Two Turtle Doves
Jess Michaels presents a delightful, Christmas through New Year, romance with a satisfying happy ending. After the death of her husband, Lady Emily Rutledge wishes to find joy in the holiday season by helping some of her friends find love. She has arranged a Twelve Days of Christmas matchmaking party, with the help of her friend John Cavendish (Cav). Cav has loved Emily since the day he met her. For all these years, he has respected Emily and his best friend’s relationship by hiding his feelings. But time is running out, and Cav must marry soon even if it means leaving behind his love for Emily. This book definitely has an air of Emma, with a touch of heartbreak. Emily is honest and kind to everyone, except when it comes to her feelings for Cav. Cav has been clearly fiend-zoned, but he is still supportive and cares about Emily’s passions. Including passions in the bedroom. They are both authentic and open with each other, and their romance is built on mutual understanding and trust. Jess Michaels has a well-paced and fluid writing style, though there are a few “bawdy” words. Matched Under the Mistletoe is a steamy friendship to love romance. ( )

Mismatched Under the Mistletoe by Jess Michaels

How hard it must be to hide your love from the woman married to your best friend…for years and years to have to be around the woman you love without being able to be more than a good friend. And then to have to continue even after the woman is a widow…will the time ever be right for John Cavendish and Emily Rutledge to be together? Hope springs eternal and at a matchmaking country house party the situation might change but will they change in favor of John finally achieving the love of his life…or not?

Emily has the idea of playing matchmaker with the 12 Days of Christmas theme so invites a selection of people she hopes will find love while under her roof. She is not thrilled with the results or with some of the animals brought to be part of the entertainment BUT she hopes it won’t all be in vain.

This book was so much fun! I felt so badly for Cavendish as he waited and waited and took such good care of Emily. I was hoping that she would realize what a good man he was and fall for him…as they both deserved to be happy. I also wondered about some of the guests at the party and hope they will show up in future books not yet written yet.

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and The Passionate Pen LLC for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Mismatched Under the Mistletoe is a second chance at love novella by Jess Michaels. When his best friend Andrew Rutledge told John Cavendish (Cav) that he’d fallen in love and was going to get married Cav had his doubts as he felt they had wild oats to sow and adventures to explore before settling down. Meeting Lady Emily made him understand completely why his friend had fallen under her spell because for him too it was love at first sight. Nine years later and five years after the sudden death of Andrew Cav is under pressure from his grandfather to marry and he realizes that the Twelve Days of Christmas themed house party Emily is holding with the idea of matching up some rakes and wallflowers may be his last chance to tell her how he feels and to see if there is any hope for them as a couple with out ending their close friendship. This was one of the best novellas I’ve read this year, Jess Michaels excels at the form, and I highly recommend it. Steam Level: Medium. Publishing Date: November 10, 2020. #MismatchedUnderTheMistletoe #JessMichaels #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalRomanceNovella #SecondChanceAtLove #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #NetGalley ( )