Mistletoe Mix-Up

This novella is a cute story about a college student with nowhere to go for Christmas and an opportunity to house-sit and make a little money between terms. The problem is he goes to the wrong house--owned by people with similar names and a similar address in two different towns.

Evan Edwards is a music major at East Texas University whose mother is on another honeymoon with another stepfather in a long line of stepfathers in Evan's life. When Francis Cartier posts a flyer at the college for a house-sitter, Evan's professor suggests Evan call and ask about it. Everything is copacetic. Evan has a place to go and a job to do. The only problem is he goes to Candle, Texas, instead of Crandall, Texas.

In Candle, he meets George and Rise' (George's daughter), who are neighbors of Fin and Carol Carter. With Rise's help, he decorates the Carter's home for them, gets roped into playing the piano for the children's Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve at the church where George and Rise' attend, and then finds out he's been at the wrong house the whole time. With little time to spare and not a whole lot of energy, he hies himself over to Crandall to do the correct house. He gets it done in time for Francis and Caroline to come home. He finds out that the Cartier's are hosting a benefit gala to honor Francis' sister, Dominique Miller, who was his original piano teacher from the time he was nine years old until he went to college.

In the beginning of the book, Evan doesn't have much faith in anything--even himself. He doesn't know what he's going to do when he finishes college, although he'd like to pursue an advanced degree.

This comedy of errors book is a delight to read and won't take much time. Jody Bailey Day has created characters with flaws that make them all the more relatable and real. The settings are easily imagined, and the premise promises a lot of fun to be had while reading the story. It takes less than two hours to read which makes it perfect for curling up on the sofa with a comfy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a peppermint stick to stir the cocoa.

Pelican Book Group and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

The premise of Mistletoe Christmas is really cute: Evan, a poor college student with nowhere to go over winter break, answers an ad for a house-stay in exchange for decorating the home so it's ready when the owners come back to host their annual Christmas party. Through a rain-caused mixup, Evan shows up at the wrong house, and decorates that one instead.
I wanted to really like Mistletoe Christmas, but a few things held me back. The first was the writing, which felt a little too simple; the sentences were all about the same length, and pretty short, which made it hard for me to get fully immerse in the story. The other was that everything got wrapped up too neatly.
One of the characters has just gotten out of an abusive relationship, and in the span of just a few pages it's indicated that the abusive ex is committed to changing for the better after having confessed everything to the pastor. If this had been a longer novel, I could have been okay with how it played out, but it felt way too rushed to be realistic, even in the context of a romance story.
The main character starts the story pretty skeptical (at best) of Christianity-- his mom's old abuser was a member of the church choir, and he associates the religion with him. All it takes for him to come around completely and devote his life to Christ (even using language that those outside the church definitely would not use) is having some members of the church show up to help him out after he played piano at their Christmas pageant. It felt like WAY too big of a change to happen in the span of a couple pages after two small good experiences with the church.
Evan's mom is also dating a new guy who Evan is very wary of, but again, by the end of the story, just a few pages later, he's welcoming him into the family.
I think this could have made a successful full-length novel, and it was a cute story, but too many huge changes happened too neatly for such a short story.

For some reason I did not notice the "Christian" tag for this book. Those are for many reasons not my cup of tea, so this book didn't really work for me.

This is a super-sweet, clean love story about two people who literally come together with the help of God. It’s a Christian story with a sweet adventure tied into it. An easy read and one you will enjoy until the end.

Sweet story! Readers will enjoy this Christmas novella about a college student hired to decorate a house in time for a benefit. A few twists and turns find Evan realizing the true meaning of Christmas.

Oh my word ,this was such a cute inspiring read

The book follows Evan who is facing the Christmas holiday alone but in the knick of time decides to apply for a house sitting position . However just his luck he goes to the wrong house "gasp*. What follows is the cutest meet cute ever involving the perfect mix up. If you need a holiday rom-com that will remind you that miracles and Christmas spirit will find you then pick this one. I enjoyed it and the characters were endearing. A huge thanks to the publisher for my complimentary copy and thus all opinions expressed are my own

I missed the Christian tag on this book and kept wondering why it was SO preachy. A cute story (who doesn't love a little Christmas romance?) But preachy. To the point that I was rolling my eyes over the many many paragraphs about feeling God through music and about his will. A very VERY clean romance where nothing more than a kiss happens.

When Evan Edwards is hired to decorate the home of a wealthy benefactor for the holidays, his inattention leads him to the wrong address.

But this holiday blunder, along with a series of inconceivable coincidences, brings him closer to Rise Larkin, the beautiful neighbour across the street.

This wholesome and predictable case of mistaken identity at Christmas definitely reminded me of some of my favourite Hallmark films.

But I was blindsided by the blunt, and often poorly integrated, Christian values projected by author Jody Day.

To each their own, but I would have appreciated some advance notice about the religious content within the book, as it was somewhat triggering for me.

And although quick pacing made this novella an especially quick read, the plot sometimes seemed rushed, especially at the conclusion.

This one was a miss for me.

This is a short, quick read (only 73 pages), but there’s a lot happening in such a short space. Maybe too much. The storyline is cute: Evan, a poor college music student is hired over winter break to house-sit and decorate a house so it’s ready for when the owners return on Christmas day. Unfortunately, he gets the wrong address and decorates that one instead. But everything else fit what the owner told him: similar names, similar conditions, even the cute girl across the street who’s taking culinary classes. Since this is a romance, of course Evan and Rise fall for each other, but there are issues.

Rise is just coming off an abusive relationship, which should make her leery of getting involved with anyone, let alone someone she doesn’t know. However, that doesn’t happen and mild sparks fly between her and Evan. Plus, Evan has issues of his own (abandoned by his father, mother who hops from one husband to another). Because this is a novella, there’s not a lot of room to make things work well. Evan and Rise just seem to fall for each other a little too quickly. Plus, I will note, this is a heavily religious book so take that into account.

Recommendations: If you go into this book just looking for a quick, sweet holiday read, it does hit that target. Just don’t expect a lot of depth or room for character and story development. Just grab a cup of hot chocolate, a peppermint stick, and sit back and smile. It’s a cute, short novella.

Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Such an amazing captivating story and a reminder of God's hand in all the details of our lives. At Christmas it is special to be reminded of God's grace and compassion towards each of us.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I liked this little book. It was sweet.

I received this book for an honest review:

A very good book with some funny moments as well as some heartwarming moments as well. I read this book after Christmas but it was still a very good book. Evan was looking at staying at the dorms at his college for Christmas break since his mother was remarrying for the fourth or fifth time. Instead after his final, his professor gives him a flyer about an opportunity for a job and a place to stay. After speaking with the owner of the home they agree on him decorating the house for Christmas. The problem comes in when the flyer he has becomes wet because of a rain shower and he ends up in the wrong town, wrong house.
Does he though. He meets the girl next door who is having his own issues about an ex, and about wanting to take a different path even though she already graduated from college. Rise Larlin and Evan have moments of getting along and of Evan saying the wrong thing at times, yet still, they are drawn together. Evan finds how helping one person or a group of people will come back and show up to help you when he finds out his mistake. The ending of this book is really nice and overall a very good book with very good characters.

This was short and cute christmas novella, It was quick and easy read. I was surprised that it turned out to be clean romance, I would even say Christian romance. It had romantic elements, but I would like to see more development on the story. It could be longer.

It was nice read for getting in Christmas mood.

Mistletoe Mixup by Jody Day is the perfect holiday read. I love reading a new Christmas book each year as December approaches. This book is the perfect addition to my holiday collection. A house sitting faux pax leads to new relationships and holiday magic. I loved how this author tied the plot together in such a beautiful way. Readers will adore it! I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. These opinions are entirely my own.