Under The Mistletoe Collection

Book Review Dec 06, 2024

My reviews

Amazon did one of these collections for Valentine's Day earlier in the year, which I really enjoyed reading, so I was very excited to see they had done a Christmas one as well. Each book is under 100 pages and has been designed to be enjoyed in one sitting.

Below is a mini review for each of the stories:

Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood

5 stars

Jamie trudges through a storm to borrow a roasting pan from neighbour and brother's best friend, Marc. When she gets stranded by the weather, they are forced to face the realities of their relationship and their past.

I loved the chemistry between the two leads in this book, it genuinely felt as if they had known each other for a lifetime - no easy feat when you are cramming their story into less than 100 pages; the flashbacks that were littered through the story were a very clever tool to help with this feeling of masses of time passing in very few pages. I was also impressed by how complete and well-paced the story felt given how short it was. I read this in under an hour and I could very easily read a full-length version of this - it was a very good example of the brother's best friend trope.

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey

4 stars

Evie is working in the local thrift shop and takes it upon herself to make one of the locals a pair of custom jeans. They end up having to navigate figuring out their relationship with the added complication of Evie's newborn.

I LOVED Evie as a character - she was vulnerable and sassy in just the right mix. The concept behind this story was so fun, and I love stories with this vibe, but I don't feel like a short story was the right format in this instance. There weren't enough pages available to make the execution feel believable. I would love to see a longer version of this where Evie and Luke have more time to fall in love naturally and at a realistic pace. The epilogue did help counteract some of that rushed feeling, but it took the sheen off slightly for me and dropped me from 5 to 4 stars.

All By My Elf by Olivia Dade

1 star

Colleagues Nina and William are trying to earn some extra money over Christmas, but end up getting stranded in the back of a van during a blizzard. They use a game of Never Have I Ever to explore what they really mean to each other.

Sadly, I really struggled to connect with this story on any level. The characters didn't appear to have any chemistry to speak of, the story took a while to make sense (which is particularly challenging when you only have 55 pages to play with) and the relationship isn't one that I felt any investment in. The only aspect I got some slight enjoyment out of was the third colleague who appeared at the start and end of the story - she was funny.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur

2 stars

Everleigh keeps ending up in situations that require the assistance of a firefighter, and that firefighter always seems to be Griffin. Their paths keep crossing and Everleigh keeps fighting the pull to get involved in something casual that she doesn't have time for right now.

This book was fun, but ultimately it required me to suspend my disbelief just a little too much for my liking. It started with the very over the top character name of Everleigh Dangerfield, continued through the sheer number of times that one person ended up needing the fire service in the space of a couple of weeks, and ended with the extremely rushed and over the top conclusion.

Only Santas In The Building by Alexis Daria

3 stars

Another Evie in this series, this one is working hard and hasn't had time to decorate her apartment for the season. Suddenly, tree decorations start appearing at her door and she has to figure out which of her neighbours is making them - the annual Only Santas in the Building party will help.

The party idea did a really good job of firmly placing me in a festive mood while reading this. It allowed a lot of plot to be crammed into a short number of pages, because it gave opportunity for relationship building between the two leads, world building with glimpses at the neighbours and mood setting. I felt a natural chemistry building and enjoyed the balance between sweetness and spice in the romantic elements of the story.

Book blurb

Spice up the holidays with five short stories.

Curl up by the fire with some of today's hottest authors as they serve enough holiday sweetness and sizzling spice to melt the frostiest heart. As the temperature drops, friends and neighbors might need to turn up the heat, and even old enemies might just get a second chance. Get ready to tingle all the way...