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cassiebartelme's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was cute cozy Hallmark movie type book. There is a beautiful English estate, a vintage bookstore and flowers mixed into the plot about old school friends gathering for a wedding. It’s not super Christmasy but if that’s your thing it’s still a part of it. It was exactly what I was expecting and it delivered with an HEA which is what I wanted.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
lesbianlis's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Perfectly mediocre. I waited to get this one from the library again after my hold expired to finish it up. While I love Nori and Isaac's story and relationship, the conflict outside of that felt a bit shoehorned in and I felt that a different conflict could've maybe worked better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
bookswithmybulldog's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual harassment
tysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a bit underwhelming for me. We follow Nory who has been invited to her good friend Jenna's wedding at a castle that will bring her old friend group back together. While there, she runs into an old enemy, Isaac, who is the new head gardener, who she slowly starts to fall for. As the week progresses leading up to the wedding, the friends begin to learn things about each other that they weren't aware of, while Nory has been falling in love.
I absolutely loved the first book I picked up from this author, <i>The Twelve Dates of Christmas</i> and was hoping for another cute holiday romance. There were some things I enjoyed about this, like the friend group and learning about serious issues some of the couples had to deal with. This also touched on themes I wasn’t expecting such as bulling, depression, mention of suicide and the importance of counseling. This was all great, but I wanted more of the romance and the holiday vibes. I wasn’t invested in the main romance between Nory and Isaac, I just didn’t feel there was any chemistry between the characters. I also didn’t get the holiday vibes. I almost forgot at certain points this took place during the holidays unless it was actually mentioned. Even though I was underwhelmed with this one, I would still pick up more from this author.
I absolutely loved the first book I picked up from this author, <i>The Twelve Dates of Christmas</i> and was hoping for another cute holiday romance. There were some things I enjoyed about this, like the friend group and learning about serious issues some of the couples had to deal with. This also touched on themes I wasn’t expecting such as bulling, depression, mention of suicide and the importance of counseling. This was all great, but I wanted more of the romance and the holiday vibes. I wasn’t invested in the main romance between Nory and Isaac, I just didn’t feel there was any chemistry between the characters. I also didn’t get the holiday vibes. I almost forgot at certain points this took place during the holidays unless it was actually mentioned. Even though I was underwhelmed with this one, I would still pick up more from this author.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying and Suicide
kalzeb's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Suicide and Misogyny
mpearson0711's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
bnelson13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. Nory was a fun main character and I found that I could really relate to her. Her family and friends were equally charming. The plot was enjoyable, had parts that I knew were coming and other parts that took me by surprise. It would have been nice to have a content warning about Tristan and his off the page suicide so I could have been better prepared or maybe have saved the book for a different time to read, but overall it was a great book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Suicide
adetwiler's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
maggiegirl8's review against another edition
3.25
This was not my favorite. There were parts that I liked and a lot of parts I felt were cringey. One of the main elements felt unnecessarily dark and I didn’t love that. It ended how I wanted though so it gets points for that. Could have been 100 pages shorter for sure
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss 🎄 ad/gifted proof
🌟🌟
🎄 The plot: Elinor Noel - Nory for short - is leaving behind her secondhand bookshop in London to go home for her friends' wedding at the castle next to the posh private school she attended on a scholarship. Ever torn between her posh friends and her working class roots, Nory also finds herself drawn to Isaac, the castle groundskeeper and her childhood enemy...
I'm willing to forgive a lot in a romance novel, especially one as fun-sounding as this. Cringe baby talk (a grown woman calling her brother a "poo-head"? Behave), exposition that's forced into stilted dialogue, the characterisation of the leading man devolving until he's basically a compliment machine - all this I can overlook if the story carries me along well enough.
Unfortunately, this book just did not do it for me, mostly because it tries to do waaay too much. I love a subplot, but there are WAY too many here, and so many of them do nothing to advance the central story. Why am I reading pages about the guy who's looking after Nory's shop while she's away? Why do I know who's cooking each component of his Christmas dinner?? I literally couldn't care less!!! It also meant the epilogue was stuffed with hasty happy-ever afters which felt like overkill.
Also, despite my love of romances tackling heavy themes, this book overstretched itself massively. Bayliss tries to take on grief over the death of a friend by suicide as well as the whole UK class system, and the book just didn't have the strength to support such complex themes, especially together.
The class discussion in particular was headache-inducing - Bayliss paints all her working class characters, bar Nory, as whiny and bitter with unjustified chips on their shoulders, even when the posh characters they hate give them legitimate reasons to hate them! Nory's constant apologism for her rich friends was really grating and the book at times felt like a long speech on the theme of "the landed gentry are people too 😔♥️🎻"
Tl;dr, I wanted to love this, but it was too long, too confused, and lacked the nuance to make its heavy themes really fly.
🎄 Read it if you want the book equivalent of a Hallmark movie, and maybe if you read very fast - I doubt the tangents would have bothered me so much if I were a faster reader.
🚫 Avoid if you hate closed-door romances and want something steamier, or if anything I said above puts you off. Tread especially carefully if you've been recently bereaved by suicide - you might find Nory's journey with grief comforting, but give yourself permission to DNF if it gets too much ♥️
🌟🌟
🎄 The plot: Elinor Noel - Nory for short - is leaving behind her secondhand bookshop in London to go home for her friends' wedding at the castle next to the posh private school she attended on a scholarship. Ever torn between her posh friends and her working class roots, Nory also finds herself drawn to Isaac, the castle groundskeeper and her childhood enemy...
I'm willing to forgive a lot in a romance novel, especially one as fun-sounding as this. Cringe baby talk (a grown woman calling her brother a "poo-head"? Behave), exposition that's forced into stilted dialogue, the characterisation of the leading man devolving until he's basically a compliment machine - all this I can overlook if the story carries me along well enough.
Unfortunately, this book just did not do it for me, mostly because it tries to do waaay too much. I love a subplot, but there are WAY too many here, and so many of them do nothing to advance the central story. Why am I reading pages about the guy who's looking after Nory's shop while she's away? Why do I know who's cooking each component of his Christmas dinner?? I literally couldn't care less!!! It also meant the epilogue was stuffed with hasty happy-ever afters which felt like overkill.
Also, despite my love of romances tackling heavy themes, this book overstretched itself massively. Bayliss tries to take on grief over the death of a friend by suicide as well as the whole UK class system, and the book just didn't have the strength to support such complex themes, especially together.
The class discussion in particular was headache-inducing - Bayliss paints all her working class characters, bar Nory, as whiny and bitter with unjustified chips on their shoulders, even when the posh characters they hate give them legitimate reasons to hate them! Nory's constant apologism for her rich friends was really grating and the book at times felt like a long speech on the theme of "the landed gentry are people too 😔♥️🎻"
Tl;dr, I wanted to love this, but it was too long, too confused, and lacked the nuance to make its heavy themes really fly.
🎄 Read it if you want the book equivalent of a Hallmark movie, and maybe if you read very fast - I doubt the tangents would have bothered me so much if I were a faster reader.
🚫 Avoid if you hate closed-door romances and want something steamier, or if anything I said above puts you off. Tread especially carefully if you've been recently bereaved by suicide - you might find Nory's journey with grief comforting, but give yourself permission to DNF if it gets too much ♥️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide