4.5 “Mistletoe for the win” Stars

I’m going to be real here, I usually avoid the friends-to-lovers trope like the plague exactly because of this:

“She couldn’t stand the idea of losing Gavin as a friend. Almost as much as she couldn’t stand the idea of going their whole lives without testing how good they could truly be together.”

OMG, the back-and-forthing generally involved drives me absolutely bonkers… But. There are a few authors I trust enough to brave it, and Ms. Madsen totally made it worth my while with The Mistletoe Trap.

Julie and Gavin have been friends practically since the day they were born. With their parents being best friends and their moms determined to become actual family, they spent their entire childhood joined at the hip. Unfortunately, and to their entire family’s vexation, they had never felt for one another anything more than the purest form of platonic love.

Despite living in different states, with completely different jobs and schedules, Gavin the pro football player and Julie the anatomic pathologist, had remained the best of friends through phone calls, video calls and the sporadic visit. Now home for the holidays and finally able to spend a few days together, with a little not-so-subtle meddling from their parents, siblings and grandparents (as well as some town people) things are starting to change. But will they chance messing up their relationship to find out if they could actually become more?

Now let me tell you, while there’s not a lot of sexy shenanigans happening in this book, the intensity of the sexual tension is more than enough to keep you fanning yourself. These two had such great chemistry that they had me rooting for them from the very start and I almost didn’t mind their angsty should-I-kiss-you-or-not thing.

I loved them both, they made the most adorkable couple both as friends and then as a romantic duo (spoiler alert, they end up together). They perfectly complemented one another and they had me smiling and laughing at their shenanigans.

The Mistletoe Trap was a feel-good, steamy and funny holiday romance perfect to get you into the mood for the season. I absolutely LOVED IT and can’t wait to see if we get another story from the San Antonio Mustangs!

Let me just start by saying that I am a pretty big Cindi Madsen fan. Throw in a holiday romance with a friends to lovers trope and I'm pretty much all in.

Julie and Gavin were good best friends in that they didn't shy away from talking about their love lives and they were pretty much all up in each other's business which really sold the narrative that they were lifelong besties. Maybe a little too much like besties?

I could see they were attracted to one another, that was pretty clear early on in the story but it was hard for me to see/believe them as anything more. The anticipation of the story certainly was there what with the fling and all the other people involved, but it took so long for the friends to make that transition that it started to feel...childish.

I loved them both and I thought The Mistletoe Trap was a fun story with some super cute elements, but I felt Gavin and Julie were very immature for their ages and careers. That part did make it easier to believe that it took them so long to get together, but it kind of annoyed me. I was very satisfied with the ending of this story, as always.

This is the kind of romance you want to read because you laugh, you cry a little and you get annoyed at the characters when they don't behave the way you want them to!

3.5 stars

I love Cindi Madsen, holiday romance, sports heroes and friends to lovers romances. This book should be the perfect storm for me, and I liked it a lot, but a few things bugged me enough to make me set the book down a time or two.
First off, I love Gavin and Julie but she has some serious lack of self esteem. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or just a new theme in romance, these women, like Julie, need to ignore their jerk face exes and own their wonderful selves! While I saw tons of friendship chemistry between these two, the insta-spark wasn’t very strong for me. Maybe it was because of their so-over-the-top moms and their constant pushiness. Honestly, it got annoying pretty quickly...like Hallmark movie annoying. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll love this book!
The dialogue and humor is awesome and they seem like people I’d want to hang out and be friends with. But something was missing for me to take this story and put it in my love column. Still a good read from a favorite author.

Thank you so much to Entangled Amara and Netgalley for letting me read the Mistletoe Trap early! Since the holiday season is almost upon us, it’s time to really get into everything Christmas- that means more Christmas themed books, Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, and it’s almost time to put up the Christmas tree/other decorations! We may not really be doing anything for Christmas this year, but I’m 100% going to be taking all the pictures!

The Mistletoe Trap 5/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

From the moment Julie sees her best friend, Gavin, in the airport, it’s like no time at all has gone by instead of months and months. No matter how long they’ve been apart, their relationship has always been steady, comfortable, and decidedly just friends. Even though their meddling parents have hung what seems like unlimited amounts of mistletoe everywhere she goes this holiday season, Julie knows some things will never change.

Gavin is well-aware his family’s wanted him and Julie to get together since forever, even though he’s been friend-zoned since they could talk—and he’s been happy to play that role. After all, as the new starting quarterback for the San Antonio Mustangs, he’s got enough on his plate without adding romance to the mix.

But between playing elves in the holiday bazaar to nights spent one-on-one watching rom-coms or soaking in their town’s hot springs, suddenly the “reverse parent trap” they’ve fallen into is actually starting to work. But this could be one scheme where letting themselves get trapped might be way too dangerous.

Oooo this was one of my favorite tropes- friends to lovers. I thought Gavin and Julie were so freaking adorable and it was so cute the lengths that their families would go to in order to throw the two of them together. The fact that Gavin and his friends on the team would talk to Julie whenever she would call was the most adorable thing- I loved so so much about this book! It was the perfect, quick, adorable read! Was Gavin an idiot in parts? Of course! Was Julie oblivious in other parts? Definitely! Were there some great cringey parts that made me need to pause reading for a little bit? For sure. I loved all of the gross pathology facts that were spouted out randomly. The characters were all great and the plot was fun and didn’t ever drag. All in all, this was a great holiday romance and I highly recommend it!

I'm going to be honest and say the cover lured me in from the start with this one. It is super cute and festive and I was just hooked before I even read the blurb. Then I find out it's friends-to-lovers with a sweet lil parent trap situation? Absolutely sign me up.

This book was cute, it was fun, and it was full of some holiday cheer, but at the same time I struggled with it. I loved Gavin and I loved Jules, but for some reason their relationship never felt like more than friendship. The potential was there, and there definitely could have been a solid romantic relationship between the two, but the way it came about wasn't that great? Or that believable? If anything this book was more about meddlesome families and the H/h talking about other relationships than anything else. It took so long for their relationship to really transition to lovers from friends that by the time we got there, the book was basically over. And I was sad.

In fact, and I hate to admit this, but I think I skimmed some parts? I don't know I just wasn't vibing with what I was reading. The book was well written, the dialogue and characters were hilarious, and I really did love the idea of it, but the execution just fell a bit flat for me. I simply wish there had been more romance. (The groveling situation did bring a tear to my eye, though, so A+ work there. It was so sweet I just started crying).

Overall: it was cute, it was fun, I liked the characters, I just wish the chemistry and romance had been stronger. Definitely got me into the holiday spirit, though!

**Many thanks to Entangled and Netgalley for the review copy!**

I absolutely loved everything about The Mistletoe Trap by Cindi Madsen. Julie is smart and career focused while being a bit socially awkward. She is Gavin’s biggest cheerleader in anything that he does. Gavin is sweet, protective and driven and he accepts Julie for who she is. Their friendship is beautiful so to see it transform to something else was really fun. Their families are so vibrant and interesting. I would read a book that’s just about them! The Christmas setting always adds something special to any romance and this is no exception.

This book had so many factors that made it great. I enjoy a friends to lovers trope and this was done in a really believable and organic way. The reader needs to feel like these characters belong together but it also needs to make sense what’s stopping them from being a couple. This book addressed that really well. I haven’t read many professional sports romances but that element was really fun and added a whole cast of characters from the team. I see that this is book 2 so I’m definitely going back to read the first one and I will gladly read any other books in this series!

Thank you to Entangled Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is so amazingly good. Julie and Gavin have been best friends since before they can remember – and their parents have been planning their future together for just as long. Their beautiful, interwoven and interconnected families are such an amazingly warm (and hilariously funny) part of this book. The shenanigans they get up to trying to throw our two leading characters together are the stuff of the best holiday rom-coms and this really needs to be a movie!

I love how delightfully nerdy Julie is, and how Gavin just rolls with it because it’s such an integral part of who she is. Their chemistry together as friends is really warm and cute, and their building awareness of each other as sparks start to fly is absolute FIRE. They’re not just friends to lovers, they’re BEST friends, and they’ve had a hard time finding time to connect this past year just as friends – can they make a relationship work? Do they want to risk their friendship?

Read this book if you love:
* (Best) Friends-to-lovers
* Meddling families (with the best intentions)
* Holiday hijinks (elf costumes! mistletoe!)
* Forced proximity (if their families had been able to finagle it there TOTALLY would have been only one bed, but alas)
* Oh yeah, and sportsball (but it’s really not a huge part of it, tbh, which is fine with me!)

This is the second book in the Heart in the Game series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. The characters from the first book, The Wedding Deal, do play a role as minor side characters in this book and there may be some spoilers for book 1. Tricky, because I liked them so much that now I’m going to go back and read The Wedding Deal, haha!

The Mistletoe Trap is a “friends to lovers” story by Cindi Madsen. This is one of my favorite kind of stories with the bonus of it taking place during the Christmas Season. I must say I was surprised to see that Gavin is an NFL player. He is likable and rather down-to-earth type of personality. Julie is a pathologist who is extremely intelligent, leaning towards the quirky side of life but so bubbly. All together she is easy to love.

Easy to read flowing writing keeps this story moving right along. Family meddling by both sides gives supporting characters who are so much fun. Having known each other their entire lives made this such an enjoyable story. So much history and solid friendship involved. Not your usually sports romance but oh so much better.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is really funny, sexy and easy to read.
Julie and Gavin have been best friends since they born, and they are really happy living in the friend zone. Now they are both going home for Christmas.
From the moment they see each other in the airport, it’s like no time at all has gone by instead of months and months. No matter how long they’ve been apart, their relationship has always been steady, comfortable, and decidedly just friends. Even though they are well-aware their families have wanted them to get together since forever.
But between playing elves in the holiday bazaar to nights spent one-on-one watching rom-coms or soaking in their town’s hot springs, suddenly the “reverse parent trap” they’ve fallen into is actually starting to work. They are strongly attracted to each other, and they find asking themselves for the first time what it would be like to be together.
What I like most about this book is the honest way in which they talk to each other. You absolutely believe that they are best friends and they are fighting these new feelings for the first time. There is a lot they need to work out, and their families are quite crazy doing lots of things to through them together.
If I like Christmas romance stories, best friends to lovers theme and sports, you would absolutely love this book.

Julie O'Neill and Gavin Frost have been best friends since they were in diapers. Of course both sets of parents wish their friendship was more and every time the whole group is together they try to make Julie and Gavin see what is right in front of their noses.....they belong together. This year's Christmas week together their parents are in high gear with their reverse parent trap plan.

As Julie and Gavin spend more time together, they both start to see the other in a different light. They both want to give in to their sudden desires but with each of them living in different states, both loving their jobs as a pathologist and an NFL quarterback for the San Antonio Mustangs, they are at a standstill. When the desire becomes too strong, they make the decision to jump and just see what happens. Of course things never go the way one would expect and everything will fall apart. It will take a great big effort to get Julie and Gavin back together and it is done in a wonderful way to give these two their happy ending.

I really enjoyed this Christmas story. Julie was so fun and quirky! I loved all of her little facts that she would just spurt out! I really loved the relationship that her and Gavin had together. They both just got each other. I really enjoyed the parents and Gavin's sister. They were all a hoot! Overall, this was a fun, enjoyable story that I would recommend.

Adorable friends to lovers romance. For as long as they can remember, Gavin and Julie have been best friends and the subject of their parents' matchmaking. But despite their interference, Gavin and Julie have firmly remained friends. So when Gavin, who is a rookie NFL quarterback, injures his shoulder, he is able to head home to Crystal Springs for a whole week at Christmas, and having Julie there makes it even better. But something is different this time and both Gavin and Julie find themselves having not so platonic thoughts about each other. Eventually, they succumb to their mutual desire and Julie starts to think about how they will maintain a long distance relationship, but Gavin has other ideas and a relationship doesn't figure into them. This is a happy, witty, friends to lovers romance from Cindi Madsen, that I would absolutely recommend.

A fun holiday read! I always love the humor and zany characters Cindi incorporates in each of her stories.

A wonderful story to read in the Holidays or really just any day, "The Mistletoe Trap" is funny, light, sweet, romantic, a complete feel good story that'll leave you with a smile at the end.

We have a friends to lovers romance; Gavin and Julie who have known each other for forever; their families have always wanted for them to be together even though nothing has ever happened, but this time they're both single, this time things are changing and yes, there's some meddling too, which provides for some of the funny moments in the book.

As for the main characters, I think they were well written and they're both very likable, though I can deny my favorite was Gavin, he's quite dreamy. It was great reading how their relationships starts to change from friendship to something more; it's a bit of a slow burn but Cindi's writing is light and flows easy, you never feel bored and there's a nice balance of fun and romance to keep you hooked.
Highly recommendable.

Back to what she does best...,

Cindi Madsen is writing about besties, sports and friends finding their way to perhaps more.
Gavin plays pro football and his best friend is Julie. Julie is smart, a lives a few states over and both Julie and Gavin have never been single at the same time. They grew up together as children and can talk sports and life.
But no sparks.

Gavin went through s bad break up and Julie picks losers.
I really felt like this is where Cindi Madsen is the strongest. Best friends, turned more.
The friendship, the families, yeah. She gets it.
What I really liked was that Gavin wasn't a player. He's emotionally evolved.
Recommend.

Favorite Quotes:

Julie’s dance moves were white-girl-wasted, even sober…

In life, there are certain questions that should never be asked. How bad can it be was one of them.

No idea why he hadn’t noticed it before, but their mothers were nearing evil genius range.

She raised her shoulder and batted her eyes at him, hoping her attempt at coquettish didn’t look more like she was having a seizure.

Wow, her guilt trips are intense… Seems like they should require a passport for how far she sends you.


My Review:

My first holiday-themed book of the season and it was a light and fluffy friends to lovers romance featuring a socially awkward female brainiac pathologist and a handsome NFL quarterback. It was a quick and easy to follow read with amusing levity, wit, and a bit of steam and sizzle after a lot of dancing around and parental meddling. The characters were likable and endearingly quirky with a cute and long history as best friends since childhood. It was an enjoyable read and a pleasant way to while away an afternoon.

This was such a fun book to read! Julie O'Neill is smart, funny and a pathologist. At odd moments she will spill data about unusual body parts. Gavin Frost is an NFL quarterback and they are best friends. They grew up together and as they got older the parents and grandparents started scheming to make them more than friends. The antics will have you laughing. This Christmas is turning out to be different. For some reason there are sparks flying. Crossing the line from friends to lovers is not something they want to risk. No risk, no reward. It is going to take the Mustang family to step in to help them to their HEA.

This book is definitely perfect to get you into the holiday spirit. Julie and Gavin have been best friends since diapers. Their parents have had them betrothed since before they were born, but they have never been more then best friends. He’s now a top quarterback in the nfl and she just got a job promotion. They live states apart and they don’t have time for a relationship, but for the first time they are seeing themselves as more then just best friends.
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They might actually be falling into their parents trap once and for all and take the risk that comes with falling in love. These best friends decide if they can be more then friends mixed in with everything you love about Christmas. I loved this book. This book is straight up funny and I truly loved their relationship. You totally rooted for them and it’s enjoyable to read about characters that you just love.
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Huge thank you to #NetGalley for an Arc in exchange for an honest review.
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This books is available on November 16th! Add it to your Christmas TBR!
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That cover is straight up ADORABLE, and I've read solid books by this author in the past, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this holiday romance. But... it might just be the least romantic, least Christmasy holiday romance I've ever read. The only real chemistry that develops between these lifelong friends comes about because of jealousy. There's constant talk of OW/OM, attempts by our heroine to find a guy to have a fling with (because she's been told she's bad in bed and wants to get better so someone will keep her around), and only a few swoony moments. These two never feel like more than friends - or possibly friends with benefits - and it just didn't deliver the holiday charm that I wanted.

The story follows Julie and Gavin, longtime friends whose families are close. They've known for years that their families would love for them to get together, but there's never been a spark there. As they meet up over the holidays, it's the first time that they've both been single in what feels like forever, and suddenly they're noticing each other in a way they haven't before. Add in a little jealousy over potential flings for our heroine and a few sexy outfits, and this relationship gets all mixed up.

I've enjoyed several other books by this author in the past and love a good friends to lovers romance, so this should've been right up my alley. It wasn't. I hated the constant mentions of the heroine's low self esteem regarding sex, the hunt for a fling, the lack of "falling," and the absence of cute Christmas moments. It's certainly not a bad book and I'm sure many will enjoy it, but this just wasn't a winner for me. I appreciated receiving an early copy via NetGalley, and am voluntarily leaving a review of this friends to lovers romance.

Gavin is a professional quarterback in Texas who finds himself on an extended break from his team due to injury. He decides to head to his hometown to spend the holidays with his family and maybe catch up with his best friend Julie as well.

Julie moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of being a pathologist who has come home to spend the season with her family and reunite with her best friend Gavin. Although their friendship has remained strong their very different careers and lifestyles make it difficult to see each other as often as they would like.

When fate, or shall we say their matchmaking families, have both Gavin and Julie staying at his parent’s house things are about to get complicated. As determined as their parents are to prove to them they are a couple they are just as determined to prove that being friends is their destiny. Let the shenanigans begin!

Julie is quirky but so much fun while Gavin is the perfect mix of sweet and sexy. Between the matchmakers, humorous banter and hot chemistry there is no way the magic and romance of the season won’t prevail.

Mistletoe Trap is a fun holiday story. This book was full of laughs, chemistry, and holiday cheer. The main characters were a lot of fun, but I think the parents stole the show. They had a lot of crazy ideas up their sleeves. We got to go along for the ride!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. This is my honest review.