The perfect afternoon read!! Avery is a "brainiac" and needs a new research project, love. She then meets the new temporary veterinarian, Ben, a child genuis. Avery wants to play matchmaker for her friend, Chey until she soon finds herself head over heels for Ben. Finding love when you least expect it, is so fun!!

Loved these two together, they were so perfect for each other, so much a like!! Great banter and chemistry between them. Loved the opening scene with goat. This is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone.

I really enjoyed this novella by Donna Kauffman. This is the first book of Ms. Kauffman's that I have read, but it won't be the last. I will especially be looking for the first three books in the Blue Hollow Falls series.

Although this is 3.5 in the series, I had no problem following the story line or falling in love with the characters or the Blue Hollow Falls area.

In this short story, Avery "the brain" is looking at trying to find her friend and business partner Chey a boyfriend. When they meet a fill-in veterinarian, Dr. Chandler, Avery thinks she has found Chey's match. Dr. Chandler, however, has a different person in mind for romance - Avery. And despite Avery's attempts to match Ben and Chey, Ben is able to bring Avery along instead.

I enjoyed reading this romance and I was rooting for Ben and Avery to get together from the start. This was a great read, and I can't wait to read more of the series.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the latest book in the Blue Hollow Falls series and it features Avery, a brilliant young woman who is searching for her place in life. The story opens with her rescuing a pygmy goat and meeting the the fill-in for the local veterinarian . Ben is a traveling kind a guy who doesn’t stay in one place for long, the opposite of Avery who feels as though she has found her permanent place at the lavender farm. Although Avery feels an attraction towards Ben, she decides that he would be perfect for her friend Chey. Needless to say, that doesn’t work out and Avery and Ben find themselves in a relationship.
This is a sweet story of two people finding the missing element for both their heart and their brain. For ultra smart Avery, she finds love, a purpose in life, and a way to stay with the people who have become her family. For Ben, he finds someone to love and who can help him bring to fruition the project he has been working on for a long time. A enjoyable addition to a very good series!

Cozy, heartwarming and full of merry surprises. Like a mug of warm cocoa on a winter’s night. Everything readers need and more. 5/5 stars for a new Christmas classic

I LOVED Avery and Ben’s story in Lavender and Mistletoe by Donna Kauffman, book 3.5 in her Blue Hollow Falls series and I really struggled to put it down; visualizing the beauty of this place through its descriptive words. This is a story of two incredibly intelligent people who help each other understand how to use their gifts. It’s winter, everything is running as should be at the farm, and Avery Kent needs a research project to keep her brain busy. She started researching love, in order to prove that romance is a science. Then she meets the new veterinarian, Ben; a child genius, like Avery. At first, Avery thinks she should fix him up with her friend Chey, until she meets him. Not only are they two peas in a pod, the chemistry they have is sizzling and off the charts. Avery never expected to find love, at least until Ben touches her, kisses her, and loves her. Now if only Ben could get Avery to open her heart and accept his love. I love these two together. They may be very much alike but there are enough differences to make them two halves of a whole; or is that heart.

Ms. Kauffman, a talented story teller, wrote a joyful, funny, tender sweet, emotional and heartwarming tale that is not to be missed. She provided a tale rich with sexual chemistry, amusing banter, and amazing characters giving Avery and Ben a chance for happiness, love and a future together. I highly recommend Lavender and Mistletoe to other readers and look forward to the next book in this outstanding series.

I won a copy of this book from the publisher.

Lavender & Mistletoe by Donna Kauffman
Blue Hollow Falls 3.5

Loving and lovely this was the perfect novella length holiday romance for me to read today. Avery Kent is a genius who is comfortable, for the most part, in her skin. When Avery meets Dr. Ben Campbell, veterinarian subbing for the local animal doctor, her logical mind takes a back seat to chemistry and as the feeling is mutual...a delightful romance begins.

I loved this couple and the way they flowed effortlessly toward their HEA. They were so smart that they knew almost immediately they had met their fated mates and it was a joy to see where they would end up because it was a no brainer that they would end up together somewhere in the world.

Did I like this book? Oh my...YES
Would I read more in this series? Without a doubt
Am I looking forward to Chey’s story? Can’t wait!

Blue Hollow Falls is a delightful place with wonderful people. I eagerly look forward to each book that appears and can’t wait to read the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

I read this novella as a standalone and it was the perfect way to start the christmas season! Donna Kauffman writting makes you feel apart of the characters and their stories! I loved the real Chrstmas feels of this book and am delighted I can go back and read the rest of this amazing series and see more into each of these characters!! Im in love with everything this author writes ! A must read Christmas book that will make you get your decorations up and ready! Thank you Netgalley, The publisher and author for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!!! LOVED IT!!!!

I am so excited to be back In Blue Hollow Falls. This is one of my all time favorite series.
Lavender & Mistletoe is a wonderful holiday novella that will put you right in mood for Christmas!

This is a stand alone novella, but you WANT TO read this entire series, I promise you will not be sorry!

The love story between Avery and Ben gave me all the feels!!!!! I really love Avery's characters, an 18 year old genius with multiple degrees. She's smart in every way, except maybe love. Ben and Avery have this in common and it is so heartwarming to read this story.

This is a novella, but it packs a punch of a full length novel. The story is well written and the setting is in the peaceful, beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. The characters are well thought out, complex yet honest and loving.

I cannot recommend this novella enough!

I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do

This Christmas, small-town Blue Hollow Falls will work big holiday magic for two people who have researched everything but love . . .

Avery Kent needs a project. The busy brain that earned her two PhDs before the age of eighteen is fascinated by the home she’s created with her three friends in Blue Hollow Falls, but the farm and the tearoom are running like clockwork now. As the holiday season approaches, it’s time for Avery to dive into one of her last uncharted research topics: love. Not for herself, of course; for her friend, Chey! But a closer look at the handsome young veterinarian Avery has chosen for this romantic equation has her wishing for gifts she never thought she wanted . . .

Another former child prodigy, Ben Chandler is more like Avery than she ever imagined. His intellect is a perfect match for hers—and everything else about him attracts her in ways that send delicious tingles down her spine. But a relationship? That’s something Avery will need to analyze—unless her friends can help Ben convince her that romance is more magic than science, and that a good old-fashioned kiss under the mistletoe is the perfect way to open her heart to the possibility of the greatest gift of all . . .

This was a great entry in the Blue Hollow Falls series. The book lived up to the publishers description and more. It gets 5 stars from me.

Avery is a very intelligent young woman who honestly isn't very smart about life. She's been through a lot but things have been easier since she moved to the lavender farm in Blue Hollow Falls where she's nurtured by the other women. When she comes upon an accident involving a pygmy goat, she takes it to Ben, the local vet. He's a sweetie and he's hot too. Avery calculates that he would be the perfect man for her housemate Cheyenne, who of course, knows that he's really the perfect man for Avery. You know how this is going to go but it's delightful. I'd not read the earlier books in the series but was fine with this- it's a good introduction to the women. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A pleasant and fast read (it's short) that makes me want to read more from Kauffman.

Lovely festive read. It was a heart warming romance. It was a wonderful book to read. It was well written and flowed well.

Avery Kent is the unique person of their Lavender Blue farm group. A child prodigy with more degrees than she knows what to do with and she is currently at a crossroads in her life. The Lavender Blue farm is running smoothly and Avery needs something to research to appease her big brain. Avery gets the idea to research love, especially in regards for finding Chey the perfect guy. When Avery meets Ben Campbell, the temporary veterinarian in Blue Hallow Falls she thinks he would be the perfect man but when Avery starts to have her own funny feelings around Ben she is starting to second guess her choice.

Of course all of Avery's friend realize that Ben would be perfect for Avery and together with Ben they go about trying to show this to her. Avery may be a genius but it takes a while for her head to wrap around the fact of her and Ben but once she does she's all in.

Avery is such a fun person. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have that type of brain but she embraces it well. I just adored Ben. He is such a sweet perfect guy for Avery and together they were perfect. I just loved their happy ending....it was perfect for them!

Avery Kent refers to herself as a Brain. It is her overall scope that allow her to figure out that there might be something more in the snow when she sees a set of tracks sliding across the road in a skid pattern. But she'll need more than that to rescue the pygmy goat she finds, she'll need a vet.

Ben Chandler is only in town to cover for the regular veterinarian who is traveling for a few months. He also has a big brain and is suitably impressed by Avery, even though she seems to be trying to steer him toward her friend, Cheyenne.
Eventually Avery and Ben end up pairing and finding that they really like each other. But what happens when Avery is tied to her place while Ben is a globe-trotting veterinarian?
This was a fine novella and regular Kauffman readers will enjoy. It was an easy romance but it's a novella so not a lot of development.

Three stars
This book comes out September 24th
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Absolutely charming - the setting, the characters, the story itself. Small towns, big brains, and so much heart. It was delightful - a sweet novella from the Blue Hollow Falls series. Recommended for an easy to read book that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy!

4.5 - "The Vet, The Goat, and The Brain." Stars!

It’s becoming a bit of a tradition that Donna Kauffman starts off my seasonal reading each year, and 2019 is no exception. Lavender & Mistletoe is a triple joy for me though because not only is it full of snowy goodness, we return to Blue Hollow Falls and this novella gives us Avery Kent’s story.

She was so completely and perfectly off centre and unique…

I have been intrigued by Avery since we were introduced to her, the youngest of the four women who turned up and took over the running and restoration of Lavender Blue. Her high intelligence and analytical thought process leaves her feeling a little to the left of everyone else a lot of the time, there is no doubt her circle of friends, who are also her family, love her quirks and all, but since relocating to the Falls they have all found their ‘thing’, and she’s still struggling to find something that fits, rather than just ‘fitting in’.

"Are you curious about me because I’m a curiosity..? Or because you want to know me better?"

That is until a chance meeting with locum Veterinarian; Ben Campbell and their subsequent bonding over a pygmy goat shows a kindred spirit, someone who understands her, and knows what it is like to live in the world of high IQ’s and photographic memories. Their chemistry is instant, attraction mutual, and what better time than at Christmas to explore their blossoming feelings for each other. Only problem being that Ben is a wanderer, and Avery has found the place where she wants to settle for good.

"It’s about chemistry… not method."

It’s no secret I love Donna’s books, particularly in the places she creates and the people she introduces me to, the added bonus of Christmas just makes them all the more special to me, they may only be fictional characters but in reading their stories I get to enjoy the season over and over again, and through some pretty awesome people’s eyes.

"My days are better now, because you’re in them."

Another winner, I hope Chey is due for her story to be told at some point soon because as a secondary character in this one, she leaves you as the reader interested in finding out more about her, and I’d love to see her get her HEA as well.

I absolutely ADORE the Blue Hollow Falls series. This book is a wonderful addition. Sweet and warm -- makes you want to move to the area. Can't wait for the next book!

A delight! It's exactly what you hoped the next installment of the Lavender series would be. I enjoyed stepping into Avery's shoes for a little bit, sensing both her appreciation of her genius and her deep sadness and loneliness. Pairing her with Ben was the perfect way to give us a guided tour of her layers, and her connection with the other ladies. In our stressful world, this is the book to let you step out of THAT, transport to Blue Hollow, and just breathe in the company of these terrific characters. Such a peaceful, warm book. I plan to read all of Kauffman's books. Very highly recommended.

I enjoyed this short book about Avery and Ben. I liked that they matched each other in intelligence, but also in wit and empathy. There were a lot of cute moments that made me chuckle and I really enjoyed all the scenes with the animals. I also appreciate when other characters from past or future make appearances! All in all, another great addition to the Blue Hollow Falls series.

Loved, loved, loved, Avery and Ben. She was just too adorable and he was absolutely sweet on her, as he should be. I loved how smart she was and how he completely understood her. Really enjoyed their undeniable chemistry and conversations and I was so glad they both got their happily ever after. Such a wonderful story to curl up by the fire to read.

*I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book*

This short and sweet story is sure to capture your attention and warm your heart with love and Christmas cheer!

Avery Kent is not your average person, she is the brain behind Lavender Blue. She is the pragmatic and logical one. She is skeptical of love, that is until Ben Chandler shows up to cover for the local Vet! Will Avery be able to see the magic in love?

I loved this story and was so happy to be back visiting friends in Blue Hallow Falls. This story definately tugged at my heartstrings and I cant wait for more in this series.

Thank you to Author Donna Kauffman for allowing me to read and provide my honest opinion on this novella.