ABOUT KAT
Kat Latham writes sexy contemporary romance set all around the world. She’s a California girl who moved to Europe the day after graduating from UCLA, ditching her tank tops for raincoats. She spent several years teaching English in Prague followed by several more working for a humanitarian organization in London. She and her British husband now live in a small town in the rural Netherlands surrounded by miles and miles of green pasture, canals and Shetland ponies. Kat’s slowly adjusting to life in a place where bicycles and cows seem to outnumber people.
With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the humor and emotion of real life. Kat’s other career involves writing and editing for charities, and she’s had the privilege of traveling to Kenya, Ethiopia and India to write about the heroic people helping their communities survive disasters.
Jaime’s Thoughts
Mine Under the Mistletoe by Kat Latham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Do you love the movie The Holiday? I do… I mean, I was just reminded when talking with a friend on twitter just how much. I think it oftentimes gets overlooked by movies like Love, Actually or the fact that Jack Black is in it, but the premise of it is something I would love to try… you know if people wanted to come stay in gross Wisconsin in the middle of winter. Anyway… there is a point to my ramble, I promise. Mine Under The Mistletoe borrows a bit from The Holiday, but only in that California Girl Ashley and Sexy Brit Oliver are set to trade places for the Christmas holiday.
Ashley, never having had a proper Christmas is set to live out her dream of a proper English Christmas and Oliver is running away…away from the memories that he continues to struggle with and he thinks sunny San Diego is the answer.
A freak ice storm grounds Oliver’s plane and he’s forced home never expecting that Ashley has arrived, and Ashley was definitely NOT expecting a naked brit to attempt crawling into bed with her. After a knee to the junk and a bit of panic they finally realize what has happened and who each other are.
Even though Oliver isn’t a fan of the holiday, he offers to show Ashley around the area and help her get her first Christmas just right. But the more time they spend together, the more their attraction to each other grows, both knowing that what they have can go nowhere and when the time comes, will they find a way to make things work, or will they go their separate ways? You’ll have to read to find out.
This is the second novella I have read in the All I’m Asking For Holiday Collection from Carina and I really enjoyed the story! The characters themselves were likable and well fleshed out for a novella.
Both Oliver and Ashley are struggling with loss and they form a bit of a silent bond over it, and while their stories are a bit sad, they never really overshadowed the build of the relationship between them.
My only issue of course was the quick ‘I love you’s’, but I also realize that this is a novella and there are only so many pages to get there. I just struggle with that insta-love portion of these short stories sometimes. I will say that that doesn’t take away from the sweet love story that you get with Mine Under The Mistletoe.
If you’re looking for some quick holiday reads that will have you cheering for the characters and swooning over the guys, I can vouch for 2 out of the 3 short stories in this compilation –Mine Under the Mistletoe is the perfect read I’ll definitely be looking for more from Kat Latham in 2014!
Recent Comments