Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Mistletoe Motive

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese

70 reviews

httponyo's review

lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The author over explainined everything and I mean EVERYTHING. The FMC is autistic so maybe this was supposed to be a reflection of that?? But it was done in such a jumbled way that by the end , if I wasn't such a sucker for sappy , happy endings , I'd rate this lower. I wasn't rooting for the couple at ALL till the end and honestly would've preferred if Mr.Reddit was someone else. The author used the excuse that because he has *checks notes* type 1 diabetes that predisposed Frost to be incapable of communicating that he wasn't stomping away to sulk all the time

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abbey_marie's review

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

I devoured this novella! It was a great sick-day read - I read half in one day and the other half the next night. This was such a fun, cozy, lighthearted novella and I really loved it! It’s easily a 5 star read for me.

READ THIS NOVELLA IF YOU LIKE:
🧠 Autism/Neurodivergent Rep
⚡️ Fast-Paced Stories
🎄 Holiday Vibes
😾 (Light) Enemies To Lovers
🖇️ Workplace Romance
📚 Bookish Books (+ Pride & Prejudice References)
🚪 Open-Door Romances
✉️ Epistolary Subplot

WHAT I LOVED:

Representation - There was so much representation packed into this novella and I loved how authentic it was and how the characters were built with that as aspect of their identity, not as something that defined their identities. Autism/neurodivergent rep, queer rep, chronic illness rep, different holiday rep, LOVE all the rep!!!
Cozy Setting - I love bookish books and holiday books, and this book was the perfect setting with the bookstore and Gabriella’s apartment. It was so cozy and warm, and I was easily able to settle into the story.
Romantic Tension - The romantic tension in this book was 🔥 So much angst! So much excitement building for when the two MCs would get together. I love a book that keeps me on my toes and at the edge of my seat. As much as I don’t always like slow burns, when done right with longing glances/touches/will-they or won’t they vibes, it is perfect! This was soooo good and made me so excited for when they finally (inevitably) got together!
Fast-Paced Plot - This book was so well-written and so well paced! I loved that I could easily read this book in a day or two and just gobble it up! The pacing was perfectly measured, didn’t skip too far ahead nor go too slow for my liking. 👧 It had the Goldilocks Effect - just right!
Supportive Friendships - June and Eli were wonderful additions to the story. I love how as side characters they also added to the plot and how Eli had his own plot line unfolding. It was nice to see how supportive and kind they are to Gabriella and how much they take the time to understand her autism and help make sure she’s taking care of herself. Their friendships felt very authentic and were wonderful to read in the story!
Playlists - I love that this author includes a holiday themed playlist at the beginning of the book, with a song for each chapter (some of which are mentioned in the book as playing in the background or on Gabby’s headphones). It’s just an extra thoughtful touch that I really appreciated! You can find the playlist on Spotify, which is nice to listen to as you read.
Holiday Vibes - I loved how this book wasn’t just a Christmas read. Other, sometimes lesser-known, holidays are mentioned and lightly featured in the story too and I appreciated that attention to detail and diversity Liese showed in this story.
Romance - I really loved watching Jonathan and Gabby’s story unfold! It was so nice to see them being so honest and authentic with each other, voicing what they wanted, being awkward, and just being brave to open up to one another. It might be considered somewhat cheesy dialogue to some or more “telling instead of showing,” but I personally really liked it and it made me appreciate the depth of their relationship even more. I also really love how Jonathan stood up for her in the story, was immediately incredibly supportive of her autism and paid attention to her needs, and was attentive to tiny things that she liked. That’s just an extra nice touch that added a lot of romantic moments to the story! It’s also a guarantee that romance readers will eat that up, and I am not ashamed to say I totally did!

WHAT I LIKED:

🏒 The Hockey Subplot - I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did. But I really liked how this subplot was mixed into the story and I’m now realizing I may be very interested in getting into more athlete or hockey romances for this reason, because they are pretty swoon-worthy and add a little ✨ something-something ✨ to the plot.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

The End Scene - NOT the ending, the end scene! IFYKYK
I’m not a fan of public sex scenes so that seemed kind of awkward to me and I didn’t like that addition to the plot. For me, it’s just weird. Why have sex in the bookshop? People go there. Children go there. I dunno, I’m weirded out by that but I’m weirded out by a lot of things, so maybe that’s just me lol. 🤷‍♀️ I just can’t personally imagine doing that, haha. It would feel icky to me.

Overall this was an amazing book! The tension was on 🔥 and I loved every part of it! Also, forgot to mention but the epistolary subplot really was quite charming, even if it was quite predictable….IFYKYK. This is easily one of my favorite holiday reads this season and I’ll look forward to revisiting it and Chloe Liese’s other works in the future!

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samchase112's review

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lighthearted 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

4.5

THIS WAS EVERYTHING! A perfect trope-filled romance set during the holidays, with bickering coworkers, a "secret" identity, an obvious refusal to have miscommunication, he falls sooo first, and all the joy and cheer and swooning I wanted. This was the perfect length, with the perfect mix of plot, character development, and pure fluff. I stayed awake far too long into the night reading, and I don't regret a minute of it.

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castironskillet's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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jehansen127's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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wildatheart1339's review

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4.5

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abbyynormal's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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milesofkiles's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

this book felt like a warm hug - I wish giggling and kicking my feet the entire time

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garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

This was a cute book! A little obvious/formulaic but in a way that was still interesting. And it's a romance novella set at Christmastime so like... Yeah, there's a formula.

🎧 I liked the female narrator, this was all FMC POV except the epilogue. And I was pleasantly surprised at the male narrator of the epilogue (MMC's POV).

🌶️ 3.75/5 some explicit stuff but only in one chunk of the book. Plenty of sexual tension scenes though.

🏳️‍🌈✊ No real racial or cultural diversity but the FMC is on the autism spectrum and MMC deals with a chronic illness (diabetes).

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bdingz's review

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funny hopeful 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

3.5

When I first started reading, the book felt like a Hallmark special—and I wasn’t sure whether I’d be into it. I soon warmed up to the story, though, and I appreciated how it subverted the

third act breakup

trope in the end.

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