The Mistletoe Effect by Melissa Cutler
Contemporary Romance
Released: October 7, 2014
St. Martin’s
Reviewed by May
Poinsettias weren’t even real flowers, just shrubs with red leaves.
Decker has worked at the Briscoe Ranch Resort for years, and has gone from wild playboy to being serious about his career and life. The whole time he’s lusted after Carina and now he just might have the chance to get some naked time with her before he moves on to his next job…
Carina loves her work and her family, but she can’t believe her sister just ran out on her wedding and left her in the lurch like this! When her father declares she must get married to someone that minute she agrees. After all, she’s wanted Decker for a very long time.
She had twenty-two more weddings lined up at the resort before Christmas. Couples who’d paid premium dollar to get married at Briscoe Ranch Resort during the month of December because of the phenomenon that local wedding planners had long ago dubbed the Mistletoe Effect – Briscoe Ranch Resort’s perfect fifty-year record of divorce-free marriages that had taken place in the first twenty-five days of December. If word got out about Haylie’s wedding disaster, if couples got nervous about the streak ending – or, worse yet, if Wedding World wrote about the streak ending – then what would that mean for the future of the company?
This is the premise of the story, and the entire plot. The two of them get married (not really – just for show) and have lots of sex all month.
I didn’t like this story, in fact the only thing I liked was the “crazy” grandma who was forever in people’s faces and taking photos. What I disliked so strongly is right from the start the plot is ridiculous. How is a fake marriage which is going to end in a month when Decker moves away to a new job anyhow going to help some alleged perfect streak? How does the initial couple who ran off not jinx it without this sham marriage?
Also, if these two are so eager to have sex why haven’t they done so sooner? The fake “I do” ceremony gave them permission to simply go wild I suppose. I just couldn’t get behind the idea that they had real potential here based off a lot of lust being worked off.
Finally let’s speak about Carina’s father. He’s bossy and demanding and apparently also has the power to ruin or fix everything in everyone’s life. His role in this book diminished any chance of feeling like this was anything real or lasting. His role also made Carina seem weak since she does whatever he wants without much protest.
I suppose it is possible that someone else would enjoy this book a great deal more than I did. If you love the fake marriage as an excuse to get naked trope and don’t mind big daddy hanging around and telling the guy to go ahead and shack up with his daughter in order to help business then by all means – this may be your book. I’m not failing this one only because the setting, and general writing style kept me interested until the end.
Grade: D
Thanks for the review, but this does not sound like a book I would enjoy.