Mistletoe Kisses

by Sam Mariano, Isabella Starling

All I want for Christmas is Mr. McLaren under the mistletoe... Of course, that's all any girl in my senior class wants, but the crazy hot, decidedly grinchy Mr. McLaren is not an option. Not only because he's our teacher, but because he's a real jerk. All year I’ve kept my head down, turned in good work, and tried my best not to attract Mr. McLaren’s attention. I’m comfortable admiring him from a safe distance, but I know better than to get too close. As ridiculous as it is to imagine that my brilliant, arrogant teacher might ever be interested in a student, there’s something about the intensity of his gaze when I catch him looking at me in class… I’m sure it’s all in my head. At least, I’m sure of that until the day he overhears a classmate asking me out. All of a sudden, I have Mr. McLaren’s full attention. His methods of commanding mine are unethical at best, but there’s something so enigmatic about this man. I can’t stay away. Not that he’s giving me much of a choice. I knew I wanted Mr. McLaren, but I didn’t know… Maybe he wants me, too. Mistletoe Kisses is the perfect festive winter treat. It is a very steamy student/teacher romance of 47,000 words (a short novel).

Genres: Novella, Romance, High School, Holiday, Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 22, 2019

About the author

Follow Sam Mariano on Facebook, Instagram (@sammarianobooks), or check out her Blog! If you need to email her, she can be reached at sammarianoauthor@gmail.com (but she is sometimes tardy about checking email. Mateo is very demanding).

Sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects--she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)

All of Sam's books are available on Amazon! (And don't forget to follow Sam's Amazon Author page to get notified about the newest releases.)

Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.
Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.
Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP.
Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!

Reviews

[D.L. Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love me a good student/teacher taboo read and this one didn’t disappoint. Loved the Christmas spirit, it only added to the cuteness that ensued.

Gotta love the audacity of a teacher that cockblocks his own student.

I love his grumpy sarcasm and that she has his number. Always bite back!

You can’t say no to an elfie, there’s a sign. Hilarious and adorable!

I love this guy, he’s such a lovable asshole. And sexy as all get out and than he said the magic words ... ‘good girl’ ... aw hell, here we go.

And as much as I adore Cal, his sister is just as delightful.

Well that was a sharp turn into unhappy town. It’s all fun and games until reality give you a swift kick to the balls.

Oh snap! She uses money out of her own pocket to buy Christmas gifts for those in need? Well Cal, how much more of an asshole are you now? What’s next? Puppy kicking? Perhaps you’d like to head to a pediatric cancer unit and tell them all Santa doesn’t exist?

Why do forehead touches always get me right in the feels?

We started down a dirty road, took a left at Jerkface lane and now we’re headed down Affectionate drive. I wonder where we’re headed next? 🤔

Well it was a twisty road to get here but I’m thoroughly pleased with where we ended up.

[Melluvsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread! I’d forgotten all about this little gem. 🖤

Mr. McLaren is a wildly inappropriate dirty boy. 👀😏

He’s a little underhanded and manipulative in his tactics, as Sam’s heros tend to be. 😈

I kinda loved him. 🤷🏼‍♀️😅




⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️

- no cheating or sharing
- no OW drama
- no OM drama - a guy in her class asks her out and makes H jealous
- no dubcon
- student/teacher
- h is a 18 yr old virgin
- H is 28 yr old experienced man

[vee · Rating 2 out of 5]

not a student teacher fav but not the worse either. imo this wattpad book was better, bad written as it is

2.10✨

[Amanda Marie ❤'s Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sexy holiday goodness!

This was everything we've come to expect from Sam Mariano- a too-sexy hero who is damn near unlikable/irredeemable, and a heroine who shows him that there is strength in her softness. Resilience as opposed to perceived weakness.
Callan McLaren is delicious, as are all of Mariano's men. Oh, but that she could will them into life. We can dream, can't we?
As this is a standalone novella with new characters we don't get quite as much character development as usual, but the author did an amazing job with the short number of pages she had. We don't get much background, but every scene serves a purpose and packs a punch to progress the storyline and show us who these characters are. We might not get quantity, but we sure get quality.
The chemistry between Callan and Noelle is smoking hot. Honestly I think it is mostly from Callan, but whatevs.
I definitely recommend this for a sexy little Christmas forbidden romance (teacher/student, age gap) with a happy ending. 🔥


*I had previously given a five-star rating prior to release to offset a baseless one-star rating that was given before the novella was even finished, let alone released. I have since revised it to reflect my actual review of the ARC generously received.*

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one was creepy

English teacher and student. I thought they wouldnt have a sexual relationship until she graduated but nope. Definitely taking advantage of her and just because she's legal, it does not mean it's ok.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I don’t bother telling her that if I give up Noelle, I might be losing something worth much more."

I loved, loved, loved, this student teacher romance. Since it was a Christmas read I was a little worried it would end there and I wouldn't get the kind of closure that I need from a romance but Sam Mariano didn't let me down. Everything plays out and you aren't left feeling like you missed something, you get your HEA.

This is probably a 4.5 for me because Cal fucked up my soul a little bit with how cruel he was to Noelle. I kind of got it but still, I feel like she should have made him suffer more for what he did to her. Maybe I'm just overly vindictive because I find myself feeling that way a lot when a guy fucks up a romance.

A great read that I highly recommend, even if it's not the holiday season. It's going on my re-read shelf and hopefully it won't hurt so much next time lol.

[Wobilba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have loved this more if the heroine wasn’t kinda annoying . Her desperation to get the hero to take her virginity really got on my nerves.

[amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

read May 31, 2023 - June 1, 2023: 1 star

[TheSassyNerdBlog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isabella Starling is in my top 10 but I have not had the pleasure of reading anything by Sam Mariano, so when I saw this I was intrigued and I was not disappointed.

This is a forbidden teacher/student romance, age gap, Christmas romance novella. It was short but it lacked for nothing. It was steamy, seductive, and naughty, it was exactly what I needed for this time of year.

Noelle and Callan were hot! Hot as hell and the more this relationship was off limited and forbidden the hotter these two got, the more they wanted each other. The connection between them was instant and even though they know they should be ignoring these impulses and this desire they have for one another, they can't help but follow it, putting them both at risk. The connection between this student and her teacher was on fire. The connection was thick and the chemistry off the charts.

These two balance each other out in a way, yet they bounded off each other in the best way possible. I absolutely loved them both. The authors have created two amazing characters that I was completely smitten with.

I am not into Christmas themes but I have found a few this year that I have loved and this is one of them. As I said, Isabella isn't new to me, so I knew I would love it. Sam only added to Isabella's writing and made it even more incredible. These two worked well together. It flowed flawlessly and I read this with each and in just one sitting. I couldn't put it down.

Such an awesome, steamy, naughty, fun, intriguing and addictive Christmas novella... Perfect!

5 Stars

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick student/teacher, age gap, secret relationship romance

Callum/Mr. McLaren’s (28) attracted to his student, Noelle (18). When he overhears another student trying to ask her out of a date, he decides to call her over to discuss her “horrible” paper… which she’ll require private tutoring for if she wants to improve😈. SNEAKY SNEAKY SNEAKY 💅.

He plans to meet with her after she gets off of work, as Santa’s Little Helper Elf, and they do some shopping before going to his house. So… it might be a “little” inappropriate that they shop at a lingerie store😬, but I’m not here to judge 🤷🏻‍♀️. They also go to a bookstore and buy erotica, and that’s when I decided that Cal is MY type of man 😉.

Ahhhh. The secrecy, the thrills, the underhanded ways Cal gets Noelle to be under his command/spell. This man sure wanted to tutor her, but it wasn’t about homework 🥵🔥. So we only get one solid ish smexxy scene (he eats dessert days before lol but full meal later)- with how short and how fast pace, I didn’t feel it (although, I would’ve liked it to be more complete).

Overall, it was a nice Christmas treat. If only
it was a little (or a lotta) bit longer.

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no owd/sharing/cheating
-mild omd- there’s a boy that wants the h. She doesn’t
-Dubcon ish (maybe not even that)
-virgin h
-no c@nd@ms, she’s on the pill

[Sam]

LIVE!!

𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗕 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗣𝗬 ↓
AMAZON: https://amzn.to/2EJ1z0d
AMAZON UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0831N9Z8T
AMAZON AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0831N9Z8T
AMAZON CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0831N9Z8T
Also available in #KindleUnlimited!

[Whatishreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was PURRRRFECT😩🤌🏾


Safety squad:
-no real ow/om drama
-no cheating/sharing
-h is a virgin
-no condoms
-HEA

[Denice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistletoe Kisses by Sam Mariano & Isabella Starling ⭐⭐½

Hero - Callan McLaren. Teaches English Literature at Oak Grove High. Tall, muscular, and broad-shouldered with dark hair and blue-grey eyes. Noelle likens him to Bruce Wayne - crisp suit, slicked back hair, and a to-die-for smirk.

Heroine - Noelle Harper. Senior at Oak Grove High, also works at the mall as an elf for the holidays. Petite with slightly longer than shoulder-length red hair and emerald-green eyes.

Overall Thoughts - I enjoyed enough of this book that I consider it a so-so read, but I’m really disappointed in the direction it took at the halfway mark. The Marymount scene was a great step toward fixing it, but then it backslid again, ultimately giving me an unsatisfactory ending. I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I'll try to touch on all the big points in my review, but there was a lot going on so I may have missed things.

What I Liked

The first 50%. The book is well-written and had a lot of potential that eventually went to waste when the authors decided to make Callan an even bigger a*shole than he already was.

Noelle. I enjoyed most aspects of her character. She’s kind, doesn’t play games, is smart, has a sense of responsibility, and gives back to her community. She even has the sense in the beginning to push back on the inappropriate things Callan (still Mr. McLaren to her at the time) would say or do before she realized she had a chance at being with him. However, once she learned that, she lost almost all self-respect. I actually felt so bad for her at times because I do believe part of the reason for that was her age, inexperience, and Callan's manipulation.

The taboo aspect. I enjoy a well-done teacher/student relationship. The key is that it needs to be a balanced one. This one had potential, but...yikes.

What I Disliked

The “breakup” scene. It's in quotations because they weren't in a relationship, but they'd been physical by this point. Callan was exceptionally cruel to Noelle during this scene and he didn’t even have to try to win her back afterward. No, he just had to be a little nice to her and she was back in love. A little “I’m sorry” and that was that. What was the point of him stomping on her heart if he didn’t even have to work to put it back together?

Noelle’s lack of self-respect. She’s like a puppy dog when it comes to Callan. She’s such a smart girl, but she wears rose-colored glasses when it comes to him. She finds another woman at his house? Let him go down on her in the driveway. He tells her he can’t have sex with her because he’s got a date that night? She let’s him kiss her at the first sight of mistletoe. Come on, girl! Know your worth and either dump him for good or make him grovel! Now, I can’t be too harsh on her because she’s young and inexperienced, and he’s rather manipulative. But the way things played out, the authors gave her no opportunity for growth. No opportunity for her to realize that she’s special and should make him work to win her.

The imbalance of power. Even I cringed in places because of how lopsided their interactions were. It started off on the wrong foot when Callan began pursuing her just for the sake of "playing" with her. Initially, he had no intentions of starting anything romantic with her. He just wanted to see how far he could push her sexually without actually having sex with her, saying he could catch her easily if he wanted to, but then what would he do with her?

Callan had ALL the power, the entire way through. At no point did Noelle have the upper hand and very rarely was she on even ground with him. The only time that happened was when they were in Marymount. That was the only time their relationship seemed balanced...until they got to the inn, anyway. Then it went right back to him having the upper hand. Not because he’s her teacher and therefore an authority figure - I’m talking he literally manipulated her the entire way through this book and at times it felt uncomfortable, especially in the beginning when even the heroine was uncomfortable, but he kept pushing anyway.

All smoke and no fire. The book is steamy, yes, but it’s mostly foreplay. There’s only one actual sex scene and I found it to be disappointing for a couple of reasons. 1) It demonstrated the heroine’s weakness yet again, and 2) it just wasn’t as hot as everything else leading up to it.

No payoff. They only become a real couple in the last chapter so we get no time with them in a relationship, in love, on page. They don’t even say “I love you” by the end. The epilogue is also an HFN. Details are in the safety info below.

Neutral But Noteworthy

Callan. I was torn on whether to put him in this section or the “dislike” section. I don’t mind a*shole characters in two situations: 1) They’re only a-holes in the sense that they’re gruff (not cruel) and don’t care what people think of them, and 2) When they’re true jerks but get redeemed through some well-written groveling. I’d say Callan started off like the first one, but transformed into a more cruel version and ultimately didn’t have to do any groveling to redeem himself. All he had to do was book a hotel room and the heroine was like, “I’m in.” Like, she’s not even going to ask about the date he said was going on the night before?

The Christmas vibes. There’s a decent amount of holiday goodness in this book, so I enjoyed that. I just wish there wasn’t so much drama to overshadow it.

SAFETY

Age: Noelle - 18; Callan - 28

Sexual History: Noelle is a virgin, but did have a boyfriend for part of the previous year. She says it wasn’t super serious and that they never made it past over the clothes action. Callan says he’s been with plenty of women over the years but never enjoyed any of them the way he enjoys Noelle. His sister says she's never met anyone that Callan's dated before Noelle. She's also the first student he's ever been attracted to. We don’t learn when his last time was, but he does say at one point that if he "just wanted to look at a woman's pussy, I could've called any number of women to come in her place" which leads me to believe it probably wasn't all that long ago if he has so many women at the ready.

Condoms: Not used with Noelle. I assume he used them in the past. Noelle is on the pill, though he doesn’t ask her about it until the morning after.

Heat Level: Scorcher - 4/5 → I have to say, though, most of that comes from what essentially amounts to foreplay leading up to the main act. There are hints that this would be a Dom/sub relationship and that spanking would be involved. Well, once they actually have sex around the 85% mark, it was a major let down. No D/s, no spanking. She literally has to beg him to have sex with her before he finally gives in and it's not because it's a mutually agreed upon power exchange. He's just undecided on whether he wants to take it there. That’s the only actual sex scene in the book.

Push/Pull: Yes Around the 50% mark, Callan pushes Noelle away by getting her naked in his bed and then pulling away at the last minute, saying he can’t have sex with her because he’s got a date later and is saving his cum for that woman (see OW drama). Initially, Noelle thinks he’s lying to challenge her, but he manages to convince her he’s serious. He’s extremely cruel to her in this scene and their relationship, such as it was, effectively ended. (Note: he did all this because his sister sowed seeds of doubt in his mind that things could work with Noelle. I assume he was extra cruel because of how idealistic she is - he had to crush her or she'd keep coming back.)

They’re reunited by chance the very next afternoon around 58% when he’s roped into being the faculty advisor for a school committee she’s on. Things start off tersely, but by the end of the meeting, they talk openly about neutral topics. Noelle informs him that as the faculty advisor, he has to run a few errands with her that afternoon, ending with a trip to a bookstore in Marymount, a couple of towns over. The car ride is peaceful - I guess they were in kind a of truce. Neither brought up what happened the day before. Once in the bookstore, Callan overhears Noelle on the phone confirming a date that night and decides to sabotage it by stranding Noelle with him in Marymount. Mind you, he hasn’t decided that he wants to be with her, he just doesn’t want her dating anyone else.

At 68%, after slashing his own tire and calling a tow truck, he goes on his own date of sorts with Noelle to the nearby winter festival. Both are comfortable being in the open since no one knows them there. It's their only date in the book and I wish more of the book was like this scene. Again, they still haven't talked about what happened.

He kisses her at 72% and you’d think that means they’ve made up because he then hires a sleigh ride to take them to a local inn where he books a room. However, once they’re in bed, he acts disinterested again. Noelle is the one who pushes him to do more. He makes her beg before finally giving in. Again, Noelle still hasn't brought up the fact that he'd said he was going on a date the night before with another woman. Nothing had been resolved by the time they had sex. She was just feeling romantic after their "date".

The next morning, at 88%, he finally decides to go all in with dating her, saying she's worth it. He apologizes to her and she happily accepts it. However, this is the final chapter so we don’t actually get any time with them as a couple. They don’t even say “I love you” for the first time on page. They do in the epilogue, but it’s their one year anniversary then so I assume they’ve already been saying it for a while.

Separation: Not really They break things off, but are reunited the very next afternoon so yes, technically they were separated for about a day. He attempted to go on a date with another woman the same night he broke things off with Noelle, but ultimately couldn't go through with it. Noelle arranged a date for the night they reunite, but gets distracted by Callan and stands the guy up.

Cheating: No

OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: OW - yes The first instance is just unfounded jealousy when she sees Callan talking to the school’s “queen bitch” at the mall. He says she was just asking for advice on her paper. The heroine doubts the other girl’s intentions, but lets it drop. The girl is never mentioned in relation to Callan again after that. Not sure what the point was of that interaction.

The next instance happens when Noelle decides to visit Callan’s home unannounced. When he answers the door, she sees a woman behind him and assumes he’s on a date. She gets understandably upset and rushes back to her car, but Callan stops her. For whatever reason, he thinks the best course of action is to go down on her and does so out in plain sight by her car in his driveway (he never explains why he did that). Afterwards, he tells her to come inside where he introduces the woman as his sister Carla. Carla did see what they did outside, but it's not mentioned how much she saw or how long she watched.

The final instance occurs after Carla put doubts in his head about dating one of his students. (Side note: she’s never seen or heard from again after that one scene, so I guess the authors just needed a throwaway sh*tstarter). He behaves cruelly toward Noelle, allowing her to think they’re going to have sex, when at the last moment he pulls away and says he can’t have sex with her because he’s got a date that night and is saving his cum for the other woman. And yes, we find out in the last chapter that he did indeed have a date planned, but that he got as far as the parking lot of the restaurant before deciding he couldn’t do it and driving away. He tells this to Noelle after they makeup and she’s fine with it. She's just happy he didn't sleep with anyone.; OM - yes There’s a boy in her class, Percy, that asks her on a date in the beginning and as she’s about to accept, Callan interrupts them and comes up with the BS idea of her doing extra study sessions with him. We later learn that Noelle was indeed going to accept Percy’s invitation, but that was before she knew Callan was an option, as she put it.

Percy then asks her out a second time, again in front of Callan, and this time she asks him to walk with her. She doesn’t want to accept his invitation, but does want to make Callan jealous, so turning him down out of earshot of Callan was the middle ground she settled on. She does so and Percy accepts it gracefully.

The third instance is Percy yet again. This occurs after Callan has torn her heart to shreds and she decides that while she’s not really into Percy, it wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance. They set up a movie date, which Callan overhears the confirmation of and promptly sabotages it. He strands Noelle with him a couple towns over so she misses her date. Noelle forgets all about Percy for a while before finally remembering and seeing he’s been trying to get in touch with her. She apologizes via text and Percy isn’t seen or heard again. Poor Percy!

Sex scene with OW/OM: No

Abuse: Emotionally, yes The hero manipulates the heroine almost every chance he gets from their first “study session” all the way until their first time having sex. His behavior gives her anxiety and even after they've entered into a real relationship at the end, she worried he wouldn't follow through with being a good boyfriend. Luckily for her, he did.

Possible Pet Peeves/Triggers: Yes Student/teacher relationship - on page; Hero is emotionally manipulative - on page. Secret relationship - on page; Secret engagement - on page; Hero's father passed away from cancer - off page, memories; Public play with voyeurism (the sister sees but there's no mention of how much or how long) - on page.

HEA/HFN: HFN There’s one epilogue set a year later. Noelle graduated six months ago and it’s now the one year anniversary of their relationship. They have dinner with Noelle’s mother that night and finally reveal their relationship to her. Callan admits to her having been his student, but says that he fell in love with her mind and waited until she’d graduated until he pursued her. The mother buys it. After dinner, they head back to the inn where their relationship really began and he proposes to her. The story ends with her accepting, but agreeing to keep it secret for a few months, already planning a Christmastime wedding in her head.

[elle · Rating 1 out of 5]

The male lead was a creep. I'm going to stop reading Christmas books now.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE the thrill I get from secret and forbidden romances and this naughty Christmas novella gave me ALL the thrills! It was a quick read, one that could be done in one sitting if you found a couple hours to do so, but don't be fooled by the shortness of this book because Sam and Isabella were still able to hit every important aspect of a good romance: the forbidden, the temptation, the resistance, the hot and cold, the craving, the character depth and chemistry, the plot...this book lacked in nothing and was utterly addictive!

"You have all the lovely qualities I don't. You'll balance me out perfectly, and I'll keep you from wimping out on life. We're a perfect match."
"You were a fool to fight it."she adds playfully.

For it only being a novella (which are obviously shorter), and the fact that it was Sam and Isabella first co-written story, I couldn't of been more happy with what they came up with. They collaborated beautifully and brought a story that was both addictive and believable. This book was about toeing that line of temptation and resisting the urge to jump over it. In the end though, it was futile to resist, there's no joy in not pushing your comfort zone. There's no excitement in not giving into your secret desires. Callan and Noelle try to fight that battle, but they ultimately loose.

She is intoxicating, like the purest form of an already potent drug, and I want more. I don't care if she wrecks my system, I don't care if she ruins me as much as I ruin her--I want her, she wants me, and nothing is getting in our way this time. If by some chance being with her costs me everything else, to hell with it." -Callan.

If your looking for a story with an irresistible jerk that finds the one that has him willing to risk it all, this is the book for you.

5 stars

[Ola Adamska · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick steamy and naughty read. Who doesn't love novellas and student/teacher pairing with possibilities of developing into something more?
Noelle is a student, Callan is a teacher. They have feelings for the other one, but right now one of them will BREAK this and start something. But where it would lead them? To the right future r despair? Nothing can be out of consideration.
I liked this story and this is pure pleasurable steamy taboo read.

[Lolina ⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book by Isabella Starling AND Sam Mariano??????



Stop and Cal????? He reads smut and supports small businesses. A queen.

He also stabs his own tires so Noelle can't go on a date with a student of his💀☝️- but it's aAl AbOuT pErSpEcTiVe 🤡. (it's actually quite romantic if you ask me 🗿).

Anyways, I really enjoyed this one- it was a very simple, straightforward novella, with a sprinkle of angst. Noelle and Cal delivered 😌.

[Tiffany S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and taboo

With a taboo story like this i typically avoid. The angst of maybe getting caught can be heavy. The length of this made it so i knew it wasn’t going to be drama after drama after drama. You get a lot of time with just the couple and none of the angst of unexpected twists. This was a little instalovey (which, duh, it’s a longish novella) but It super worked for this and I loved it! Great epilogue!

[Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

The smart girl gets the hot teacher! I love Sam Mariano smart girls! They say all the clever things I wish I could say. This story was a lovely taste of naughty and nice!

[Maria (Ri) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decadent and delicious

Very sexy and naughty story that is just perfect for the holidays. I want expecting there to be as much story as there was. The actual deed came much later than I expected in this story but it worked. Great collaboration.

[Dark Side of the Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really hate books with christmas theme. Really. I don't like Christmas and everything that goes with them. But I know that Isabella Starling and San Mariano know, how to write a steamy, hot Christmas story with charismatic heroes.
„Mistletoe Kisses” is one of these books.

Callan McLaren is a English teacher in high school. In his carrer in the school he met many girls, but only one of them brought it to his attention. Noelle Harper, the most ambitious and intelligent girl in his class.
He wants her so badly, but he knows that he is a ten years older than her and of course he is her teacher.
But he doesn't know the truth. Noelle also desires him.

„Mistletoe Kisses” is a very naughty Christmas novella. While I was reading this book I felt this tension between heroes. On every page we can feel arousal, temptation and chemistry between Cal and Noelle. This book is soooo hot!

Sam and Isabella also knows, that people before Christmas don't have so much time, because preparation for Christmas are so occupying, so „Mistletoe Kisses” is a short book, in a single reading. And this is good! Because when we have one, maybe two hours free time, we can read it and back to work again.

As I wrote in the first paragraph I really hate books with Christmas. „Mistletoe Kisses” is a bull's eye! I love age gap in books and here I have it! So Christmas theme for me is a side thread now.
These authors know how to write a sex scenes and when Noelle and Callan finally do it I was in deeply shock. Why? Because this description was so naughty and steamy. Incredible!

„Mistletoe Kisses” is a one of the best Christmas book I've ever read. Now I am waiting for next co-operation between Starling and Mariano. I have hope that next book will be good like the Noelle and Callan story. Read it guys! Between Christmas dishes and cakes.

[Shelly | VixenReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sexy, taboo holiday romance?! I. Am. There! I love a student/teacher taboo book and the fact this had a holiday vibe completely sold me! This was the first book I’ve read by Sam and I’ve read a couple by Isabella so this was a true treat!
The chemistry between these two will have you singing Oh Holy Night for sure!

[Ritu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Callan is Noelle's professor. She's in her senior year, and they are smitten with one another. Good book, well written.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Life on Readpeat · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Read more of my reviews at Whoo Gives A Hoot *

REVIEW COMING SOON!

[My Introvert Bookish Life · Rating 5 out of 5]

DELICIOUSLY ADDICTIVE, FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION- BEST CHRISTMAS ROMANCE OF THE YEAR!!

Wow, wow wow!!!

Holy mother of hotness and all things Christmas!!
I started this book and finished it without putting my
kindle down- the literal definition of UNPUTDOWNABLE!!
Mistletoe Kisses was my Christmas Eve romance read and I was consumed, owned and held captive to the amazing writing and story telling by two incredible authors.

This book was all kinds of sexy and sweet, naughty and nice... and hot dammnnn it was deliciously forbidden and so hotttttt. I had some giggles and heartwarming flutters that the Christmas spirit undeniably brings.

“...he tastes like the most exhilarating blend of paradise and heartbreakingly bad decisions.”- Noelle

I was gripped and wholly consumed from the start and even to the sweetest of endings, I just wanted to make a snow globe of all the memories that are essentially Christmas. Noelle and Callan have an attraction to each other on a level past the physical and everything in my romantic self rooted for them; even when Callan did the “right” thing, my heart felt irrevocably broken and twisted but odds are ever in their favour, even the ones they created themselves... they got the sweetest HEA.

“She’s intoxicating, like the purest form of an already potent drug, and I want more.” Callan

Thank the elves of Christmas for quaint bookshops, ice rinks, cozy inns in a winter blizzard- and especially for MISTLETOE KISSES.

Isabella Starling and Sam Mariano write in perfect synchronicity to create the most the perfect deliciously forbidden yet sweet and funny Christmas story- definitely my absolute favourite Christmas read this year!!

5/5 MISTLETOE KISSES of UNPUTDOWNABLE FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

[Heather Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful read

Loved this short story. It was the perfect combination of naughty and nice. It’s the type of book that you could cozy up by the fire with a hot beverage as you read this.

Definitely would recommend!

[Tai Nelson-Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

*First time reading Sam Mariano
** Huge fan of Isabella Starling
***KU read

I don't usually read Christmas stories, but because I am a massive fan of Isabella Starling, I had to grab this story up. Sam and Isabella write a fantastic Christmas theme story with a naughty teacher and student.

This hot novella is a book that anyone with a little taboo in them should read. The characters are sexy, and the story is wonderfully written.

[Amber- Leave Me Alone I’m Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas is over, and I wasn’t planning to read any more Christmas stories. But when I saw this was a teacher/student trope, I had to read it anyway. It’s sweet, dirty, and hot as hell. I really enjoyed it!

[Shyralf · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars! Forbidden, Teacher/Student romance. I loved this one. It was sexy and gorgeous. I loved their chemistry, it felt authentic and genuine. Definitely recommend, it’s a quick read.

[Mirfa Migdad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jail please