The Holiday Hate-Off by Angela Casella
on November 4, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Holiday
Pages: 412
Format: eBook
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Lucy. The only thing standing between me and an idyllic Christmas in Hideaway Harbor is Enzo Cafiero, the hot jerk whose family runs the Italian market next door to the coffee shop where I work. He hates me because I convinced his girlfriend to break up with him a few months ago. In my defense, his now-ex ran into the coffee shop sobbing. All I did was make her a latte and validate her feelings. He didn’t even live here at the time—they were just visiting—but he does live here now. He ditched his cushy NYC consulting job so he could save his family business. I’d admire his loyalty if he didn’t seem determined to ruin my Christmas. Because within minutes of his return, we’re trading barbs, destroying each other’s holiday events (RIP Santa Speed Dating), and having price wars. I loathe him. And, unfortunately, I really want to push him under the mistletoe.
Enzo. Hideaway Harbor is the last place I want to be. But family means everything to me, so I left the big city to help mine. Getting dragged into a full-on holiday feud with the girl next door wasn’t part of the plan, but I’m living for my hate-off with Lucy. The truth is, I’d rather argue with her than get along with anyone else.
The overall story was sweet, funny, and entertaining for the holidays. She covered all the best tropes, too. I love a good enemies to lovers. We needed more heated animosity.
I obviously have enough for them both, but their fighting didn’t last nearly long enough. It ended up feeling like the longest book in the world.
I didn’t hate this book… but I also kind of wish I hadn’t spent time reading it. I did finish it, so there’s that. And to be fair, there were moments that made me smile and even giggle—there are definitely some funny scenes sprinkled in. That said, the enemies-to-lovers trope just didn’t feel earned. The reason for them being enemies felt so weak, yet they kept escalating and trying to one-up each other way past what made sense. After a while, it crossed from playful tension into just plain annoying. The last 25% really lost me. I fully skimmed it because everything had already been resolved emotionally—they were happy, we knew how it would end, and it just dragged on without adding anything new. It felt like filler instead of payoff. Also, the spice was cringe and boring.
I rated this book three stars. I didn’t hate it, I finished it, and it had a few cute moments—but I don’t feel like it added anything to my reading life. Pretty forgettable once it was over.
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