Title:  Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses
Series:
Author:  Jenny Hale
Genre:  Contemporary Romance, Christmas Romance
Published:  October 18, 2015
Publisher:  Bookouture
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

An uplifting, beautiful story about never letting go of your dreams, the special magic of a family Christmas… and the rush of falling in love under the mistletoe.

Single mother Abbey Fuller loves her family more than anything, and doesn’t regret for a moment having had to put her dreams of being an interior designer on hold. But with her son, Max, growing up, when a friend recommends her for a small design job she jumps at the chance. How hard can it be?

Nick Sinclair needs his house decorated in time for his family’s festive visit – and money is no object. What he doesn’t need is to be distracted from his multi-million dollar business – even if it is Christmas.

When Abbey pulls up to the huge Sinclair mansion, she has a feeling she might be out of her depth. And when she meets the gorgeous, brooding Nicholas Sinclair, she knows that she’s in real trouble…

With the snow falling all around, can Abbey take the chance to make her dreams of being a designer come true? And can she help Nick to finally enjoy the magic of Christmas?

Read on for my thoughts on Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses.  No true spoilers, promise.

If I had to pick among all of the amazing Christmas stories that are being offered to us this season – I would have to put Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses on the very top of my own Christmas List as a gift I would (and will) give to friends and family without hesitation.

How can you not fall in love with a man like Nick?  He is a much nicer version of Scrooge, yet his heart has been closed off to emotions and all of this Christmassy stuff.  He is a very wealthy man with a drive that is, at times, almost unreasonable for himself and his family.  There are demons that drive him and he cannot let loose of the reins of his company or his life for anything.  He is far from a cold man, but he is a man who has been formed by his own ideals of what success means and where friends and family fall within that outline of his life.  That he might be wrong or that there may be another way to accomplish his drives and live a full life as well is beyond his comprehension – until he meets Abbey.

Abbey is taking a chance.  A huge chance on herself.  For years her life has revolved around her adorable son, Max.  Yet now Max is old enough that while he still needs her, he also can begin to understand her need to make life better for them both by reaching out and grabbing for her dreams.  She has a talent for interior decorating and it is her dream to take that ability to see something and create a wonderful living space out of practically nothing and begin her own business.  Right now she is applying for the huge job of decorating Nick’s mansion for the Christmas season as his family will be arriving soon and Nick has no interest in doing anything but tend to his own businesses.  He has given her general instructions, a blank check and a black credit card and instructed to create a home out of his cold mansion, one that his family would enjoy spending the Christmas holidays in – even if he doesn’t care one way or the other about how his home appears to others.  This is another item on his checklist to be ticked off, nothing more nor less.

Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses is a story that sneaks up on you.  It is the natural movement of two people toward each other with bumps and dips along the way.  We have the joy and the privilege to watch Abbey and Max bring Nick into the human race, slowly, cautiously even – but he is changing and not always happy about that either.  We also get to enjoy watching a woman begin to fall in love with an impossible man.  And while she will not purposefully change him, she will by her actions and honest emotions show him what could be if only he would take the risks.  We also get to observe as a precious child works the kind of magic that only children can on a man who he is beginning to love as that “I wish you were my daddy” kind of emotion.  Nick won’t alway understand what is happening to him or his emotions, but he also isn’t totally closing off all of the possibilities.  He is at times totally clueless in an endearing and frustrating male way.

I absolutely loved this story.  It is one that I will be re-reading for all the Christmases to come as I see Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses as what a holiday romance should be – charming, realistic and yet full of wonder and magic.  I highly recommend this story for your Christmas reading list.  I know it’s early in the Christmas novel season, yet I would have to put this out there as my favorite novel of this season, so far.  And I don’t make that declaration lightly as Christmas stories are an addiction of mine.  But I do love this story.

*I received an e-ARC of Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Available in paperback and for the Kindle