Not Home Alone by Kayley Loring: My Honest Review
*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
⭐ Quick Verdict
⭐ My Rating: 4 ★
💭 Quick Take: A laugh-out-loud holiday romcom packed with Christmas spirit, fantastic banter, and two former crushes forced to reconsider everything they thought they knew about each other.
👉 Read If You Love:
- Holiday romcoms that are genuinely funny but still have heart
- Christmas romances that go all-in on the holiday spirit
- Fantastic banter that eventually gives way to vulnerability
🚫 Skip if:
- You prefer your holiday romances more emotional than comedic
- Lots of banter and snark aren’t your thing
Book Details
Release Date: October 2026
Genre: Holiday Romance, Romantic Comedy
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance Romance, Fake Dating, Forced Proximity, Small Town
Series: Standalone
Steam Level: Medium
POV: Dual
What This Book Is About
Merrily Tucker is heading home for the holidays and staying in the house she adored as a teenager, one that just happens to resemble the iconic house from Home Alone. There’s only one problem: a rental mix-up means she won’t be staying there alone.
Her unexpected housemate is Grant Moody, her former crush and the boy who broke her heart and humiliated her in front of their entire town when they performed together in the annual “Notcracker” ten years earlier.
Now they’re stuck under one very festively decorated roof, battling over everything from the music playing through the house speakers to Merrily’s beloved Christmas decorations. But when Grant needs help repairing his reputation around town and Merrily needs help saving her dad’s holiday shop, their forced proximity gets another complication: fake dating.
My Review of Not Home Alone
If Kayley Loring is writing a holiday romance, I’m reading it. Nobody does it better when it comes to weaving together humor, heart, and holiday spirit in a story that can make me laugh out loud one minute and give me all the feels the next.
As soon as I saw the cover reveal for Not Home Alone, I put in my request to read it, received my copy the next day, and promptly devoured it because I knew I was in for a treat.
Not Home Alone is easily one of my must-read holiday romances of the season and immediately earned a spot on my list of the best Christmas romance books of 2026. It’s packed with Christmas spirit, fun nods to holiday classics like Home Alone and The Nutcracker, hilarious moments, fantastic chemistry, and just enough steam to make things interesting. That’s pretty much my recipe for a great holiday romance, and Kayley once again nailed it.
Merrily Tucker is returning home for the holidays and staying in the house she always loved as a teen, one that just happens to resemble the iconic Home Alone house. But a rental mix-up means she’s sharing it with Grant Moody, her former crush and the boy who broke her heart and humiliated her in front of their entire town during the annual “Notcracker” ten years ago.
The forced proximity between Merrily and Grant is especially fun because these two do NOT quietly tolerate being stuck together. They’re constantly trading barbs, battling over Christmas decorations and music, and coming up with increasingly ridiculous nicknames for each other. This is where Kayley’s signature humor and snark really shine, and I highlighted so many funny lines while reading.
Their chemistry is evident from their hilariously disastrous first encounter and only gets stronger once fake dating enters the picture. But what I loved is that the humor never overshadows the relationship developing underneath it. Merrily and Grant have both spent ten years holding onto assumptions about each other based on what happened when they were teenagers, and their second chance forces them to finally question whether they got each other, and their shared history, completely wrong.
Those quieter moments gave the romance the heart it needed for me, especially Grant’s admission about what it means to him to say “I love you.” Add in hilarious side characters, wonderfully punny names for the local brewery’s holiday drinks, and a reveal toward the end that I didn’t see coming, and I had such a fun time with this romance from start to finish.
*I received an advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.
What I Loved
- Kayley Loring’s signature humor and snark
- The fun nods to Home Alone and The Nutcracker
- Merrily and Grant’s banter and fantastic chemistry
- The balance of laugh-out-loud moments with more vulnerable ones
- Grant’s admission about what saying “I love you” means to him
Things to Know Before You Read
- The Christmas setting and festivities are a big part of the story, not just background decoration
- Expect lots of banter and snark before Merrily and Grant start letting their guards down
Final Thoughts
Not Home Alone gave me exactly what I want from a Christmas romcom: a story that genuinely feels festive while still making the romance the reason I can’t stop reading.
Merrily and Grant’s banter made me laugh, their chemistry kept me invested, and the more vulnerable moments gave their relationship the emotional payoff it needed. If you love holiday romances with plenty of Christmas shenanigans, fantastic banter, and a second chance that forces two people to reconsider everything they thought they knew about each other, put this one on your holiday reading list.
Kayley Loring remains one of my go-to authors for holiday romance, and Not Home Alone is another reason why. Highly recommend.
More Books by Kayley Loring:
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