Imagine growing up and knowing that your best friends family is relentless at hinting you marry your best friend. What if they don't feel the same way? Why would they jeopardize the friendship? So many things could go wrong, but what if they didn't?

When Gavin Frost returns home for the holiday season and he sees his best friend in a new light, it will take every ounce of strength to fight his growing feelings towards her. The star quarterback has a slight shoulder injury so the trip home is a welcome mini rehab break. What will happen when they are living in the same house, catching up, and trying to deny the attraction? Will he realize that he's felt this way all along?

Julie O'Neill loves her job as a pathologist but hasn't seemed to find a man interested in her with her quirks and all. When she asks her best friend for help in the dating department the close proximity will put there true feelings to the test. Will she survive his dating suggestions to make her feel more sexy and desirable? Can she really find someone as amazing as Gavin?

Sometimes love needs a little push. For this budding romance it will take a village to get these two together. Will they survive the fallout of finally confessing how they feel? Will it impact their jobs, life, and family?

The chemistry is off the charts, the banter sizzles, and the innuendo's are decadently delicious. Everyone assumes Gavin and Julie are destined to be together, how long will it take for them to realize it?

This book give all the holiday feels and baking cookies will never be the same again ;)

I loved this book so much. A beautiful captivating story which kept me hooked, practically read in a day as I couldn't put it down.
You must read it!!!

Julie and Gavin have been best friends since childhood. Gavin is the new starting quarterback for the San Antonio Mustangs, and is home rehabbing his shoulder. They are hoping to make the playoffs, so he has to be ready to go. They know they are best as friends, but their meddling parents have plans for them to get together and get married. Will this Christmas season have them finally realizing that they are perfect together?

The Mistletoe Trap is the second book in the Heart in the Game series, but can be read as a standalone. This story was a wonderful Christmas romance. The characters were great, both Gavin and Julie, as well as their families. Julie is very insecure and doesn't know how to flirt. Her last boyfriend told her she was boring in life as well as in bed, so she is sure she will never find a man, so she just wants a fling. She goes on a date her mother sets her up on and it was hilarious. I'm going to say more about this, but think Cyrano de Bergerac. The banter is wonderful and she has no problem flirting with Gavin's teammates, but freezes when it count. Gavin wants to concentrate on his healing and his game, so even though he has feelings for Julie, he refuses to act on them. This story is full of humor, family, friendship and Christmas magic. I definitely recommend it.

This book was absolutely hilarious! It's a fantastic, swoon-worthy read that you won't be able to put down! I was hooked from beginning to end! The Mistletoe Trap swept me away in the perfect escape. One full of laughs, sweet and sexy moments, and Christmas romance. So go get yourself a glass of wine and settle in for a treat. You won’t regret it, I promise you. Happy reading everyone

It was a struggle deciding between 2 and 3 stars with this one. I went with 3 just because the actually writing wasn't hard to get into and read, but the story was super frustrating. Friends with lovers stories are hot or miss for me because a lot of times the "will they/won't they" is drug out entirely too long. That's what happened with this one. I was going to give the story to 50% and see how it played out. They FINALLY kiss at 50%, but then go straight to "sorry we can't do this". Ugh! I skipped ahead to see if it was just this part of the story, but at Chapter 25 they finally hooked up, but they're STILL saying, "nope can't do this". I can't keep reading with being this frustrated. It's hard to enjoy a book about a romance when they never really make it to the romance. While this wasn't my favorite, I would be willing to give this author another read.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

I have to say, I know part of this trope is external forces trying to push the main characters to change their relationship, but I found the interference by the parents to be over-the-top to the point where I felt pissed off.
But overall I did enjoy this book.

I freaking love this book! Friends to lovers, a lab geek and a football player, plus weird meddling families is a sure fire way to make me enjoy a book! And this one didn't disappoint at all 🙌 Reminded me a little of The Love Hypothesis with the nerd love, but I liked this one even better!

I just loved getting to read this title. It was just so much fun seeing these characters and I just couldn’t get enough of them. I look forward to reading more wonderful stories in this series.

Gavin and Julie have been best friends forever, but when home for Christmas, they find that their parents' interference is actually working to push them together and find their mutual attraction. A cute, happy story.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy in exchange for my unpaid, honest review.

Loved this book from start to finish. The perfect holiday romance to get me in the festive mood.
Gavin is a professional football player, home recovering from an injury. He unsure where his future is going to take him. Julie has been his best friend forever, but their parents are pushing for them to become romantically involved.
This story had great characters, some humor, and of course romance. Truly enjoyed it.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable Christmas romance and I’m very very glad I requested an arc. I will definitely keep an eye out for this author’s next books.
I really enjoyed The Mistletoe Trap! The characters are fabulous, and I loved the budding romance between Julie and Gavin.
Gavin is a professional football player who has sustained an injury and is feeling uncertain about his future in the sport. He returns home for the holidays to rest his hurt shoulder. Julie is his super-smart, but sometimes socially awkward, best friend since they were born. Their parents are both in very happy marriages and decide to try and push these two to change their relationship from friends to romance over the Christmas visit.
I appreciated receiving an early copy via NetGalley, and am voluntarily leaving a review of this friends to lovers romance.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a very sweet read hat i truly enjoyed. It was the perfect setting for the time of the year.

What a fun and interesting read! From friends to lovers is the way this one goes, and it goes so well. It's got wonderful characters and lots of great humor. It's a really good Christmas romance story that you are going to love from start to finish. I was very happy that this could be read as a stand alone, because I had not read the previous installment. I do plan on checking out book one, because I loved this book! You can't go wrong with this book and I highly recommend it.

Gavin and Julie have been best friends for their entire lives. Their parents have been trying to play matchmakers for the two of them for their entire lives, as well. Despite their efforts, and the efforts of their entire small town, Gavin and Julie are just best friends. That is until one Christmas when they both return home and begin to see each other in a different light. The need to scratch that itch becomes more than they can handle. Will that destroy their long-time friendship or will it give them the happy ever after ending they both want?

I liked this story but the continual f-bombs and sexual innuendo throughout the entire book became a little tiresome.

I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.

The Mistletoe Trap is a friends-to-lovers story with a meddling family to add to the fun. Julie and Gavin have been best friends pretty much from birth since their parents are best friends. After being close their entire life, they are living out their adult lives states away from each other. They are reunited in person in their hometown to spend Christmas with the family, as well as to allow Gavin to heal from an injury that threatens to end his career as a professional quarterback.

From the time they arrive home, the family is doing everything in their power to push the two into a romantic relationship. Having wanted that for them for a lifetime, they have planned multiple "mishaps" to help Julie and Gavin fall for each other. Since Julie is looking for a good time after a bit of a drought, Gavin is stressed, and they both have feeling for each other, they begin to explore the possibilities.

This is a fun and humorous story about people who have always loved each other learning to see each other in a different light. The family interactions, the banter between Julie and Gavin, and the teasing of the members of Gavin's football team combine to create a highly entertaining story.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Publishing and Cindi Madsen. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.***

3.5 stars

Julie and Gavin have been best friends since childhood. They haven’t seen each other in months and are looking forward to spending some time together when they go home for Christmas. They expect some meddling; their parents have wanted them to get together for ages. This year it might just be working.

My feelings about this story were all over the place. I found Julie sweet and likeable, but also exceptionally awkward at certain points in the book. There were times I thought Gavin was great and others when he was a jerk and a coward. The parental meddling started off funny but I think it went too far, to the point of being annoying and intrusive. The book had its cute moments too. I adored how Gavin’s teammates cared about Julie and told it straight to Gavin. There were lots of laughs in the story, which is a definite plus. I think if you don’t mind some over-the-top hijinks and love a story that you don’t have to take seriously, this will be a great book for you.

thank you netgalley for making sure i got to read this book early! it was so fun and sweet and i really love that!! i'm glad these characters exist.

Cute friends to lovers story! All the family drama and love that you wish was a part of your story! This is a great holiday romance, but also great anytime of the year!

The Mistletoe Trap by Cindi Madsen was a cute friends to lovers story, but it wasn’t without problems. I enjoyed watching these two best friends since they were in diapers figuring out they loved one another, but their overbearing and meddlesome family were a bit much for me (and as it turns out for the hero as well). It was easy to see these two were very close friends and it became obvious though their inner thoughts they were both thinking “more than friends thoughts” for most of this book, but often in this troupe, there was a lot of turmoil about ruining the friendship if they crossed that line.

Julie is a pathology lab manager who was a bit awkward, but sweet and with a sunny personality. I liked her, but she seemed a bit immature and unsure of herself despite her advanced education and the important promotion she just earned.

Gavin is the new starting quarterback for the San Antonio Mustangs who is making strides with his team for a playoff run and then he’s injured right before the Christmas break he’s to spend with his family, Julie and her family. The team owner gives him extra days to rest and get some PT. He’s worried about his shoulder, his team, his career, but he’s excited to have more time with Jules.

This book was filled with typical small town holiday merriment including a town bazaar they are both “voluntold” by their mothers they are working and a pageant, along with lots of family time and matchmaking with of course mistletoe sprinkled everywhere.

I get that their families felt their friendship made a good foundation for a romantic relationship, they might have even seen the sparks between them but honestly they were too meddling, too intrusive, and to up in their business after their one night together. I wish they’d focused more on the long relationships between their parents and grandparents, let them find their way without being tricked I feel it would have been more magical.

I enjoyed The Mistletoe Trap; it’s a fun, fairly light, holiday story.