Mistletoe Redemption: A Heartwarming Christmas Romance Novel - Love Inspired Holiday Collection | Perfect for Cozy Winter Reading & Christmas Gift Ideas

I received Mistletoe Redemption as a giveaway at a Christian writers’ conference. It’s a two-novella Harlequin Love Inspired inspirational romance. The two stories are A Dry Creek Christmas by Janet Tronstad and Bluegrass Christmas by Allie Pleiter. I wasn’t expecting much from these, because sometimes when I read Christian romances, they’re lame. But in December of 2022 I wanted to read something Christmasy, so I sat down with this. (I know, I’m way behind on reviewing the books I read, but I’m working hard to catch up.) And surprise! I enjoyed the stories very much. They are well-written and engaging.A Dry Creek Christmas has a complicated back story. I’m going to simplify it as much as I can. Millie Corwin is a waitress. She’d become a friend to one of her regular customers, Forrest, who, unbeknownst to her, was actually a hit man. He told her stories about the small town of Dry Creek (which he was casing for an assignment to eliminate a witness) and the delightful people who lived there. He gave her a bag (stuffed with $100 bills) to hold for him while he was away for a trip to Dry Creek, but then he was arrested. Millie decided he still needed a friend even if he was in prison, so she visited him there. He told her he’d found God and wanted to right some of the wrongs he’d done. He was diagnosed with cancer, and died. The prison chaplain forwarded a letter Forrest wrote to her, asking her to restore the innocence of the town of Dry Creek. She decided to distribute the $100 bills to the townspeople anonymously. Her plan is to stuff socks with a bill and a note wishing them a merry Christmas from a stranger, and leave them in town’s café on Saturday night, December 22, to be found on Monday, Christmas Eve Day.But she didn’t count on cowboy Brad Parker dozing in his car behind the café. (Long story.) Brad wakes up and decides to investigate what’s going on in the café. He finds Millie and the money, and she’s not talking. So he makes a citizen’s arrest of sorts and keeps her in his custody. He can’t get in touch with the sheriff, but he thinks he’ll be in church Sunday morning.All this is revealed in the first three chapters, and there are still thirteen chapters to go. They deal with what happens between Millie and Brad and other people in the town before Brad’s able to pass her on to the sheriff and it’s determined that Millie is not a thief after all.There are two plot holes—how did Millie know she’d be able to get into the café? There’s no description of her breaking in. There’s a reason why the door would be unlocked—but how would she know about it? And why does nobody ask Millie what she was doing in the café? She probably would have tried to keep her secret somehow, but it bothers me that no one really questions her. They just assume she’s committed a crime, even though the only evidence they have is circumstantial.Despite those two criticisms, the story was a hoot. Funny scenes and heartwarming scenes, even though a hit man figures large in the story. Great Christmas story.In Bluegrass Christmas, the town of Middlebury, Kentucky, is in an uproar. The popular long-standing mayor, Howard Epsom, is being challenged by an opponent, Mac McCarthy, and the townspeople are deeply divided. Can they come together to put on a Christmas pageant? In desperation, they hire musician Mary Thorpe from Chicago to come and direct the performance.Mary casts Mac as Joseph and Howard as God. (Yeah, I laughed at that too.)Emily, who is cast as the Virgin Mary, is appalled that Mary has never celebrated Christmas, and decides to make sure Mary has an exceptional one. She supplies a fresh-cut Christmas tree for Mary’s apartment. Her husband begs Mary to go along with his wife’s insistence on decorating the apartment because his own house is already over-decorated. And Mac keeps getting thrown together with Mary, and denies being interested in her because he’s a lifetime Christian and she’s just a new believer.And that’s the one criticism I have of this story. I know it’s written for a Christian audience, but I feel it crosses a line. Not all Christians behave like this. I would hate for Christians or non-Christians to think that Christians are so critical of each other, and wouldn’t date someone who was not also as strong a Christian as they. Yes, there is a warning in the Bible not to be unequally yoked (2 Cor. 6:14), but Jesus also says “Do not judge, lest you be judged (Matt. 7:1-3).” There is a balance. Christians should be more concerned with loving their neighbors than with who’s “in” and who’s not. I’m a fairly churchy Christian, and I was put off by the churchiness in this story.Churchiness aside, this is a good story and a satisfying, if chaste, romance. The storyline about trying to address the division in the town seems especially appropriate for the current political situation in the US. Maybe we should have bipartisan Christmas pageants in every town?I feel confident that most Christian women would enjoy Mistletoe Redemption. This might be a great pre-Christmas present for some of the ladies on your list.