Title: The Mistletoe Motive
Author: Chloe Liese
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021
Jonathan and Gabby are such a cute, quintessential, opposites attract couple. And one that finds their happily ever after at Christmas? They are just too dang cute and adorable. I absolutely loved reading about their holiday romance. Plus, each chapter has a Christmas song to start it, the perfect story to get you into the Christmas holiday mood. The fact that they fall in love while surrounded by books, honestly, this was kind of a book that wa tailor made for me. I love books, I love Christmas, and I love Love.
I love that Gabby’s journey to finding love involved her dealing with autism and being demisexual. Whilst she’s entirely accepting of her differences, and often embraces them, Liese is able to still show the difficulties that she has to deal with daily. Plus, it also highlights how difficult her relationship with Jonathan is, because no one is automatically entitled to your truth. Jonathan too has his own challenges that aren’t automatically divulged. I love that much of his grumpiness and disappearances were due to his diabetes, not his actual personality. Both Gabby and Jonathan, once they actually sit down and talk, find that many of their points of contention are due to misunderstandings, not actually because either one is a bad or difficult person.
The Mistletoe Motive is a bit of a enemies to friends to lovers story. I love that they connect through snark and attitude. I tend to approach people I love with a whole lot of sass myself. And honestly, the banter between Gabby and Jonathan is just too damn adorable. I love stories that keep a smile on my face throughout, and Gabby and Jonathan’s relationship managed to do just this. Their confusion, particularly Gabby’s, as they fall for one another is too damn cute. Plus, they use their competitive nature to actually benefit those they love and everyone around them.
The Mistletoe Motive is not just a great Christmas story, but one that is all about save a little, family owned bookstore in a world where a lot of these shops are collapsing. I love the idea of keeping this tradition of books alive, while still adapting to the modern needs and market. Plus, doing it at Christmas makes this story all about embracing the spirit of love and friendship. People spending time with their loved ones for the holiday season and finding their own happily ever afters. Even if it’s not quite what they expected.
Earth and Skye 
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