If you’re a reader—or find yourself scrolling on #BookTok from time to time—you know that holiday romance novels are just about as big of a deal as their cozy on-screen counterparts that take up hours of our time every season. But despite being a voracious reader of them, Toronto-based Canadian author Chantel Guertin had never actually considered writing one—until one conversation with her editor about the genre got her creativity flowing. Enter her latest book, It Happened One Christmas, which is set in Chelsea, Quebec (a nod to Guertin’s French-Canadian roots) and follows a holiday-obsessed film director on a mission to convince the mayor to let her shoot a movie in the small town.

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For Guertin, it was a chance to pay tribute to some of her family’s Christmas traditions while exploring what she loves about the genre. “We can care about lots of different plot lines, but, ultimately, we care about people’s relationships—it’s how people connect with others,” she says. “And when you’re in a relationship, or looking to be in a relationship, that’s when you put your best self forward. During the holidays, it’s that same thing. We put aside things that are happening in our everyday lives and think about others, so it actually makes so much sense—why wouldn’t you meet someone when you are genuinely putting your best self forward?”

In that vein, got on the phone with Guertin to talk about some of her favourite holiday romance novels. Full disclosure: we used to work together, which is also how I know she always has excellent book recos. Here are just a few of her picks.

One Day in December by Josie Silver

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Anyone who has ever taken public transportation regularly has probably fantasized about having a meet-cute with a fellow passenger—as unlikely as that may be. In the bestselling One Day in December, it’s a bit more…complicated. On a snowy day, Laurie locks eyes through the bus window with a man who she knows, deep down, is The One. But then her bus drives away. Now, everytime she steps onto a bus, she searches for him, until, about a year later, they officially meet—because he’s dating her best friend. The novel then tracks their relationship over the next decade through friendship, heartbreak and everything else life throws at them. “The book does things that a compressed timeline can’t do,” Guertin says. “There’s space for the relationship to breathe. Sometimes, what makes relationships so incredible is you see the person, then you don’t, and you’re able to think about them, and that’s how you know you’re attracted to them or realize there’s something there. It’s a unique twist, and it’s just so good.”

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

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Guertin admits she’s biased here because Marissa Stapley—one half of the Canadian writing duo who make up the pen name Maggie Knox (the other is Karma Brown)—was one of her first pro writer pals, but she swears she would be recommending The Holiday Swap even if they weren’t friends. This one follows a chef/reality baking show star who gets a knock on her head and loses her sense of taste and smell. Luckily, she has an identical twin sister who is struggling to run the family’s bakery while navigating her own personal issues, so they decide to swap places—which, as you might imagine, gets more complicated when they both meet men who they quickly connect with. “It’s a great trope—who at some point in their life hasn’t wished they had a twin they could swap with?” Guertin says. “It adds a really, really fun element and it gives you two storylines.”

Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin & Marissa Stapley

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For Three Holidays and a Wedding, Stapley paired up with another fellow Canadian writer, Uzma Jalaluddin, to tell a tale set during a time when Christmas, Ramadan and Hanukkah all overlap. Maryam and Anna are seatmates on a flight to Toronto—one’s traveling for her sister’s wedding, the other to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family—and end up bonding deeply during a bout of scary turbulence. When they’re forced to land in a charming, snow-covered small town, the pair are forced to confront hard truths about love and life. “We often call them holiday romances, yet [most of these books] are set at Christmas,” Guertin says. “It’s really nice to see a multi-faith story that celebrates other cultures—I think there’s a real need for that.”

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

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Guertin is, in general, a fan of Christina Lauren’s many romance novels, but loves In a Holidaze for its updated twist on the familiar Groundhog Day trope. Every Christmas, Mae and her family spend the holidays at a Utah cabin with friends, but this year—while she’s already struggling—will be their last time. Suddenly, she keeps experiencing the same holiday over and over again, leaving her to figure out how to escape the time loop, and maybe find true love in the process.

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

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“This is an unexpected one because you won’t necessarily say that it’s a holiday romance, but I think it ultimately is because of how it comes together,” Guertin says of Helen Fielding’s beloved novel, Bridget Jones’s Diary. Whether you’ve read the book or seen the equally iconic Renée Zellweger film, you know that the holidays bookend the story as perpetually single and career-confused Bridget chronicles a particularly eventful year in her life. “What I love about this book is that it has lasted through the ages. We could really relate to this character, but we saw her going through a year [in her life]. You still really feel that holiday [vibe] at the beginning of the book, but [it builds and] you feel this pressure of what will happen.”

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

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The Gift of the Magi is technically not a novel, but an O. Henry short story originally published in 1905. And when we say short story, we mean short, so we’ll keep it vague by saying it’s about a husband and wife who don’t have much money but want to buy affectionate gifts for each other. “This is a great recommendation for anyone who doesn’t have a lot of time to read,” Guertin says. “It’s the ultimate example of selflessness and what you do for love. It’s such a wonderful story.”

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