30 Days of Christmas - Day 13 - Mistletoe Magic by Melissa McClone

Today's selection for review is an alliteratively titled second chance romance. And yes, I realize this review is a day late. My plans to spend my birthday relaxing and reading were foiled by an overzealous family. Also, Sunday's are my night to pick the movie for Family Movie Night, so I tend to actually watch the movies on Sunday's, which cuts into my reading time a little.

Genre: Romance/Holiday

Published: November 21, 2013

Pages: 41

Ages: 14+

(My Estimate)

Synopsis

Spending a quiet Christmas housesitting and reading novels about hot cowboys sounds perfect to Caitlin Butler. Until a stray kitten brings her face-to-face with Noah, her crush from college. Watching the handsome vet in action melts Caitlin's heart and brings back long forgotten emotions. She would be safer back at the house lost in the pages of a book. But a toe-curling mistletoe kiss tempts her to stay. Maybe she won't be spending this Christmas... alone.

Veterinarian Noah Sullivan isn't a Scrooge, but the Christmas Eve tradition of hanging mistletoe in the clinic's waiting room annoys him. Kissing doesn't belong at the Copper Mountain Animal Hospital. Noah rethinks his position when Caitlin arrives with a stray kitten she found freezing in the snow. All he wants now is to maneuver the pretty preschool teacher under the mistletoe. If he's not careful, he'll wind up on Santa's naughty list.

Mistletoe Magic is a short story companion to the Copper Mountain Christmas series.

Review

This was a cute little story that's basically about finding the one that got away, or you know, the one that you let go because you were young and dumb. There wasn't a lot of emotional build up in this story, although there was a foreshadowing reminiscence on Noah's part. It was short and sweet, and perfect for someone looking for a heartwarming story with very little time to actually read. 

The character development was acceptable for a story this size, although I would have liked to see more into each of their lives. Caitlin is a kind, sweet, small town girl and Noah is a career driven city boy who is only in Caitlin's small town to repay his student loans from vet school. While each character muses that the other has changed tremendously since they knew each other in college, we don't really see it and we just have to take their word for it. I would personally have loved a couple flashbacks to their college days, one of a happy time from Noah's perspective and the memory of their break-up from Caitlin's would have been awesome. They also would have made the book longer, but a girl can dream, right.

In spite of the lack of those flashbacks I want, the story was well structured. It alternated between Caitlin and Noah's POVs, so we did get to see at least a little of both sides of the story. The small conflict that brings Caitlin and Noah together seems perfectly reasonable and realistic and the story flowed really well. 

My one complaint, and if you read my reviews often you know it's one I frequently have, is that there were a few too many spelling and grammar errors for a book this size. There really weren't a whole lot, but in 41 pages, I really don't expect to find more than one, maybe two, errors of this nature. And I'm a stickler for spelling and grammar, so it has to be mentioned.

Overall I give this story 4 out of 5 stars. It was entertaining, heartwarming like a holiday story should be, and didn't have any huge structural issues. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a short but sweet holiday read this Christmas season.

Buy the Book

Amazon