The Mistletoe Problem

by Anna Barlow

A struggling actress. A corporate lawyer. What happens when they’re stuck together in a small town for Christmas?

Elle Sutton’s acting career is a disaster. She was supposed to graduate from acting school and shoot straight to stardom. Instead, her lacklustre agent is signing her up for gigs as an elf in November. When she’s offered an unusual job in the small alpine village of Mistletoe Valley, she jumps at the chance for a change of pace.

Nick Corrigan is finally done with his stint as a big city corporate lawyer, and is ready to move back to his hometown. But when he runs into Elle, they’re horrified to realise that they’ve already met. And not in a good way. He wants to smooth things over with her, except there’s one problem: Elle Sutton is devastatingly pretty. Nick can’t afford to get distracted by a city girl after finally making the decision to move back home, but what’s a guy to do?

Will Nick and Elle be able to work out their differences, and discover that opposites really do attract?

Full of heart, heat, and a whole lot of cosy holiday cheer, THE MISTLETOE PROBLEM is a romantic comedy debut perfect for fans of IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER and LOVELIGHT FARMS

Please Note: This book contains explicit content. It is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age.

Genres: Christmas, Holiday, Romance, Contemporary, Holiday Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Rom Com

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2022

Reviews

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! This was so good! The setting, the pace, chemistry and the sexy time is what I love about a romance. It checked all my boxes for a great read. Not to mention that I completely fell for Nick **swoon** and his intensity. He was tall dark and handsome and besides that he was the perfect boyfriend. Not a pushover but secure about who he was and he had a great way of expressing his feelings.
The romance was on fire. I also loved Mistletoe Falls and the Christmassy town. This was an amazing debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from this author. Thanks Anna Barlow for writing this wonderful book.

[Sammie Reads]

I tried…just wasn’t connecting with the writing!

[Anne OK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hallmark vibe in book form – with a lot more steam. The small-town story is wrapped in holiday spirit filled with cheer, goodwill and the sweet smells of the season. Loved the characters, the setting and storyline. Such fun to read!

Grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage, curl up by the fire, and let this holiday story take you to a place where romance is both naughty and nice, full of humor and heart, and the magic of Christmas wraps you in a warm hug.

[Bridgette Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is one thing I dearly love it’s rom coms. The only thing that makes it better? A Holiday setting! The Mistletoe problem is a rom com guaranteed to give you holiday cheer. This book is quite literally hot chocolate for your soul.

What I loved:

🌟Dual POV, small town romance, grumpy/sunshine
🌟I found Elle to be so relatable. She’s a 20 something trying to find herself in life and experiences many of the emotions I have felt myself as a fellow 20 something.
🌟I loved Nick! I loved his caring nature, his maturity and his true love for Elle. He was so patient and kind.
🌟The meet cute. It was perfection.
🌟The setting! I want to move to Mistletoe Valley immediately! I love small town settings and this one was idyllic.
🌟Yes, this is a feel good holiday rom com BUT it’s more than that. It’s a look into self-discovery, mature relationships, and the mentality that your career doesn’t define you and your happiness is important!

Read if you liked:
▪️ Lovelight Farms by B. K. Borison

The Mistletoe Problem is a feel good book that will absolutely leave you smiling. It may be Anna’s debut, but this one really won us over. 

If you’re looking for a holiday rom com, give this one a try!

📖: The Mistletoe Problem by Anna Barlow
Release Date: November 3rd, 2022


Thank you so much Anna for the opportunity to read this ARC!

[Patricia Baxes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had its moments…but it mostly gave me a headache! 🙄 The storyline was okay; the characters decently developed; plot twists and turns were really weak; but at least the HEA was good. This one had pot but just bogged down for about ten chapters. You should probably give it a read to decide for yourself. It did have its moments! (I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and found it just so so.) 😊

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Christmas story of a city girl falling in love with a small town boy, one of them loves Christmas and one of them doesn’t!

Elle and nick were a very cute couple, but a bit insta love. Nick was WAY too perfect and he absolutely no flaws, and was always perfectly understanding/capable of dealing with Elle’s emotions too well. All in all, this book felt a little less like a romance and more about Elle dealing with her own inner life crisis of who she is and whether her current career of acting is what she wants to pursue. Despite the fact that this entire book was dedicated to this inner turmoil, I still feel like Elle didn’t find out who she was without acting or without Nick. Basically a lot of character development that ended up not being totally complete imo

[c ও · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just one word: heartwarming
This book is just a feel good book. Elles and Nick's story is heartwarming and just simply adorable.

Elle is a young and beautiful actress who is still waiting for the success of her career to pick up. One of the reasons for her waiting is that so far her career has been a flop, which makes her question herself and her job choice.
Elle feels like she doesn't know herself well enough and doesnt know what she wants in her life until she gets a job in a small town that turns her life and future upside down.

Nick is a hot lawyer, carring and hates Christmas. Like Elle's life, his life also took for a long time place in a big city, until he finally decides to move to his home town and to open his own lawyer firm there.

The question is: What happens when two people who haven't found their true themselves meet each other and then are forced to spent some time together? Will their life be turned upside down or will everything stay the same?

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was like reading a hallmark movie

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It is perfect for this season. The characters and town fit together perfectly. Such a fun, quick read.

[Caroline Davey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love the idea of this book, the characters and the story line of mistletoe valley but I just feel like some parts were redundant and dragged on 😴

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ This is a spicy romcom full of love and self-discovery and a bit of spice🌶. Nick gives off a protective vibe, he doesn’t want Elle to feel down about herself and he also doesn’t want anyone else to have her. The thing I liked most about the book was how Elle found her self-discovery and blossomed to a person who has no doubts!

[AReadsBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF@50% plain and simply because I got too damn bored.
😴literally me reading this.

[Leah Savery · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 50%
The amount of typos drove me crazy. The number of times they call each other by their full names was mind-numbing. And after a pretty luke warm sexy scene, I called it quits. If the spice can't even hook me, there's no point.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was super excited to read this book when I first heard about it, however, it fell flat for me. It was promised to be a cozy read but it lacked any depth. Unfortunately, character development was skimmed over and felt like it all happened instantly. The novel also attempted to deal with some large topics but didn't provide any depth or growth in these areas either.

As with many rom-coms, the plot was predictable. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as many predictable books are a great way to unwind. The beginning of Elle's journey was relatable and intriguing, and it was refreshing that she gained her sense of self through a change in work instead of finding meaning through romance. I wish that this part of the plot in particular had more development, as after the initial set up it felt like an afterthought.

The spice was very repetitive and I often found myself skimming over it, in hopes of something interesting happening.

Overall, this book had a good start but was superficial – 2 stars.

A digital ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Delaney Healey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read like a bad “spicy” Hallmark Christmas movie. There was no plot?? I felt like this book didn’t have much depth. And no one refers to each other by their first and last name that much! It got annoying after the third time.

[Lyv R · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m honestly surprised I didn’t get whiplash due to how back and forth this book was, I don’t think I can honestly explain it. I despised this book. The idea had so much promise, but the writing and characters absolutely ruined it for me. I won’t read the next one

[Lilli-Maree · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

Ok first off I should be asleep right now like I have to wake up for work at 3 and yet I needed to finish this book so I stayed up until 11.

This book has quite a few editorial issues, now I’m not sure if it’s because Barlow is a debut author and hasn’t found the right team yet or what but I feel like I needed to say it because I did notice that quite a bit. But other than that it was such an enjoyable book.

I love Christmas and romance books so I of course loved the idea of this book and I’m so happy with how it turned out. I loved the little Easter eggs of classic books in there especially Pride and Prejudice as it is one of my favourite books.

Like I said I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read some more of Barlows work and see how she grows as an author.

[Christina Bowling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very cute, light Christmas book. Elle and Nick were adorable together, and I absolutely loved their HEA. I'm excited for the series and to see what's next for it.

[Rach3l · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. I enjoyed every moment of it. I can’t wait to read more by this author and hopefully more about character from Mistletoe Valley.

Side note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review

[Meg Jordan Echols · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could definitely be a Hallmark movie. BUT, the world is sad and a happy, cheesy read is sometimes what the soul needs. 🥰

[torydarius supremacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was cute ngl

[poorva🎀 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The FMC needed therapy and anti depressants but I’m glad she found herself in the end

[Allie]

DNF @ 30%
I had high hopes for this story and I thought that this was going to be one that I liked and I did enjoy the first half of the story. I felt like I was watching a Hallmark movie as I was reading this story and I did like that because I have been wanting to read a holiday romance that feels like a Hallmark movie. I was enjoying the enemies-to-lovers trope and I loved the banter that we got in this one but where the story lost me was I was only at 15% and they were already starting to talk about having feelings for each other. They had met before but they still didn't really know each other that well. They had only known each other for one day at that point and they were already thinking about wanting to be with the other person. I am not a fan of insta-love but this didn't really feel like insta-love to me more like insta-lust. Overall, I thought that the plotline went too fast from enemies-to-lovers and I think I would have enjoyed it more if they stayed enemies a little bit longer and the characters started thinking about being together a little bit later on in the book.

[Stephen Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to move to Mistletoe Valley!

[Casey Lockwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit cheesy for me but still a nice Christmas read

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home for the Holidays

I’m not usually one for a holiday romance, but this book stood out to me so I jumped at the chance to be an advanced reader. Nick and Elle stole the show this season with this warm and heartfelt read.

I loved the premise of a second chance meeting and it being “what are the chances it’s this guy again?!”. But this gave us the opportunity to see both sides of each main character, something that is really important to the story.

I generally prefer a dual POV style and this book definitely delivered. It gives you a better glimpse into the characters’ thoughts, and I really enjoyed the insight into their feelings this way.

The supporting cast rounded out this book so well. Dee was a personal favorite of mine as far as romance-novel-older-female-mentors go. Her insights can really widely apply to real life. And hey bartender, what’s going on there? 😏

And let me tell you - I cannot wait for the next book in the series! Just based on the hints dropped in this book, it’s sure to be a winner!

Overall, I definitely recommend adding this to your list of holiday reads - Mistletoe Valley is the picturesque holiday setting and the story does not disappoint!

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review upon release.

[Olivia Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the storyline of the FMC individual journey as it's been very similar to my own this year (scarily so) so really related to her. I totally get fixating on a dream or goal for so long and you finally get it and you realise somewhere along the way the dream has changed without you even realising.

Otherwise this was very eh to me. I prefer a more subtle style of writing, that doesn't overly explain each action a character takes. It makes me feel like the author doesn't trust a readers understanding to signal what a particular body language meant etc. Why does it need to be explained? We can tell from the context. It doesn't make characters feel genuine.

Also I feel like we were kind of given the whole plot right from the get go and there wasn't really anything left to discover by the second and third acts.

I didn't like the MMC, he was weird and obsessed from the moment he met her... Like I understand gut feelings about people but it takes it to a weird other level when they immediately would die for them after 2 days of meeting... Like na that's not what an instant connection feels like. Maybe I just don't like hearing male POVs bc they're mostly possessive, overly sexual right from the go, and just weird vibes. I don't understand the point of including his pov when the story is clearly about her journey and we don't even really hear about anything from him except to do with her. It's always felt like lazy story telling when it isn't done with purpose for unravelling a story.

Anyway... 2/5

[Sam Sette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5—It’s giving predictable Hallmark movie, but with a spicier center.

[Leah Wothe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Dressed like an Elf Stars ⭐️

I just read a hallmark movie.

Also, I thought I was done reading I was not. I had like 20% left lol. The end did a lot of telling not showing.