This book wraps around you like a warm hug and fills you with warmth like the cups of hot cocoa everyone frequently drinks. I absolutely adored Elinor, “Nory” as the soft-hearted, genuine lead character that she was. Her group of friends and family are not perfect, but they are relatable and loving. Isaac is a wonderful lead man, too. This is a perfect cozy winter read, and a must for book loving romantics. You’ll laugh, maybe cry, but in the end, be left with the warm satisfaction of a great story.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC. This is a cute holiday romcom that follows Nory, a bookseller in London, and her reunion with her school friends at a castle in her hometown. There’s some drama within the friend group, particularly with a guy who she hooked up with in the past. When she reconnects with Isaac, a gardener at the castle, she starts to believe love might be possible for her after all.

I thought this was a cute story but it was just okay for me. There were a lot of details that I wanted to skim over and I wasn’t overly interested in the different characters from Nory’s friend group or all of the talk about money. I did like Isaac as a character and their interactions were cute but it was also a little instalove-ish. I’m also not sure why the “enemies” aspect is played up in the synopsis, they really aren’t enemies at all. Overall this would still be a nice read for the holidays.

i received an ARC of this book from netgalley and it was definitely a great romantic story. this book is about a girl named nory noel who owns a 2nd hand bookstore in london. she and her best friends from grade school reunite for jenna's wedding at the castle close to her parents' home.

at the castle, nory is reunited with guy, who is part of the gang, but she also had a one-night stand with him and he was married!! (in her defense, she didn't know.) she also encounters her brother's best friend, isaac, who is the gardener for the castle. there's definitely chemistry there, but nory always feels like isaac sees her as her brother's little sister. the sparkles are flying with them and any chance they get, they seem to spend time with each other.

isaac's love for plants is in his blood as his grandma heba painted plants and created beautiful artworks.. nory's 2nd hand bookstore shares a similar love with artwork from de-veer, who painted plants. little did nory know that isaac's grandma painted those paintings from de-veer. long story short, the de-veer had the paintings under their name to give the paintings more value since heba is a person of color. nory asks guy to investigate this story since guy is an investigative reporter...what could possibly go wrong?

I think I’ve learned that Jenny Bayliss books just aren’t for me with this one…

I really tried to like Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, but I struggled. A LOT. The premise of the book sounded like it would be up my alley, but I didn’t like or connect with Nory or her friends. The book seems to focus more on their friendships than really focusing on the romance, and I went into this thinking it’s a holiday romance is kind of disappointing when you realize it’s not, not really. Her and Isaac’s insta-love, whirlwind romance doesn’t even really become the focus of the book until the last 20% percent, and didn’t feel all that realistic (the pacing was so weird).

Overall this just wasn’t for me, but thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this arc!

Elinor “Nory” Noel owns a rare bookstore in the heart of London. One of her best friends from the boarding school she attended is getting married and invites everybody in their high school friend group to spend the week before her wedding in the castle near their old school. This would serve as a reunion for not just the friends but would also reunite Nory with Isaac, the handsome gardner she had a crush on as a child. In a place where Christmas magic is flowing she would find love growing in places she wouldn’t expect.

This book felt like a mug of mulled wine. Warm, cosy, and full of Christmas love. I enjoyed the dynamics of the friendships that were at play. With such a large ensemble it can be hard to keep track of everybody’s interactions but that wasn’t a problem here. I loved the small details, like how Issac and Nory bonded over flowers, Jenna’s spray tan mishap, and the evolution of pretty boy Dev (he’s simply the sweetest).

I think the one aspect of this book that bothered me more than anything was Guy. I found myself so upset by some of his actions that it really distracted me from the rest of the story. His wife Camille must be an absolute saint to deal with him and his attitude.

Overall I enjoyed this book and am really thankful to NetGalley and Putnam for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was really cute!!!! I enjoyed it a lot. I read her other book last year and enjoyed that too- this one has the same winter in England/London vibes and I felt it was more steamy. BUT don’t get too excited, not THAT steamy. Still pretty “closed door” but it was romantic and cute. Perfect holiday/winter/Christmas read!

For me, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe didn't check the boxes that I need to be checked for a holiday romance. The story is mainly focused on the main character, Nory's, friend group while they reunite for a wedding. The romance part of this felt like a minor side story until around the 75% mark. The romance between Nory and Isaac just was't believable for me - and not because of how fast it happens - but because it seems like they barely even talked to each other. I know there is some shared history between the two but I think Nory has more interactions with her most hated friend than with Isaac. While I did greatly enjoy the parts that focused on friendship, that was not my main reason for picking up this book so I was slightly disappointed.

There were also parts of this book that were hard for me to understand however I am sure that is just because it is British English slang and as an American, I just don't understand it. The dialogue writing was jarring and off-putting for me as well. Every time someone talked, it was immediately followed by "[insert name] said". It just didn't flow great.

Overall, this was a nice quick read that does a great job of enveloping you in the Christmas season.

I like the cover, and the synopsis for this was appealing (MC owns a rare used book store!) and I really wanted to like this one but I found, unfortunately, that I was not able to connect with the story whatsoever.



eARC kindly provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

I really wanted to like this and had high hopes but this just wasn’t for me. I was expecting a sweet light Christmas story and this was book contained a lot of sex and swearing and seemed uncouth. It didn’t live up to my idea of a Christmas love story.

Good. Not great. It had some high notes, but lacked the luster and charm to keep me fully engaged. I ended up giving a DNF to this one because the pacing didn’t jive for me.

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy.

ARC BOOK REVIEW

Meet me Under the Mistletoe
by Jenny Bayliss

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publishing date: 9/27/2022



Nory lives in London where she owns a second hand book store. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, 2 of her childhood friends are getting married and have invited Nory to spend the week leading up the wedding in a familar English Castle with majority of their former school mates. Her friends are basically family, so of course she wants to go....but, she accidentally slept with one of her male friends ( Guy) during their last get together, and she didn't know he was married until AFTER....akward.

Even though Nory is having doubts about the holiday, mainly because Guys wife will be present, she really wants to go.

And its a good thing she does because while at the castle she encounters another former childhood mate, who she suddenly feels very different about.

Cue Issac, the gardner.......

She starts to develop feelings for Isaac but are they at a point in their lives where this will work? Or will something tear them apart before they even have the chance to start?

Unfortunatley, I didnt love this one. I had a hard time getting interested and I never felt "pulled in" to the story.

However, I am OBSESSED with the ending and thought it wrapped up well. There were a few funny moments where I actually laughed out loud and LOVED chapter 40. It was so sweeet.

This wasn't my favorite but it was a cute read that others may enjoy more than I did!

Meet Me Under The Mistletoe
Author: Jenny Bayliss
Publication date: October 18, 2022
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

Cover? Cute. Story? Cute. Cute is the only word that comes to mind. I am a big Jenny Bayliss fan + I really wanted to love this one, but this one just unfortunately fell flat for me. It was pretty long for all that happened - I just think the plot could have been wrapped up in less than 300 pages and surely less than the 450 pages it has. It did make me laugh in a couple places and I loved all the love stories that came about. It also had a beautifully done epilogue which made me so happy!

For being a Christmas (adjacent) book I was hoping for the warm and cozy feels and I never got those. I think I’ll try picking this up again closer to Christmas time because I do think it would hit differently then. I recommend this as the perfect holiday read!

Read if you like:
•Third person POV
•London based
•Castle setting
•Cozy cottages
•Secondhand bookstores
•Plants + Gardening
•Enemies (ish) to lovers
•Friend reunions

Thank you to @netgalley for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Nory loves her quiet life selling used books in London, but reluctantly agrees to attend a week-long pre-wedding celebration with her former classmates. Staying in a castle near her old school, Nory is faced with many memories of her time as a teen. Running into Isaac, her former crush and brother’s friend, further complicates an already uncomfortable week.

After reading, and loving, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, I was excited to receive an ARC of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. I particularly enjoyed that we were given a glimpse into the lives of each of Nory’s friends and that each of them were dealing with their own issues. Nory and Isaac’s romance was sweet, and it was nice to see Nory’s friends (finally) welcome him to the group.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.75 rounded up to 4 stars. This is a bit heavier than most holiday romances I think. There’s mention of a suicide that occurred years ago, and some discussion about race and class. Elinor “Nory” Noel owns a secondhand collectible bookstore in London, but when a private school friend is getting married at the castle near their boarding school, the friend group spends the week leading up to it at the castle. There, she runs into her childhood crush, now the head gardener at the estate. There’s horrible friends, excellent best friends, tributes to fallen friends, and of course some slight miscommunication/not listening that eventually will end up in a happily ever after. I liked Nory and Isaac, hated a couple of her friends, but mostly enjoyed the others in the book. I’d also love to own her bookstore - or at least visit it!

I’m sorry, I know I’m in the minority but I don’t want to read about sex and f words in a Christmas book. I want it to be light, cheerful, and Christmassy. I know, I know, Hallmark is cheesy and overrated, but I guess that’s what I want when I’m reading a holiday story! I couldn’t get into the plot, I couldn’t relate to any of the characters, and I couldn’t get past the tone of the author to read that far into it, so I gave up pretty early.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

When Nory reunites with her best friends from boarding school for a house party leading up to a wedding she expects to worry about her second hand book store that she really shouldn’t be leaving this close to Christmas. She expects some awkwardness as friends who haven’t seen each other in ages ease back into former roles. She even expects to feel a little out of place as she straddles the line between her middle class upbringing and her significantly more posh friends. What she doesn’t expect is to find love.

This was such a remarkably well developed story from the group of friends who have all grown up but haven’t really changed, to Nory’s charming but quirky family, to the attraction she and Isaac feel for each other and gradually explore. Bayliss skillfully covers a lot of ground in this book while managing to give aspect of the story its due. She doesn’t skimp on the holiday charm either. A lovely read and one I will want to read again.

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

Loved this. It’s nice reading about normal flawed humans instead of perfect fake mannequin types. The friendships were lovely and everyone supported everybody else so well. The writing flowed naturally and was a joy to read. I wouldn’t mind reading more about these characters, a series maybe?

I was able to read this for free thanks to Net Galley, although that does not affect my opinion of the actual book. Is it weird to read a Christmas book 6ish months before the holiday actually occurs? Probably, however I love Christmas and can always enjoy the reminder of the happiness I feel during that season and this is an advanced copy. The books cover and description really intrigued me, especially with the fact that it involves a bookshop (if a story includes an author, a book store, someone who loves books, etc, I’m fully into it). It took me some time to really get into the reading of this book. I had a really hard time getting into this book and ultimately kept finding myself bored. I was unable to finish it, unfortunately. I think it just felt too fancy of a world?

Thank you to NetGalley, Jenny Bayliss, and Penguin Group Putnam for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you loved the Twelve Days of Christmas, then you will love this one. Another great holiday tale. She always adds so much detail to the story that makes you feel like you are actually there in the story.

I would 10/10 recommend this book to anyone who loves holiday romance. Can’t wait to read it again to get me into the holiday spirit!

This review will be posted to my Goodreads and Amazon accounts immediately and to my instagram account @ginganinja333 upon publication on 9/27/2022.

If you enjoyed Jenny Bayliss' The Twelve Dates of Christmas, then you'll love this one. Super easy summer read. I wasn't supper attached to the main characters, but I'm super picky with romance couples.