No Mistletoe Required by Jeanette Murray is a charming Christmas romance, a perfect way to start the season. It’s a short read, I probably read it in an hour give or take, but with a limited cast of characters and settings, it worked. I truly liked the couple and wanted things to work out between them.

Dan Beckins is our Grinch, the man who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, who doesn’t want anything to do with the holiday, and he does have his reasons. Anna is our Elf. She loves Christmas and every year coordinates a Winter Wonderland for the Children’s Hospital. This year, Dan’s friend has roped him into helping, and he’s pretty grumpy about it, until he sees Anna of course. She attractive and definitely grabs his attention, making him think maybe this year the season won’t be so bad after all. Anna is not ready for a relationship at this point in time, which is predictable, but she does have a true concern about getting involved with anyone.

I liked Anna. She’s short, gets cold easily, loves Christmas. Dan is a great guy, handy, smart, handsome. They make a great couple. Yes, their relationship moves quickly, but this is a novella, it has to. And it makes sense to the story-line. Anna is looking for a winter fling, she’s just not expecting Dan to turn out to have the potential to become more important to her. The sex scenes struck the right balance for me, hot without being ridiculous, sexy but not overly graphic.

This one really has all the ingredients it needs to for a sweet Christmas romance. A likeable pair, some glitter, some bad puns. It made me smile. It’s about learning to appreciate the holidays and not fearing the future, about taking a chance on love and about allowing yourself to live in the present.

I loved it. It made me smile and that’s what I was hoping for.

4 out of 5 stars

Category: Romance- Contemporary

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Published November 5, 2012 by Carina Press
24,000 words

Book source: For review

This is my first read for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2012 hosted by Michelle at The Christmas Spirit.

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