A Fun Small-town Romance

 

TITLE: Along Came Holly (Mistletoe Romance #3)

AUTHOR: Codi Hall

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Casablanca

PUBLISHING DATE: November 17, 2022

PAGES: 368   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Holly Winters is not about to let her grumpy neighbor Declan steal her holiday joy…even if he does look rather handsome under the mistletoe. 

Holly Winters owns the jolliest holiday shop on Main Street and this season is shaping up to be the best yet. The only pit in her figgy pudding? Declan Gallagher, the owner of the hardware store next door. He's the scroogiest man in all of Mistletoe, Idaho. Then Holly's revenge prank escalates into an all-out war with her Grinchy neighbor, and the situation turns sticky when she realizes she needs his help. 

Declan can't believe the nerve of his oh-so-cheerful neighbor hiring him to set up her holiday lights display, but the money is too good to pass up. Despite his utter loathing of excessive decorations, he throws himself into getting the job done, only to encounter sabotage at every turn. To his astonishment, Declan finds himself championing the very woman who used to get under his skin. Then one rooftop kiss has him thinking maybe the season's traditions aren't as heinous as he believed. Declan's heart has grown three sizes since Holly came along, but how can he admit he's falling for the one woman he shouldn't want?

MY THOUGHTS: Having previously read the other two books in this series and really enjoying them, Along Came Holly was one of my most anticipated holiday reads this season and I'm glad it didn't disappoint.  

Holly runs a cozy holiday shop in Mistletoe which she bought because she became Youtube famous doing videos and creating a highly followed enterprise as Adventure Elf.  Declan is running the family hardware shop next door to Holly's and for reasons of his own, he is very anti-Christmas. The two have clashed from their first meeting but is it because they can't stand each other, or because the tension between them is becoming too much?

In the beginning the two are obvious enemies and are pranking each other left and right to try to get under each's other skins.  However, Holly starts to learn there is more to Declan than she initially thought, and Declan is slowly admitting his interest in Holly is more than disdain.  When Holly needs help getting her home festive ready, and Declan needs a place to stay after having a blowout with his father, who he came to town to help, the two find themselves in each other's Christmas orbit.  Let the fun begin!

I love these two characters and just like I did after the last two books, I'm pretty sure they are my favorite characters of the series.  Some of the past characters show up and there is actually a lot going on in this book besides just your typical holiday rom-com.

If you are looking for some Christmas reads that are fun but have a bit more substance, then look no further and start this series today!

MY RATING: 5 PAWS