18 Enchanting Christmas Fantasy Books to Add Magic to Your Holidays!
Cozy Up with These Christmas Fantasy Books!
Love reading fantasy but also want something Christmassy to get into the holiday spirit? Look no further! This list of 18 Christmas fantasy books will get you through the holidays and into the new year.
Whether you prefer your holiday reads with a touch of mystery, a timeless fairy tale retelling, or a modern twist, we’ve got you covered!
Be sure to save a copy of our Christmas Book List Challenge so you don’t miss out on any of these magical tales!
*This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
1.Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Fantasy | Young Adult | Humor | Christmas
When the guy in the red suit goes missing the night before the Discworld’s favorite holiday, it falls on Death to take up the sleigh reigns in this wonderfully irreverent tale from New York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett.
Very few things are held sacred in the twisted, corrupt, heartless—and oddly familiar—universe of the Discworld, but the Hogfather is one of them. Each year at this most joyous of times, Hogswatchnight, the jolly, red-suited Hogfather hops into his hog-drawn sleigh. But this year, the old gift giver has vanished without a trace
Could it be that belief in the Hogfather is dangerously low among the cynical citizens of the Discworld, a place where superstition makes things work? That’s why Death decides to stand in. But it’s just not right to find a seven-foot skeleton creeping down your chimney bellowing “ho, ho, ho.”
On this last night of the year, as the time is turning, it’s up to levelheaded Susan, gothic governess and Death’s granddaughter, to sort everything out by morning—or there won’t be a morning. Ever again . . .
2. Winterfrost Market (Tales of Midwinter Haven #1) by Jenny Sandiford
Fantasy | New Adult | Christmas | Cozy Fantasy | Fae | Magic | Holiday Romance
A tea-loving mortal with a warm heart. A worldly fae prince in disguise. Midwinter is brewing something magical…
At the enchanting Winterfrost Market, renowned for its Midwinter celebrations, Elsie is run off her feet at her family’s cozy traveling tea house.
But the quaint town’s festivities lose their luster when her mother fails to return from her journey to Midwinter Haven—a fairytale land in the north, rumored to be inhabited by elves, witches, and fae.
With Elsie’s worry as dark as her strongest tea, she enlists the help of the captivating tracker, Kit, to guide her northward.
Stepping beyond her comfort zone, Elsie’s eyes are opened to magic she never thought possible. But she quickly discovers that Kit has secrets and suspects he may be one of the clever fae her sister warned her about.
Is Kit her dream prince, or an enemy in disguise? To find her mother, she must be willing to gamble her heart.
Grab a hot cup of tea, snuggle up, and embark on a magical journey to Midwinter Haven…
Winterfrost Market is a cozy fantasy with clean holiday romance and a generous sprinkling of magic!
3. Frostbitten Fairy Tales by Melanie Karsak
Fantasy | Adult | Fairytale Retellings | Christmas | Steampunk
Experience the icy chills of a winter wonderland this Christmas with a special holiday collection.
This Christmas season, dive into New York Times bestselling author Melanie Karsak's fairy tale world. In this magical holiday collection, fight Yuletide monsters, take on a jealous Snow Queen, ride the skies in an airship, face the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and cobble some magical gnomes. Join Ebony, Clemeny, Elyse, Lily, and Scarlette in these winter wonderlands.
This collection includes reimagined classic fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood, The Snow Queen, The Elves and the Shoemaker, and A Christmas Carol.
INCLUDED IN THIS COLLECTION
Hauntings and Humbug: A Christmas Carol Retelling
Peppermint and Pentacles: A Red Riding Hood Retelling
Ice and Embers: A Snow Queen Retelling
Chasing Christmas Past: A Yuletide Airship Race
Goblins and Snowflakes: An Elves and the Shoemaker Retelling
4. The Cat of Yule Cottage by Lili Hayward
Fantasy | Adult | Christmas | Cats | Romance | Magical Realism Mystery | Paranormal
It's nearly Christmas, and Jessamine Pike needs a serious life overhaul.
Jess moves into Enysyule, a centuries-old cottage in Cornwall, and begins the process of renovating the rundown house by day and finishing her novel by night, planning to have both finished in time for the holidays. She's got good company: a beautiful, arrogant tomcat stalks around like he owns the place, and seems very skeptical of Jess' tenancy.
But there's magic in the air... Local legends tell of a spirit that inhabits the area, and an ancient standing stone that keeps watch over the valley. As Christmas comes closer and closer, Jess uncovers treasures from Enysyule's past, and becomes involved in a fight for its future.
For Jess has stumbled into a story that's been going on for five hundred years. A story about land, love, friendship, the Yuletide... and one remarkable cat.
5. The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork
Fantasy | Young Adult | Christmas | Nutcracker Retelling | Magic | Romance
Clara Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: to marry the handsome pianist, Johann Kahler (ah!) and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes on Christmas Eve, when Clara receives a mysterious and magical nutcracker.
Whisked away to his world—an enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a prince—Clara must face a magician who uses music as spells…and the future she thought she wanted.
The Enchanted Sonata, a retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper, will captivate readers of all ages.
6. Grimoires and Gingerbread (Sugar Shack Witch Mysteries #1.5) by Danielle Garrett
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Mystery |Christmas | Paranormal | Novella
Christmas in Winterspell means ice skating, hot cocoa by the barrel, and frosted gingerbread houses.
I was almost looking forward to it.
The merriment screeches to a halt when two elves show up, claiming to have been sent by Santa himself, on a mission to track down an ancient grimoire.
A grimoire with the power of Christmas itself woven through the pages. Without it, Christmas isn’t happening, and Santa himself is in grave danger.
Could Winterspell hold the key to saving Christmas?
**Grimoires and Gingerbread is a holiday-themed novella in the Sugar Shack Witch Mysteries series by Danielle Garrett. This festive novella falls after the events in the first book, but could also be enjoyed as a standalone.**
7. Dwarves & Daisies (Manhattan Magic #1) by Scott Walker
Fantasy | Adult | Urban Fantasy | Christmas | Cozy Fantasy | Fae
Holiday season? More like Holifae season
Mom always said, "Melina Morgan, nothing good ever came from messing with fae, and you can take that to the bank."
She taught me a lot about the Fair Folk, namely that if they discovered my special powers, they'd kill me on the spot. She also taught me how to avoid them and how to protect myself if they did find me.
What she did not prepare me for was waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a drunk dwarf puking outside my bedroom window.
And that's just the beginning.
Weird things are happening in my quiet coastal town of Cold Creek, NC. Like, super weird. And I just know they're connected to the strange dwarf who suddenly rolled into town. I also know I'm the only one who can protect Cold Creek.
All I wanted was another fun-filled holiday season with my dad.
8. Sleigh Spells (Winter Witches of Holiday Haven #1) by Bella Falls
Fantasy | Adult | Christmas | Cozy Mystery | Paranormal | Witches
Have yourself a very Merry Witchmas in Holiday Haven, where the magic and mystery of Christmas is snow joke!
Aurora Hart hates everything Christmas, but how could she turn down the opportunity to serve one year of probation in Holiday Haven versus a full sentence for her crimes? Saddled with a talking squirrel roommate, Aurora is doing her best to keep a low profile as she bides her time. Everything is going fine…until Santa’s sleigh gets stolen.
Now, all eyes are on her and the other town Humbugs, and it’s up to Aurora to keep her behind from ending up back in jail. With the help of a very important person from the North Pole, she finds herself hot on the trail of the real culprit. But it will take her having to do something she’s never done before—accepting new friends and their assistance. Only then will Aurora be able to turn not only her own life around but also Christmas for the entire world!
Will Aurora be able to solve the mystery of who stole Santa’s sleigh in time? Or will the culprit get the final sleigh?
9. The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fantasy | Christmas | Novella
From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe.
A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'
Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees - and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.
One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst - and the path of her life is changed forever.
Featuring an introduction by Susanna Clarke and gorgeous illustrations truly worthy of the magic of this story, this is a mesmerizing, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf.
10. Jingle Spells (CyberWitch Press Short Fiction Anthology #1) by Heather Marie Adkins and other authors
Fantasy | Adult | Urban Fantasy | Christmas | Anthology | Witches | Romance
JINGLE SPELLS: A CyberWitch Press Short Fiction Anthology
Jingle Spells is a feel-good holiday collection of witch-themed tales, from a witch hunt at the winter solstice, to a Christmas dinner in danger of being ruined by an imp. Here you will find a sparkly pair of shoes holding one woman’s destiny, and a magical, mystery-solving cup of latte. Meet a broken young woman unaware of the powers she possesses, and a teenage boy with the fate of the world on his shoulders.
Featuring short stories from veteran authors Jennifer Laslie, Sidonia Rose, and Heather Marie Adkins, and introducing Sammi Cox, Brittany White, and K. Laslie. Sit back with a steaming mug, light up the fireplace, and enjoy these six tales of magic, mayhem, and love.
Solstice Flames by Jennifer Laslie
A Midwinter Manifestation by Sammi Cox
The Witch’s Shoes by Sidonia Rose
Molly by Brittany White
Holiday Dreams by K. Laslie
The Witch’s Brew by Heather Marie Adkins
11. The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fantasy | WW1 | Christmas | Magical Realism
Do you remember when you believed in magic?
The Emporium opens with the first frost of winter. It is the same every year. Across the city, when children wake to see ferns of white stretched across their windows, or walk to school to hear ice crackling underfoot, the whispers begin: the Emporium is open!
It is 1917, and London has spent years in the shadow of the First World War. In the heart of Mayfair, though, there is a place of hope. A place where children’s dreams can come true, where the impossible becomes possible – that place is Papa Jack’s Toy Emporium.
For years Papa Jack has created and sold his famous magical toys: hobby horses, patchwork dogs and bears that seem alive, toy boxes bigger on the inside than out, ‘instant trees’ that sprout from boxes, tin soldiers that can fight battles on their own. Now his sons, Kaspar and Emil, are just old enough to join the family trade. Into this family comes a young Cathy Wray – homeless and vulnerable. The Emporium takes her in, makes her one of its own. But Cathy is about to discover that while all toy shops are places of wonder, only one is truly magical...
12. Chasing Cheer by Heather Schneider
Fantasy | Adult | Holiday Romance | Cozy Fantasy | Christmas
Christmas Cheer is way too abundant in small-town Emerald Hollow… and Holly is desperate to find out why.
When Holly Claus visits a small town in Oregon on one of her normal Cheer-collecting missions, she never imagines that everything she knew about holiday Cheer would be thrown out the sleigh.
Holly has always been efficient in her work of traveling around the world, collecting Cheer to power the North Pole and its dream-making operations there. But she’s never been quite as good at collecting it as her father was, and she’ll do anything to figure out why- including blending in in a small town full of Cheer.
Ash Hayes is working nonstop to build up his tourism business at The Emerald House in rural Oregon, even going so far as to enter the town in a Hallmark competition for Best Small Town Christmas Faire. Driven by a desire to make the town a desirable destination after his mom ran away from Emerald Hollow as a child, Ash feels like he has the future of the town riding on his shoulders.
When Ash and Holly meet, sparks fly, but she isn’t looking for love, and he isn’t looking for someone who leaves. Little do they know, magic may intervene in their carefully laid plans.
Holly’s arrival in town sets in motion a change in Holly’s Cheer magic that upends everything at the North Pole. If Holly doesn’t get to the bottom of what’s causing all the Cheer in Emerald Hollow, Christmas itself may be at stake.
In this sweet small-town twist on the classic Christmas tale, experience holiday magic like never before.
13. A Fantasy Christmas: Tales from the Hearth by Thirteen authors
Fantasy | Adult | Christmas | Anthology | Magical Worlds
Thirteen stories – Thirteen authors
One theme – A Fantasy Christmas.
Christmas magic just got more enchanting with this collection of fantasy festive tales…
FEATURING IN THIS ANTHOLOGY:
Michelle Crow – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Tinkmas
Deanna Young – Late To The Party
A. A. Warne – FrankenSanta
Kieran McKiel – The Snows At Asrum
Haskell Crow – Sugared Dates
Serena Dawson – A Heist, A Prophecy, And A Unicorn
Joshua A. Brown – For All Of Clainsmyth
R. A. Darlinge – The Faded Photograph
Ezra Raikes – Half Chained, Entirely Unwanted
Dragonness Wyverna – A Solstice Promise
L. R. Huseboe – Folly Amongst The Holly
14. Midnight in Everwood by Maria Kuzniar
Fantasy | Young Adult | Nutcracker Retelling | Historical | Christmas
There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms.
When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary.
But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.
15. Mistletoe, Murder and Mayhem (Melting Pot Cafe Book 4) by Polly Holmes
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Mystery | Christmas | Witches
Christmas is Saltwater Cove’s favourite holiday of the year, but that didn’t stop murder and mayhem from making an unscheduled visit.
The festive spirit is out and about, the eggnog is flowing, mistletoe is hung, and the town is pumped for the most exciting event on the Christmas calendar, the Annual Concert. This year aunt Edie decided it would be a brilliant idea to volunteer me and my best friend, Harriet, to run both Santa’s photo booth and the refreshment stall.
As the celebrations kick-off, things turn complicated fast when my childhood friend, Trixie Snowball, winner of the Elf of the Year contest, reveals she's lost Santa's list and is desperate to find it. I agreed to use my magic to help, but things take a turn for the worse when the runner-up of the contest turns up dead behind the refreshment stall, and Trixie is the number one suspect.
Christmas day is fast approaching, and now I’m in a race against time to find a murderer, clear Trixie’s name, bring the real killer to justice and find the list before disappointment rains down on children all over the world. How, oh, how did I get myself into such a predicament?
If you like witty witches, talking cats, and magical murder mysteries, then step into the fun and flirty romantic paranormal cozy mystery world of the Melting Pot Café series where the spells are flowing, and the adventure is sure to leave you craving more.
Mistletoe, Murder and Mayhem was originally titled A Killer Christmas List and published in the Christmas Crackers Anthology. It has been revised and new content added. If you think you know who the murderer is…think again.
16. The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
Fantasy | Young Adult | A Christmas Carol Retelling | Christmas | Paranormal
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.
She didn't.
And then she died.
Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.
Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.
But this year, everything is about to change. . . .
17. Revenge is a Dish Best Served With Eggnog by Ada Rayne
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Mystery | Christmas | Paranormal
In the quaint, twinkling town of Christmas Hills, Destiny Mellowes is just about finished with wrapping the last present of the day.
When a charming stranger named Carson walks into the modest gift shop owned by her parents and asks for directions to the nearby resort, Destiny has no idea her holiday plans are about to unravel faster than a poorly knitted ugly Christmas sweater. Her cat Velvet, of course, is not nearly as clueless as she is.
Meanwhile at the Christmas Hills Resort, strange paranormal occurrences begin to stir. With Destiny's talent for cooking and Carson's marketing prowess, they find themselves at the heart of a chilling mystery, unraveling ghostly secrets with more twists and turns than a cinnamon bark pretzel.
With the help of a quirky ensemble of townsfolk, the duo must solve the mystery before it's too late. In a town where holiday cheer meets ghostly fear, can Destiny and Carson rekindle their holiday spirit and let love dispel the haunting shadows of Christmas Hills?
18. Goblins and Snowflakes (Steampunk Fairy Tales) by Melanie Karsak
Fantasy | Adult | Elves and the Shoemaker Retelling | Christmas | Steampunk | Novella
* May contain Christmas gnomes
Never bargain with goblin men.Scarlette Rossetti thought her stay at Strawberry Hill Castle during the Christmas holiday would pass by uneventfully. She couldn't have been more wrong. Enticed by the delights of the nearby village of Twickenham, Scarlette's life would change in unimaginable ways.
She never expected to be drawn magnetically to The Two Sisters Doll Shop and Toy Emporium.
Scarlette didn't guess that tinkering clockwork gnomes could have supernatural consequences.
And she didn't know that one should never, ever, bargain with goblin men.
But during the Christmas season, magic is always brewing.
Dive into this magical retelling of The Elves and The Shoemaker. Dive into New York Times bestselling author Melanie Karsak's award-winning fairy tale world set in gaslamp England.
Christmas Fantasy Book Reading Challenge!
How many of these Christmas books have you read? Which ones do you want to read the most?
