Mistletoe and Mr. Right was published by Bloomsbury Spark on November 20, 2014.
Thanks to the publisher for approving me for a copy on Netgalley.
Mistletoe and Mr Right is the second book I have read by Lyla Payne, having read and thoroughly enjoyed her self-published novel Broken At Love a couple of years ago. I was super excited to spot this book whilst browsing Netgalley and couldn’t resist requesting this gorgeous-looking, Christmassy read. That cover is a beauty and it had me interested straight away, despite knowing from the synopsis that this was going to be a love-triangle story and I’m still not a huge fan of reading about love-triangles. However, I was glad I gave this one a try because it was a sweet, enjoyable story of which even though I was sure I knew the outcome to, there was a twist towards the end that surprised me and changed the whole feel to the story. The story was predictable, there’s no hiding it, but in the same way my impressions of certain characters changed unexpectedly towards the end which made the book even cuter and I loved the epilogue, a lot. Mistletoe and Mr Right was one of those books that at first I struggled to settle into but then by the end, I was so happy I stuck with it.
Jessica, our main character, was a difficult character for me to understand. She’s built up this whole plan for her life (that, I can relate to) but whenever any tiny thing changes, she freaks out. She’s only young, so you’d assume she’d be wanting to enjoy life and take it as it comes but nope, not Jessica. Her boyfriend Brennan is spending Christmas at home in Ireland with his family so Jessica decides to surprise him by turning up there too. Which sounds awfully sweet except for the fact that really she’s there to try and convince him it’s time for them to marry and settle down – not because she’s head over heels in love with him but more because she feels it’s that time in her life. Now I’m making her out to be a bit of a bitch and she’s not, she’s genuinely quite nice really and I did want her to be happy. But more than that, I wanted her to see what true happiness was about. I didn’t want her to rush her life-plan when it didn’t really, deep-down, feel right. And what if something much more perfect was waiting around the corner?
Lyla did an excellent job at making me care for these characters over the length of a novella and there was one in particular who caught my eye – Irish farmhand Grady. Grady was what I see as your typical Irishman with his charm and banter and how wouldn’t sit back and take crap from anyone. I really warmed to his character and as he kept appearing every time Jessica needed a bit of help, or a bit of a breather, I think she quickly warmed to him too. There was a bit of chemistry there although this book has a clean story in that aspect. The introduction of another character later on threw Jessica even more and the love-triangle didn’t exactly revolve the characters I, or she, thought it would originally. For a change, I actually thought the love triangle was done well, probably the best part to this book. With all my reservations at the beginning of this book, once it hit the 50% mark, I really grew to love the story and feel the festivities and how a family Christmas meant so much to Jessica, even if this one wasn’t exactly as she imagined. Mistletoe and Mr Right was a fun, heart-warming and at times quite tender festive novella with a cute romance, interesting characters and a satisfying ending to tie things up nicely.
Jessica, our main character, was a difficult character for me to understand. She’s built up this whole plan for her life (that, I can relate to) but whenever any tiny thing changes, she freaks out. She’s only young, so you’d assume she’d be wanting to enjoy life and take it as it comes but nope, not Jessica. Her boyfriend Brennan is spending Christmas at home in Ireland with his family so Jessica decides to surprise him by turning up there too. Which sounds awfully sweet except for the fact that really she’s there to try and convince him it’s time for them to marry and settle down – not because she’s head over heels in love with him but more because she feels it’s that time in her life. Now I’m making her out to be a bit of a bitch and she’s not, she’s genuinely quite nice really and I did want her to be happy. But more than that, I wanted her to see what true happiness was about. I didn’t want her to rush her life-plan when it didn’t really, deep-down, feel right. And what if something much more perfect was waiting around the corner?
Lyla did an excellent job at making me care for these characters over the length of a novella and there was one in particular who caught my eye – Irish farmhand Grady. Grady was what I see as your typical Irishman with his charm and banter and how wouldn’t sit back and take crap from anyone. I really warmed to his character and as he kept appearing every time Jessica needed a bit of help, or a bit of a breather, I think she quickly warmed to him too. There was a bit of chemistry there although this book has a clean story in that aspect. The introduction of another character later on threw Jessica even more and the love-triangle didn’t exactly revolve the characters I, or she, thought it would originally. For a change, I actually thought the love triangle was done well, probably the best part to this book. With all my reservations at the beginning of this book, once it hit the 50% mark, I really grew to love the story and feel the festivities and how a family Christmas meant so much to Jessica, even if this one wasn’t exactly as she imagined. Mistletoe and Mr Right was a fun, heart-warming and at times quite tender festive novella with a cute romance, interesting characters and a satisfying ending to tie things up nicely.
Fairly predictable but cute, uplifting and a quick read perfect for fitting in during the festive season
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