Holly (Belladonna #3.5) by Adalyn Grace

“It wasn’t until he’d stepped back through the doors of Wisteria Gardens with his wife in hand that his soul felt whole again.”

This is my final prompt for the 2025 Romanceopoly Challenge and it’s a great one to end on for a couple of reasons. It was a lovely little novella to spend the Christmas season reading, and it was the perfect book to end the challenge on, especially because I’m not sure I’d have picked this trilogy up if it hadn’t been for this challenge, and I ended up absolutely loving it. Wisteria in particular!

Holly brings us back to Wisteria but it’s now in a different location and it’s the Christmas season. All Blythe wants is the perfect holiday now that she is back in the arms of her beloved Aris, and Aris, with the help of Signa, is determined to give that to her and not even the ghosts of a theatre that once stood in the location Wisteria now sits, is going to ruin the holiday. They sure do try to make it so, but in the end Blythe learns the truth, and of course she is the perfect person to come up with a plan to banish them. Not before she gives out to everyone for not telling her the truth though. It wouldn’t be Blythe if she wasn’t bossing people after all! 😀

There is also a side quest where Death is sent to retrieve Blythe’s gift to Aris, and it was hard not to get emotional about the whole thing. We also got lots of Death and Signa goodness and I do love them, but Blythe and Aris really are my favourites!

It would be remiss of me not to mention the absolutely stunning illustrations we get in this novella, there was one per chapter and they were such a treat.

“Beasty?” Aris whispered, cradling the suddenly placid cat against his chest as though it were a child.”

This was a great addition to the series and I’m so glad she wrote it, it was released back in September and it was not easy resisting the urge to read it before Christmas, I’m so glad I waited!

Synopsis:

Something strange is happening at Wisteria Gardens, the magical manor that Blythe and Aris call home. All they want is a peaceful holiday season with their family, but a group of restless spirits is determined to threaten their festivities. With a new mystery to solve, Signa, Death, Blythe, and Fate must uncover what happened to Wisteria’s ghostly inhabitants and help the spirits move on before it’s too late.