EPISODE · Dec 26, 2025 · 35 MIN
24. Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh
from Romance Unzipped · host Your HEA Bookclub
Holiday Romance! Friends-to-lovers! Soft steam,* sweet, M/F contemporary race-to-make-Christmas-in-Ireland travel disaster, mistletoe-kissing, happy family-full, feel good romance. Listen up and get your holiday tank filled up with all the charm and banter of Molly + Andrew in Holiday Romance, by Catherine Walsh. This episode unzips the classic 'Friends to Lovers' trope, explores the impact of family traditions, serious levels of Christmas cheer, big Irish families, explores character development via plot devices, how a character's professional life shapes personal dynamics, and ways to bring depth to a golden retriever MMC. *Did we just make that up? Because if not, it feels like 'soft steam' should be a real humdinger of a sub-genre theme. Thanks Catherine Walsh, for writing this darling book, and who we've never met but sure do appreciate. And listen all y'all, we trust you to read any kind of content warnings before you read any books of any kind so take good care of that nice self of yours. Because on Romance Unzipped we read romance books of all kinds and tropes and loves and sub-genres and things can get pretty spicy/wild/dark ... silly/fantastical/downright outrageous. So, we trust you to know what's good for you! WE LOVE TO BOOKCLUB ROMANCE. IT IS KIND OF OUR THING. (We being Hollie and Annie, the royal collective we of Romance Unzipped.) And also, we're writing a contemporary romance and that's coming along quite nicely, thank you!
What this episode covers
Holiday Romance! Friends-to-lovers! Soft steam,* sweet, M/F contemporary race-to-make-Christmas-in-Ireland travel disaster, mistletoe-kissing, happy family-full, feel good romance. Listen up and get your holiday tank filled up with all the charm and banter of Molly + Andrew in Holiday Romance, by Catherine Walsh. This episode unzips the classic 'Friends to Lovers' trope, explores the impact of family traditions, serious levels of Christmas cheer, big Irish families, explores character development via plot devices, how a character's professional life shapes personal dynamics, and ways to bring depth to a golden retriever MMC. *Did we just make that up? Because if not, it feels like 'soft steam' should be a real humdinger of a sub-genre theme. Thanks Catherine Walsh, for writing this darling book, and who we've never met but sure do appreciate. And listen all y'all, we trust you to read any kind of content warnings before you read any books of any kind so take good care of that nice self of yours. Because on Romance Unzipped we read romance books of all kinds and tropes and loves and sub-genres and things can get pretty spicy/wild/dark ... silly/fantastical/downright outrageous. So, we trust you to know what's good for you! WE LOVE TO BOOKCLUB ROMANCE. IT IS KIND OF OUR THING. (We being Hollie and Annie, the royal collective we of Romance Unzipped.) And also, we're writing a contemporary romance and that's coming along quite nicely, thank you!
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24. Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh
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