Today for Fiction Friday I’m sharing my Christmas book recommendation for Wishing for Mistletoe by Robin Lee Hatcher.
Here’s the Book Description:
When the heart pens its own holiday romance, even a skeptic can find magic under the mistletoe.
On Sanctuary Island, Ariel Highbridge seeks refuge from crippling writer’s block and a disillusioned heart. As a writer of Regency romances who’s been betrayed by love herself, Ariel struggles to weave tales of romance when her own faith in it has frayed.
Tom Fuller is a devoted schoolteacher and a widower, whose life orbits around his daughter Shauna. He has sworn off the possibility of new love. Yet, the arrival of their enchanting neighbor stirs an unexpected warmth in both father and daughter’s lives.
As the island’s Yuletide enchantments weave their spell, Tom and Ariel find themselves drawn to each other. Ariel’s burgeoning belief in love and Tom’s tentative steps towards healing suggest that perhaps, this Christmas, they could write a love story of their own.
But their fledgling romance will soon face its ultimate test, and it will take the magic of the season and the island’s charm for their love story to prove the most enchanting tales don’t end—they simply transform into new beginnings.
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Wishing for Mistletoe, a standalone romance in the Love on Sanctuary Shores multi-author series set on Lake Huron, Michigan. Ariel is a regency romance author from Boise, Idaho. At the start of the story, Ariel’s on a ferry heading to Sanctuary Island for a long winter break at her friend’s home. Ariel is struggling with writer’s block, which isn’t helped by her recent romantic relationship breakdown. The last thing she feels like doing is writing the contracted romance novel that’s due next year.
Tom and his preteen daughter, Shauna, and their adorable dog, Scruffy, live next door to Ariel on the island. He’s a schoolteacher and widower who’s reluctant to embark on a romantic relationship. Ariel’s beauty and warmth captures his attention, but she’s a temporary island resident and they can’t have a future together.
A lovely friendship develops between Tom and Ariel in the lead up to Christmas. Their romance is sweet and they both have issues and fears to overcome in the story. I appreciated how Ariel takes the time to contemplate how her faith journey affects her writing and her life decisions. The tight-knit island community share fun Christmas traditions and they look out for one another. I recommend Wishing for Mistletoe to contemporary romance readers who like friends-to-more single dad Christmas romances set in a charming small town with a strong faith element in the story.
Learn more about Robin Lee Hatcher and her books at her website.
