***ARC Provided by the Publisher***

3.5 Stars

Sometimes a novella is the perfect length, and in this case it absolutely was.

Yes, there is instalove, and a quick resolution of the problems of the relationship...but, meh, it's Christmas and it works. I liked Clay and Alice together, I liked their chemistry and I liked that they were both willing to admit their attraction (although, as it was a novella there wasn't really time for them to do anything else) and I liked the fact that their chemistry felt real.

Overall, I enjoyed this novella and I recommend it.

This book was short and sweet but it packed a full punch of swoons. A must read for those that love Jaci’s writing

Short and fun holiday story. Alice is a city girl from LA, but when her best friend decides to get married at a winery in Oklahoma, Alice arrives a week early to make sure everything goes smoothly. She doesn't expect to get stranded by a freak snowstorm. Desperate for a project, she decides neighboring rancher and fellow strandee Clay needs her services as a matchmaker. Clay isn't really interested in her matchmaking efforts, but if it gives him a chance to spend more time with her, he'll take it.

The sparks flew between Alice and Clay from the minute they met. Alice tries to resist - Clay is all wrong for her. She's LA, he's Oklahoma, and she'll only be there for a week. She knows long-distance relationships don't work. Then there are their opposite opinions on love. Alice believes that a successful match depends on shared interests and that chemistry doesn't last. Clay is of the firm belief that if there's no chemistry, there's no chance of anything else developing. I liked his chemistry challenge to her (which he won, of course) and how he uses it to spend more time with her. It doesn't take long for the sparks to burst into flame, and the heat between them is pretty intense. But it's more than just physical, and I enjoyed the time they spent together outside of the bedroom. The decorating scene was sweet, and I loved how easy it was for them to talk to each other.

The short fling turns into something deeper pretty quickly, and Clay can easily picture Alice in his life. The same pictures show up in Alice's head, but she has a bit of tunnel vision over her life in LA, so she continues to insist that anything further is impossible. I wanted to shake her when she walked away and felt that she earned every bit of her unhappiness. Clay was pretty miserable, too, until a kick in the pants talk from his friends made him see that he gave up too quickly. I loved Clay's big moment at the end, though his solution wasn't much of a surprise.

This was a nice setup for the new series. I look forward to reading more.

Snowed in, in Oklahoma is my new favorite trope! So is over-analyzing a potential match, when it's so obvious the match is with you. Burton serves up a delightful preview into her new series, filled with a delightful family dynamic and plenty of rugged cowboy cheer

2.5 stars

This was a cute holiday romance novella, and I liked the atmosphere of it, but unfortunately, this was just way too insta lovey. This book would have been better as a full length novel and it would have been a lot more believable. The ending was just way too convenient and ridiculous.

Professional matchmaker Alice Weatherford has a great track record of bringing couples together. She believes in compatibility over chemistry but she's about to find out differently. She's helping her best friend with her wedding preparations and gets stranded in a storm in Oklahoma. She's definitely a fish out of water in ranching country but when she meets the Clay, the neighboring rancher, she finds out just what it means to have chemistry with someone.

Clay is an attractive, sensitive rancher who happens to be looking for something more in his life. He agrees to let Alice find a match for him, but really just wants to spend time with her. These two really hit it off together and things just really take off from there.

I liked this story. It's a short one, but the interaction between Clay and Alice is very satisfying. It's a cute holiday story if you are looking for a quick romance read.

An ARC was provided for review.

The Matchermaker’s Mistletoe Mission is a short novella that kicks off a new series from Jaci Burton. And do not let the cover fool you, this book is steamy! Alice Weatherford is a matchmaker caught in Oklahoma during a snowstorm and while there meets rancher Clay Henry. She sets out to find Clay the perfect match and finds her own perfect match in the process. I thought both of these characters were interesting and I enjoyed how they met one another. Clay is definitely the perfect cowboy hero! The only thing I wish was the was more time to get to know these characters. I appreciate a little bit of a slower build in my romance novels. Enjoyable quick read and it has me excited for The Best Man Plan, coming out in May 2020.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is a really fun novella – it gives us both a lovely romance and, as the first in a new series, builds an enticing world for future installments. I cannot wait for the next one, especially now that I have read the blurb (don't do it until you have read this one, it will make it more fun when you do!).

I loved the setting in a rural vineyard, especially when it then snows. The family who runs the place are delightful and make Alice very welcome when she is forced to stay due to the weather. Fortunately, she is not the only one taking refuge... enter the very presentable Clay, from the next ranch over. Oh, we know pretty quickly that these two are destined to be together, but matchmaker Alice has others in mind for him – after all, she is all about LA.

The dance they do is highly enjoyable, and I recommend this latest book from the highly talented Jaci Burton.

Am I knee deep in Christmas reads? Yes, yes I am...thank you very much.
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This cover was extra, special cute...I was hoping the story lived up to the cover. It did. 🥰
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If I’m not badly mistaken this is the first in a series and I’m here for it. The characters were delightful. The steam was at a moderate level...but the chemistry...all time high.
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I love a good snowstorm bringing Alice and Clay together. You have to suspend your reality a smidge as things move fairly quickly. But as a person who met and married her husband within six months 🤷🏻‍♀️....this story was not too terribly out of my wheelhouse 😂.
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Grab you a hot chocolate and settle in for a few hours with this story ♥️.

This is the time of the year when I start reading Christmas stories and this was the perfect starting choice to my marathon! First book by this author, but really enjoyed it and made me want to check out her other works!

I have a confession to make. There's something about Jaci Burton's writing that just doesn't connect for me. I can objectively see that she's a good writer, but for some reason I always leave her books feeling cold. And yet, I continue to read them. For this one, it's the adorable cover that got me. I mean, look at it, it's so cute!

Alice Weatherford is a city girl through and through. And she is unamused by the Oklahoma snowstorm that leaves her stranded on the Bellini ranch over the holidays. Clay Henry, the Bellini's neighbor and lifelong friend, is stranded briefly as well, though he's able to leave sooner than Alice and get back to his own ranch.

Clay is instantly smitten by Alice, wanting to learn more about her as soon as he meets her. Alice is equally intrigued by Clay, but she has a much more pragmatic approach to relationships. She's the titular matchmaker, and she believes completely in the algorithm she has created to pair people up. In her mind, chemistry only takes you so far. Having a set of measurable parameters is the better way to choose a mate, and chemistry can come later. Her 96% success rate would seem to prove her right.

There's no denying the chemistry that Alice and Clay are feeling, though, and Alice manages to convince Clay to let her put together a profile on her site for him. She's determined to find his perfect match using her methods to do so. Just wanting to spend more time with Alice, Clay agrees to let her plan.

The more time they spend together, the more Alice begins to realize that Clay might be on to something. She can't deny their chemistry, but since she doesn't think it means anything in the long run, she's willing to explore it while she works on finding the Clay the perfect woman based on her algorithm.

This was a cute story. I thought the instalove was a little much, but that's generally one of my least favorite tropes. Clay's solution to their logistical issues also seemed to come out of nowhere, and Alice seemed to jump on board with it pretty quickly, considering how insistent she was that she needed to be in L.A. in order to run her business, but those are minor quibbles.

Overall, this is a quick, fun, holiday read. The snowstorm, forced proximity is always a fun setup for a novella, and Jaci Burton does a good job with it here.

I thought that this book had a chance, but I could not get over how judgement and privileged the main character sounded in the first chapter. She was acting like going to Oklahoma was venturing to an improvised country. This was a DNF for me. Cute cover though.

I was unable to read and review the book by the publishing date due to other commitments. I will update the review immediately upon completion of the book. Thank you NetGalley and publisher.

I DNF'd after the first few chapters because it just wasn't catching my attention. There was nothing outright WRONG with the book, besides throwing WAY too many characters at the reader right in the first chapter. Seems like the point of this book is really to set up book 1 in the series (this is book 0.5) and it didn't really have its own legs to stand on. I'm still planning to check out book 1 in the series when it comes out.

This is perfect for this time of year.It's short,sexy and a fun holiday read!Alice is a Los Angeles based professional matchmaker and Clay is a cowboy.It is a great start to a new romance series by Jaci Burton.The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission was a lighthearted romance about two people who live different lives and find love to each other to a very short time!I can't wait to see more in this world

A professional matchmaker leaves LA behind for a wedding in Oklahoma only to get snowed in with a hot rancher? Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas.

If you're looking for a Hallmark Christmas movie in perfect Christmas novella form, you need to grab The Matchmaker's Mistletoe Mission.

Burton writes such amazing heroes and Clay is no exception. He is a born and bred rancher that lives a simple life. Alice is a matchmaker from LA and is completely out of her element when she travels to Oklahoma for her best friend’s wedding. When they meet, their chemistry is combustible. In her profession, Alice doesn’t feel that chemistry is a basis for a strong relationship. Clay is the opposite and says that it is very important when looking for love. Convinced she can find him the perfect match, Alice offers her services. Knowing that the only person he is currently interested in is her, Clay plays along. I love this couple and the holiday background just makes the story that much better. The characters that were introduced were awesome and it was a great setup to the series going forward. I cannot wait to read more!

(3.5 stars)

This book was really cute but the timing was off. I knew it was a novella going into it but the whole thing still felt really rushed. I wish it had been a bit longer so that we could've seen more of our MCs apart before they became a thing.

Regardless, the setting was refreshing and adorable. All of the background characters really helped our MCs grow and brought a lot to the narrative. It seems we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the coming series.

Overall, it was a sweet and cute holiday romance. It just seemed like the story was on 1.5x speed and I couldn't quite catch my breath.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Intermix through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission was a cute, fun, easy, entertaining, holiday based novella that carries all the charm of Jaci Burton’s full length novels.

Alice gets stranded by a snow storm at her best friend’s Oklahoma vineyard wedding venue. This is where Alice meets and is instantly attracted to the neighboring rancher Clay.

Clay realizes that Alice is the one for him but he is going to have a tough time convincing Alice.

The story is fun, flirty and with characters that you’d love to call your friends. The story is heart felt with just the right amount of heat to burn off some of that pesky snow.

I received this ARC copy of The Matchmaker's Mistletoe Mission from Berkley Publishing Group - InterMix. This is my honest and voluntary review.

It’s not terrible; I just wasn’t feeling it. I really like Christmas novellas but unfortunately I wasn’t able to overcome my ambivalence toward contemporary ranch/small-town settings. A little bit cliche, but it’s me and not the book. If you’re a fan of Jaci Burton, you’ll probably like this. DNF at 21%.