Book Review: The Mistletoe Inn

Author: Richard Paul Evans
Title:  The Mistletoe Inn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publish Date: November 17, 2015
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: 

The second holiday love story in New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans' Mistletoe Collection.

At thirty-two Kimberly Rossetti, a finance officer at a Lexus car dealership, has had her heart broken more times than she wants to remember. With two failed engagements, a divorce and again alone with no prospects, she hardly seems the type to dream of being a published romance author. Dreading another holiday alone, she signs up for The Mistletoe Retreat, a nine-day writing retreat in Savannah, Georgia. Deep inside Kimberly knows she's at a junction in her life and it's time to either fulfill her dream or let it go. The other reason she decides to attend the conference is because famed romance writer, H.T. Cowell, once the best selling romance writer in America, and the author whose books instilled in her the desire to be a writer, will be speaking in public for the first time in more than a decade.

In one of her breakout sessions Kimberly meets another aspiring writer, and one of the few men at the conference, Zeke, an intelligent man with a wry wit who seems as interested in Kimberly as he is in the retreat. As Kimberly begins to open up to him about her stories and dreams, she inadvertently reveals her own troubled past. As Zeke helps her to discover why her books fail to live up to their potential she begins to wonder if he's really talking more about her life than her literature. But as she grows closer to him, she realizes that Zeke has his own darkness, a past he's unwilling to talk about.

The theme of The Mistletoe Inn is that like literature, relationships must be lived with passion and vulnerability to succeed.

Review: I have loved Richard Paul Evans for a very long time. His books make my holidays. His first books were tear-jerkers and though I'm not usually a fan of books designed to make you cry, when it comes to RPE I always enjoy them. Some like Nicholas Sparks, I like Richard Paul Evans.

This book was more of a sweet romance, which really isn't quite RPE's thing, at least not in the whole Harlequin romance kind of way, and that's how this book was written. (Only most Harlequin holiday novels are a little more believable)

There are things I could find fault with in this book and I will, but I will tell you that even though there were things that made me crazy, such as how the author seemed to dismiss self published authors and the glamorous lives of published authors. I'm sure there are some very wealthy authors but that's not really the way of things anymore.

Of the characters in this story I liked Kimberly's father the most. He was the most real, where Kimberly was a little to woe is me. I also liked her writing convention buddy, Samantha. Then there's Zeke. Ah, of course you love him instantly, but it doesn't take too long to figure out who he really is. The book is all kinds of predictable, but that doesn't make it bad.

Kimberly is an aspiring writer who is attending a conference in Vermont to see the writer that she loves and is inspired by, H.T. Cowell. Zeke is an aspiring writer that she meets there. They hit it off instantly, but when he critiques her book things go south for awhile. Being the type of book this is, things will get fixed and all will be well in the world.      

This book is the type of story you read when you need a pick me up. RPE always finds something good in something bad.

I always feel better after reading one of his books and look forward to his offerings each year.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: Promise Me

Author: Richard Paul Evans
Title: Promise Me
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publish Date: Oct 5, 2010
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: 
Beth Cardall has a secret. For eighteen years, she has had no choice but to keep it to herself, but on Christmas Eve 2008, all that is about to change.

For Beth, 1989 was a year marked by tragedy. Her life was falling apart: her six-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was suffering from an unidentifiable illness; her marriage transformed from a seemingly happy and loving relationship to one full of betrayal and pain; her job at the dry cleaners was increasingly at risk; and she had lost any ability to trust, to hope, or to believe in herself. Then, on Christmas Day, as she rushed through a blizzard to the nearest 7-Eleven, Beth encountered Matthew, a strikingly handsome, mysterious stranger, who would single-handedly change the course of her life.

Who is this man, and how does he seem to know so much about her? He pursues her relentlessly, and only after she’s fallen deeply in love with him does she learn his incredible secret, changing the world as she knows it, as well as her own destiny.

Review: The holidays wouldn't be the same if there wasn't a heartwarming book by Richard Paul Evans to read.

I love his earlier holiday novels. This one is more than that though. Its a bit strange and yet sweet.

Now don't get me wrong, I loved the story and stayed up until wee hours of the morning to finish it, but when we learned who Mr. Matthew was...erm Matthew...I have to admit I started to wonder what kind of crack the author had been smoking to come up with this plot twist.

However, I'll give Mr. Evans props. In this story Beth Cardell goes through a really crappy year. Her husband's cheated on her, then gets sick and dies of cancer and all the while her daughter, Charlotte is getting sick from an unusual illness that is leaving the doctors baffled.

Yeah, that's a crappy year.

Then she meets Matthew, who is just a little bit different. He knows things he shouldn't know. That's when all the weird stuff happens. Then it gets all wibbly wobbly timey whimey in a way that left shaking my head.

There's a strange connection between Matthew and Charlotte that just blew my mind in a not so good way. When the story moved along in a normal manner it was fabulous, but when the Time and Space Continuum got messed with...well it went all Doctor Who, in a less than entertaining way.

Still, I couldn't stop reading, because Richard Paul Evans is my holiday crack. I enjoyed the book, even though it was a bit far fetched and  not as good as some of his previous novels.

Rating: 4 flowers