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Under the Mistletoe
Samantha Evans, popular lesbian romance author, has writer’s block and a book due by New Year’s Eve. When she signs up for a writing retreat in an attempt to overcome her lack of creativity, she expects a single-occupancy cabin and plenty of silence for crafting her new book.
What she doesn’t expect is a roommate. A gorgeous, woman roommate.
Gia Torres is an aspiring novelist eager to break into the publishing world and leave her horrible day job as a barista behind. She travels to a Colorado retreat to finish her very first novel, not expecting to find beautiful Samantha waiting for her there.
The only problem? The two women hate each other.
How will they overcome their first impressions and let Christmas sparks fly?
This short novel contains blizzards, snowbound lovebirds, Christmas lights, steamy romance scenes, and a happily ever after.
What she doesn’t expect is a roommate. A gorgeous, woman roommate.
Gia Torres is an aspiring novelist eager to break into the publishing world and leave her horrible day job as a barista behind. She travels to a Colorado retreat to finish her very first novel, not expecting to find beautiful Samantha waiting for her there.
The only problem? The two women hate each other.
How will they overcome their first impressions and let Christmas sparks fly?
This short novel contains blizzards, snowbound lovebirds, Christmas lights, steamy romance scenes, and a happily ever after.
188 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 3, 2017
About the author
Everly James
8 books27 followersEverly James (they/she) writes professional fan fiction. Tired of watching great movies and television shows and thinking: "this would have been even better with two femmes as the love interests"; Everly set out to write full, rich love stories that read like romcoms.
Everly can be found writing in their tiny office in the Texas Hill Country. Their email is everlyjamesauthor@gmail.com.
Everly can be found writing in their tiny office in the Texas Hill Country. Their email is everlyjamesauthor@gmail.com.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 23, 2020
2.5 stars. Ah, I hate having to write reviews like this. Aside from one aspect of this book that I liked, I was ambivalent about pretty much everything in it, and downright disliked a few more things. I don't want to go on about this for too long, so here are a few reasons why this just didn't work for me.
– Insta love. You hate to see it.
– No chemistry. Unfortunately, I did not believe for a minute that these two women had any particular affinity for each other, far less fell in love.
– Weird characterisation. It felt like neither main character really had a personality.
– Wonky structure. Given the plot/arc, this was too long, and there were like, what? Three epilogues? I got bored.
– Some very well-meaning attempts at inclusivity that were unfortunately very awkwardly-written.
– This was supposed to be a Christmas novella, but I just was not feeling The Vibes™.
The one thing I did like about this book is the fact that it was about two romance writers, both attempting to write romance novels. I got the sense that the author put in a lot of her own personal experience, and it was interesting getting a look at publishing from an independent author's point of view. I do get the feeling that things on that end were a bit unrealistic, but I mean, it's a romance novel. I didn't mind that. Everything else, though...
Don't let this review discourage you. This just didn't work particularly well for me.
– Insta love. You hate to see it.
– No chemistry. Unfortunately, I did not believe for a minute that these two women had any particular affinity for each other, far less fell in love.
– Weird characterisation. It felt like neither main character really had a personality.
– Wonky structure. Given the plot/arc, this was too long, and there were like, what? Three epilogues? I got bored.
– Some very well-meaning attempts at inclusivity that were unfortunately very awkwardly-written.
– This was supposed to be a Christmas novella, but I just was not feeling The Vibes™.
The one thing I did like about this book is the fact that it was about two romance writers, both attempting to write romance novels. I got the sense that the author put in a lot of her own personal experience, and it was interesting getting a look at publishing from an independent author's point of view. I do get the feeling that things on that end were a bit unrealistic, but I mean, it's a romance novel. I didn't mind that. Everything else, though...
Don't let this review discourage you. This just didn't work particularly well for me.
December 22, 2018
This is everything I've ever needed. I haven't read a book in a sitting in a while but I flew through this. It's perfect for any time of the year.
full review to come
full review to come
December 24, 2017
A cozy heartwarming romance!
Two strangers, one cabin, snowflakes, a blizzard, friends everyone wants, a writer, a wannabe, love that flourish and a warm ambiance. The bonus for me was that it didn't stop the moment they admit that they love each other. No, we see a lot more of them. I was enthralled to the very last page and it is definitely destined to be read over and over again. Kudos to the author for creating this cozy feel-good romance with an excellent hea.
Two strangers, one cabin, snowflakes, a blizzard, friends everyone wants, a writer, a wannabe, love that flourish and a warm ambiance. The bonus for me was that it didn't stop the moment they admit that they love each other. No, we see a lot more of them. I was enthralled to the very last page and it is definitely destined to be read over and over again. Kudos to the author for creating this cozy feel-good romance with an excellent hea.
May 17, 2020
I feel really underwhelmed. Everything just felt very rushed to me, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. I also had some issues, like how it's said a few times that a gay man would have zero reason to read a lesbian romance, which just seemed very weird to me, as if gay men and lesbian women have nothing in common.
I also think it gave a very strange view on what it means to be a writer. It's considered very doable to release a book a month, with the absolute certainty it will sell. No editing needed. Which just sounds wild to me, and completely wrong.
Rep: black lesbian MC, lesbian MC, gay side character, non-binary MC
CWs: homophobia, sex
I also think it gave a very strange view on what it means to be a writer. It's considered very doable to release a book a month, with the absolute certainty it will sell. No editing needed. Which just sounds wild to me, and completely wrong.
Rep: black lesbian MC, lesbian MC, gay side character, non-binary MC
CWs: homophobia, sex
December 16, 2017
Really like 3 5 stars. It's a sugary sweet story I really enjoyed featuring two POC women falling in love at Christmas. What else do you need? 🎄⛄❤
December 24, 2024
It may be an underserved market, but man does this book seeeerve. This might be my favorite Christmas romance of the season. The characters were fun and believable (and hot) and the plot points really give you that full HEA picture. Definitely want to read more from this author!
December 22, 2017
I absolutely loved this book. It's a sweet, easy read, and I raced through it within a couple of nights. Gia and Samantha are both such great characters, and their chemistry was there instantly. I loved the lesbian romance novel writer component, and I think it's such a great story. I've also never read a lesbian book with two WOC leads, and I was so glad to see that. There's SO MUCH happily ever after, too, like there are so many chapters of just happily ever after, and I'm not gonna complain. You should definitely read it!
January 17, 2019
A good escape that kept me entertained - well worth a read - but shallow and short.
December 14, 2020
It’s that time of year when I don’t have the brain space for anything more complicated than mediocre romance, so here we go!
This is fine but unexceptional—suffers somewhat from a short length, leaving the characters to scramble to do a U-Haul-joke move-in without any real idea of whether they’ll be, you know, happy together if they spend more than a week in the other’s company…to say nothing of the part where Samantha at least has been withholding a significant part of herself.
But mostly what interests me is the discussion of traditional publishing versus self-publishing. Here, Samantha is on the traditional (small-press) publishing track, but a number of characters make an argument for self-publishing—saying that you can put out more books faster, which can (financially) make up for a lower quality of work because (to throw some random numbers out there) five middling self-published books in six months might well sell more than one really well edited, professionally produced book in that same six months (especially if it’s a niche market to begin with). And…that can be true, absolutely, and I’m not knocking writers who are making a living from self-publishing—that’s a pretty fantastic accomplishment. But much like the conversation about critique groups in the book, I think the traditional-publisher-vs.-self-publishing argument lacks nuance. Self-publishing gives you a high degree of control over your work and means that you can pretty much publish as fast as you can write. But…to a reader, it is often (though not always) glaringly obvious from the quality of a book that it has been self-published—from editing to proofreading to cover to, if it’s a physical book rather than an ebook, the book materials. Self-publishing also means that it’s much less likely that your book will be in physical/mainstream bookstores and that you won’t have the publisher’s resources for promotion. It’s a trade-off that many authors find worthwhile, and that’s fine—but it’s still a trade-off.
Let’s come back to that discussion of critique groups, eh? Samantha warns Gia away from them, and that warning proves right. But, jeepers. Gia goes to a critique group full of people who don’t know her work, whose work she doesn’t know, and she passes her work around so that they can, what? Skim it and pass judgment on the fly? And there’s no moderation? Yes, that absolutely sounds like a terrible type of critique group. But again, that’s only one side of things: there’s also such a thing as readers you trust, who give your work actual time and thought and offer constructive criticism rather than delighting in tearing your work apart. (This might go back to the idea of writing fast and publishing fast, though: if you’re concerned about getting feedback and revising to make your story as solid—and as polished—as possible, that’s going to slow you down.)
A last note on improbability:
This is fine but unexceptional—suffers somewhat from a short length, leaving the characters to scramble to do a U-Haul-joke move-in without any real idea of whether they’ll be, you know, happy together if they spend more than a week in the other’s company…to say nothing of the part where Samantha at least has been withholding a significant part of herself.
But mostly what interests me is the discussion of traditional publishing versus self-publishing. Here, Samantha is on the traditional (small-press) publishing track, but a number of characters make an argument for self-publishing—saying that you can put out more books faster, which can (financially) make up for a lower quality of work because (to throw some random numbers out there) five middling self-published books in six months might well sell more than one really well edited, professionally produced book in that same six months (especially if it’s a niche market to begin with). And…that can be true, absolutely, and I’m not knocking writers who are making a living from self-publishing—that’s a pretty fantastic accomplishment. But much like the conversation about critique groups in the book, I think the traditional-publisher-vs.-self-publishing argument lacks nuance. Self-publishing gives you a high degree of control over your work and means that you can pretty much publish as fast as you can write. But…to a reader, it is often (though not always) glaringly obvious from the quality of a book that it has been self-published—from editing to proofreading to cover to, if it’s a physical book rather than an ebook, the book materials. Self-publishing also means that it’s much less likely that your book will be in physical/mainstream bookstores and that you won’t have the publisher’s resources for promotion. It’s a trade-off that many authors find worthwhile, and that’s fine—but it’s still a trade-off.
Let’s come back to that discussion of critique groups, eh? Samantha warns Gia away from them, and that warning proves right. But, jeepers. Gia goes to a critique group full of people who don’t know her work, whose work she doesn’t know, and she passes her work around so that they can, what? Skim it and pass judgment on the fly? And there’s no moderation? Yes, that absolutely sounds like a terrible type of critique group. But again, that’s only one side of things: there’s also such a thing as readers you trust, who give your work actual time and thought and offer constructive criticism rather than delighting in tearing your work apart. (This might go back to the idea of writing fast and publishing fast, though: if you’re concerned about getting feedback and revising to make your story as solid—and as polished—as possible, that’s going to slow you down.)
A last note on improbability:
August 5, 2018
The pacing at the beginning was fine, but in the end it seemed like the fast-forward button was pressed. Everything moved fast after the retreat. I don't think I got a good feel for the characters. Sex scenes quick and impersonal?
I did like the inclusion of a non-binary supporting character. It's nice to see others in the LGBT+ community actually represented. I would like more novels to include visibility for different people and that's something I appreciate about this author.
I did like the inclusion of a non-binary supporting character. It's nice to see others in the LGBT+ community actually represented. I would like more novels to include visibility for different people and that's something I appreciate about this author.
December 27, 2019
I wanted to like this book. It was easy to get through. That being said, I felt like the relationship between Gia and Samantha wasn’t that great. Gia continuously jumped to conclusions about Samantha for no reason at all and was mean and hurtful towards her (which she never apologized for). She also had the stereotypical stupid “poor person pride that’s so high they can’t accept a gift from a rich person and is rude to a rich person because they’re rich” characteristic. I also never once felt like Samantha was using Gia to write her book but maybe she was subconsciously. Either way, the amount of times Gia hurt her feelings with no apology made me dislike them as a couple. So the whole HEA didn’t have the satisfying, gooey feeling as usual.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2023
3.5 I do have some complaints but overall I liked it.
The cover is tragic. This does not look like a Love story. They look like two people who meet at a work conference and never interact beyond a hello.
This book did inspire me to research writer's retreats. It won't go smoothly if my single turns into a double, though. 😂 I was delighted to see several of my favorite tropes. The characters do seem a bit underdeveloped. Open door, but very abbreviated scenes.
The cover is tragic. This does not look like a Love story. They look like two people who meet at a work conference and never interact beyond a hello.
This book did inspire me to research writer's retreats. It won't go smoothly if my single turns into a double, though. 😂 I was delighted to see several of my favorite tropes. The characters do seem a bit underdeveloped. Open door, but very abbreviated scenes.
December 24, 2018
This is a wonderfully romantic love story that takes place around Christmas. It is atypically for me to start a book and not be able to put it down, but that was the case with this one. I read it in less than a day and felt so good reading it the whole time. It is definitely worth reading if you are looking for a good FF love story.
December 14, 2017
This was cute, sexy, festive and so diverse!
Also it's like bookception, being a queer book about queer writers writing queer books!
I flew through it and really enjoyed it. Will definitely be checking out the author's other works.
Also it's like bookception, being a queer book about queer writers writing queer books!
I flew through it and really enjoyed it. Will definitely be checking out the author's other works.
December 26, 2017
Typically artist
Gia and Samantha are authors. They get off to a rocky start and even a rockier middle. But the ending made up for everything. Read their story. Loving that the two are WOC. Great read!!!
Gia and Samantha are authors. They get off to a rocky start and even a rockier middle. But the ending made up for everything. Read their story. Loving that the two are WOC. Great read!!!
December 27, 2017
Wonderful!
This is a very well written tale about finding love. The characters are well developed and the storyline flows from the pages and right into your heart. If you enjoy lesbian love stories with happy endings, be sure to add this book to your must-read list.
This is a very well written tale about finding love. The characters are well developed and the storyline flows from the pages and right into your heart. If you enjoy lesbian love stories with happy endings, be sure to add this book to your must-read list.
December 8, 2017
Sweet and funny
I found the ironic humor of this story to be as entertaining as the sweet romance between the two leading ladies.
I found the ironic humor of this story to be as entertaining as the sweet romance between the two leading ladies.
January 1, 2019
Great Story
I really liked this book . It was heartwarming and sexy, with a touch of intrigue. Looking forward to reading more of this authors books.
I really liked this book . It was heartwarming and sexy, with a touch of intrigue. Looking forward to reading more of this authors books.
Want to Read
December 6, 2019*Shakes fist at the sky*
CURSE YOU AMAZON!!!!! I really wish this was on the Nook dammit
CURSE YOU AMAZON!!!!! I really wish this was on the Nook dammit
Read
August 30, 2022
Trigger & Content Warnings
Queermisia
Queermisia
December 27, 2023
Will definitely be reading more Everly James. Lovely holiday romance with a dash of smut.
December 14, 2020
When you go into a Christmas rom com, you have to know what you’re getting into, and what this story lacks in substance, it has nearly all of my favorite relationship tropes. E2L, close quarters, I just love it. The characters unfortunately didn’t really have much personality outside of their relationship with each other, but for a quick holiday read I’m not sure what more I could expect. Steamy, but not explicitly so which was also much appreciated for a romcom!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews