Mine Under the Mistletoe

by Rachel Higginson

Six years ago, Holly Haden fled Mistletoe, Kansas with nothing but a broken heart and a promise to never come back—after catching the man she loved kissing someone else.

Now she’s back for the holidays, determined to keep her head down, avoid everyone but her best friend, and absolutely not fall for Sam Autry all over again.

Too bad Sam has other plans.

He’s older, steadier, and still impossibly charming—and this time, he’s not letting Holly run. Between a six-year-old spy, Mistletoe traditions, and a town that reminds them both why it's home, sparks fly faster than Christmas lights on Main Street.

This time, Holly will have to run again… or finally fight for the love she never really lost.

Mine Under the Mistletoe is a heartwarming, laugh-out-loud holiday romance about second chances, small towns, and the one man who refuses to let her go twice.

Genres: Christmas

142 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 18, 2025

About the author

Rachel Higginson is the best-selling author of The Five Stages of Falling in Love, Every Wrong Reason, Bet on Us and The Star-Crossed Series.

She was born and raised in Nebraska, and spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days writing stories and raising five amazing kids.

Reviews

[Louise Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel Higginson is another favourite author and this novella was a lovely Christmas treat. It's well-established that I'm a huge fan of second chance romances and Mine Under the Mistletoe had just the right amount of yearning.

Holly left Mistletoe (such perfectly Christmassy names) with a broken heart after her first kiss with Sam when she caught him kissing her Mom just a few minutes later.

After a break-up which leaves her homeless and jobless, Holly comes back for Thanksgiving to stay with her bestie, Teagan, whose older brother, Cooper just so happens to be besties with Sam.

Holly gets a job covering the maternity leave of a first-grade teacher and one of her pupils is Sam's nephew, Brody. Brody's mischievous and steals every scene he's in.

Sam's an amazing Book Boyfriend: from his interactions with Brody (who calls him Bam-Bam) to the fact that he's responsible for transforming Mistletoe into a picture-perfect Christmas village. He might not understand why she left so abruptly but he's determined to win Holly back even fixing it so the town's movie night plays Holly's favourite Christmas movie. I love it when the MMC is 100% certain of his feelings and instead of going all alpha, he waits patiently for the FMC to catch up. 

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy Christmas story. Like a Hallmark movie that we all love and watch every year. Girl has and heart broken and moves away. Circumstances bring her back years later And the man of her dreams is still there waiting for her.

[Fran (with the book addiction) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel Higginson is back! One of my favourite authors, I’ve missed her this year. I love how she writes. Her characters are always believable yet endearing, and she knows how to create chemistry between her them.
My only wish is that this was a full-length novel, as it was over too quick!