Review: Christmas at Tolliver's Bookshop, by Elle Christopher

Title: Christmas at Tolliver's Bookshop

Author: Elle Christopher

Publisher: Valor Press

Genre: Romance

Date of Publication: December 2nd, 2025

Number of Pages: 66

See it on Goodreads: Christmas at Tolliver's Bookshop

*Disclaimer: I have received a free copy of this book via Book Siren. Thank you to the publisher and the writer.

Summary

A snow-soft night, a warm-lit bookstore, and the kind of Christmas magic you can feel.

One snowstorm. One bookstore. One night that feels like fate.

When a rare December storm sweeps into Tunbridge the night before Christmas Eve, Lila finds herself unexpectedly snowed in at Tolliver’s Books with James, the quiet, surprisingly poetic math professor she met only yesterday.

What follows is a night wrapped in whispered poems, shared cocoa, soft laughter, and the kind of connection that doesn’t flare fast. It glows. Steady. Warm. Certain.

By morning, the town has thawed, but nothing inside Lila or James feels the same. And when he appears on Christmas Day with a crooked hand-made bookmark and a gentle, life-changing invitation, they must decide whether that night was a brief spark… or the beginning of something real.

Review - Get Warm and Cozy

There is nothing better than cozying under a blanket with a warm cup of tea and a heart-warming holiday novella. Picking up Christmas at Tolliver's Bookshop was the perfect story for doing just that.

Of course, what initially attracted me to this novella was the fact that it took place on a bookshop. And let me tell you, that I wasn't disappointed in that regard. Not only the majority of the story takes place in the bookshop, but the author used many elements that make the bookworm in me extremely happy. For example, Lila creates ornaments with literary quotes on them. But what I loved the most were how the author used bookish metaphors within the text.

When it comes to the romance, Christmas at Tolliver's Bookshop was definitely cute and sweet. Since it's a novella, the attraction between Lila and James was almost instant. However, I could see their chemistry and I was invested in them as a couple. Yet, their attraction felt somewhat repetitive - how many times can they accidentaly brush their fingers and shoulders? 

All in all, this was a great read for a cozy evening in with my cat on my lap and the christmas lights turned on. I don't know if it's the most memorable holiday romance I've read, but I certainly don't regret picking it up. On the book's page, I've noticed that it's book 1 of The Tunbridge Holiday Collection, even though I don't see any other books out yet. However, I would love to read them once they are published. 

Read more of my reviews here.