Candleglow and Mistletoe

A short and sweet festive story.

Noelle is back in town for a few days to look after her Aunt's candle shop. She doesn'tr ecognise Gabe when she meets him - but he sure remember sher from high school. He knows he wants her and isn't taking no for an answer, but what will happen when it is time for them to leave town and head back o thier real lives?

A lovely and heartwarming Christmas romance. I loved the plot, the characters and the setting.
It's a very good festive reading, perfect if you love Christmas novel.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Josie Riviera and Netgalley for this ARC

Thank you NetGalley for providing access to an eARC of Candleglow and Mistletoe by Josie Riviera. This book is about 134 e-pages and is full to Christmas spirit. I read this book as part of my annual season reading, which I started in mid-October. Just like most of the other season reads I have completed this for year, I try to select books that have a strong Christmas theme, will probably have happy endings, and have romance and/or family involved. Basically, at Christmastime I like the sweetest, sappiest books. I don’t really read books like this through the year, so Christmas is my one time to get in as much as possible. Plus, I genuinely love getting into the spirit of the holiday season by reading books like this. For me, its like watching all the Hallmark and Lifetime movies about Christmas that I can, expect at as slower pace and I get to envision it as I wish.

Candleglow and Mistletoe is set in a small mountain town of Snowing Rock. It follows the story of Noelle Wentworth, and her arrival to Snowing Rock just before Thanksgiving. Her aunt Joy owns a candle shop in town and after an injury, Noelle volunteers to take a bus into Snowing Rock to run the shop while her aunt recuperates. However, on December 15 she is due to be back in St. Augustine –where she lives– for a piano concert with her ex-husband. Apparently, Noelle flopped at her last concert so she needs this upcoming concert to be perfect, as her way back into her career. Along the way and while in Snowing Rock, Noelle meets some memorable characters throughout the town, all while catching the eye of professional stuntman Gabe Waters. A lot of things happen in this book including a bus crash, a wax burn, a wedding, a sleigh ride, tree farm, and some tears. This book pretty much has everything you would expect from a Christmas story.

In general, the thing that I liked the most was the actual story. I feel like I am really critical when it comes to this book. I don’t want that to come off as negative or imply that this book isn’t good, because it is. The story line is super sweet and romantic. The setting of Snowing Rock is perfect for this type of story. As I read, anytime Snowing Rock was described I wished I was there. It sounds like the perfect town for me, especially at Christmas time. I think that Josie Riviera did a wonderful job building up the setting and painting a picture, in words, of the what the town looks like. I would love to see other stories take place in this same town. It is lush with more romantic Christmastime potential, especially the story between Alan and Caroline. The couple, while very young, is such a cute one. Caroline is such a likeable character. I would love to get a story about them! There are also so many other characters that could really have their own story, including Aunt Joy who is apparently alone in Snowing Rock, and the Fernandez family that Noelle meets on the bus. There is so much potential for development here!

Also, I really enjoyed the smaller story of how Noelle and Gabe first met. I think it is really sweet and makes me think back to my high school years. Of course, I didn’t have anything as dramatic or traumatic happen as they did, but I was a bit nostalgic for past times. That smaller story is one that I could most definitely see happening in real life.

As far as what didn’t work for me…mainly it was the writing. While it isn’t terrible or even low quality, there were just a lot of places where another run of editing would have really helped. There was a lot of redundancy and words or phrases that really didn’t need to be there. What I mean are things like, “she placed the book on the shelf of the bookshelf,” or “the Christmas tree lights glowed on the Christmas tree on its tree stand.” I made these two examples us, but this is the kind of thing that is peppered throughout this book. Just some quick editing for redundancy and unnecessary words would have cleared this up quickly.

Along similar lines, a lot of the dialogue just doesn’t work. I don’t think people really talk the way most of it is portrayed in this book. Some characters and some moments have a much stiffer and formal feel to them. I highly doubt that people would resort to this style of speaking and communicating in everyday life. These dialogue issues can turn characters into unbelievable and unreliable props within the story. Also with this, is how perfect Gabe seems. From the beginning I didn’t like Gabe because he just seemed too stiff and one-sided, especially in the first few scenes when they meet. I just cannot picture someone acting and speaking the way he was, on a daily basis. But along with that, Gabe is almost too perfect for me. I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop with him, but it never did. I like to have some reality scattered in the stories I read. If this had been a short story, I would have easily looked over that because of page and time constraints when writing a short piece, but when it is a full book I expect characters to be developed a little more.

I also hated the perspective of diabetes (tiny spoiler alert) as this awful curse that Gabe has to deal with. He constantly makes reference to his diabetes and how awful it is. I don’t have diabetes and don’t really know anyone who does, so perhaps I am just the insensitive one when it comes to this. I can understand that I don’t have the perspective of someone who many know the disease, and I apologize for being harsh about that. I would just rather Gabe confront his problem, and then stop using pity or anger as a way to help himself deal with it. His diabetes obviously didn’t ruin his life and make it as horrible as he implies. I also don’t understand why he has so much shame about it; it is a part of who he is and he was born with it. His treatment and view of himself as a victim really got on my nerves as I read, and probably helped contribute to me not liking Gabe as a character.

Another detail that seemed to be small at first but then grew to be detail that came up a lot is bullying and fighting people. I hated how Gabe, because he was a sickly and scrawny kid and teenager aspired to be buff and hyper masculine as he got older. Being a stuntman is cool if that’s what you want, but I don’t get it. I was so mad that he, being the good guy that he seemed to be, has to resort to his toxic masculinity to prove his worth. When he resorts of the possibility of fighting when it comes to Noelle’s ex-husband, its just a sad waste of what could have been a decent character. Violence is not the answer, and teaching people that that is the case is so damaging. This book would have been fine and the story would have still stuck if violence hadn’t been brought up, in my opinion.

On Goodreads I gave this book two stars because there were just several things that really stuck with me that I didn’t like. While the writing is just technical and easily fixed, but biggest issue was the violence and the idealization of the self as the victim (ie. Gabe and his diabetes). These things served no real purpose for me in the story and didn’t add anything to make it better. For me, they just upset me and made me not care about Gabe. Sure, he seems to be a sweet guy but his violence is a red-flag for me that I cannot ignore. While I did enjoy reading the story as a whole for this Christmas season, I don’t think I will read it again. I would recommend this to people who perhaps wouldn’t be as bothered by the threat of physical violence or someone who just wanted a light Christmas story to read for the holiday season.

Slow but sweet story. I enjoyed the story about to star crossed loves that met when they were both in high school - but never quite got together. Noelle went on to become a star musician playing piano. He went on to become a world renown stuntman. It wasn't until her aunt needed her to come help her at the story that they realize they have a connection. Mr Waters rescues several passengers from a bus crash. This is when he realizes Noelle is back in town.

A touching, heartfelt Christmas romance. I enjoyed Candleglow and Mistletoe, the characters were endearing and the storyline warming. I look forward to reading more by this author and will recommend this book to others

First, I want to thank USA’s Best-Selling Author Josie Riviera and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

USA’s Best-Selling Author Josie Riviera’s Candlelight and Mistletoe cover immediately caught my attention as it looked like a sweet Christmas card. Lately, all I have been wanting to read is Christmas books seeing it is this time of year. Candleglow and Mistletoe read like one of the amazing Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel that I love to curl up and watch. In fact, I think it would be great as a movie on that channel and highly suggest Josie Riviera submit her manuscript. They are seeking unsolicited writers as of February 2019. She would be an amazing addition to the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie lineup! I would watch it and I know her fellow readers would too.

What an incredible start to an amazing book!! I love when authors jump right into the story within the first few pages and hook you into the story! I was in awe and glued to the pages from there on out til the book was done.

Josie created some intriguing characters are so diverse that I have never read about before. Not to mention she is an amazing storyteller too. I love how these characters came together on a bus ride tragedy. Josie made me fall in love instantly with a sweet little girl named Anjalia. That girl made my heart melt. Later in the book I found out her story and it was a unique one. Noelle was a famous Pianist whom was very gifted but was working out some issues of her own. Gabe who once was a small sickly kid with diabetes was now a stunt double in the latest blockbuster film that came out.

This book is dedicated to all Josie’s wonderful readers who have supported her every step of the way. She is very thankful of you.

She would like to acknowledge her patient husband, Dave, and her wonderful three children.

In the note from the author she mentions that she loves the warm holiday candles and how she learned a lot about making the candles while researching this book. This was one of my favorite parts of the book when Noelle learned how to make candles. It brought a smile to my face as I fondly remember learning how to make candles as a Girl Scouts back in the day. Grant it I didn’t make all the fancy kinds that Noelle had to make in the shop. But I did get a feel and understanding for it.

Josie did something unique that I have never seen many authors do. However, I do feel that it was quite fitting for the book. She included her Butter Ball Cookie Recipe into the book. What is Christmas without a Christmas Cookie Recipe?!

At the end of the book she includes an excerpt of another Christmas book A Snowy White Christmas.

I would gladly read and review for Josie again!! She is very gifted and no wonder she is on the USA Best Selling Author List!!

Enjoyed the story of Noelle and Gabe. Was rooting for Noelle throughout the story....and was hoping for Noelle and Gabe to be a couple. This is definitely Hallmark movie worthy. Thank you Josie Riviera.

Loved this Christmas story! This book made me remember why I love Christmas. This story will melt your heart!

I found this book difficult to read. The dialog was stilted and awkward, and the dramatic situations were childish at best. The story concept was nice, but the execution and writing left much to be desired.

A sweet Christmas story of Noelle and Gabe. He remembers her from high school, but she has always been focused on her classical music. When she comes back to town to help her aunt at her store she meets up with Gabe and sparks fly. A nice and sweet story for Christmas, and one I enjoyed. Highly recommend this book and author.

I always enjoy this author’s books and Candleglow and Mistletoe was no exception. This book is a sweet romance and is a good easy read. I highly recommend this book to readers of romance. I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.