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The Official Blurb
“Two cozy holidays. One snowy city. And a love I never saw coming.
Coming back to Milwaukee for the holidays wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Losing my mom has left me reeling, and walking into her empty apartment feels like diving into the abyss. Add in a family that’s distant at best, and I’m not exactly feeling the holiday spirit. But then there’s Brady-the friend I kissed once, a lifetime ago.
Brady is the kind of man who can steady a storm with just one look. He’s kind, solid, and everything I didn’t realize I needed. It doesn’t hurt that his smile feels like the first real warmth I’ve felt in months. But he’s also my anchor in the middle of all this chaos-and the one person I can’t afford to lose.
As the glow of Hanukkah candles mingles with Brady’s Santa hat, I find myself falling-hard. But love isn’t simple, not when grief and fear have you questioning everything.”
Book Review: Find Me by Liz Lincoln
(formerly published as Eight Naughty Nights which, honestly, it should have stayed)
Overview
Title: Find Me
Author: Liz Lincoln
Published: 2020 (originally 2015 as Eight Naughty Nights)
Genre: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Spice Level: Habanero – frequent sex, explicit language and a few holiday spankings
My Hot Take: Two twenty-somethings spend eight very memorable nights together during Hanukkah … and the menorah isn’t the only thing getting lit.
The Setup
This story follows Laura, 23, a world traveler who hops from job to job (everything from teaching English to emergency relief work — basically whatever helps her keep seeing the world). She’s half-Jewish, half-Christian and celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. When she’s stateside, she splits her time between her dad in DC and her mom in Milwaukee.
Then we have Brady (also 23-ish), her childhood best friend and long-time emotional soft place to land. They’ve never officially dated but they were each other’s firsts for a whole lot of everything-but-actual-sex exploration in their teens. He’s now a bartender in Milwaukee and still very much her person — even from long distance.
When Laura’s mother is killed by a drunk driver, she returns home to settle her mother’s estate. Her mom owned a building with her boutique shop on the first floor and her apartment above it. Their relationship wasn’t perfect — her mother struggled with alcoholism — but they deeply loved each other and her mom had worked hard to get sober in the years before her death.
Laura didn’t make it home in time for the funeral (through no fault of her own) and the grief hits hard. She wants comfort in whatever form she can get it — and Brady is right there. So they make a pact: eight nights, no strings, friends-with-benefits while she’s home for Hanukkah. Then she’s back to her travel life.
Spoiler: feelings, obviously, get involved.
What Worked for Me
⭐ The Spice (and the holiday spice!)
This book comes out swinging. The heat starts early, stays consistent and absolutely works for the story. As someone who loves a spicy romance, this was chef’s kiss — bold, fun and emotionally grounded. NOT a slow burn. We are burning the yule log from page one.
⭐ Realistic 20-something voice
The characters talk and react like actual young adults. The banter feels natural, the sex scenes feel honest and the emotional beats — especially around grief — are handled with clarity and care.
Three quotes that jumped out at me:
“He was the water to soothe my thirst. The air to give me breath. And other cliché metaphors I was too horny to think of.”
“Sex with Laura was the most amazing thing I’d experienced in my life … Being with Laura blew away every other memory … because this was Laura.”
“You don’t stop loving someone just because they’re gone.”
That last one? Oof. Right in the chest.
⭐ Milwaukee as a character
Liz Lincoln clearly knows Milwaukee and it shows. The city feels lived-in rather than touristy. The references to local spots, including the recombobulation area at the airport (bless MKE forever for that), gave the book so much charm.
⭐ The Star Wars references
Perfect. Funny. Playful.
“What would the rom-com movie version of me do? Screw rom-coms. What would Princess Leia do?”
10/10, no notes.
Challenges (AKA: Let Me Yuck Some Yums for a Moment)
Listen, you know I don’t like to kink shame … but I am going to shame the lack of hygiene in two particular scenes because dear God, no:
🚫 The Two Bar Scenes
- Brady fingers Laura with unwashed, bartender-after-a-shift hands.
- A later scene takes them to the bar bathroom … on the floor … and the sink counter.
I’m sorry. I cannot. Please, for the love of sanitation, take it to the back office desk like regular people.
🚫 The Funeral Timing
Laura’s family didn’t wait twelve days for her to return from humanitarian aid work after a tsunami so she could attend her mother’s funeral. Twelve. Days.
As someone whose family waited months for a funeral? Yeah. That struck me as absurd and unnecessarily cruel.
Her aunt Naomi? Grade-A villain energy. And yes, she’s supposed to be awful — but wow. She’s awful.
These aren’t flaws in the book so much as things that successfully made me furious for Laura. So in that sense, they worked exactly as intended.
Final Thoughts
I genuinely enjoyed this book. The pacing works, the romance feels grounded, the spice level was perfect for me (minus the … bar stuff), and it’s not a heavy or overly long read — ideal for the busy holiday season.
Find Me also handles the intersection of Hanukkah and Christmas respectfully and thoughtfully. And despite the grief woven through the story, it still manages to be warm, sexy and full of heart.
I’d definitely read more from Liz Lincoln. And I still maintain the original title, Eight Naughty Nights, slapped harder.
If you want to hear more of my thoughts on the book, you can listen to the podcast episode on your favorite podcast streaming service. Or click here for our in-house podcast player. I share my Romantic Reminder and you can also find out if I won the episode Boobie Prize. Want to read the book for yourself? You can get it here.
Have you read The Border Lord’s Bride? Let me know your thoughts on this book in the comments!
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