Review: MistleFoe by Cambria Hebert
SYNOPSIS:
‘Tis the season for twinkling lights, cookies, joy, and a little sprinkle of mom guilt on the side. Did I say little? I mean an entire sleigh full. Which is exactly why I’m on my way home to Winterbury for the holidays, something my parents have been pleading for since I left the small-town life for a view of the city nearly ten years ago.
It’s not that I don’t come home to visit. I do.
Just not at Christmas.
The last time I was there, I got wrapped up in the romantasy of the town’s mistletoe legend, and it ruined my entire life. Okay, maybe not my entire life, but it did turn my best friend into my biggest enemy.
And maybe gave me a raging case of mistletoe PTSD.
Don’t laugh. It’s a thing.
Which is exactly why I’m going to do everything possible to avoid the raising of the mistletoe, Archer Hodge, and his Christmas tree farm. I’m just going to help my father out with the family animal clinic and mind my own business.
So of course Archer walks right into the clinic and nearly runs me over with his clompy boots, pine-scented flannel, and trademark scowl. Turns out, even after ten years, he still plucks every last nerve in my body. It doesn’t matter that he looks better than I remember and he’s cradling a beautiful dog who steals my heart.
Archer is my sworn frenemy, and no amount of forced proximity, small-town tradition, or mistletoe magic will ever change that.
Or so I thought…
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
I liked this story but I didn’t love it. Every year when October rolls around, I start binging any and all holiday romances I can get my hands on, especially those of the LGBTQ+ variety. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to dive into MistleFoe.
So what I loved, Toby and Archer as characters are fantastic. The contrast between their personalities, their childhood history together, and the meddlesome ‘everyone knows everyone business’ that can honestly only occur in a small town. I adored Archer’s dog, Marlowe, and which the pup had more book time than they did.
But the story reads like a Hallmark movie, and while that isn’t a bad thing, it’s almost script-like in its writing. I was missing those little details and stolen moments that are usually left out in the movies. I also could have used more of a build-up, Archer and Toby as adults are practically strangers, I would have liked them to get to know the adult versions of each other a little better before they lived happily-ever-after. As a result, they came off as a little insta-love.
Overall, the story gave me the holiday escape read I wanted. Would I re-read it again next year? No, probably not. But if you’re looking to escape into a quick little enemies-to-loves Christmas time read, this is the book.
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