💫🎤 Book Spotlight: Host for the Holidays by Martha Keyes
Genre: Contemporary Romance • Holiday Romance • Clean Romance •

☕ Book Details & Rating
Format: Audiobook
Series: Standalone
Year Published: 2022
Page Count: 378
Rating: ☕☕☕☕ (4 Coffees!)

🥤 Coffee Pairing: Café au Lait

Simple, comforting, and effortlessly cozy, a café au lait fits Host for the Holidays beautifully. The smooth balance of rich coffee and warm milk mirrors the gentle pacing of the story, while the French flair adds a touch of elegance without feeling overdone.

It’s the kind of drink you linger over, much like the quiet moments, growing connections, and holiday warmth woven throughout the book. Perfect for a relaxed read by the tree or a snowy afternoon indoors.

About the Book

Host for the Holidays by Martha Keyes follows Madi, who heads to Paris during the holidays hoping the City of Love will finally give her long-term relationship the push it needs. After two years and zero proposals, she’s counting on this trip to spark something more.

Instead, she finds herself staying in the tiny servant quarters of a charming Frenchman while her boyfriend is tied up with work trainings. When her boyfriend asks that same Frenchman, Rémy, to show her around Paris, Madi is left wondering if this is some kind of pre-engagement test… and whether she’s passing or failing it entirely.

From Rémy’s perspective, hosting Madi is supposed to be simple. Make sure she has an amazing stay, earn a glowing five-star review, and keep everything professional. But as they explore Paris together, the lines between obligation, friendship, and something more begin to blur.

Light, romantic, and filled with holiday charm, this story leans into slow-building connection, quiet moments, and the question of whether love is found by holding on… or letting go.

My Thoughts

This was a fun read overall. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a great job with the French language, at least to my ears. Right from the start, as a reader, you hate Madi’s boyfriend, Josh. There’s no mystery there. You know immediately they’re going to break up, and honestly, good riddance. He’s awful. There are also a few very predictable plot points, but I’ll let you discover those on your own. Even with that, the story is still cute, still enjoyable, and still made me smile.

Madi and Rémy are really well-written characters, and I loved how they both experience growth through each other’s encouragement and insight. This is what a healthy relationship should look like. Rémy is torn between staying at the school where he currently works or applying to a more prestigious one. His mother is pushing him to go for the bigger opportunity, but Madi sees how much he genuinely enjoys his job and encourages him to be honest with his mom about what he actually wants.

Madi, meanwhile, is afraid of heights. The contrast between how Josh and Rémy handle this says everything about the kind of partners they are. Josh pushes her without giving her a choice. Rémy, on the other hand, encourages her, reassures her that he’s there, and lets her decide how big of a step she’s ready to take. Rémy also has a strained, surface-level relationship with his dad. His mom is French, his dad is American, and after their divorce, his dad moved back to the States. Madi encourages Rémy to reach out and let his dad know he wants a deeper relationship.

Madi went to school for photography and has been struggling to build her business. While in Paris, she’s tagged in a photo she took for a couple, which leads to an influx of requests for photo shoots. Cue the impostor syndrome. Rémy is there again, encouraging her and reinforcing that she’s genuinely talented.

That said, I do have a major drawback with this romance: Madi already has a boyfriend. I really dislike this trope. To be clear, nothing happens between Madi and Rémy until after she officially dumps Josh, which I appreciated. I understand that Josh was the means to get her to Paris, but they still should have broken up much sooner. Honestly, she should have ended things after her first day there. It’s painfully obvious that he doesn’t truly care about her. To Keyes’s credit, she does an excellent job making us dislike Josh, and it’s clear that no one in Madi’s life likes him either. Later, after Madi finally ends things, it becomes clear that on some level she knew it was over all along, she just didn’t want to face it. Paris was the wake-up call she needed.

Another issue I had was with Rémy’s mom. She openly dislikes Americans because of her history with Rémy’s dad, and Rémy warns Madi about this ahead of time. Naturally, Madi is nervous meeting her on Christmas Eve. Based on how Rémy’s mom is described, I felt like that conflict resolved far too easily. Madi wins her over in a single night, which felt a little too convenient.

One thing I really loved, though, is that there wasn’t a traditional third-act breakup. There’s a moment of doubt when Rémy quietly steps away, questioning their new relationship, but ultimately he and Madi find their way back to each other. I’ve been loving romances lately that skip the standard third-act breakup. You can have conflict, miscommunication, and emotional tension without forcing the characters to split. These are adults. They can talk things through.

Final Thoughts

Host for the Holidays by Martha Keyes is a sweet, character-driven holiday romance with strong emotional beats and thoughtful growth. While a few elements felt predictable and some conflicts resolved a bit too easily, the heart of the story more than makes up for it. I loved the focus on encouragement, healthy communication, and choosing what actually makes you happy, especially without relying on a dramatic third-act breakup. With clean romance, a cozy Paris setting, and a relationship built on mutual support, this was an enjoyable read that left me smiling.