Verdict: A hot, emotionally heavier-than-it-looks stud/femme Christmas novella that gives a beloved side character her own story, held back by a length readers keep calling too short and an ending that feels more like a door left open than a door closed.
Best for: Readers who already love Zedde’s Like Her world and want Pam’s story, who like a grumpy stud and a Christmas-mad femme with real heat between them, and who can accept a hopeful, open-ended finish in place of a big wrapped-up HEA.
Heat level: ★★★★☆ (4/5 — estimated; romance.io has no entry, so this comes from reader reports and the series’ track record)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.9/5 — a 4.58 Goodreads average across only 31 ratings, with the length complaint showing up even in five-star reviews)
Tropes: Stud/femme, grumpy-sunshine, holiday romance, cheating ex, hurt/comfort, height difference, quirky heroine, homophobic family, year-long timeline, series spin-off.
Christmas with Her by Fiona Zedde is the fourth book in the Like Her series, a self-published contemporary lesbian romance novella released by the author’s Red Hills Publishing imprint in November 2025 — and its collision is Pam Sutton, the woman who loves Christmas more than anyone she knows, discovering on the day of her own holiday party that her girlfriend has betrayed her, just as Michelle Vega, a stud who hates Christmas and most people, walks through the door.
It holds a 4.58 average across 31 Goodreads ratings, with no one- or two-star ratings on Goodreads at all. Read the reviews underneath, though, and one reservation surfaces again and again — often from five-star readers. That reservation is the thing worth understanding before you start.
What Is Christmas with Her About?
Christmas with Her is a holiday romance in its trimmings and a breakup book in its bones. The story opens with an infidelity and spends much of its length on what that does to Pam’s sense of her own life — her relationship, her friendships, and the season she has always loved. Smashwords lists it at 38,730 words, and the author files it under grumpy/sunshine, femme/stud and height difference. It is also a spin-off: Pam is the best friend readers met in Stud Like Her, now given the lead.
Pam is the sunshine half — warm, generous, the kind of woman who throws an annual Christmas party because the season makes her happy. What she lacks, at the start, is the habit of standing up for herself. Vega assumes the worst about the holidays and about people in general, which makes her the unlikely one to notice Pam at her lowest. The author’s own one-line pitch sums up the dynamic: a hot stud in glasses comes to the rescue. The story then runs from one Christmas to the next.
What Makes This Stud/Femme Holiday Romance Work
- Pam finally at the centre: One reader says she had waited all year for Pam’s story, and another wanted to go back to Stud Like Her for more context on her.
- Chemistry from the first meeting: One reviewer calls the Pam–Vega dynamic electric from the start, and “natural” is the word another uses for their attraction.
- A holiday book with weight: Several readers say it is not your typical Christmas romance — infidelity, a homophobic family and the loss of a friendship are all on the page — and most say that as praise.
- Pam learning to stand up for herself: One reviewer singles out Pam’s shifting life goals and her grief over a friendship ending in adulthood as the most moving parts of the book.
- Zedde’s voice: One reviewer enjoys the author’s trademark one-liners and a comic, slightly villainous side character, and fans of the series say the book did not disappoint.
Book Synopsis
Pam Sutton does Christmas properly. The decorations are too much, the cheer is relentless, and every year she throws a holiday party for the people she loves. This year, on the very day of the party, she learns that her longtime girlfriend has been cheating on her — and the discovery is about as bad as a discovery can be. By nightfall the season that has always steadied her feels like a stage set.
Michelle Vega does not do Christmas at all. She is prickly, private, and openly unimpressed by crowds, forced cheer and most of the human race. She goes to the party only because a co-worker she can tolerate asks her to. There she finds Pam in pieces, and for reasons Vega cannot entirely explain to herself, she stays.
What begins on that ruined Christmas turns into something neither woman planned for. Pam has to rebuild a life she thought was settled, sort out which of her friendships survive the fallout, and decide what she actually wants now that the future she had imagined is gone. Vega has her own complications, including a family that does not welcome who she is. As the months turn and another December approaches, the question is whether a woman who loves Christmas and a woman who hates it can find their way to something lasting — and whether Pam is ready to trust anyone again.
My Review
The best thing here is the choice of heroine. Zedde promotes the best friend whose life is about to fall apart, and lets the book be honest about how much that hurts. Opening a Christmas romance with a betrayal at the holiday party is a bold move, and readers say the drama lands — one Amazon reviewer, who says she had been waiting all year for Pam’s story, sums up her reaction to the fallout in two words: “THE DRAMA.”
The second strength is the pairing. A Christmas-loving femme and a stud who hates the holiday is a simple engine, and it works because the grump is the one doing the caring. One reviewer says she rooted for the couple from beginning to end, and Vega in particular draws protective affection — another just wants to hug her, and saves her anger for Vega’s family.
Where it struggles is space, and this is the dominant criticism rather than a stray one. “I wish it were longer” appears in a five-star review; another five-star Amazon reader says it is super short and feels rushed; a third notes Zedde fits real character depth into what feels like only a hundred pages but thinks there is more story to tell. The one below-four-star review on the visible page, a 3.5, calls it slow and rushed and less thought-out than the earlier books. There are also line-level slips: one reader, an unabashed fan, flags typos, name mix-ups and grammar errors, and finds the characters’ takes on ethical non-monogamy dated in a way she enjoyed but others may not.
One expectation to reset: the cover and blurb say cosy Christmas, and the reading experience is closer to a hopeful recovery story with heat. Most of the reviews mention the heavier material, and the ending is open rather than tied up. If you came for a light holiday confection, calibrate; if a holiday book that takes heartbreak seriously sounds better than one that ignores it, you are in the right place.
My honest note: A strong, satisfying premise for a series favourite, delivered at novella length that leaves most readers wanting more rather than feeling finished. If you read Zedde for her people and her heat, this is an easy yes. If you need a romance to close every door by the last page, go in knowing it doesn’t.
| Element | In Christmas with Her |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Pam Sutton & Michelle Vega — Christmas-loving femme and a Christmas-hating stud in glasses, grumpy-sunshine |
| Core tropes | Stud/femme, grumpy-sunshine, holiday romance, cheating ex, hurt/comfort, height difference, series spin-off |
| Setting | The Like Her series’ friend circle, from one Christmas season to the next |
| Heat level | 4/5 — estimated; an early reviewer calls it very hot |
| Series | Like Her book 4 — new lead couple, readable alone; the author lists it as the end of the series |
| Content notes | Infidelity and betrayal by a partner, the end of a close friendship, a homophobic family, loss and abandonment themes, explicit sexual content |
How Spicy Is Christmas with Her?
An estimated 4/5. romance.io has no entry for this book, so there is no band to quote, and the number here comes from two places instead. The first is the readers: an ARC reviewer’s advice on the heat is to strap in, and another five-star review names intimacy alongside emotion as the book’s main pleasures. The second is the series itself — Stud Like Her sits in romance.io’s “explicit open door” band, and nothing in the reviews suggests Zedde turned the dial down for the holiday edition. No reviewer counts the scenes.
The thing worth knowing in advance is not sexual. The romance begins in the direct aftermath of Pam discovering her girlfriend’s betrayal, so the early heat sits alongside grief and anger, and a reader wary of a rebound dynamic should know that is the setup. No reviewer I found flags anything on the page beyond that. For other butch/femme holiday novellas in the same heat band, Fire and Frost and Matzo Match sit at the same level.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you have read Stud Like Her and wanted more of Pam, you love a grumpy stud who turns out to be the gentle one, you like your holiday romance with real emotional stakes, and you enjoy explicit heat in a book you can finish in an evening.
You may want to skip it if: you need a full-length novel to believe in a couple, you want an ending that ties everything up with a bow, you are looking for a light, low-drama Christmas read, or typos and name slips pull you out of a story.
In short: a hot, heartfelt Christmas story for a character readers already love, in a package most of them wish were bigger.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
There is no viral moment here, no trade coverage and no blog review I could find — no Lesbrary, no Lesbian Review, no Publishers Weekly or Kirkus. StoryGraph lists the book but shows no community ratings, and romance.io has not catalogued it. What the book has is Zedde’s existing readership. Its reviews read like a fan base welcoming the next instalment: several reviewers open by saying they are longtime Zedde readers, and at least three of the nine Goodreads reviews came from advance copies, which usually lifts an early average. Even allowing for that, the distribution is striking — 70% five stars, 16% four, 12% three, and nothing lower on Goodreads. The audience is small, loyal and happy.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The couple, first. Reviewers keep naming Pam and Vega together, praising the chemistry and saying they connected with both. Second, the emotional weight — “heavy topics” recurs across independent reviews, and it is almost always framed as a pleasant surprise for a Christmas book rather than a complaint. Third, the payoff for series readers: one reviewer had waited all year for Pam’s story, another says it made her want to go back to Stud Like Her, and a third says the book came full circle. One reader says she intends to revisit the characters many times.
What readers argue about and complain about: Length, above everything. At least four reviewers say directly that they wanted it longer or that it felt rushed, including three who still gave it five stars. The ending is the second theme and the sharper one. One five-star Amazon reviewer felt there was no real end at all — that the story simply stops, which she distinguishes from a deliberate cliffhanger — and another says it reads like a prequel. Others describe the same finish more kindly, as hopeful and open to the couple’s future. Third: polish. One reader flags typos and name slips, and the only sub-four-star written review calls the book less thought-out than its predecessors.
The series question worth asking first: Christmas with Her follows a new lead couple and can be read on its own, though it plainly rewards readers who know Pam from Stud Like Her — one reviewer says she saw the girlfriend’s exit coming from that book. The author’s own site lists it as the end of the series, while several readers are openly hoping for a follow-up about Pam and Vega. On the numbers, the Like Her series climbs as it goes: Femme Like Her (book 1, 2020) averages 3.97 across 477 ratings, Stud Like Her (book 2, 2022) 4.30 across 271, and Just Like Her (book 3, 2024) 4.67 across 95. If this novella leaves you wanting more of Zedde, Just Like Her is the book her readers rate highest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Christmas with Her a butch/femme romance?
Yes. The author tags it femme/stud and pitches Vega as a hot stud in glasses, with Pam as the femme lead. It sits comfortably on our butch/femme list alongside other stud/femme romances.
How spicy is Christmas with Her?
An estimated 4/5. romance.io has no entry for it, but an early reviewer describes it as very hot, and the previous book in the series is rated explicit open door. Expect on-page sex rather than fade-to-black.
Does Christmas with Her have a happy ending?
A hopeful one. Readers describe Pam and Vega moving toward a future together as the story comes full circle a year later. It is open-ended rather than a sealed HEA, and at least one reader felt it stopped too abruptly.
Do I need to read Stud Like Her first?
No, but it helps. Pam is Chance’s best friend in Stud Like Her, and readers who know that book get more out of her story and her girlfriend’s betrayal. Christmas with Her follows its own couple from start to finish.
Is Christmas with Her the last Like Her book?
For now. The author’s website lists it as the end of the series, though several readers say they hope for more of Pam and Vega.
Is there an audiobook of Christmas with Her?
Not that I could find. Amazon lists Kindle and paperback editions, Libro.fm does not stock it, and the author’s audiobook page lists only Femme Like Her from this series.
If You Loved Christmas with Her, Read These Next
Start with Stud Like Her, the book where Pam first appears, for the same community and even more heat. For another short, snowy butch/femme Christmas at the same spice level, Fire and Frost pairs an ice-queen surgeon with a sunny carpenter. And if what stayed with you was a Christmas cover hiding real heartbreak, Season of Love does the same thing with grief and sobriety on a tree farm.
For more in this register, browse our butch/femme lesbian romance guide or the full Book Reviews collection.
The Bottom Line
Christmas with Her sets out to give a series favourite the holiday she deserves after the worst one of her life, and mostly succeeds. Pam is easy to root for, Vega is a grump readers want to protect, and the heat and the heartbreak both land. It is also too short for everything it carries, closes on an open note some readers mistook for an unfinished one, and needed another proofreading pass. If you already love Zedde’s Like Her world, those limits will barely slow you down — Pam’s story is worth the evening. Check Christmas with Her on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Christmas with Her ranks as a loved indie stud/femme holiday novella — hot, heartfelt and heavier than its cover, held back by its length and its open ending, and best approached as Pam’s story for series fans rather than as a stand-alone Christmas confection.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ 4.58 average across 31 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ No one- or two-star Goodreads ratings
- ✓ Small sample, several advance-copy reviews
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Chemistry readers call electric from the start
- ✓ Grumpy stud doing the caring
- ✓ Year-long timeline gives healing room
- ✓ Short length compresses the relationship
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.2/5
- ✓ Pam’s long-awaited turn as lead
- ✓ Vega draws protective reader affection
- ✓ Pam learns to stand up for herself
- ✓ Side characters lean on series context
Writing ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Zedde’s trademark one-liners intact
- ✓ One fan calls the characters layered
- ✓ 38,730 words, readable in one sitting
- ✓ Typos and name slips flagged
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Infidelity handled with real weight
- ✓ Adult friendship breakup moves readers
- ✓ “Heavy topics” recurs across reviews
- ✓ Too short for every thread to land
Heat Level ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Early reviewer warns readers to strap in
- ✓ Series book 2 is explicit open door
- ✓ Intimacy named among its main pleasures
- ✓ No romance.io entry; band estimated
Ending ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Hopeful, the couple heading forward together
- ✓ Story comes full circle at next Christmas
- ✓ One reader says it feels like a prequel
- ✓ One reader felt it just stops
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Seasonal read built for December returns
- ✓ At least one reader plans to revisit
- ✓ Pairs naturally with a Stud Like Her reread
- ✓ No audiobook for a second pass
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