It may only be October, but consider us in the spooky-slash-holiday spirit starting…now! With the release of Cassie Miller‘s Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane, how can we not be? This new holiday romance is set in the picturesque small town of Mullings Creek, Virginia, where it feels like Christmas every day.
High school senior Gianna Mancini loves everything about the season, especially when the local holiday market opens. But after the owner suddenly passes, the market is left to a big-city lawyer, an outsider who’s looking for ways to get the most money out of the property.
Gianna makes it her mission to save her town’s market, showing off the town’s annual festivities. She’s even willing to hatch a fake-dating plot with the lawyer’s son in order to bring the holiday spirit closer to his family. We get the perfect winter romance with Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane, and here’s what we love about it!
Book Overview: Meet Me On Mistletoe Lane
Content warnings: mention of car accident and death of loved ones
Summary: Gianna Mancini is a Christmas romantic. She loves everything about the holiday—especially the Mullings Creek Holiday Market that opens every year in the center of town. While Gianna adores her small-town life, she still dreams about traveling the world and getting away from her overbearing family. But on the same day she receives an acceptance to a study abroad program, the town’s beloved market owner unexpectedly passes away, leaving the property to a literal Scrooge from NYC! The town has just thirty days to convince the new owner not to sell.
His flirtatious son, James comes up with a plan: he and Gianna can fake date so she can bring her holiday flair closer to his family. While Gianna is on board with whatever it takes to save their beloved market, Sam—who has been secretly pining after Gianna for years—is not so keen on James snuggling up with his best friend next to the Christmas tree. But as the lines between Gianna and James begin to blur during gingerbread contests and candy cane hunts, so do the lines of friendship between Gianna and Sam under the glow of the town’s holiday twinkle light display. Soon both boys are ready to be under the mistletoe with Gianna. Who will be her first real Christmas kiss? The future of the market and her town just may depend on it.
One Big, Chaotic Family
Gianna comes from an Italian-American family, where there are no secrets too small and no gathering too large. Everyone in her extended family lives in Mullings Creek, and at the head of the family is her beloved (and meddling) Nona. Any time Gianna and her relatives get together, it’s a party full of chaos, laughter, and food, of course. Though she also grapples with leaving her family for her spring semester in Italy, this book reminds us and her to have as much faith in them to carry on as they do in us to reach for our dreams. We love reading about a big family, especially in a holiday setting such as Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane.
A Sense Of Community
Beyond the Mancini family is the wider Mullings Creek community, which is another big, chaotic family of its own. We fell in love with the town locals from day one. We see the cafe owner Eve constantly bickering with Phineas, the owner of the local diner. Then there’s Gianna’s best friends, Jo and Sam. Sam’s family runs the tree farm and grows the town’s supply of poinsettias. Everyone has a hand in making the holiday market operate from day to day, yet they also take time to participate in the fun. We can’t forget the annual gingerbread competition or Mistletoe Masquerade Ball either!
The Love Triangle
Finally, we can’t talk about the love triangle enough in Meet Me in Mistletoe Lane. Gianna’s fake relationship with James, the lawyer’s son, becomes the talk of the town. Their mission is to get James’s dad to see the importance of keeping the market locally owned. Their fake dates turn into budding feelings, much to her family’s delight. But Gianna can’t seem to shake the butterflies she gets whenever she’s around her best friend Sam lately. And after two too many almost-kisses, she can’t tell if she’s imagining the tension between them. The way the characters resolve this love triangle is so healthy, and we can’t get enough!
Cassie Miller’s Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane is a delightful new holiday romance full of small-town charm, big family chaos, and an addictive love triangle!
Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane by Cassie Miller comes out on October 6th, and you can order a copy of it here!
What do you think of Cassie Miller’s Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane? Are you feeling the holiday spirit yet? Let us know on Twitter! You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram!
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