by Julie Murphy
Part of Meant to Be
First published 2026
Julie Murphy's "Deck the Heels" puts a modern Cinderella in front of television cameras, where a fairy tale wedding is being produced by her not-so-evil stepmother. The tinsel and stage lights make everything look perfect, but the real story is messier and sweeter underneath. That story anchors a collection of five original holiday romances from Murphy, Zoraida Córdova, Jasmine Guillory, Christina Lauren, and Jesse Q. Sutanto, all of whom contributed to Disney's Meant to Be anthology. Jasmine Guillory sends a brainy beauty and her reformed beast into a baking competition that turns chaotic fast. Zoraida Córdova drops a girl who has everything opposite a man who has just lost his luggage and his carefully planned romantic surprise. Christina Lauren pairs a sunshine personality with a not-quite grump chasing a holiday bucket list before midnight on New Year's Eve. Jesse Q. Sutanto closes the collection with a Lunar New Year party unraveling under the pressure of a possible curse and a very meddling family. Each story takes a beloved Disney tale and sets it in the contemporary world with a light coat of holiday magic. The emotional core across all five is the same: love is messiest right before it works.
Genres: romance, anthologies, contemporary, contemporary-romance, fairy-tale-retellings, holiday
Vibes: emotional, festive, heartwarming, lighthearted, sweet, whimsical
Tropes: fairy-tale-retellings, forced-proximity, found-family, second-chance-romance
Period: New Year's Eve, Lunar New Year
368 pages · Paperback · Hyperion Avenue