Kissing Under The Mistletoe | Bella Andre | Book Review

A few of my blogging romance-loving buddies are HUGE fans of Bella Andre and her Sullivans series. As someone with zero experience with this author, Kissing Under The Mistletoe seemed like a pretty logical entry point as I have a fondness for Christmas romances. Usually the holiday romances are shorter than other books in the series, meaning there is no huge time investment on my end. It turns out that Kissing Under The Mistletoe was a great life choice for me, for once. I really enjoyed Andre’s story of deep attraction and mutual love set amid the backdrop of my favorite holiday ever.

Kissing Under The Mistletoe by Bella Andre | Good Books And Good Wine

Kissing Under The Mistletoe by Bella Andre opens with an older Mary Sullivan trimming the tree and reminiscing about each ornament made by her children. This actually provides a pretty nice overview of just who the Sullivans are. As a new reader to the series, I find this introduction incredibly helpful and not at all annoying. So anyways, as Mary trims the tree she begins to remember the past and how she and her husband Jack met and fell in love. As readers, we are then transported to Mary’s memories and learn their circumstances in life. Jack is an engineer who has invented a palm pilot product called the Pocket Planner that he is hoping to get off the ground. However, his product just does not have enough sex appeal. Mary is a model who is 33 and about to do her last shoot. She’s Italian and estranged from her mother. Anyways, her shoot is in San whatever in California — sorry guys I am too lazy to go flip open my Kindle. Anyways, Jack sees Mary and it is like love at first sight. He asks her to be the spokesmodel and together the two form an attachment and also both become pretty darn invested in launching the Pocket Planner. OBVIOUSLY YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN, but of course the journey is a nice one.

On the whole, both main characters of Kissing Under The Mistletoe are pleasant people. There is no clear bad guy. There is no cheating. There are not even any really major fights. On the whole, I would say that Andre’s book is pretty drama free, or at least missing some unnecessary drama. Y’all, I actually liked that. I liked that I could read the book and feel like I was resting. Maybe I am getting old, but I feel like not every thing I read needs to have an over the top storyline. Granted, there were some things in this book that were over the top, like the romance. The two, Jack and Mary fall too fast and too hard. Like, at a breakneck speed. It’s crazy. I mean, the book takes place over what feels like a month and by the end of it they are married, that’s nuts to me. Then again, I guess when you know, you just know? Either way, there are sexytimes and a distinct lack of villains. It’s a nice change of pace.

On A Scale Of One To Clark Griswold, How Much Christmas Spirit Does This Book Have?

Hmmm, I would place Kissing Under The Mistletoe right in the middle of this Christmas scale. Like, it’s set in California in San Francisco or San Diego and eh, when I think Christmas I am thinking small towns or New York City because that’s how I roll. The main characters are working on developing a Christmas launch. There’s family. But, no appearances by Santa or three ghosts or you know anything remotely Christmas themed. HOWEVER, there is a tree trimming, so I guess that counts. In all, this is more of a warm up book that you pick up right before you get into something that is Clark Griswold Christmas crazy.

Disclosure: Review Copy Provided By Publisher via Netgalley

Other reviews of Kissing Under The Mistletoe by Bella Andre:

Under The Covers Book Blog – “just like a hot cocoa in the winter
Rather Be Reading – “wraps the miracle of the season into a fairy tale of sorts
Paulette’s Papers – “a lovely tale of how this interesting family started

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April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Comments

  1. Hi! Definitely felt similar on this one… their romance did escalate super fast! And all the pie was kind of holiday-y. I’m super fixated on their pie date. 🙂

  2. Okay, so all your reviews are making me want to read Christmas books all the time. I already read Snowbound with the CEO and now I want to read all the Shannon Stacey books.

    And I’m definitely adding Kissing Under the Mistletoe to my To-Read list. Sometimes I love books without a lot of drama. I mean, sometimes i crave the drama, but something I want to read something calming. And happy.

    And even though meeting, falling in love, and getting married within a month seems insane, at my age, it also seems awesome! I feel like I don’t have a lot of time to waste. 🙂

  3. I just love the sound of this story! It seems very charming, and I particularly like that there’s a part where they reminisce about the ornaments and all these other characters. Plus, the love story seems pretty sweet too.

  4. I’ve been wanting to read the Sullivans series because I’m an occasional romance reader and have heard lots of good things. Glad this one was good! I’m also a sucker for Christmas romances.