Meet Me Under the Mistletoe [Paperback]

Christmas is by far my favourite time of the year and as soon as Halloween is over with I allow myself to start getting a little bit excited for it! This means starting on my festive chick-lit books that I look forward to reading all year and at the very top of that pile this year was Meet Me Under The Mistletoe and so on November 1st I pulled this one down from the shelf and prepared myself for a heart-warming festive read and this book certainly delivered!

The book begins on November 20th with chapters alternating between Laurie and Rachel two very different leading ladies. Laurie and Rachel were best friends during high school but over the years have fallen out of touch as life has taken them down separate paths. Laurie is a city girl who works for a big fashion company in London and Rachel lives in the countryside and is a stay at home mum. But when things start going wrong in both women's lives during the countdown to Christmas, life throws them back together again when they agree to do a house swap to take a break and get their affairs in order. Needless to say the plot has a similar feel to that of the Christmas movie The Holiday which is one of my all-time favourites and if you're a fan of that film I think that you'll enjoy this book's theme too.

I love when books have more than one main character and I thought that it worked particularly well for this book. Prior to reading, in other reviews I read that you're either a Laurie or a Rachel kind of gal and I'd definitely say that I'm a Laurie. That's not to say that I disliked Rachel I just connected with Laurie more and enjoyed her chapters the most. I think that having two very different heroines works in this books favour because whether you're single or have a family, are a city girl or a country bumpkin, there is a lovable heroine for all to relate to.

Meet Me Under The Mistletoe was the perfect book to get me in the festive mood and is a brilliant read for this time of year. The beginning starts off as pretty much your usual chick-lit and the Christmas spirit builds as the book goes on leading up to and finishing on Christmas day, but will the girls be home and have their problems sorted in time for Christmas?

I finished this book with a big grin on my face and it left me with a warm Christmassy glow long after I put it down. Meet Me Under The Mistletoe was the perfect book to kick off this year's Christmas reading with, and what I enjoyed about it most was that unlike a lot of chick-lit novels I had no idea who either girl was going to end up kissing under the mistletoe! This was a sparkling, fun, Christmas story that fans of the genre won't want to miss!

I'm a very Christmassy person, I start talking about Christmas in August and I literally can never wait to put all my decorations up as soon as it hits December. One thing I especially love as a reader is books with a Christmas theme, and so as soon as I saw Abby Clements new book I could not wait to start it!

We open the story at the start of a very big morning for Laurie. At the fashion label she works at, the handbag that Laurie has been in charge of for months has its release date on that very date. Full of excitement, she rushes into work to await its delivery. But when a mistake happens, her career comes crashing down on her. Told to take a few months off `as a break', Laurie is devastated.

Up in Yorkshire is Rachel, married to the handsome Aiden, and a mum to two children, teenager Milly and little Zak. She is living the perfect life with a loving family, and preparing for Christmas. All of a sudden, Rachel's mother-in-law Bea falls ill and needs urgent treatment in London.

When childhood friends Laurie and Rachel get in contact again, a house-swap falls into place, with some interesting and surprising results.

I really really enjoyed Meet Me Under The Mistletoe. The story was a lovely read, and I found that I could go along with the story at a pace that suited me, I liked how easy it was to read, I liked the themes that were incorporated in, and I liked the warm happy feeling that the story left me with long after I had finished.

Although there are essentially two separate stories - Rachel's chapters and Laurie's chapters - Abby Clements manages to cleverly and subtly blend them in with each other, and this allows the story to flow at a beautiful pace. I liked in particular that there was a contrast between the two ladies, Laurie being a single workaholic who is used to the busy streets of London, and Rachel being a devoted mother who loves the easy pace of country life and home-baking. I really enjoyed seeing how both of these characters coped when thrown into each other's lifestyle, and it was very compelling to read. I felt myself connecting with both Rachel and Laurie - I laughed at their mishaps, I cringed with them when they found themselves in embarrassing situations, and I really felt for them during the hardships too. I LOVED my time with them, as I felt myself travelling on his journey with them, and I was quite sad to finish the story and leave Laurie and Rachel behind.

The descriptions of the two settings are brilliant. Yorkshire in particular, and the small villages within, are depicted as picturesque, beautiful, homely little places, and I was immediately drawn in by its charm. With the added Christmas theme, I even felt warm and Christmassy as I was reading, and I think it was a perfect setting for the book.

Abby Clements has created a wonderful story, and one thing I particularly liked about Meet me Under The mistletoe was that not only were the main characters developed, but the supporting characters were also very well-written and came across as very real and lifelike - I can not fault a single character. Milly, Rachel's daughter, was very well-written and even though I'm not a teenager myself, I found I could relate to her and I understood her. Up in Yorkshire, Diana, Joyce and co. came across so well, their personalities shone from the pages so much that I almost felt that I was Laurie stood in the room with them, and after reading this book, I'm very keen to visit Yorkshire again!

Meet Me Under The Mistletoe is warm, it is light-hearted - though there are a few surprises and twists to keep you hooked! This story is the perfect one to help ease you into the mood for Christmas, and to be a gentle reminder that not only is it nice to have a change of scenery every now and again, but so long as you have family, friends or people you love around you at Christmas, then life really is beautiful.

Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call chick lit: two polar opposite female protagonists, small picturesque village, atmospheric festive London, deliciously manly men all embroiled in high-emotion dramas.

The writing style is confident and smooth, meaning Meet Me Under The Mistletoe goes down as easily as a hunk of chocolate cake washed down with a cuppa. The plot almost splits into two, telling separate stories, but also cleverly interweaves to keep the basis of the concept together, and you're never given a chance to get bored. It's the perfect stocking filler, and great for relaxing with, so make sure you put it on your Chrimbo list.

Reviewed by Charlotte Foreman on behalf of BestChickLit.com