# How My Neighbor Stole Christmas

By Meghan Quinn · How My Neighbor Stole Christmas, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/how-my-neighbor-stole-christmas-f73a994f/

Cole Black would like to avoid Christmas, a difficult ambition in a town that celebrates it all year. Then Storee Taylor moves in next door to care for her aunt and enters the Christmas Kringle contest. Cole decides to beat her at it, which requires an impressive performance of holiday cheer and, eventually, a pretend romance.

## What makes it funny?

Cole warns his friend Max that Storee’s arrival will make him unpleasant to be around. Max wants to know how anyone will tell the difference. Storee has her own method of getting under his skin: calling him Connor while he insists his name is Cole.

### The comedy at work

Winning requires Cole to join the festivities he normally avoids. The romance develops through rival plans and verbal sparring, with a narrator who adds rhyming introductions and comments on the characters’ behavior.

### Try this if…

The Christmas contest gives fake dating and an old crush a public audience of neighbors, friends and relatives. It suits readers who want a small-town holiday romance with teasing dialogue and explicit sexual content.

### Good to know

Cole’s parents died when he was eighteen, and grief is part of his retreat from Christmas. The book combines that history with profanity and steamy scenes. The UK paperback includes illustrations and an extended epilogue.

## What to expect

- Genre: Romance
- On the shelf: Contemporary romance · Holiday romance · Romantic comedy · Small-town romance
- Kind of humor: Banter · Situational comedy
- Audience: Adult
- Format: Novel
- Published: 2024

## A few distinguishing details

- A Christmas hater competing to be the town’s festive champion
- A rhyming narrator with opinions about the romance

## Sources & further reading

- Author commentary: [Author](https://authormeghanquinn.com/products/how-my-neighbor-stole-christmas)
- Reading sample: [Publisher extract](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/How-My-Neighbour-Stole-Christmas-Extract.pdf)
- Book information: [FictionDB reading order](https://www.fictiondb.com/series/how-my-neighbor-stole-christmas-meghan-quinn~90715.htm)
- Review: [About That Story review](https://www.aboutthatstory.com/2024/10/book-review-how-my-neighbor-stole.html)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.hodder.co.uk/titles/meghan-quinn/how-my-neighbour-stole-christmas/9781399739207)