Category: Holiday

Mistletoe and Mischief by Melissa Ivers

I received a free ARC of Mistletoe and Mischief thanks to the author. I am giving my honest review, which I am under no obligation to provide. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever reiterated that Christmas is my favorite holiday or how much I love it. But it is, and I love it a ton. So when I saw Melissa Ivers had a Christmas Novella available for ARC readers, I jumped at the chance to sign up.

In Mistletoe and Mischief, we follow Jules and Nash as they get through the Christmas season and try their best to be civil with one another while staying under the same roof. Jules is a small town baker and owner of Sweet Pies. She’s unfortunately stuck with her brother’s best friend and her own personal nemesis, Nash, staying at her house over the holidays. Nash is a big-shot lawyer, a playboy with devilishy good looks, and a holiday mission to make Jules’s life miserable. But what happens when a bit of Christmas magic plus close proximity does a little bit of messing with these two and their sworn hatred for each other?

Mistletoe and Mischief: The Breakdown

I love a good enemies-to-lovers book, and boy did this deliver. There’s romance, steam, Christmas, and descriptions of yummy food. 

I loved the Christmasy parts of the novella. It put me in such a cozy mood. I also enjoyed the banter between Nash and Jules. I felt like their enemies-to-lovers scenario was believable with the way they went after each other throughout, teasing and poking at each other. 

It was written in dual POVs, which I really enjoyed because we got into the heads of both characters. There is a bit of language to start out the book, which caught me off guard, but it didn’t deter me from continuing.

I definitely recommend this book if you’re into enemies-to-lovers, Christmas romance, steamy-romance, or just some light-hearted fun. This is my first Melissa Ivers’ book but it will not be my last!

Mistletoe and Mischief is out already, so be sure to get your copy today!

CW: language, sexuality

Mistletoe and Mischief by Melissa Ivers

Halloween Sugar Cookies and Pumpkin Books

Last weekend, our fun Fall activity was making Halloween sugar cookies. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love any excuse for a sweet treat. Thankfully, sugar cookies are an easy snack to make and you can change them up for different holidays. Plus, involving K was super easy. Most of the Halloween cookie cutters were still packed away, but we found a few: a pumpkin, a leaf, and a cat.

Now I’ll be honest, I left the baking up to K and his grammie this time. I supervised and took pictures. I did help K when he started to help roll out the dough–he could become an excellent pastry chef one day. After the cookies had baked to perfection, it was time to sample! Grammie and K had done a great job. When we finished our sampling, we took what was left of the cookies– it’s almost the holidays so none of the extra cookies consumed count right?–and it was time to frost!

I think this was K’s favorite part. We didn’t have orange frosting so we used vanilla and dyed it orange and he got a small taste. Needless to say, we have a new frosting fiend in our house. The cookies turned out beautifully. But most importantly, they turned out delicious. And when it comes to cookies, that’s really all that matters right?

Halloween Reads To Go With Our Halloween Sugar Cookies

K also got a new book: You’re My Little Pumpkin Pie with illustrations by Natalie Marshall. This is a fun Halloween-themed board book with cutouts. K loves these books and enjoys turning the pages to see what’s on the other side of the cutout. Another book that K received was Happy Halloween, Little Critter! by Mercer Mayer. This has flaps on the pages that shows which critter is in which costume and he loves finding out who is under the flap. I’m so glad that books have fun ways to make reading entertaining for children!

I had a really fun weekend baking Halloween sugar cookies and reading Halloween books with my son and my mom. I’m enjoying making new traditions with him as he grows up. Do you have any Fall or Halloween traditions with your children?

  • You're My Little Pumpkin Pie board book Illustrated by Natalie Marshall
  • Frosted Pumpkin Halloween Sugar Cookie