Mistletoe, Maine, is buzzing and not just because Christmas is around the corner! Dante West, local cutie-turned-Hollywood hunk, is returning home to make his next movie. Everyone in town is excited . . . except librarian Lucy Marshall. When Dante took off for LA without warning—or even a goodbye—he broke Lucy’s heart. She swore not to spend one more minute thinking about her ex, but Dante makes an offer Lucy’s struggling library can’t refuse: a major donation to film on-site.
Dante is thrilled to help boost his hometown’s economy and finally begin making amends to the people he hurt years ago when he left, starting with Lucy. But seeing his former best friend on set every day feels a lot less like closure and more like a fresh start. It’s one thing for Dante to fall for Lucy all over again, quite another for a famous movie star and a small-town librarian to find lasting romance. Can the magic of the holiday season give Lucy and Dante’s first love a second chance?
Titles in the Mistletoe, Maine series include — No Ordinary Christmas – Summer on Blackberry Beach –
Title: No Ordinary Christmas
Series: Mistletoe, Maine #1
Author: Belle Calhoune
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Multicultural Romance
Published: September 28, 2021
Publisher: Forever
My Rating: 4 stars
No Ordinary Christmas begins the Mistletoe, Maine series with an emotional second-chance, almost enemies-to-lovers romance with characters that leap off the page, and a story that grabbed my reading emotions and never let go. This is my first story by Ms. Calhoune, but I’ll definitely be looking for more as I loved the way she brought her characters to life, had me wanting to reach into the story to give either a hug or a smack upside the head – depending on the scene – to characters that I cared what happened to from the main couple down to the secondary characters.
Dante is back home to film his latest movie, perhaps give the small town a much-needed financial boost, and connect with the best friend he abruptly left behind almost a decade ago. He’s, not surprisingly, not too sure of his reception by either the townsfolk or by the woman he once loved and left but he’s determined to show everyone the man he is now… not yesterday. It’s just going to take some time to undo the harm that hasty departure caused, time that is not always on Dante’s side.
Once upon a time, Lucy loved Dante with everything she had to give. Her best friend, the man she would have spent her life with if only he hadn’t just walked away from everything, from her with only a brief note and no real explanation of how he could so easily discard their plans. Now he’s back, bringing a needed financial boost to their hometown, and trying to make amends. She loved him once, but she’s not about to be fooled again into giving her heart away to a man whose life is now so different, so far from what she’s made of her own life here in Mistletoe.
I so easily fell into this couple’s second chance at getting love right this time. To be fair, Dante has some major groveling to do, some explaining, and perhaps some convincing that his feelings for Lucy are real and can be trusted this time. I loved watching them work through the troubled waters that surround their past, edged into their present, and had such hopes for a future together for this couple. I loved the small town of Mistletoe, Maine – everything that I know a small town can be with its pros and cons obvious to all. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next story, Summer on Blackberry Beach for now I need more of this town, this series.
If you love a good story, an engaging second chance romance, and love a small town’s unique setting then, No Ordinary Christmas should be on your reading list at any time of the year.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
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