1 Star | Caroline Andrus

Review

I have now read two holiday novellas by Debbie Macomber and I think it’s safe to say that I am not her target reader.

It was a chore for me to finish this book. I started reading this book on October 17…. and didn’t finish until December 23. That’s over 2 months reading this book.

Where do I even start… I guess I’ll go with character development. Or lack thereof. There were so many characters crammed into this little book and at the end I’m left not caring about a single one of them. Addie and Erich could have been really interesting characters, except Addie was an immature brat. Erich was stubborn and sullen. I was given no reason to like either of them, and I honestly don’t know why they fell for one another either.

To add confusion to this hot mess, there are two storylines sort of connected. Based on the blurb I thought this would be a romance between Addie and Erich with the angel helping push them together. And it is. Except half the book is following the angel, who is on earth posing as a college literature professor named Harry Mills. For an angel who is only God knows how old, he sure had no idea how life on earth worked. I know that experiencing isn’t the same as observing, but it was ridiculous how dumb he was at times.

Writing this review just makes me more annoyed at this book so I’m not going to say much more. In conclusion I’m left with underdeveloped characters I don’t care about and two storylines, neither of which was compelling.

I don’t remember the last time I was so happy to finish a book. I would only read another book by this author if it was recommended by a friend with similar book tastes… and probably only one who has also read and hated this book. Apologies to the author, she’s very popular for her Christmas novels, so maybe she just ran out of inspiration by the time she wrote this one?

Quotes

He’d heard about angels like this, ones who were given an earthly assignment and lost their heavenly perspective. Sadly, they got caught up in the temptations of Earth. That wouldn’t be a problem for him, of course.

Grinning like the cat who’d found a bowl of cream, Erich slowly shook his head. “You were jealous.”

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe Book Cover

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christmas
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: October 17, 2017
Format: E-ARC
Pages: 225
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: 12 Books of Christmas
Date Read: October 31 - November 2, 2017

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe from New York Times bestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz, is a sweet, sexy and hilarious gender-swapping, genre-satisfying re-telling, set in contemporary America and featuring one snooty Miss Darcy.

Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family.

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32-years-old and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?

The 12 Books of Christmas Reading Challenge

Welcome to the 12 Books of Christmas! This is my FIFTH contribution and I’m excited to share reviews for twelve holiday books over the next coming weeks.

For more information about this reading challenge and to join go here: The 12 Books of Christmas Challenge

My Review

I don’t know why I keep reading retelling of Pride & Prejudice. None of them live up to the original story and this book was no different.

First, I need to preface this by saying I’ve tried to read exactly one other book by Melissa de la Cruz and I hated it and quit after about two chapters. I am clearly not her ideal reader. That said, this sounded like a cute Christmas story and perfect for my 12 Books of Christmas reading challenge. If you’ve enjoyed the author’s other work, you may fall in love with this story.

So, we’ll start off with the good things. I love that the author chose to do a gender swap, it’s always nice to shake things up a little bit that way. I also really liked the sub-characters, specifically Bingley and Luke’s brother… who’s name I can’t even remember anymore. I like that the author chose to include a same-sex couple, that really helped to modernize the classic tale. Darcy was a self-made woman who left home all on her own to live the life she wanted, not the one her parents wanted for her, and I love and respect that.

Unfortunately my list of dislikes far surpassed my likes. Most importantly, I hated Darcy. While I loved that she was self-made and successful, she was just so immature. I hated almost everything about her and the way she behaved. I didn’t like how Luke acted either half the time. Neither of them held the charm that Lizzy and Mr. Darcy from the original tale possessed, and unfortunately they came across as unlikable and their actions were unredeemable in this reader’s eyes.

Honestly, this book just left a bad taste in my mouth. Darcy and Luke’s lack of communication with one another and their personal hang ups and immaturity made them perfect for one another, because I’d hate for anyone else to be saddled with them.

At least I can say that my time reading this is over, and I know to never pick up another Melissa de la Cruz book in the future.

So, should you read this? I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends, but if you’re a fan of the authors previous work you may fall in love with this one.

Quotes

See, it is an assumption universally made that any beautiful, brilliant, single woman who is rich as hell will be in want of a husband. She’d heard it time and time again.

Wanting to be near family and actually being near family were two completely different things.

There had been a part of her that thought maybe, after all these years, there was no way he could still be so mad, or so hurt, whichever it was.

Mr. Fitzwilliam’s wishes for his daughter were twofold, and the second fold involved her doing what a truly good and honorable woman would do: give birth to children and dedicate her life to raising them.

From their very first kiss until now, his kissing technique had evolved in no way whatsoever. It had always been good, sure, but not incredible. It was nice, practiced, wholesome, almost regulated. He had reliable rhythm and predictable moves.