Book Review: "Snow This is Love" Promises All the Holiday Feels This Season

Warmth, humor, holidays. Snow This is Love: Meant to Be Holiday Tales captures this festive season trio of warm-fuzzy feels across five cozy short stories. New York Times bestselling authors Christina Lauren, Julie Murphy, Jasmine Guillory, Zoraida Córdova, and Jesse Q. Sutanto blend classic Disney fairytale inspiration with modern holiday happenings in this new anthology. Here, each story spins off from the original Meant to Be series, dropping their characters into the middle of holiday chaos where – you guessed it – things do not always go as planned.

(Please note this article contains affiliate links. Your purchase will support Laughing Place by providing us a small commission, but will not affect your pricing or user experience. Thank you.)

Readers are treated to the following distinct stories:

• Deck the Heels by Julie Murphy: Cinderella-inspired and a sequel to Murphy’s If the Shoe Fits, readers are reacquainted with Cindy and Henry in Deck the Heels as they prepare for a televised Christmas wedding that is everyone’s idea of a fairytale except, perhaps, their own.
• Beauty and the Baking Battle by Jasmine Guillory: Bookworm Izzy and celebrity author Beau appear in this follow-up tale to Guillory’s By the Book. This time, the Beauty and the Beast-inspired couple faces culinary disasters during a holiday baking competition.
• Siren in the Snow by Zoraida Córdova: A Little Mermaid-like Christmas romance in unison with Córdova’s Kiss the Girl, Siren in the Snow sees Eric plan a romantic, high-stakes winter ski trip to give Ariel an unforgettable Christmas surprise. However, the airline loses his luggage, throwing his carefully laid plans into chaos and forcing him to improvise.  
• Best (New Year's) Day Ever by Christina Lauren: Ren and Fitz from Lauren’s Tangled Up in You bring sunshine-and-grumpy vibes to their race to complete a holiday bucket list before the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve.
• Dreaming of a Perfect Lunar New Year by Jesse Q. Sutanto: In this Mulan-inspired tale based on Sutanto’s Worth Fighting For, Mulan and Shang navigate a suspected curse, a meddling family, and a chaotic Lunar New Year celebration.

Whether these familiar couples are working through wedding drama, lost luggage or kitchen meltdowns, each story reminds readers that true holiday magic doesn't just happen on its own. It is up to you to create your own happily-ever-after. One of my favorite aspects of the Meant to Be series (which is carried smoothly into these holiday stories) is fairytale characters-meet-reality. Classic characters not only meet with modern challenges, but are also themselves written as down-to-earth and relatable. This gives an interesting and inviting spin to the idea of a modern princess and places readers in the heart of the action because they can relate.   

A concern I had before jumping into Snow This is Love was that holiday anthologies can sometimes feel uneven, and short-story collections often run the risk of rushing the narrative. Thankfully, Snow This is Love avoids those (rushed, underdeveloped) pitfalls. While I often advocate for reading the background material or earlier novels first where possible for a richer reading experience, the authors succeed in making these stories accessible to all readers – not just those who are already familiar with the earlier novels. From the opening story, the collection balances heartwarming seasonal traditions with relatable, everyday obstacles that invite everyone to table, including newcomers to the Meant to Be series. (These holiday tales may even inspire you to read the source novels in the series afterwards!)

One of my biggest highlights was seeing these five authors bring their distinct voices to the same seasonal universe. Each writer continues to sprinkle in fun nods to the original animated classics that Disney fans will enjoy spotting. Christina Lauren’s grumpy-sunshine banter in Best (New Year's) Day Ever captures a modern though authentic-feeling Tangled dynamic, while Jasmine Guillory delivers plenty of heart in Beauty and the Baking Battle.

Last but certainly not least, the collection stands out for its varied celebrations. Rather than focusing exclusively on Christmas (and Christmas Eve snowstorms), the anthology spreads the cheer through New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year. Sutanto’s Dreaming of a Perfect Lunar New Year finale is a standout, balancing laugh-out-loud family interference with genuine emotion in a setting and story distinct from Murphy’s Deck the Heels opener and Córdova’s Siren in the Snow adventure, which highlight themes of found family and self-belief.

Ultimately, five complete novellas are packed into one volume, so the pacing inevitably moves quickly. Readers who haven't yet read the full-length Meant to Be novels will likely wish for a few more chapters with these couples as their chemistry builds. Even so, the mix of fairytale whimsy and grounded struggles—like career pressure and family expectations—makes every story feel complete and satisfying. 

Snow This is Love is a warm, joyful holiday read. It is an easy recommendation for Disney fans, romance lovers, and anyone looking for a cozy escape this season. 

Snow This is Love: Meant to Be Holiday Tales was released on October 13, 2026.