On the outside, actress Jules Silver seems to have it all—Rom-com sweetheart, a career on the rise, and the longtime love of Hollywood’s leading man. But after a disastrous red-carpet event sends her life reeling, all Jules wants is an escape into her favorite season—Christmas—and space to figure out what she really wants.

The perfect place to make both happen? Dearing Creek, the magical Minnesota lakeside town where she spent every summer growing up—where the place and people brought her back to life long ago. And where one man has always been there for her.

Ethan Blake has loved Jules since the beginning. She was sunshine and laughter in his world of campfires and starry nights, the girl he’s never been able to forget. So when the stars align—bringing them together for a holiday road trip from Los Angeles back to where they started—Ethan can’t help believing that Fate is tossing him one last chance to prove he is worthy of her.

When a snowstorm strands them in Noel—a Christmas-obsessed mountain town filled with legend, twinkle lights, and holiday magic—the two suddenly find their carefully drawn lines between lifelong friendship and love become blurred. And when Jules’s past comes calling, they both must decide if love is worth the risk—or if happily-ever-after will remain something that exists only in the movies.

Titles in the Dearing Creek series include:  Lake I Love You ~ It Had To Be Yule ~

This is a no-spice romance with either closed doors or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved 🙂

Title:  It Had To Be Yule
Series:  Dearing Creek #2
Author:  Farrah Jane
Published:  November 4, 2025
Publisher:  Ashwing Press
My Rating:  4 stars

It Had To Be Yule is the second title in the Dearing Creek series.  I hadn’t read the first story yet, but I’ll definitely go back to it soon.  Jules and Ethan’s story is a friends-to-lovers romance as well as a bit of seeing who these friends are now, as adults.  Ethan’s loved Jules for far too long now, but has been content with their friendship, knowing he would do nothing to jeopardize her career or her happiness.  When her world implodes, and the only thing she wants to do is escape back home, it is entirely natural for Ethan to step up for a road trip… knowing that this is a chance for him to show Jules the man he is today, not the friend from her past.  What they discover on this trip will change their worlds and how they see their future.

I adored the magical town of Noel, what a perfect place for a Rom-com actress to find her own happily ever after!  Their story is well-written, emotional, and, well, life-changing, as they explore not only their years-long friendship but also deal with their pasts and allow walls to tumble to build a future together.  Jules has some decisions to make, and this time it’s her own happiness, not her career, that will lead her to a future full of promise.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, and I sincerely thank the author or publishing house for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

 

This title is available at Amazon