Review ~ Blame It on the Mistletoe by Nicole Michaels

eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: October 14th 2014

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Description:
Sometimes all it takes is a leap of faith…

’Tis the season for small-town Missouri boutique owner Brooke Abbott to get crafty. Much as she adores making art for art’s sake—decorating windows, designing ornaments, crafting the perfect present for under the tree—this Christmas she needs the gift of good customers. Lots of them. Sweet Opal Studios will go under if she can’t do some serious business before the New Year…and she has no time to lose. What Brooke needs is an honest-to-goodness miracle. Instead, she finds a burglar lurking in the back room of her shop. And here she thought the holidays couldn’t get any worse!

For Christmas to work its own magic…

Or maybe things just got a lot better. Turns out the burglar is none other than Alex Coleman—local bad boy slash legendary heartthrob, childhood best friend to Brooke’s older brother, and…future landlord? That is the question. He’s come home for the holidays to see his grandmother, make peace with his distant mother, and settle his grandfather’s estate, an estate that includes the building that houses Sweet Opal. What he never expected was to bump into a grown-up Brooke, whose spirit, charm, and irresistible good looks give him pause. Should he go back to Oregon as planned, or give small-town life a chance? The only thing Alex knows for sure is that before he walks out that door, he’s going to get Brooke beneath the mistletoe, where anything can happen…

My Opinion

I've downloaded a lot of Christmas reads recently, but have been putting off reading them until at least November as I hate to think about the holiday season before. However, I needed a short, easy romance to brighten my day and this seemed like the perfect one.

Blame it on the Mistletoe was a lighthearted, fluffy read. It has a cute romance and that Christmassy feeling that leaves you with a smile on your face. I liked the characters; Alex was surprisingly sensitive for the reformed-bad-boy, and I liked how he didn't give up. Of course, it was predictable that his secrets were going to come out at some point and I didn't really like how that came about, but I'm glad there was a small amount of tension in the relationship. Similarly, I thought Brooke was a strong character in her own way. She was determined to succeed and make a better life for herself. 

I did feel as I was reading that the author could have done more with both characters' back stories. She set up this intriguing premise that Alex was ex-military and had a hard life  when a child, and that Brooke was in a abusive relationship, however I never felt they were fully developed. There was so much more that could have been done with it and I think it would have made me like and connect with the characters more. I also wanted a bit more of a spark between the characters. Things got better as they progressed, but it still felt a little tame like the characters weren't fully committing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's a cute, festive read that has a sweet romance.