Under the Mistletoe: Six Contemporary Romance Novellas

I’ll admit I approached *Under the Mistletoe* with skepticism—holiday anthologies often feel like leftover scraps from bigger projects. But this collection surprised me, mostly because it *commits*. Take the opening story: a blizzard traps a wedding planner and the groom’s cynical brother in a cabin, and instead of instant attraction, we get 20 minutes of delicious, prickly tension where both characters actively *dis*like each other. Wiley’s narration sells it; she gives the hero a gravelly, exhausted charm that makes his eventual thaw satisfying, not inevitable. Her voice work is consistently strong, though I’ll dock half a point for her male voices occasionally blending together in the ensemble casts. The standout for me was ‘The Christmas Clause,’ a second-chance romance where the leads’ history unfolds in fragmented memories during a 24-hour layover. The nonlinear structure could’ve felt gimmicky, but Wiley’s pacing—clipped during arguments, melting during flashbacks—makes it sing. My one critique? The middle two stories lean harder into trope (amnesia! secret babies!) and suffer for it; their conflicts feel manufactured next to the anthology’s sharper entries. Still, the production quality is flawless—no awkward edits or volume jumps—and the stronger tales (especially the closing piece, set in a struggling bookstore) linger like the scent of pine needles. If you’re craving holiday romance with teeth, this is your best bet. Just skip the eggnog while listening; these stories deserve something stronger.