What do you think?
Rate this book
Under the Mistletoe: Six Novels to Warm Winter Nights
Keep your heating bills down this winter and warm up with these cold-weather romances!
Charming and dashing, sexy and funny, these six Christmas stories bring couples together around the holiday season. From romance stalwarts like Raine Cantrell, Sherrill Bodine, Tiffany White, Katherine Kingley, and Anita Mills, these gorgeous tales cross time and place to get to the human heart at the center of the season, reminding every reader that the best part of winter happens underneath the mistletoe…
Charming and dashing, sexy and funny, these six Christmas stories bring couples together around the holiday season. From romance stalwarts like Raine Cantrell, Sherrill Bodine, Tiffany White, Katherine Kingley, and Anita Mills, these gorgeous tales cross time and place to get to the human heart at the center of the season, reminding every reader that the best part of winter happens underneath the mistletoe…
Kindle Edition
First published November 24, 2014
10 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Anita Mills
47 books68 followersA former history and English teacher, Anita Mills turned to writing in the mid-1980's. After her regency romance SCANDAL BOUND was published followed by her highly acclaimed LADY OF FIRE, Anita Mills went on to enjoy an award filled career. Her historical novels and regency short stories are ranked among the best in their respective genres. The parents of four children, Anita and her husband Larry find peace on a small farm near Plattsburgh, Missouri. This former teacher has drawn upon her love for both history and English to enrich her novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 21, 2024
Frankly, I cannot tell if these stories were published in previous years via other publishers because each story has a copyright earlier than the publication date of this book. Therefore, buyers beware. Some of these stories are novellas, and others are full-length novels. I'm disappointed that these stories jump around from Regency to contemporary to pioneer. I prefer reading all the stories from a similar time frame or genre in a book. But that is just my preference. I rounded up the overall rating to 4 stars.
THE 6' 1" GRINCH (Tiffany White) -- 3 stars
Hollie Winslow is a Christmas nut; the holidays start at Thanksgiving and continue through Valentine's Day. However, she has met her match in Noel Hawksley, a real live holiday Grinch. She's a real estate broker, and he's looking for a house (he's bearing cash).
Let me skip to the rating. I don't like children dominating the story. Then, the author included Mrs. Claus in her story, interrupting the main story. I thought that diluted the story and made it much weaker.
THE CHRISTMAS BALL (Sherrill Bodine) -- 3 stars
Lady Althena Cummins never goes to the annual masquerade ball because she stays home and cares for Persephone, the youngest sister who is crippled. Lord Cummins is a scholar and indifferent to what goes on in the house. His second wife dotes on the second daughter (and her progeny) to the exclusion of the other daughters. However, Persephone wants Althena to go to the ball this year, and she's secretly constructed a toga garment for Althena to wear. Althena goes to the ball and meets Lord Finchley. He's immediately enamored with this vision. However, he started the story pining after his highfliers. So when Althena disappears just before the midnight unveiling, Finchley goes all out to find the mysterious woman of his dreams.
I've read this story before; the hero is shallow and suddenly claims he's in love with a vision he met at a ball. Very unlikely.
THE SOUND OF SNOW (Katherine Kingsley) -- VG
The whole story revolves around the close relationship between two cousins, who happen to look a great deal alike. They have lived in the same home since Joanna's parents were killed. Lydia is the younger, spoiled daughter whose parents took Joanna into their home and hope she will marry soon.
Joanna is compromised through no fault of her own but refuses to marry the man who tries to ruin her. Instead, Joanna opts to move to Italy (she inherited a small villa there from her grandmother) and reside quietly. Eventually, Joanna marries an older man who dies suddenly after eight months of marriage.
Joanna is drawn from Italy by the message that her cousin Lydia has died. Earlier, Lydia sent a letter to Joanna to go get her darling baby boy (Miles) and take him away from the monster she married if anything happened to her. Honor-bound by her close relationship with Lydia, Joanna reluctantly leaves Italy.
Miles is a silent, distant child when she arrives at Wakefield Abbey. His father, Guy de Salis, is remote and hostile. Before long, Joanna becomes governess to the five-year-old child and works to break through Mile's shell. Joanna soon realizes that Guy is also damaged.
Until the 2/3 mark of the book, this was a five-star story. First, however, I have a real problem with magical events, and Brother Michael was such an event. Secondly, I thought some sexual encounters were more graphic than necessary. This story takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride. Even with the faults mentioned here, I enjoyed the story.
MORE THAN A MIRACLE (Raine Cantrell) -- VG+
Maureen O'Rourke and her two children spent their second winter in an abandoned cabin in the Colorado mountains in 1884. At first, Maureen expected someone to reclaim their home. But no one came to reclaim it, and Maureen's family settled in and called it home. Gabe came riding in during a terrible snowstorm and told Maureen that the land and cabin were his. However, he is upset with Maureen because she stole something from Gabe -- his son. This is a different story.
A TIME FOR GIVING (Raine Cantrell) -- 3 stars
Jacob DeWitt has a few days' furlough to go home during the Civil War (Christmas, 1864) and marry Ellie Wintifred. The backstory is that Jacob married Ellie's prettier cousin, Lucy, and had two children. Unfortunately, Lucy died, Jacob's farmhouse burned to the ground, and Ellie took in the children and Jacob's young brother, Thomas. All this happened while Jacob was off at war.
Ellie thinks she is getting a second prize, not because Jacob loves her (and wants to marry her) but because he feels obligated to her. Of course, Ellie has been in love with Jacob for years. Jacob's aunt is badgering Jacob about staying with an unmarried lady (Ellie). It is a scandal in the area.
I had a much harder time getting into this story.
WINTER ROSES (Anita Mills) -- VG
Certain aspects of Middle Ages life are difficult to accept, mainly that women were chattel. If a woman got a vicious husband, her life would be hell. Her aristocratic father generally sold her to increase his wealth or familial allegiances. Usually, the young woman had no say in the marriage because she was an item of property. Life during those times was difficult and fairly short. The life expectancy was about 35 years.
This story is about Arabella of Byrum and her misalliance with Elias. He was an older man who beat Arabella routinely and probably damaged the unborn child she carried. When the child was born disfigured, her husband blamed it on Arabella's illicit affair with another. It was all in his head, but he was powerful enough to get every one of his acquaintances to agree with his faulty thinking. When he died suddenly, his adult sons banished Arabella back to her father, along with the damaged child.
Superstition was rife in those times, and the villagers and most people saw a damaged child as punishment by God against the mother, father, or both. Nigel, Arabella's father, sold his daughter again but did not allow anyone to tell the prospective groom about the sickly child. This is a long story of a mother willing to do just about anything to protect her child. I found this book to be tediously slow. I think at least 70 pages could have been cut and not harmed the story. Despite my criticisms, this author did a marvelous job of showing the combination of devout Christianity mixed with superstition and pagan beliefs that marked this age.
THE 6' 1" GRINCH (Tiffany White) -- 3 stars
Hollie Winslow is a Christmas nut; the holidays start at Thanksgiving and continue through Valentine's Day. However, she has met her match in Noel Hawksley, a real live holiday Grinch. She's a real estate broker, and he's looking for a house (he's bearing cash).
Let me skip to the rating. I don't like children dominating the story. Then, the author included Mrs. Claus in her story, interrupting the main story. I thought that diluted the story and made it much weaker.
THE CHRISTMAS BALL (Sherrill Bodine) -- 3 stars
Lady Althena Cummins never goes to the annual masquerade ball because she stays home and cares for Persephone, the youngest sister who is crippled. Lord Cummins is a scholar and indifferent to what goes on in the house. His second wife dotes on the second daughter (and her progeny) to the exclusion of the other daughters. However, Persephone wants Althena to go to the ball this year, and she's secretly constructed a toga garment for Althena to wear. Althena goes to the ball and meets Lord Finchley. He's immediately enamored with this vision. However, he started the story pining after his highfliers. So when Althena disappears just before the midnight unveiling, Finchley goes all out to find the mysterious woman of his dreams.
I've read this story before; the hero is shallow and suddenly claims he's in love with a vision he met at a ball. Very unlikely.
THE SOUND OF SNOW (Katherine Kingsley) -- VG
The whole story revolves around the close relationship between two cousins, who happen to look a great deal alike. They have lived in the same home since Joanna's parents were killed. Lydia is the younger, spoiled daughter whose parents took Joanna into their home and hope she will marry soon.
Joanna is compromised through no fault of her own but refuses to marry the man who tries to ruin her. Instead, Joanna opts to move to Italy (she inherited a small villa there from her grandmother) and reside quietly. Eventually, Joanna marries an older man who dies suddenly after eight months of marriage.
Joanna is drawn from Italy by the message that her cousin Lydia has died. Earlier, Lydia sent a letter to Joanna to go get her darling baby boy (Miles) and take him away from the monster she married if anything happened to her. Honor-bound by her close relationship with Lydia, Joanna reluctantly leaves Italy.
Miles is a silent, distant child when she arrives at Wakefield Abbey. His father, Guy de Salis, is remote and hostile. Before long, Joanna becomes governess to the five-year-old child and works to break through Mile's shell. Joanna soon realizes that Guy is also damaged.
Until the 2/3 mark of the book, this was a five-star story. First, however, I have a real problem with magical events, and Brother Michael was such an event. Secondly, I thought some sexual encounters were more graphic than necessary. This story takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride. Even with the faults mentioned here, I enjoyed the story.
MORE THAN A MIRACLE (Raine Cantrell) -- VG+
Maureen O'Rourke and her two children spent their second winter in an abandoned cabin in the Colorado mountains in 1884. At first, Maureen expected someone to reclaim their home. But no one came to reclaim it, and Maureen's family settled in and called it home. Gabe came riding in during a terrible snowstorm and told Maureen that the land and cabin were his. However, he is upset with Maureen because she stole something from Gabe -- his son. This is a different story.
A TIME FOR GIVING (Raine Cantrell) -- 3 stars
Jacob DeWitt has a few days' furlough to go home during the Civil War (Christmas, 1864) and marry Ellie Wintifred. The backstory is that Jacob married Ellie's prettier cousin, Lucy, and had two children. Unfortunately, Lucy died, Jacob's farmhouse burned to the ground, and Ellie took in the children and Jacob's young brother, Thomas. All this happened while Jacob was off at war.
Ellie thinks she is getting a second prize, not because Jacob loves her (and wants to marry her) but because he feels obligated to her. Of course, Ellie has been in love with Jacob for years. Jacob's aunt is badgering Jacob about staying with an unmarried lady (Ellie). It is a scandal in the area.
I had a much harder time getting into this story.
WINTER ROSES (Anita Mills) -- VG
Certain aspects of Middle Ages life are difficult to accept, mainly that women were chattel. If a woman got a vicious husband, her life would be hell. Her aristocratic father generally sold her to increase his wealth or familial allegiances. Usually, the young woman had no say in the marriage because she was an item of property. Life during those times was difficult and fairly short. The life expectancy was about 35 years.
This story is about Arabella of Byrum and her misalliance with Elias. He was an older man who beat Arabella routinely and probably damaged the unborn child she carried. When the child was born disfigured, her husband blamed it on Arabella's illicit affair with another. It was all in his head, but he was powerful enough to get every one of his acquaintances to agree with his faulty thinking. When he died suddenly, his adult sons banished Arabella back to her father, along with the damaged child.
Superstition was rife in those times, and the villagers and most people saw a damaged child as punishment by God against the mother, father, or both. Nigel, Arabella's father, sold his daughter again but did not allow anyone to tell the prospective groom about the sickly child. This is a long story of a mother willing to do just about anything to protect her child. I found this book to be tediously slow. I think at least 70 pages could have been cut and not harmed the story. Despite my criticisms, this author did a marvelous job of showing the combination of devout Christianity mixed with superstition and pagan beliefs that marked this age.
Displaying 1 of 1 review