The Mistletoe Trap by author Cindi Madsen held some entertaining moments with equally entertaining characters bringing some chuckles throughout the read. Julie and Gavin’s characters held promise, however the secondary characters often stole the limelight.
Review copy received from Entangled Publishing via Netgalley

A well written romance. Good plot and character dynamics. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

Julie and Gavin have always been best friends, but when they have to be stranted together for the holidays, they start to develop feelings for each other and have to navigate a new relationship between them.

Such a fun sweet story!! Friends to Lovers stories always get me and a Christmas one even more so!! Great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review. I love Cindi Madsen's books. She bring lots of humor to a story.....Julie and Gavin have been friends since they were babies and are best friends. Julie is trying to get over an ex and Gavin just excited to see his family and friends. Their parents are constantly trying to see them married as they are both living their lives. Gavin a football player, gets a call from Julie asking if she should pack a bathing suit on a trip. I don't know why but that turned me off, maybe the author was trying to tell the reader how close these two are, I don't know. It was a fun read and I always get that from this author.

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite troupes - I am always excited for a Christmas friends to lovers too! There is family meddling, Christmas decorating and romance - what is not to love. I did not read the first book in the series, but it did not make a difference in the enjoyment of this second book. I am always a sucker for holiday romances, like a Hallmark movie in a book. A little sweetness and a little steam

The Mistletoe Trap by Cindi Madsen is an easy and light hearted read. If you are looking to relax and unwind a little during the mad rush of the Winter holidays then this book might be for you.

The two main characters are Julie and Gavin . They have graduated college and are both finding themselves. Gavin is a rising NFL star and Julie works an office job. These two have been best friends since they were young. They have a long distance friendship and finally are going to spend some time together when they both come back to their hometown for the holidays. Did I forgot to mention that their families are inseparable too? They are, and sometimes a little too involved if you know what I mean. The book highlights their time together at home and everything that goes on between them and their families.

The book is very predictable in parts, but sometimes that is what makes these type of holiday stories work. Everyone needs a feel good story sometimes. I enjoyed the romance parts and the cute banter between the characters. I don't know if this book kept me on my toes and captured all of my attention though. I wanted to finish it, but not because I was that intrigued in the plot or characters. I didn't dislike it enough to abandon it though.

This was a Christmas Rom Com that I found myself enjoying more than I thought i would. It made me laugh out loud but more importantly it took my mind off this Christmas being different than previous years.

The Mistletoe Trap by Cindi Madsen is a super fun and cute Christmas story. I found this book difficult to put down and kept looking for free time so I could read more. The Mistletoe Trap is the story of Julie and Gavin, best friends since their days in diapers, coming together to spend Christmas with their families, who also happen to be best friends. Julie lives and works in Arizona, Gavin is a professional football player for the San Antonio Mustangs. Their parents have been trying to get them together as a couple for years, but it is not until this particular trip back home to Colorado that they realize maybe there is some sort of attraction between them. The only problem is that they are both not sure if they should act on these feelings for fear of ruining their perfect friendship and neither really has time for a relationship anyway. All of this makes for some amusing happenings in the week leading up to Christmas.

Julie and Gavin are lifelong. friends, however the ydon't see what is in front of their faces. Everyone around them sees it, even their parents who think they are perfect for each other.
I thought the book was great in the begining, however it went downhill from there. It had a lot of humor, however things should occur by their own accord not because their parents are pulling strings. i got to a certain part in the book and had to push myself to finish.



** I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review**

Cindi Madsen's great sense of humor spills out into her books. The Mistletoe Trap is a laugh out loud contemporary romance with charming characters and lots of witty banter.

The O'Neill and Frost families have been close friends for more than twenty-five years, living in the small town of Crystal Springs, Colorado, so they always hoped that their offspring, Julie and Gavin would end up a happy couple, just as both sets of parents and all the grandparents were. Julie and Gavin have been best friends since they were in diapers; as long as they can remember, always having each other's back, being for the other in triumph and disappointed. Julie is now a pathologist assistant in Arizona and Gavin a star NHL quarterback in Texas. They get each other more than anyone else, but have no romantic interest in each other at all. They both come back home for the Christmas holiday, but Gavin was injured in his last game, needs to rest and is worried about his recovery. While their parents are still at their matchmaking machinations, somewhere along the line, Julie and Gavin start having weird attractive vibes around each other, as if a switch had been flipped on their hormones, but they must fight those feelings or possibly risk losing their best friend.

I really enjoyed this book, except for one thing that many authors do and it really annoys me. A character is given a Jewish surname, but there is nothing Jewish about him. So why? Do author do this to be inclusive, because I find it borders on offensive, especially in here when it involves a Christmas celebration and does not add to the story.

I read an ARC from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

I think friends to lovers is one of my new favorite tropes. I loved this so much! Julie and Gavin have been best friends their whole lives, and their parents have been trying to set them up for just as long. While they have always resisted, this year they start to fall for each other. Their chemistry in this book was so good! You could feel the tension between them before anything ever even happened. I loved it so much!
There is nothing better than being in love with your best friend, and we got to see that in this book. While it is named and advertised as a Christmas book, it is not that Christmas-y. This is a book that can definitely be read any time of the year! The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that the conflict maybe dragged on a little too long. The resolution was adorable though.

4.5 stars
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.

This was a very cute story about two besties who knew each other in diapers and grew up together but never were single at the same time how they have a holiday fling when their families spend the holidays together back in their family town.

I liked Julie. She is very quirky, nerdy and her last boyfriend found her boring so she asks her best friend Gavin to help her be more exciting. Gavin loves his bestfriend and they have not seen each other in person much the past year. and he is really excited to spend some time together.

That is until their parents get involved and thats when the fun began. This was a cute story about two besties who are real best friends and who start noticing each other while their parents plot to romance them.

At times I felt their relationship a bit unbelievable. One how their boyfriends and girlfriends were so okay with how often they chatted. How Julie asks Gavin for fashion advice, it was too girly for me. And the big one was they live in different cities.

A friends to lovers romance that was perfect for this holiday season. Gavin and Julie friends since they were in diapers discover through a reverse parent trap situation that they need to embrace their feelings. The relationships between all the characters felt real. The beginning was a bit slow but after a certain part like the blind date it definitely got better and was a quick read from there. That ending though, not the epilogue but the bearing of the soul video, was super romantic. Thank you so much for the e-arc from Netgalley.

The Mistletoe Trap is the second book in the Heart of the Game series. It was great as a stand-alone but after finishing this story, I am definitely going to go read the first book in the series. This was the first book I have read by this author and I loved the witty dialogue, meddling family members, and seeing Gavin and Julie’s wonderful friendship expand to love. The book was fast-paced and had a favorite of my troupes, friends to lovers. Gavin and Julie’s parents were close friends, and the two grew up together. Their parents were constantly trying to push them together, but Gavin and Julie insisted they were just friends. Gavin, a starting quarterback for a San Antonio team has a lot to deal with this Christmas. His team has almost made it into the championship game, and he has injured his shoulder and can’t help his team. Going home to recuperate and spend time with his best friend was exactly what he needed this Christmas. This year things are different, and Julie and Gavin start to realize their relationship is changing. They both fear they will ruin their friendship if they become romantically involved and try to fight it, but their feelings are slowly changing. Will they realize their love for each other before it’s too late?

A cute and fun holiday romance, engrossing and highly entertaining.
I liked the characters, the atmosphere and the plot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

this one was was cute, if at times a bit over the top for me. didn't enjoy it as much as the first in the series, but it was still mostly enjoyable.

Mistletoe Trap combines two of my most favorite romance genres- sports and best friends to more. I really loved this one especially because their friendship was so strong and their families were just fantastic. I seriously loved both Gavin and Jules, and could have read another 100 chapters about them. Make this a movie asap!

I love Cindi Madsen's books and this was no different! I love holiday romances so I was excited to get this one. It was the perfect small town holiday romance. I definitely recommend it!

The Mistletoe Trap was a fun holiday romcom. I absolutely adore the best friends-to-lovers trope and enjoyed watching these two figure out how they actually felt about each other.