There is absolutely nothing wrong with a Christmas romance involving a small town, a struggling bakery and somebody falling in love with the person they swore they couldn’t stand.

I already have a whole list of Christmas romance books that feel like Hallmark movies for that kind of Christmas book.

But sometimes I want the Christmas setting without knowing exactly where the story is going five pages in.

These books still have plenty of Christmas trees, snow, parties and holiday chaos, but they do something a little different with it. Some are spicy. Some are messy. One involves the Prince of Halloween. Another has a dead teenager working as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

So, no, this is not exactly Hallmark territory.

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Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Becky Brandon loves Christmas, but this year her parents decide they are done hosting and hand the job over to her.

That means Becky is suddenly responsible for Christmas dinner, family traditions, presents and everyone else’s expectations. Which would probably be stressful for anyone. Becky being Becky makes it considerably more complicated.

This is much more Christmas chaos and family comedy than a traditional holiday romance. Becky is already married, so the story gets to focus on everything else that can go wrong when someone decides you should be in charge of Christmas.

My December Balcony Neighbor by Aisling Magie

Every December, the same mysterious man rents the apartment across from the main character and spends his evenings playing guitar on his balcony.

For years, they watch each other without actually speaking.

Then one December, she finally waves.

It sounds ridiculously cozy at first, but there are secrets and quite a bit more heartache involved than the setup suggests. It’s an angsty holiday romance, and this love story looks pretty doomed from the beginning.

So maybe don’t go into this one expecting nothing but cocoa and cute balcony flirting.

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Okay, this one almost looks like a Hallmark movie on purpose.

Bee Hobbes gets cast as the lead in a squeaky-clean Christmas movie being filmed in an extremely festive little town.

The problem is that Bee also works in adult entertainment.

And her former-boyband co-star already knows exactly who she is because he happens to be a fan.

So yes, there are Christmas trees, holiday movie sets and a cute little town. There is also absolutely no chance this movie would be airing on the Hallmark Channel after the kids go to bed.

‘Tis the Season for Revenge by Morgan Elizabeth

Abbie gets dumped by a boyfriend who has spent their relationship trying to turn her into someone more acceptable.

Her response is not to go home for Christmas and quietly rediscover herself.

She decides to date his boss.

The plan is to show up with him at the company Christmas party and get a little revenge. Obviously, things get complicated once she realizes Damien might actually be someone she wants around for reasons that have nothing to do with her ex.

This is fake dating, revenge and a much spicier Christmas romance than anything involving a wholesome tree farm.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

This book has an actual Prince of Christmas.

Coal Claus is the son of Santa and has gotten pretty tired of the polished version of Christmas his father has turned into a public spectacle.

Then family expectations push him toward a marriage he doesn’t want.

And then the Prince of Halloween shows up.

Because apparently the answer to Christmas-family drama is to add another holiday prince and make everything significantly messier.

There are royal holiday families, a fake competition, unwanted marriage plans and a romance between Christmas and Halloween. This might be the farthest we can possibly get from the bakery-owning widow falling for the local handyman.

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Laurie spots a man through a bus window one December day and has one of those ridiculous movie moments where she feels like she just saw the person she is supposed to be with.

Then the bus drives away.

She spends the next year looking for him.

When she finally sees him again, her best friend is introducing him as her new boyfriend.

From there, the story follows Laurie, Jack and Sarah across years of friendships, relationships, bad timing and missed chances. So while Christmas gets the whole thing started, this is a much bigger and messier story than a romance wrapped up before the town Christmas parade ends.

If you want more snowy romance without quite this much emotional chaos, I also have a list of winter romance books.

The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman

Hannah and Finn started spending Christmas together because neither of them really had anywhere else to go.

Over the years, their Christmas tradition grows into a found family that also includes Priya and Theo.

Then Finn announces that he is moving across the country, and suddenly the group is facing what might be their last Christmas together in New York.

There are romantic storylines mixed in, but the real center of this book is the family these four people created for themselves and what happens when growing up starts pulling everyone in different directions.

Christmas books don’t always need romantic love to be the most important relationship.

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

Holly Chase basically gets the Ebenezer Scrooge treatment.

Three Christmas ghosts visit her and try to convince her to change her selfish ways.

She doesn’t.

Then she dies.

Five years later, Holly is working for Project Scrooge as the Ghost of Christmas Past, helping other terrible people avoid making the same mistake she did.

It’s a modern YA spin on A Christmas Carol with ghosts, second chances, romance and a Christmas setup that definitely does not involve saving the family inn.

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

Ellie once had a magical Christmas Eve with a woman named Jack.

A year later, that relationship is long gone, Ellie is struggling financially and her landlord Andrew offers her a very strange solution: pretend to marry him so he can get his inheritance and she can get some financial security.

Then Ellie goes home with her fake fiancé for Christmas.

And meets his sister.

Jack.

Yeah.

So now we have a fake engagement, a lost Christmas Eve romance and the extremely inconvenient discovery that the woman Ellie actually wants is her fake fiancé’s sister.

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

Greta wants out of her small Maine town for a while. Truman wants out of New Orleans after his own personal mess.

They swap homes for the holidays.

Greta heads to New Orleans while Truman ends up on a snowy Maine island, and both of them start building completely different lives in places where they weren’t expecting to belong.

There are two queer romances running alongside each other, plus the whole home-swap setup gives this one a different structure from most Christmas romances.

Final Thoughts

I have nothing against the traditional Christmas romance. Sometimes I absolutely want the snowy little town, the Christmas festival and the extremely attractive person who somehow has unlimited free time during the busiest month of the year.

But Christmas books can get a lot stranger than that.

They can have revenge dating, adult film stars making wholesome Christmas movies, dysfunctional friendships, ghosts, fake engagements and rival holiday princes.

And apparently Santa’s family can have relationship drama too.

That seems fair.

And if you want Christmas to get considerably darker, I also have a list of Christmas thrillers and murder mysteries.

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