Blame It on the Mistletoe by Nicole Michaels – a Review

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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…

Review:

Blame It on the Mistletoe by Nicole Michaels is a very sweet and charming romance that takes place close to Christmas time. This is the first book I have read by Michaels, and I enjoyed it very much. Brooke Abbott is our heroine, and she runs a small boutique in this small town of Preston, Missouri. Brooke rents her boutique called, Sweet Opal Studios, where she designs and makes her own jewelry, as other wonderful unique trinkets. She is having trouble making ends meet, especially with construction being done by her store, blocking people from noticing her. She meets some of her local store owners, who go out of their way to help spread word of mouth.

Brooke has been staying in the apartment upstairs from the store, to save money, and does not tell the landlord. One day while working, she hears noise upstairs and litteraly runs into Alex Coleman, our hero. Alex is the grandson of the woman who owns the store. He has just come back for a visit and was planning to stay in the apartment. Brooke is shaken, but Alex tells her to stay, and he will go to a hotel. They are friends from childhood, with Alex being Brooke’s brother’s best friend.

What follows is slow build relationship that has Brooke gun shy, as she came off an abusive relationship. Alex at first distances himself, having been threatened by Brooke’s brother to stay away from her. But he is determined to learn more about the now grown up and beautiful Brooke. Their romance was very well done, as I really enjoyed them together. Alex is faced with making a decision in life that will create hardship for Brooke, but make him a very rich man. What will he do, as he sees himself falling in love with Brooke? Will Brooke be able to trust that Alex is not her Ex, and allow herself to follow her heart?

Blame it on the Mistletoe was a very nice storyline, with some great secondary characters. A pure romance during the Christmas holiday, a great couple, and a happy ever after. What more could you want..

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher