Kissing Under the Mistletoe ★★★★☆

Author: Bella Andre
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audiobook
400 pages

For Mary Sullivan Christmas is, and always has been, about family. And this year is no different. As she awaits the arrival of her eight children and their partners at the cottage in Lake Tahoe, she hangs the ornaments that they made for her over the years. Each decoration brings with it a tide of memories, all of which she holds dear to her heart. But when she comes across the oldest ornament, the one her beloved husband, Jack, gave her on their very first Christmas together, Mary is immediately swept back to the first days of their whirlwind romance, to the love that would be the foundation on which they built the family she is so proud to call her own.

Join the Sullivans this Christmas for a story that explores the wonder of the holidays, the meaning of family and a love that transcends time.

     I don't normally read contemporary romance.  After reading a few during the clean out your e-reader challenge I thought I'd try some more.  I'm reading Christmasy books this month and Kissing Under the Mistletoe is my first.  I got this book on audio and the narrator did a great job.  I didn't realize until after reading the book that this is actually book 10 of The Sullivans series.  I'm glad that I didn't know because it might have stopped me from reading it.  Actually after spending some time on Bella Andre's website and looking at the family tree I think it's a great place to start.  Despite being book 10 it's actually about the start of the Sullivan family.

     This book is about Mary and Jack.  How they met and their wirlwind romance.  I am not used to books that go so in depth with a relationship like this one did.  This book took us through the first year.  I think that Bella Andre did a great job of capturing the love that Mary and Jack had.  I found myself cheering for them. This book made me laugh and made me cry.  Mary and Jack's is a great story.  I love how she tied Christmas into the story in so many different ways.

     Jack is an inventor and is getting ready to launch his invention called the Pocket Planner which I imagine to be like a Palm Pilot.  At the beginning of the book he is told that unless he can find a way to advertize his invention that the launch will be put off until after the holidays.  That's when he sees Mary who is a model and doing her last photo-shoot.  He asks her to become the spokesperson for the Pocket Planner and she agrees.  They are both extremely attracted to each other but have decided to keep their relationship professional.