hotel heiress who gets into a skiing accident, loses her memory, and ends up recovering at a cozy mountain lodge run by a widowed dad—just in time for Christmas. (Wikipedia)

Why it became popular

  • It was positioned as Lohan’s big comeback, which drew in nostalgic millennials and lots of press. (EDIT GIRLS)

  • The movie pulled over 31 million views in its first four days on Netflix and quickly became a hit festive rom-com on the service. (EDIT GIRLS)

  • It leans hard into cozy tropes: small town charm, flannel, tree decorating, and a city-girl-meets-simple-life storyline.

Vibe: Classic amnesia rom-com plus hot cocoa, lodge-core aesthetics, and a very 2000s-era star revival.

4. A Castle for Christmas (2021, Netflix)

What it’s about
A bestselling American author escapes a scandal by flying to Scotland, where she falls in love with a crumbling castle—and butts heads (and then falls for) the grumpy duke who owns it. (Wikipedia)

Why it became popular

  • Viewers love the fantasy: snow-dusted Scottish countryside, knit-wear, village pubs, and a literal castle Christmas party. (Wikipedia)

  • Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes bring veteran rom-com star power.

  • Netflix’s own holiday rankings and editorial features regularly highlight it among the platform’s most charming Christmas romances. (Netflix)

Vibe: Older-protagonist romance, enemies-to-lovers, castle shopping, and knitting-club carols.

5. Happiest Season (2020, Hulu)

What it’s about
Abby plans to propose to her girlfriend Harper at Harper’s family Christmas—until she learns, on the drive there, that Harper hasn’t come out to her conservative parents and wants Abby to pretend she’s just a roommate. Cue secrets, exes, and complicated holiday dinners. (Wikipedia)

Why it became popular

  • It’s widely recognized as the first lesbian Christmas rom-com from a major studio and won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film. (Wikipedia)

  • The stacked cast (Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, and more) plus strong reviews made it a critical and fan favorite; it holds generally favorable scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. (Wikipedia)

  • For many viewers, it became a new-generation holiday staple because it mixes traditional rom-com structure with a more modern, sometimes messy, queer story.

Vibe: Meet-the-family holiday chaos, closet drama, bittersweet laughs, and a big emotional payoff.

What These Christmas Rom-Coms Have in Common 🎁

Even though they take place in different settings—L.A. and Lake Placid, small New England towns, Scottish castles, and suburban Christmas villages—these five festive favorites share some big themes:

  1. They’re streaming-era comfort food.
    All five are streaming originals (mostly Netflix, plus Hulu), designed for cozy, at-home December viewing rather than theaters. They show up over and over again in holiday streaming guides and “best Christmas movies on Netflix” lists. (People.com)

  2. They modernize classic holiday tropes.

    • Love Hard uses dating apps and catfishing.

    • Single All the Way and Happiest Season center queer couples.

    • Falling for Christmas gives the old amnesia plot a social-media-heiress spin.

    • A Castle for Christmas updates the “fish out of water in a charming village” fantasy.

  3. They focus on found family and emotional safety.
    Under the snow and slapstick, each movie is about belonging—finding a partner, a home, or a chosen family that accepts you as you are.

  4. They’re unapologetically cozy and rewatchable.
    None of them are trying to reinvent cinema. They deliver what holiday rom-com fans want: decorations, music, misunderstandings, and a guaranteed happy ending. That makes them easy to rewatch every December.

5 Christmas Romantic Novels 

What about reading recommendations? Well, here's a list for your consideration. 

1. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (2020)

What it’s about
Mae has just spent what she thinks is her last Christmas at a beloved Utah cabin shared by her family and close friends. On the way home, she makes a desperate wish for happiness, gets into a car accident… and wakes up back on the plane before the trip. She’s stuck in a Christmas time loop, reliving the holiday again and again until she figures out what truly makes her happy—including what (and who) she really wants. The Contented Reader+2Blogging with Dragons+2

Why it became popular

  • A fresh “Groundhog Day at Christmas” twist on the holiday rom-com. Business Insider+1

  • Christina Lauren are already romance powerhouses, and the book became a Goodreads Choice Award nominee with multiple starred trade reviews, which boosted visibility. Christina Lauren Books

  • Cozy cabin vibes, found family, and a friends-to-lovers thread make it perfect December escapism.

Holiday vibe: Snowy cabin, hot cocoa, do-over magic, and a big warm emphasis on joy and second chances.

2. The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox (2021)

What it’s about
Identical twins Charlie (a reality-TV baker) and Cass (a small-town baker) secretly swap lives right before Christmas. Charlie needs to escape on-screen drama; Cass needs a breather from running the family bakery. As they impersonate each other, they juggle career chaos, family expectations, and, of course, unexpected romances in both the TV set and the snowy town. PenguinRandomhouse.com+2Romancing the Data+2

Why it became popular

  • Frequently highlighted as a Hallmark-movie-in-book-form—light, charming, and predictable in a good way. i\'ve Read this+2Book Club Chat+2

  • A Canadian bestseller that now appears on many “best holiday romance books” lists and Christmas reading roundups. PenguinRandomhouse.com+2Fictionary+2

  • Twin-swap trope + holiday baking + small town = instant catnip for rom-com fans.

Holiday vibe: Gingerbread, TV sets, mistaken identity, and double HEAs wrapped in twinkly lights.

3. Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey (2021 / 2024 pbk)

What it’s about
Fresh out of prison and trying to rebuild her life, Stella is wandering New York at Christmas when she stops to critique a disastrously decorated department-store window. The store’s cheerful, bow-tie-wearing manager, Aiden, overhears—and offers her the chance to redesign the display. As they collaborate, an opposites-attract romance flares between grumpy, guarded Stella and relentlessly sunny Aiden against a festive NYC backdrop. Goodreads+2dinipandareads+2

Why it became popular

  • Tessa Bailey already had a huge fanbase; this was marketed as a feel-good, sizzling standalone Christmas romance. dinipandareads+1

  • Short, fast-paced, and very steamy—perfect for readers wanting a spicy holiday read. The Montclarion

  • Reviewers praise the witty banter, redemption arc, and nostalgic department-store setting. Barnes & Noble+1

Holiday vibe: Manhattan lights, window-display magic, redemption, and “nice guy meets chaos girl” spark.

4. A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone (2022)

What it’s about
Bee is a plus-size adult-film star secretly cast as the lead in a squeaky-clean Christmas rom-com being shot in a snow-covered small town. Her co-star? Nolan, a former boy-band heartthrob—and her longtime celebrity crush. The catch: no one on set can know what Bee actually does for a living. As sparks fly, the two try to keep their chemistry (and Bee’s secret) under wraps while filming the most wholesome holiday movie ever. Amazon+2Goodreads+2

Why it became popular

  • Marketed as a very spicy, sex-positive holiday rom-com, it stood out in a crowded Christmas-book market. I'm Julie Murphy+1

  • Became a USA Today bestseller and spawned its own mini-universe (the Christmas Notch series), which boosted word-of-mouth. Google Books+1

  • Readers love the body-positive representation, laugh-out-loud humor, and combination of sweetness and steam.

Holiday vibe: Snowy movie set, fake-wholesome production, real heat, and star-crossed co-stars falling hard.

5. Love, Holly by Emily Stone (2023)

What it’s about
After a tragic accident, Holly begins exchanging anonymous letters with an older woman who’s also grieving. Years later, Holly sets out at Christmas to reunite the woman’s estranged family and unexpectedly falls for the grandson caught in the middle of the rift. It’s a holiday romance woven with grief, forgiveness, and second chances. Amazon+2Barnes & Noble+2

Why it became popular

  • Featured on multiple “new holiday romance books” lists as one of the most emotional, heartwarming Christmas reads of 2023. Never Enough Novels+1

  • Reviewers highlight its blend of “funny, heartwarming romance” with deeper themes of family and healing, plus strong trade-review praise. PenguinRandomhouse.com+1

  • Ideal for readers who like their Christmas romances with more tear-jerker moments and less fluff.

Holiday vibe: Letters, London/UK Christmas feel (in many descriptions), family drama melting into forgiveness and love.

What These 5 Christmas Romances Have in Common 🎁

Despite different heat levels and tones—from cozy-sweet to very spicy—these books share several threads that explain why they’ve become the defining Christmas romances of the 2020s:

  1. They’re tailor-made for the streaming era.
    Just like Christmas rom-coms on Netflix and Hulu, these novels are designed to be devoured in a weekend. Short chapters, high concept hooks (time loop, twin swap, secret past, movie set), and satisfying payoffs make them binge-able reads for busy Decembers. Business Insider+2Romancing the Data+2

  2. They remix classic holiday tropes with modern twists.

    They feel familiar enough to be comforting yet contemporary enough to feel fresh.

  3. They center emotional safety, found family, and second chances.
    All five stories focus not just on romance, but on belonging—rebuilding a life after setbacks, reconnecting with family, or finding people who see you as you truly are. That emotional warmth is a huge part of their appeal, especially around the holidays.

  4. They’ve all earned serious buzz and list-placement.
    These titles repeatedly appear in curated roundups of the best holiday romance books from major outlets and bloggers, reflecting both strong readership and ongoing relevance each Christmas season.

Now you know it. 

www.creatix.one (creating meaning)

ForLosers.com (Amazon Kindle store)

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