Dear Santa: From Santa Monica Baby by Kelly Reynolds
Author Kelly Reynolds delivers a swoony Dear Santa letter from Austin, the cat-dad Santa hero of Santa Monica Baby. Discover the Holidays in LA series… low-angst, high-heat holiday romance novellas full of spice, banter, and emotional softbois.
Dear Santa: Austin Amato’s Spicy Holiday Wish in Santa Monica Baby
Welcome to our Dear Santa series on Under the Covers Book Blog! This holiday season, we’re reviving one of our most-loved features with a fresh twist. In this series, we invite authors to write letters to Santa, either from their own perspective or through the eyes of one of their characters. It’s the perfect mix of festive fun and bookish charm, letting you connect with your favorite stories and authors on a whole new level. Or simply a fun way to find new favorites to read.
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Today’s letter comes from Austin Amato, the bearded cat dad-slash-neighborhood Santa from Santa Monica Baby, the third book in Kelly Reynolds’ Holidays in LA series. If you like your holiday romance with equal parts heart, heat, and hilarious hijinks, including Ferris wheel fingerblasting (yes, really), then you need this series on your December TBR.
Meet the Santa Next Door in Santa Monica Baby by Kelly Reynolds
Santa Monica Baby is a low-angst, high-heat novella featuring an Elle Woods-inspired lawyer heroine, a swoony photographer who hides behind a Santa beard, and enough LA holiday vibes to make you forget it’s 60 degrees and sunny. Now let’s read what Austin has to say to the Big Guy himself…
Dear Santa…
You might not know this, but I’m your biggest fan. Then again, you are Santa Claus, so you’ve probably got me on some kind of watch list by now, but that’s beside the point.
As a fellow bearded, big boy, I’ve taken it upon myself the past few years to act as my neighborhood’s local Santa—velvet, red suit and everything. I do children’s hospital visits, photos with pets, and the annual “Sandos with Santa” in Santa Monica, California. There’s even been a bachelorette party appearance (or two), but that was before I met the love of my life, so we won’t get into that. Speaking of love, though…
There’s only one thing I want this Christmas and that’s for Janelle Wheatley to be my wife.
I’ve got the ring. I’ve rehearsed my speech. I’ve even picked out the perfect proposal spot—the Santa Monica Pier’s Ferris wheel, where we first…
Anyway, I don’t know what you can do to help your Santa brethren out, but a little Christmas magic would be much appreciated. She’s the Frank’s RedHot to my breakfast sandwich, the flash to my Nikon D3200. And on special occasions—when naughty Nellie comes out—she plays one hell of a Mrs. Claus.
I can’t imagine my life without her, so please, help her say yes. I’ll owe you one!
Sincerely,
Austin Amato
P.S. Okay, so actually there’s one more thing on my Christmas list: a black and tan Maine Coon. Nellie says three cats is enough, but what’s one more?
series info
Holidays in LA series by Kelly Reynolds
Completed series | 3 books | Available on Kindle Unlimited
If millennial holiday romance had a chaotic, horny little sister, this would be her. Kelly Reynolds’ Holidays in LA series is a low-angst, high-heat, unapologetically modern collection of novellas set against the glittery backdrop of Los Angeles at Christmas.
Each book is standalone but shares a friend group (and cat sightings), with tropes like fake dating, neighbors-to-lovers, opposites attract, and proposal chaos on a Ferris wheel. You’ll find:
- LA holiday chaos (yes, there’s a Santa on a scooter)
- Cat dads galore
- Big spice and bigger heart
- Food as foreplay (breakfast sandwiches, gingerbread, that photoshoot…)
- Fat, queer, body-diverse characters
- Rom-com energy that feels like The Holiday meets New Girl, but R-rated and way more queer
Perfect for fans of: Love, Actually but with actual chemistry, authors like Talia Hibbert, Falon Ballard, and Christina Lauren, Notting Hill energy with L.A. mess and spicy novellas that don’t take themselves too seriously (but still hit you in the feels)
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Start with Book 1
Meet Me in Los Feliz by Kelly Reynolds
It follows a newly single photographer and a prickly actress roped into a very public (and very fake) romance that quickly turns all too real. If you love fake dating, ex drama, breakfast sandwiches, public makeouts, and chaotic softbois, this one’s for you. Each book can be read as a standalone, but trust, you’ll want the full holiday set.
About Kelly Reynolds:
By day, Kelly Reynolds works primarily as a freelance writer, professor, and author’s assistant. By night, she hosts the comedic romance novel review podcast, Boobies & Noobies. Since receiving her MFA in Screenwriting in 2016, she’s worked with several casting, development, and production companies and contributed to programs appearing on such networks as MTV, ABC, Hallmark, GSN and Netflix. She’s ghostwritten two previous novellas, but MEET ME IN LOS FELIZ is her debut self-publication.
Originally hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, she currently lives in Portland, Oregon and spends the bulk of her time dreaming up unconventional romantic comedies (while watching murder documentaries). When she isn’t writing, you can often find Kelly eating her way through hole-in-the-wall restaurants, sampling cider at the nearest brewery, or bingeing the latest season of Top Chef.
Under the Covers Vault: Want even more Holidays in LA? Check out our interview with Kelly Reynolds where she talks about writing Santa Monica Baby and shares some of her favorite spicy holiday novellas.
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