Publication Date: September 3, 2024
Whitney Garrett is preparing to enter culinary school in the spring, but first she has to sell enough homemade pies at the local Christmas markets to pay her tuition. When her oven breaks, Whitney asks Marie Sloan, proprietor of the Red Door Inn, if she can use the inn’s kitchen to keep up with her orders. Marie agrees, with a catch: Whitney has to watch the three Sloan children and cook breakfasts for the Red Door in return.
The inn is busy with holiday guests–including Aretha Franklin Sloan’s perpetually single nephew Daniel and Ruby, a businesswoman in town to purchase Aretha’s antiques store. Intent on making a Christmas match for the two, Aretha enlists Whitney’s help in her schemes. But the deeper Whitney gets, the more she realizes that Ruby is definitely not the right woman for Daniel–and the more she thinks that she just might be his perfect match.
Cuddle up for some warm holiday cheer as New York Times bestselling author Liz Johnson explores the unforeseen consequences of meddling with mistletoe when love is on the line.
Meddling with Mistletoe by Liz Johnson is an adorable Christmas romance novel that will make you want to open up a little inn on Prince Edward Island.
Whitney Garrett had never stuck with anything in her life. She changed her career and life path more than anyone she knew. Finally, her father said he was done bailing her out, and she was on her own. As a talented chef who was always cooking something or another, she decided her next venture would be going to culinary school and opening up her own bakery. There was only one problem: She needed money.
To save for culinary school, Whitney baked pies and pastries and sold them at different markets around the island. That’s how she ended up working at her friend’s inn. In exchange for using the inn’s oven, Whitney would watch her friend’s children and cook for the two guests staying at the inn. One of the guests was the nephew of Aretha, a grandmotherly figure to Whitney. Aretha soon enlisted Whitney’s help to assist her nephew, Daniel, and the other guest, Ruby, fall in love. As payment, Aretha would help Whitney cover the cost of culinary school.
However, despite Whitney’s best efforts, the sparks between Daniel and Ruby aren’t flying. Daniel’s interests seem to lie somewhere else. While Whitney tries to navigate the unintentional love triangle she’s found herself in, we learn more about Daniel’s romantic past, Whitney’s fear of failing, and Aretha’s desperate attempt to make her nephew happy.
Meddling with Mistletoe will make you want to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and imagine yourself sitting in a cozy inn decorated from top to bottom with sparkling Christmas lights and decorations.
This Christmas romance novel is sweet, quirky, and cozy. Although some of the actions of the characters made me roll my eyes at times, I think Johnson did a great job with her character development making it understandable why the characters were acting the way they did and making questionable decisions.
Meddling with Mistletoe is a perfect Christmas romance novel to curl up next to a sizzling fire with a cup of hot cocoa.
By day Liz Johnson works in marketing. She finds time to write late at night and is a Christy Award finalist and a two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. Liz makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona where she enjoys theater, exploring local history, and doting on her nieces and nephews. She loves stories of true love with happy endings.
