Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the advance reader copy.
Mistletoe and Rodeo is set in the holiday themed town of Noel, North Carolina and combines a Christmas romance with themes of family, resilience, and hope. The premise follows a single mother traveling the country with her young daughter while navigating serious cardiac health challenges and searching for work, stability, and a fresh start.
Unfortunately, this book did not fully work for me.
While Kyle’s mannerisms and actions generally felt appropriate for her age (8), her dialogue often read as much older than an eight year old. Her language was consistently advanced in a way that pulled me out of the story rather than drawing me closer to her character.
The repeated use of the word “heart” also became distracting. While its relevance to the storyline is clear, its frequency felt excessive, including more than twenty mentions in the first chapter alone. Instead of reinforcing the emotional weight of the story, it took away from the cozy tone the book seemed to be aiming for.
I also struggled with the characterization of the female main character, Nicole. Her concern for her daughter’s medical needs felt realistic and understandable, but it contrasted sharply with her lack of caution around Tucker. Inviting a near stranger into her living space almost immediately and allowing her child to become emotionally attached so quickly felt inconsistent with the otherwise protective parenting portrayed. That contrast made the character’s decisions feel unrealistic to me.
The compressed timeline added to this issue. The entire story takes place over roughly two to three weeks, during which the characters go from relative strangers to navigating hospitalizations, falling in love, and more. That is a significant amount to happen in such a short period of time, and it made the emotional progression feel rushed rather than earned.
One additional note for readers is that Janet Dailey passed away in 2003, and this novel is written by a ghostwriter under her name. Some readers may not mind this, but others may prefer to know that in advance.
Overall, while the setting is charming and the story is clearly intended to be heartfelt and uplifting, the execution did not resonate with me. Readers who enjoy sentimental holiday romances and are less concerned with realism in characterization may still find this enjoyable, but it was not the cozy Christmas romance I had hoped for.