While I found the stories and writing styles to be vastly different from each other in this anthology, the theme that tied the collection together for me was that the male main characters had names that I couldn't quite figure out how to pronounce in my head. This kept me amused as I would switch between pronunciations as I read along. Alongside this observation, the three mistletoe stories each brought about Christmas cheer in a clean, sweet way. With two out of the three stories having scant faith content, I would more so classify this book as a clean Christmas romance, with one notable exception.

Since I had already read Pepper Basham’s Skymar series, I was especially keen to read The Mistletoe Prince, which was a satisfying Christmas story to accompany the other Edgewood books. I loved that this particular story contained the most amount of faith content with beautiful depictions of what Christmas truly means, along with meaningful references to prayer and God’s teachings. It is certainly a treat for those who have read Loyally, Luke, as there are recurring characters, making this book even more special and the one that hit it out of the park for me.

Return to Mistletoe and Say No to Mistletoe were similar in that they were both second-chance romances, one with a brother's best friend and the other with a best friend’s brother. If you like these tropes, you can have both versions! Each story reads like a fun Hallmark movie, with Say No to Mistletoe being especially funny in the first person voice. Overall, this is a lighthearted collection that would be enjoyable to read anytime of the year.

OVERALL STAR RATING: 5/5
CLEAN RATING: 5/5

What an amazing anthology! This book consists of a dream team of authors. Three Christmas novellas all with a little focus on mistletoe for the season. It always amazes me when authors can pull together such a complete feeling story with great character depth within the pages of a novella.

Say No to Mistletoe by Sheila Roberts – Sheila’s book had me giggling right from the start. She never fails to bring characters that you instantly connect with.

Return to Mistletoe by Kathleen Fuller – All the sweet small-town vibes you’d ever want, especially during the holiday season. The town is named Mistletoe and there’s a cute little antique store. Need I say more?

The Mistletoe Prince by Pepper Basham – Fairytale like moments with characters of royalty! And brace yourself…Luke Edgewood makes an appearance in this novella. If you're a Pepper fan, you know how beloved this character is from her Skymar series.

Each of these stories is entertaining and completely unique from one another. Elements of faith, love, discovery and hope woven throughout them all. And of course, plenty of moments under the mistletoe.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#MistletoeSeason #NetGalley

A Christmas Collection of stories involving mistletoe.

Return to Mistletoe by Kathleen Fuller--Emmy owns an antique store and loves to decorate for Christmas. When her best friends brother comes to town, Emmy is scared to give into romance her last relationship made her a little weary to give love a chance.

The Mistletoe Prince by Pepper Basham--I loved the Skymar series and was excited to read Charlotte's story. Charlie is a tomboy trying to change her style. When Prince Arran arrives and things start out rough. Arran is trying to change his reputation after making poor decisions ruin his life.

Say No to Mistletoe by Sheila Roberts--Hailey has had relationship failure after being kissed uner the mistletoe. As an author who writes happy endings, she wonders if she will find that for herself. When she learns her brother is dating a girl who bullied her in high school, she wants to cancel her trip. Will she always be known as the nerdy girl? Or can she see who she has become and move on?
I enjoyed all three stories. What a fun read for Christmas in July.

Mistletoe Season-
by Sheila Roberts, Kathleen Fuller, and Pepper Basham
Pub Date: October 8, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of these novellas in exchange for my honest opinion. 4
This Christmas, three couples find themselves under the mistletoe . . . whether they want to be there or not.
I love that my three favorite Christian romance authors have written three short Christmas stories. You will learn about three very different women who find love when they least expect it. Sit back, grab a hot chocolate and enjoy.
This was a great break for me in between the intense thrillers that are top of my list.

I have read books by all of these authors before, and loved that all the stories have relatable characters. I liked how mistletoe ties all 3 stories together. Sometimes learning to trust, finding confidence or overcoming big fears bring big blessings.

-Return to Mistletoe by Kathleen Fuller⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Emmy and Kieran both liked each other in high school, but neither made a move. When Kieran’s father passed suddenly, it hit him hard and he couldn’t leave the town of Mistletoe soon enough after high school graduation. He found himself in Ireland planning on a short trip, but wound up staying for 20+ years. After a few failed relationships, Emmy stayed in Mistletoe and opened a sweet little antique shop. They reconnected when Kieran was back for his mother’s birthday celebration.

-The Mistletoe Prince by Pepper Basham⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed getting to visit Skymar again in this novella. Prince Arran is trying to get back on track and repair his reputation. Charlie (Charlotte) works with her cousin on his construction crew. Charlie and Prince Arran work together on a charity fundraising event. He learns the value of hard work and helps Charlie see her own self worth.

-Say No to Mistletoe by Shelia Roberts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Every kiss under the mistletoe has ended in disaster fro Hailey Fairchild. She has vowed to avoid mistletoe at all costs. But when she is home visiting for the holidays, she runs into her high school crush and her first kiss under the mistletoe, Carwyn. As they get to know each other again, can she continue to avoid the mistletoe or will she give in and have a second chance at love? Hailey’s mistletoe mishaps kept me laughing throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy! All opinions are my own.

Fun Christmas stories from all 3 authors!! If you like Christmas novellas with sweet stories, you’ll love this collection!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." Thank you #NetGalley, #ThomasNelsonFiction and #HarperCollinsChristianPublishing.
What a gift... 3 stories in this book. The individual stories take you to different locations across the country and world. I enjoyed the mistletoe theme that runs through each of them. Castles and Princes are included and of course happily ever after. You will definitely want to cozy up to a warm fire and read these at least once this Mistletoe Season.

Each one of these stories are based around Christmas and have mistletoe at some point in them. I really enjoyed all three stories but my favorite was the one by Pepper Basham. I have read her other books and were familiar with the characters in this story. I loved the growth these characters experienced. I love how I s as least feel uplifted after reading her books. I highly recommend this compilation.

I love Christmas stories any time of year, so Mistletoe Season was an instant pick for me.

I've been reading Pepper Basham's Skymar series so was thrilled to get a novella with Ellie's brother Prince Aaran and Luke's cousin Charlie as the main characters. I loved the story, but in true Basham style I always find a thought-provoking quote to ponder long after the story ends,
"..two important things every thoughtful human wants...To be seen and loved for who we really are."

I've read some of Kathleen Fuller's books and assumed I'd enjoy her take on Christmas in Return to Mistletoe, and I was right I did enjoy it! Emmy and Kieran's story was fun, and sweet and a great addition to this group of stories.

I had not read any or Sheila Roberts books before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Her story, Say No to Mistletoe was a surprise and a delight. Her tongue in cheek delivery of all the reasons to say no to Christmas had me laughing out loud. Hailey and Carwyn were adorable together. I'll be reading more of her books, especially any with a Christmas theme.

All in all, Mistletoe Season was an appealing trio of stories full of charm, wit and romance. I highly recommend this collection. I appreciate Thomas Nelson Publishing making a copy of Mistletoe Season available for review. All thoughts and opinions are my very own.

4 Stars

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the ARC to review*

I am not usually someone who likes Christmas content outside of the festive season - mostly because it’s atmospheric and gives me that feeling which is a bit ruined when we aren’t at the right time of year.

However, in Australia we are in July which means: Christmas in July (which just means a bit of festive fun in the southern hemisphere winter). So, now seemed like the perfect time to pick up the ARC for Mistletoe Season and give it ago.

I wasn’t disappointed- it was all the festive hot chocolate and cheer I was anticipating. Made even better by the fact that I could actually read it with a hot chocolate (it’s often hot AF during December so it’s more of an iced beverage occasion at Christmas in Australia).

Mistletoe Season features three short, Christmas romance stories by three different authors. Let’s get into them:

1. Return to Mistletoe - Kathleen Fuller


Return to Mistletoe is about Kieran and Emmy who rekindle a romance when he returns from a decades long trip to Ireland. It’s a sweet best friend’s brother story set in a small town aptly named Mistletoe.

It was a simple one, not much to it, but it was wholesome and sweet.

2. A Mistletoe Prince - Pepper Bashem

Arran, Prince of Skymar, goes to a small town in Appalachia to visit his sister and her American husband where he falls in love with his cousin (not his own cousin, the cousin of his BIL).

I enjoyed this one more than the first short story and more so than the preceding book in Pepper Bashem’s Skymar series. Arran and Charlie were so sweet, I found myself smiling. Arran is a true fairytale Prince!

3. Say No to Mistletoe - Sheila Roberts

Romance author, Hailey, returns to her home town for the holidays and has to cope with her brothers new girlfriend, her own former high school bully, and how much she wants to kiss her brother’s best friend, Carwyn. Just not under the mistletoe in case the holiday magic jinxes it.

This was my favourite of the three because it was the funniest. Hailey was the character I found the most relatable and I really enjoyed her inner monologue, sense of humour and how superstitious she was about the kiss. I’d have loved to see this fleshed out more as a full length story to really dig into her as a character and her relationship with Carwyn.

Overall, I had a good time with Mistletoe Season - I definitely recommend adding it to your Christmas TBR this year!

Tis the summer season for celebrating Christmas in July. Get ready to unwrap three novellas with mistletoe themes. The authors add their unique twist to the yuletide season. Cheeky characters, hometown hysterics and even a pied-eyed prince will leave readers rooting for their romantic leads,. Will the protagonists find love or fall victim to the poisonous plant?

Thank you to #NetGalley for the early edition of #MistletoeSeason in exchange for an honest review. I selected the novel as I'm a fan of Sheila Roberts' books but enjoyed all the heartfelt and quirky stories. What I love about seasonal novellas is that a favorite author is grouped with new authors to check out their work. Get ready to commiserate, laugh out loud and shake your head at the budding romances. Will they find their perfect mates or will their Cinderella moments be 'squashed' before New Year's.

This quick and enjoyable read was a delightful escape, populated with well-written characters that felt fun and engaging throughout the story. The author's engaging prose and witty dialogue made for a captivating experience that left me wanting more. The fast-paced plot kept me hooked from beginning to end, and the satisfying conclusion left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Return to Mistletoe by Kathleen Fuller--2.75 stars.
The Mistletoe Prince by Pepper Basham--3 stars.
Say No to Mistletoe by Sheila Roberts--2.75 stars.
Average rating: 2.83 stars.

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at HarperCollins Christian Publishing for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. In Mistletoe Season we have three separate Christmas stories: Return to Mistletoe following two middle age main characters who are given a second chance; The Mistletoe Prince following a prince trying to change his ways and a down to earth country girl who impacts him; and Say No to Mistletoe following a writer trying to avoid her past mistletoe mistakes by just saying no to mistletoe this year. Mistletoe Season comes out on October 1st and is available for preorder now.

I want to start my review by saying that I had absolutely no idea this was a Christian based set of stories when I requested the ARC. I didn't even know for sure that it was until I went to look up the publisher for it. I wouldn't have requested this ARC if I knew that it was going to be so heavily influenced by Christianity. So, to a degree, the rating for this one is partially my fault. All of the stories feature Christianity and the main characters' relationship to their faith and their morals. Outside of that, I found that most of the stories were too saccharine for my tastes. Maybe it's because the stories weren't long enough to fully dilute it, but man, was it hard to read just how sickly sweet these romances are. I also found the characters to be over the top for me. None felt grounded in reality in any way--these characters were more like caricatures to me. I had trouble with certain topics the authors chose to sprinkle throughout their stories: one was discussing how she looked so much better now that she lost weight and every time she so much as looked at a cookie we had to hear about how she was resisting temptation, another was discussing how she was such a tomboy and how she had to grow up and become a real woman and wear dresses and heels. It all felt so narrow minded and unhealthy to me.

As far as the romances go, I felt like I could root for these characters and their love. I also felt like the stumbling blocks the relationships went through made sense for the characters and their struggles. For the Christmassy rating this year I would say I give Return to Mistletoe a 3 out 5 poinsettias, The Mistletoe Prince 4 out of 5 poinsettias, and Say No to Mistletoe 2.5 out of 5 poinsettias. Given how short these romance stories were and the other plot points the authors focused on, I'd say this still felt like a pretty Christmassy short story collection.

Overall, I think I'm just not the audience for this one (which, to be fair, is mostly my fault for not doing more research before requesting it). I think there is a definite audience for this short story collection. I think if you're looking for a holiday romance with no spice then this is just the book for you.

This was such a fun read! Three different holiday stories all together. You get to quickly know three couples and their journey to romance.

The perfect read for the holiday time or like the current moment, when the summer heat is happening and you want to imagine the winter time.

A fast paced and adorable read with romance, laughter and great banter between characters.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to advance read!

I'm a person who really doesn't like novella's because they are usually over by the time that I'm really getting into the rhythm of the story and this collection is no different. While I enjoyed all three of these stories my favorite was The Mistletoe Prince by Pepper Basham. I was so excited to hear that she had written another story about the Edgewood family after reading Loyally Luke I just couldn't get this family out of my mind or heart, even though it was going to be a novella I knew that I wanted to read it and in fact I have already preordered the audio. I just can't get enough of this family. I'm giving this book 3.5 stars because of the length, and I wanted to know about the Thanksgiving dinner other than the football game how well did the prince get along with her family? It was also nice to see a character from one of Ms. Basham's older books make a cameo appearance.

I enjoyed Return to Mistletoe by Kathleen Fuller because it was about a made-up town in my home state of Missouri and we don't have that many books written about my state, but we are getting more which I am happy about. But in this book, I felt that i was missing some of the back story about Emmy and her daughter and I just can't find out if there were other books in this series you would think with the name of Return that there are, but I can't find them. All in all, I give this book 3 stars because it was depictable. All in all, I liked it.

The only book that I really didn't like was Say No to Mistletoe by Sheilia Roberts. and I give this story I'm sorry to say a two-star rating it was just a little too much for me and I thought that Hailey was a little too immature for my liking.

But all in all this was a good little Christmas read that really you could read anytime of the year, but it did get my mind off of the hat temperatures that we are having

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read this book before its street date.

Lovely set of novellas perfect for the Christmas season! I especially enjoyed journeying back into the realm of Pepper Basham's Skymar with a love story for Charlotte!

With the brutal heat of summer, a Christmas read was just what I needed to curl up on the couch with and soak up the AC! The book includes 3 novellas by authors who were all new to me. The stories put me in a Christmas mood and made me smile. With these authors all being new to me, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The writing was just pretty basic for me. I found it to be pretty one dimensional and didn’t really draw me into the character’s lives as much as I would have liked. I don’t have any other books by the authors to compare the novellas to, so I’m not sure if this is their normal style of writing, or if it’s more choppy since they aretrying to fit the story into fewer pages. If you want to get into the holiday state of mind in between your Hallmark movies, this is an easy book to get through.

An enjoyable set of stories set around the holidays, full of charm, romance, and humor. A fun quick read for anytime of the year!
The novellas all had a theme involving mistletoe, but were separate tales with clean romance. Some were reacquaintances to first loves.

I liked all three novellas, but have to confess that Pepper Basham's was my favorite after reading her Skymar series. It was delightful to see how Luke and Ellie encouraged his cousin, Charlie, and helped Ellie's brother Arran get a new start. An inspiring story of second chances and a romance with sighworthy moments.

"Forgiveness was one of the most beautiful themes of the Bible and a comforting truth she'd revisited throughout her life."
A delightful read overall. Recommend! 4.5 stars

these three short christmas stories were so cute. you learn about three very different women who find love when least expected. perfect little read to bundle up for the holidays and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What a cute little Christmas cracker!

I loved the short nature of the stories but they really packed in drama and they felt like complete stories.

Light a Christmas candle, get a hot chocolate and devour this book in once.

A big thank you to Net Galley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC.