Reviews - Under The Mistletoe

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Under The Mistletoe by Olivia Dade, Ali Hazelwood, Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, Tessa Bailey

168 reviews for:

Great little collection of holidays novella.

Overall 4⭐️

Cruel winter with you by Ali Hazelwood.

4.5⭐️ I wanted more of this! He falls first and harder and I fell for Ali’s words again! I am not sure how she managed to make me feel so many emotions in so little pages but I loved it. Perfect caught in a snow storm holidays novella.

Merry ever after by Tessa Bailey.
2.5⭐️ This one didn’t work for me as much. It had its moments but overall too insta love. And I didn’t love the caveman damsel in distress vibes.

All my Elf by Olivia Dade.
3⭐️Despite the name this had the least « christmassy » feeling to me. Other than the snow storm nothing screamed Christmas to me. I liked that both the FMC and MMC were more mature, the story was sweet, but the start felt confusing and I wasn’t overly invested.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur.
4.25⭐️ Another new author to me and I really enjoyed it. I loved the flirty tone right away. Griffin could come and rescue me anytime.

mwilkinson89's review against another edition

2.0

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

shannonmreviews's review against another edition

2.0

I read these individually but thought I would also compile my thoughts here on the entire collection. Overall, I would say this collection was a bust, not going to lie. Basically every single story had the miscommunication trope (which I loathe) and 3/5 of them were just plain weird. 4/5 of these short stories just didn't feel Christmasy to me. The last one was borderline perfection, honestly. It was exactly what I expected from the rest of the stories. Overall, this would be 2.7/5 for me.

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood ⭐⭐⭐
Le sigh. Another almost disappointing Ali novella. Listen, she is my favourite author, so don't come for me. This woman can write, absolutely she can, but this story wasn't very Christmasy or fun, IMO. There's a snow storm, a lot of awkwardness, too much miscommunication, and then all is horny. I had high hopes for this novella (and the rest of this collection) but it didn't start off as strong as I'd hoped.

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey ⭐⭐
Maybe I am just not a Tessa Bailey fan, not sure. But this is my second TB story and my second disappointment. The MMC is actually an incredibly desperate man and goes way too big, too fast. It was actually incredibly off-putting. Tessa wrote a story about a man who is too big in every way and makes even something like a BJ sound impossible, but of course, our FMC is a perfect fit, somehow. It was just kind of ridiculous and not in a good way. I'll give Tessa Bailey one more shot, but someone has to tell me which one is going to be the one that doesn't make me write her off entirely.

All by My Elf by Olivia Dade ⭐
“Unleashed by her consent, he gave her exactly what she’d craved for months.”
I mean, sure, bonus points for consent, but this was over-the-top and cringey AF. They were literally in the middle of banging, and after consent being asked for like 3 times, she gets off him and asks if she’s allowed to touch his ding dong. Like girl, you were just touching it with your snapper. This author just seems to make a HUGE production of consent which actually really just took me out of the story.
Not that I was really into it, considering they are driving around in a giant wiener, having ridiculous and unnecessary miscommunication, and then boring and academic sounding pillow talk.
“I’m honored. And we should talk more about our professional future tomorrow…”
“… please proceed.”
Who the fuck talks like that during a make-out session? Le sigh. This was terrible. Definitely worse than Tessa’s and that one was BAD.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur ⭐⭐⭐
Actual rating, 3.5. So, this one was probably the best one so far (I still have one left). Everyone loves a hot firefighter, of course. This one was cute but again, these just don't feel Christmasy to me.

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nope, this was the best one in the entire collection and the only one that truly felt Christmasy to me. It was super cute and sweet and spicy! I'm going to keep an eye out for this author, for sure!

writergirl5786's review against another edition

3.0

These are five short stories and I think this is my least favorite bundle they’ve done (valentines, mystery and romance) I think my biggest issue is while I don’t mind some spice in my stories, I need it to be warranted. I want there to be characters I’m involved in and invested in. I want there to be a plot. Not just extra spice for no reason. For those reasons, I gave Cruel Winter with You 4 stars, Merriment and mayhem and Only Santa’s in the Building 3 stars. The all by my elf was only 2 stars and I really did not love the Tessa Bailey one. Personally, I’d pass on these and read a good Christmas full novel instead!