REVIEW: A Loser by Christmas by Con Riley (Con Riley's Christmas Collection #4)

A LOSER BY CHRISTMAS

Con Riley’s Christmas Collection - Book Four

by Con Riley

Release Date: November 14, 2025

Review

Every Con Riley story leaves me feeling like I’m a better person by the end. That I’ve learned something, healed something, witnessed a better humanity. I want her to rebuild our world, train our teachers, educate our parents, and generally just guide us to being more compassionate people.

That may seem over the top, but you would be wrong. Every word is gorgeous and meaningful.

A Loser by Christmas is, in part, a redemption story - A redemption for Valentin, but also for his relationship with his father. And it’s a second chance for Calum - for his career and to build his dream life.

Valentin is a little adrift in life, fighting for something bigger than himself, but not always making the best choices to get it. He’s a little unlikable in the beginning. But of course, he’s not what he seems. Once Calum peels his layers back and helps him reframe what he thinks he knows, you will love him, care for him, root for him.

Calum is a saint. We would build statues to him, except he would argue that the money could be better spent on others. A wealthy hockey star, he doesn’t just throw money at things; he helps build things that will live beyond, that will nurture people, and he gives his time too.

It feels like their relationship is on the clock, counting down, but in fact, they are just beginning.

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Synopsis

London isn’t for losers. It’s for lovers, even if they don’t see it coming, so settle in for another emotion-packed holiday romance from Con Riley’s Christmas collection.

I didn’t ask Santa to stuff my stocking with an NHL star known for being big, bad, and brutal.

Spending December with a pro hockey player is the very last thing I have time for. I’m on a tight deadline to escape a job I never wanted, selling speedboats for my father. My only problem is that I need cash to help me sail away from London.

Calum Trelawney has the money I need.

He also has good reason to hate me.

I’m Valentin Juno, the YouTube creator who made his best friend go viral, and not in a good way. Now hockey’s MVP wants out of his contract and is prepared to pay to make that happen. All I need to do is make him look like a big enough loser that his club drops him.

Following Calum with my camera all through December should be easy. At least, it would be if I had some answers. Like, why is he in England right in the middle of hockey season? And why is he so desperate to escape a contract worth millions?

That leaves one final question: Is it too late to add hate sex with a hockey player to my Christmas wish list?

Prepare for fireworks, for snark with a French accent, and for your stocking to be stuffed with an unexpectedly sweet enemies-to-lovers story set in a central London marina.

A Loser By Christmas is the fourth book in an interlinked series. While there are no cliff-hangers and each book contains a complete romance that can be enjoyed alone, to read the series in order, start with the first book, His Last Christmas in London.

About Con Riley

CON RILEY lives on the wild and rugged Devonshire coast, with her head in the clouds and her feet in the Atlantic Ocean. Injury curtailed her enjoyment of outdoor pursuits, so writing fiction now fills her free time instead. Love, loss, and redemption shape her romance stories, and her characters are flawed in ways that make them live and breathe. When not people-watching or wrangling her own boy band of teen sons, she spends time staring at the sea from her kitchen window. If you see her, don’t disturb her—she’s probably thinking up new plots.

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