He’s the world’s most alpha Marine and the last man I should be letting jingle my bells this holiday season. So why does Clint O’Dell keep running through my thoughts wearing nothing but a Santa hat? And why do I stupidly agree that we should be Christmas friends with benefits?Someone must have spiked my eggnog. I don’t do Marines. Or Santas. I learned my lesson about both the hard way. But when …
I learned my lesson about both the hard way.
But when Clint steps in to rescue me—from a murderous goose, a rogue reindeer, and the ghost of Christmas Right Now causing trouble in my bakery—I can’t help but wonder if we’re meant to be more than friends.
If maybe Clint is the holiday miracle I’ve been praying for…or if all the magic will disappear with the season.
Humbugged is a laugh out loud holiday romp featuring a Marine with a heart of gold and a baker in need of a hero. Complete with the world’s most awkward Christmas caroling, a photoshoot with furry friends, and more naughty baked goods than is good or decent.
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Once again these two authors deliver a hilarious, heartwarming story that will make you want to pack up and move to Happy Cat. I have adored this series since the beginning, but Clint is now my new favorite O’Dell brother. He is sweet, funny and all kinds of swoony. I fell head over elf shoes for this sexy marine with a heart of gold.
I loved this one and can’t wait to see what these two authors bring us next. If you are looking for a sweet story that will have you laughing out loud and put you right in the Christmas spirit, then this is the one for you! Go ahead and one-click this one now!
My oh my. Clint and Noelle were everything and more. Clint was intriguing when we met him earlier in Happy Cat but I didn’t see him being quite as adorable as he was. Clint wanted Noelle and couldn’t figure out why she was resisting him – even getting concerned that he was overstepping. His brothers were immensely amused by Clint being not only turned down by a woman but that finally there was someone out there that was making him work for it.
Noelle doesn’t want Clint’s attention – or anyone’s attention. She just wants to find a place to call home and run her bakery in peace. After a lifetime of being a military brat, she just wants to settle down – and running around with a soldier is not her idea of a happily ever after.
Fighting their attraction is futile and Clint’s persistence slowly wins her over – for now. A scheduled fling. End date in sight. Noelle will give Clint that but nothing more. Can Clint convince Noelle that there could be more, even if he is in the military? His orders to move could come any day – should he be content with a fling or is he willing to fight for his cupcake? Happy Cat is always quite the adventure and seeing the whole town and family makes for a hilarious read.
Heart, humor and (animal) husbandry- three H’s to describe what is a definite holiday classic.
Seriously, what an adorable story. We’re following the last and youngest O’Dell brother, Clint, who is back from the Marines. He sees Noelle and he falls for her. She needs a little more convincing because apparently, his greatness can’t overcome the obstacles of her past. So, what can he do to show her that he’s the right man for the job?
This book features a great supporting cast, with characters from the prior books playing a large role. And, not to mention, there’s a crafty raccoon (I love me some George Cooney!), a neurotic and slightly psychopathic goose, Nutquacker (how the authors come up with these names…) and a reindeer named Don Juan. (as well as goats and hedgehogs) There’s a bit of intrigue and mystery as well, making this a well rounded story.
And this book features two fantastic main protagonists. Clint is so sweet and happy, even though his ego is as big as the North Pole (though played in such an endearing, joking way, I can’t help but love him). Noelle is also a sweet woman who wants to get past her Scrooge-ish ways but everything that can go wrong does go wrong for her. Humbug may be too weak a sentiment for what the poor woman has to endure during the holiday season. But have no fear, Noelle IS going to enjoy Christmas and embody the Christmas spirit if Clint has anything to say about it.
Holiday hijinks ensue and I experience copious amounts of laughter, a couple of happy tears, and a crazy amount of holiday spirit. I love visiting Happy Cat and hope to revisit for other happily ever afters.
Spoiler Alert…this is the first book I’ve read from Pippa Grant and Lili Valente! But oh my goodness, Humbugged was so fun! I will say, it took me a minute to really get into it, but after about fifteen percent I was all in for Noelle and Clint’s story.
I really liked both of the leading characters. Noelle was so kind and generous but she was being played with. I didn’t like that someone was toying with her and her business. But I did like how the O’Dell family stepped up to help her out. No one more than Clint. Oh Clint. Such a good guy. A hero. While I did find the memes were a bit overkill, they were all pretty funny and meant in a good-natured, not malicious, way.
Talk about a charming and heartwarming holiday story. Pippa Grant and Lili Valente have struck rom-com gold with Humbugged. I loved the banter. The family. The animals. The mystery. The whimsy. The small town with a big heart and a lot of Christmas cheer. And the ending! Gah! It was so perfectly Noelle and Clint and left me with a happy smile on my face.
5 Stars
Happy Cat, GA just might be my favorite fictional town ever and I’ve spent a lot of time in Stars Hollow and Mystic Falls. Humbugged takes us back to our favorite town, my favorite family and their completely ridiculous but utterly adorable menagerie of farm animals!
I’ve loved all the O’Dells but Clint is definitely my favorite! The sexy, silly, good-hearted Marine returns to the fold when he’s temporarily stationed in Jackson as a military recruiter. His antics with his brothers and their various adopted farm animals might be the funniest thing I’ve read all year but the things he does to make his “cupcake” laugh melted my heart like no other.
Noelle has only ever wanted to belong. She thought she’d found what she was looking for with her boyfriend but after two years, he went looking for something different and left Noelle brokenhearted. In a drunken haze, she purchases a bakery in a town she’s never heard of. Starting over in Happy Cat seems as good a plan as any but the longer she stays, the more she realizes she’s landed in the only place she’s ever truly belonged. Meeting the O’Dells is an experience. They are wonderfully quirky people but no one jingles her bells like the youngest, Clint. He’s set his sights on and like any good Marine, he just adapts and overcomes all her objections. How do you hold out against a man who makes you laugh, takes care of you, and loves his family (human and animal) when all you want to do is climb him like a Christmas tree?
Humbugged is a delightfully happy romp through the adorable and implausible! You’ll laugh out loud and experience all the feels! Like all Pippa and Lili books, I didn’t want it to end!
AnnMarie – Alphas Do It Better Book Blog
A FUN, ROWDY, ENTERTAINING, AND ULTRA HOT FESTIVE HOLIDAY ROMANCE WITH PLENTY OF SUGAR AND SPICE!
Humbugged is a a holiday treat like none other. funny, witty, and sexy too, this was a mighty spectacular read that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Readers will fall in love with this Christmas story with flair!
Humbugged gets a ROWDY AND FUNNY FIVE FESTIVE STARS!
Holiday Romance | Romantic Comedy | Can Stand Alone
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that made me when to go to the beginning of the series like this one. Nutquacker? I loved him. Dirty trash pandas? I loved them even more. And the festive feelings of Christmas and joy made me smile and start feeling the spirit of the holiday. This is my first hoorah in Pippa Grant and Lili Valente’s books, and I have a feeling they are soon going to be some of my most read and beloved authors around. The humor is on par with some of my favorite books from Tara Sivec and Meghan Quinn, and the romance that blossoms between the characters is epic. Because of all this I cannot recommend Humbugged more if I tried. It may not be the most serious book in the world, but it grabs a hold of the holiday feels and made me laugh like a hyena- I really needed this! If you’re in the need for a pick me up or just browsing amazon for a new book to read, make sure to check this one out. You’ll not only fall head over heels for Clint and Noelle but also for the secondary characters (who I believe have their own love stories in previous books) but the wacky animals as well. They just may be my absolute favorite characters to date (and the epilogue is PRICELESS).
As you can see, I loved this book. It’s got a little bit of everything in it and a wide variety of readers are can love it just as much as I did. Here’s a few things you need to know:
This is a holiday themed romance and has all the things we love about Christmas.
This is an age gap romance where the heroine is older than the hero, but truthfully you don’t notice the age difference. The only time you can see it is when it’s specifically stated.
This is a romantic comedy. The kind of romcom that will have you laughing out loud through most of the book. Think the Chocolate Lovers series by Tara Sivec. That’s how funny I found it to be.
This book is VERY LOW on Drama. There’s a tiny bit of suspense to it but I certainly wouldn’t call it a romantic suspense because nothing truly sinister is going. You’ll see what I mean when you read it.
This is a lighthearted read mean to be fun and festive. Don’t go into it thinking your going to be reading a serious and angsty novel because you won’t get that here. It’s lighthearted, charming, and just a whole lot of fun.
Have I convinced you yet? I sure hope so! You don’t want to miss this one. I myself LOVED it and am so excited to start the series from the beginning with HOSED. All books are free for kindle unlimited subscribers (added bonus, right?).
Humbugged by Pippa Grant & Lili Valente is book 4 in the Happy Cat Series. This is the story of Clint and Noelle. I have read the previous books and enjoyed them. I did feel you could make this a standalone book if you wish to do so. Clint has his eyes on Noelle but she is trying to resist her attraction. But of course neither can stop what their bodies want and try to be a holiday friends with benefits. This has some funny parts to go along with the page turning hotness. Enjoyed their story.
Superhero
Clint O’Dell might be the baby of his family, but he’s always been their superhero. He’s also the stuff of legends around Happy Cat, subject of over the top memes and a recent reindeer whisperer. Marine, tough guy, sweetheart.
Noelle Alwyn arrived in Happy Cat hoping to make a fresh start re: running away from her problems. Cupcake baker extraordinaire when the bakery ghost isn’t wreaking havoc, she’s also a photographer that’s not taking photos. (see running away)
Clint adores his cupcake, and Noelle adores her Marine. Sounds perfect right? Well, this is Happy Cat we’re talking about, so there’s also a crazy goose on the loose, a bakery saboteur that may or may not be a ghost, and a very definite end date to Clint and Noelle’s holiday romance.
Happy Cat is chock full of interesting and endearing characters of all shapes, sizes and breeds! I loved this book, and I loved Clint and Noelle!
I love getting surrounded by the Happy Cat environment. It’s a chaotic, quirky, unbelievable, and loving town. I love how each story can read alone, but if you read them in the order, they each build off each other to incorporate previous characters. Noelle is a super sweet, shy, and giving woman. She’s brave to encounter a new town and start a new business, but her new attitude doesn’t let her get bogged down by the unpleasant. Clint is a rock hard, happy-go-lucky, dream machine. He will do anything for those around him with a smile on his face. Noelle and Clint are a great pair. They balance each other out, have unbelievable chemistry, and bring out the best in each other. The visions I had when reading this book, would make an awesome, comedic movie! Another hit in Happy Cat!
I was given a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Pippa Grant and Lili Valente are the Dynamic Writing Duo of sexy, quirky, punny romcom books and their Happy Cat Series is all that and more. If I lived in the US and if Happy Cat were a real place I’d be there in two shakes of a raccoon’s tail . This book treats us to the youngest O’Dell brother’s love story. I gotta say, I was so looking forward to seeing what he would get up to while pursuing the ever so clutzy, town baker, Noelle. Although younger than her, Clint is all glorious man and when he falls for her he pursues her with a sexy singleminded intensity that is swoon-worthy. This book is like a deliciously decadent cupcake, beautiful on the outside and deliciously sweet on the inside. TBR this book and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Happy Cat.
I want to move to Happy Cat! I am soooooooo in love with this series! Clint and Noelle’s story was the perfect addition to this series! Wacky characters and insane animals – two things I’ve come to adore about Happy Cat, GA! From beginning to end this is a fun read, but also has so much heart! I need so much more from this aeries! FIVE HUGE STARS!!!
Clint and Noelle are hotter than Christmas cocoa. Mmm… Clint is so yummy! Talk about a hero in every sense of the word. Which is good, because Noelle seems to find trouble everywhere she goes.
Poor Noelle seems to have the worst luck. Outside of attracting the hottest man in town, that is. The suspense starts early on and builds throughout. Although, it didn’t exactly play out the way I anticipated. But I enjoyed the little supernatural element.
And if the dreamy Marine and powerful heroine don’t reel you in, the hilarity and animals (with the most pun-derful names!) will!
Humor and romance
It’s a good series (each story can be read separately). I found the first chapters a little long to begin, but as soon as the plot appears, as well as the beginning of the romance between Noelle the baker and Clint the Marine, everything accelerates.
Animals are still characters, who intervene in a humorous way over the story and they create situations that are always quite out of sync.
Noelle bought (by chance after a night of drinking to console herself) a bakery in a city where she does not know anyone. The only thing she knows is that she has to resist Clint, who is charming, helping and whose everyone finds great. But Noelle is out of a relationship and she’s not ready to let herself go so easily, not to mention that he is a Marine like her father and that she knows too well the life of a soldier’s wife. But when unexplained events happens at the bakery, Clint decides to conduct the investigation while continuing to try to seduce Noelle.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
“Humbugged” is a hilarious Christmas RomCom from the warped brains of Pippa Grant and Lili Valente. Clint O’Dell is a hot Marine who is kind, funny and selfless. He is back in Happy Cat working as a Marine recruiter and has his eye on newcomer to Happy Cat, Noelle. Noelle left a bad relationship and during a drunken night, bought an empty store in Happy Cat (I mean, who hasn’t bought a store after a couple of cocktails). She has started a bakery, but has been plagued by bad luck. While our pint sized heroine has all sorts of reasons to not get involved with Clint, his infectious goodwill is hard to ignore. All the usual cast of characters are back, including an angry goose, George the raccoon, and Don Juan, a stray reindeer. This is a fun, light RomCom and a great read for the holiday season. I received an ARC of this book from the author for my honest review.
5 hot MARINE stars!!!
If ever a book was undeserving of its title, it’s this one. There’s no ‘humbugging’ going on in this small Georgia town, just plain old holidays’ cheer and HEA’s. Humbugged is the fourth book in the ‘Happy Cat’ series of stand alones by Pippa Grant & Lili Valente.
It’s fun, sweet, sexy and just the best holiday read I’ve had so far this year!!
Clint O’Dell may be the baby of the bunch, and at twenty-four is several years younger than Noelle Alwyn but being a Marine has made him a ‘man’. He’s tough, hard and takes-no-prisoners. He’s also hot as sin, a shiny piece of holiday man-candy that Noelle just can’t resist, try as she might. And she does.
Try that is.
Noelle came to Happy cat to avoid her last heartbreak and isn’t looking to get mixed up with a military guy. She’s had enough of that life growing up.
But, when her new bakery starts having weird events and Clint takes it upon himself to help find the culprit, it’s hard to avoid him.
Clint noticed Noelle the moment he set eyes on her. He wasn’t looking for a commitment, he’s a Marine, he has plenty already. But when love slaps him upside the head, he knows how to take orders. This is one mission he will never lose or bail out on. Noelle is in for the ride of her life. She just doesn’t know it yet.
I love, love, loved this book. I can’t get enough of all things ‘Happy Cat. It was great picking up where we left off with the whole O’Dell family, including George Cooney and his running mates NutQuacker and Don Juan. This is a truly wonderful ‘feel-good’ story worthy of a Hallmark movie. I’d love to see it on the big screen, and I’m betting you will too!!!
Lili and Pippa have done it again with this latest trip to Happy Cat! I absolute adored this story!! Chock full of charm, humor, love, friendship and oodles of shenanigans both human and animal, Humbugged is definitely one of my favorites in this series. Not that I can honestly pick a favorite. In this book, we get a totally sexy and swoony hero in Clint, and an amazingly sweet but jaded heroine in Noelle. I absolutely love their story from beginning to end and wouldn’t change a thing. Fantastic epilogues and lets just say the second one is so funny. This is a book that really needs to be experienced first hand so I will not say anything else about it except if you like to laugh out loud and swoon hard, you need this book in your life!
This holiday story will definitely keep you on your toes and pull at all the right heartstrings.
Happy Cat is as happy as ever. You’ll still have your crazy and all the wacky love. This time we get to meet Clint O’Dell, the man, THE MEME, the Legend, The Marine. He’s fun, smart, flirty, strong and is a man on a mission. Enter, Noelle, the woman trying her best to be positive, change her attitude and is determined to stay put for a change.
Well, hijinks ensue, the flirt is on, attraction is high, the cupcakes are baking meanwhile there are mysteries to be solved and resolutions and conditions to be met.
You will fly through this story as fast as George Cooney and Honk. Not sure who these are? Read this book and find out. You won’t be sorry. That is, unless you’re opposed to smiling throughout this story. Then you really are Humbugged and you need this book more than you know! So have a holly, jolly time in Happy Cat!
Humbugged is a fun Christmas romance with a hot marine; what could be better? The romance and steam are in perfect balance, a bit of mystery, a touch of the supernatural and a few laughs are a great combination.
What I enjoyed most about Humbugged was the way the authors developed the romance between our leads. It was, like the story on the whole, well-paced and involved relatable and well developed characters. Noelle is the new girl in town, determined to turn her life around and start to enjoy Christmas. Clint is the hometown hero, a marine who has a crazy and lovable family.
This is a standalone story, yet I was aware while reading that there were previously linked books. This didn’t affect my enjoyment of Humbugged, but I think I would have had a deeper connection to the characters and story if I had read the other books in the series.
The only downside for me was that I’m not a fan of far fetched situations, especially those involving animals. While reading Humbugged there were a few unbelievable scenarios that I found a bit eye-roll worthy. Some enjoy cutesy, silly animals that have human-like behaviours, but personally I find such things cringy. I also found the name of the town, Happy Cat bizarre. This aside, I enjoyed reading Humbugged and I would read more from this series.
Welcome back to Happy Cat, Ga where the streets are full of family, friends, and crazy fun loving animals. This time around we meet Nutquacker, a crazy goose on a mission (loved his story!). I think that crazy goose could easily have stolen the story! Then we have Clint and Noelle. Clint is the youngest O’Dell. He’s the favorite of the family, though honestly I don’t think he was my favorite. He was just a little much, especially with his memes. But I did love the memes. I just think he was a little excessive. Then we have Noelle. I loved Noelle. She was a hurt, broken, beautiful woman trying to start over. Nothing was working for her, including her baking (not spoiling that one though) so she decided to change her attitude. I think that was what I loved most about her. She was willing to embrace her issues and move forward no matter what. This book had me smiling, laughing, and wishing I could meet these people in real life. I’ll definitely miss them and Happy Cat. *I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.*