Review - - Santa Cutie

Santa Cutie

by Jenny Alexandra

Cherryville - Book 1

Publisher: Jenny Alexandra

Release Date: November 11, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

This Santa is more of a Scrooge...

Melody Whitaker doesn’t just love Christmas—she worships it. After fleeing a holiday-hating cult, she’s gone all in: thousands of twinkle lights, a storage unit of trees, and more sparkle than a Hallmark movie marathon.

This year, she’s signed up to play Mrs. Claus at a local nursing home, eager to spread some holiday cheer—until she meets Eben Golding: a brooding, grumpy, Christmas-hating hottie. Maybe it’s the mistletoe, but Melody can’t stop flirting with this surly Santa...

Falling in love with someone who sees your sparkle—even the parts you thought you had to hide—might be the greatest gift of all. But when the nursing home pageant goes ho-ho-horribly, Melody is left wondering if her Christmas spirit can really save the season...and thaw Eben’s frosty heart.

PJ's Thoughts:

Grumpy, Christmas-hating Santa (he has reasons) meets over-the-top, Christmas-loving Mrs. Claus (reasons here too) and the two end up stuck with each other as volunteers at a retirement home bubbling over with frisky, mischievous senior citizens? Sign me up!

This one was fun. I love the grumpy-sunshine vibe and Eben and Melody certainly bring it. There's plenty of humor, spice, and holiday cheer but it's not all holiday shenanigans, though there are plenty of those. There's also an emotion-driven, serious underpinning that gives the story depth to offset the fun. 

Eben and Melody both have emotional trauma and complicated family dynamics in their past and present. It gives a nice balance to the delicious spice and snappy banter between them. As they slowly open themselves to one another it allows for personal growth and the development of a relationship where they can each be - and be appreciated for - their true selves. I enjoyed both aspects of their journey.

Back to the fun side of things. The antics of the residents of the retirement home are some of the best scenes in this book. The Christmas talent show in particular is hilarious. I strongly recommend not eating or drinking anything while reading that chapter. It's snort laughter from start to finish.

I'm looking forward to book two in the Cherryville series and hoping it will feature Melody's best friend. I'm already invested in her and curious to discover what her future holds.