🎄🌿❄️ “Meddling with Mistletoe – Red Door Inn Christmas Romance” (Prince Edward Island Dreams #4) (2024) ❄️ 🌿 🎄 – Book Review
MY REVIEW
Series: Prince Edward Island Dreams (Book #4)
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Revell (September 3, 2024)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800744888
ISBN-13: 978-0800744885
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“The recipe for romance is simple: sweets, treats, and mistletoe meets
Whitney Garrett is preparing to enter culinary school in the spring, but first she has to sell enough homemade pies at the local Christmas markets to pay her tuition. When her oven breaks, Whitney asks Marie Sloan, proprietor of the Red Door Inn, if she can use the inn's kitchen to keep up with her orders. Marie agrees, with a catch: Whitney has to watch the three Sloan children and cook breakfasts for the Red Door in return.
The inn is busy with holiday guests--including Aretha Franklin Sloan's perpetually single nephew Daniel and Ruby, a businesswoman in town to purchase Aretha's antiques store. Intent on making a Christmas match for the two, Aretha enlists Whitney's help in her schemes. But the deeper Whitney gets, the more she realizes that Ruby is definitely not the right woman for Daniel--and the more she thinks that she just might be his perfect match.”
Thank you to the publisher, Revell (a division of Baker Books), for providing a complimentary copy through Interviews and Reviews. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.
I first got introduced to Liz Johnson’s back in 2019 when I got the Prince Edward Island Dreams series from the library. After skimming them, I knew wanted them. Around the same time, I got book #1 in her Georgia Coast Romance series. I then got the second book in the GCR series.
But, I didn’t read a book until I won an ARC of Dazzle of Diamonds, the third and final book in her Georgia Coast Romance series.
I’ve read the first two books of her return series to Prince Edward Island – Prince Edward Island Shores. I plan to read the third and final book in that series shortly. (I have to get books packed for an upcoming move, and I hate separating a series).
Having the books in the Prince Edward Island Dreams series, I had to read this one. I’m not a fan of illustrated covers. To me, they’re often cheesy and seem to indicate they’d be more appropriate for YA (young adults). However, one shouldn’t simply judge a book on the cover alone.
While this isn’t an officially fourth (4th) book, I label it as such due to the fact that this takes readers back to The Red Door Inn, which was introduced as the same name book in that series.
Returning from PEI Dreams:
🏨 Marie (Owner of The Red Door Inn, featured in book The Red Door Inn)
🏨 Seth (Marie’s husband, featured in book The Red Door Inn)
🍲 Caden (Cook at The Red Door Inn, featured in book Where Two Hearts Meet)
🗞️ Adam (Caden’s husband, featured in book Where Two Hearts Meet)
🖼️ Aretha
🚐 Jack (Seth’s uncle)
Mentioned: Natalie and Justin (On Love’s Gentle Shore)
New for this book:
🥧 Whitney
🛍️ Ruby
📊 Daniel
👧🏻 Julia Mae (Marie & Seth’s daughter)
🧒🏻 Jack (small) (Marie & Seth’s son)
As some of the characters from the series appear in this book, I encourage readers to read the series prior to this book as this will no doubt have spoilers. Despite the spoilers, I still want to read the series.
I loved the opening line – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. I think most people can relate to that. It reminds me of the way the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan began. It is the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities. Spock had given the “antique” book to Kirk for his birthday. Took me YEARS to track it down.
That said …
As a result of trying to raise tuition to go to culinary school, Whitney is selling her baked goods at a farmer’s market. When her oven stops working, she goes to the only place she knows, The Red Door Inn, to use the oven. She ends up bartering for it, agreeing to take care of Marie and Seth’s kids and fix breakfast. Her finances also become a bartering point for Aretha who enlists her help with matchmaking. She’s got three couples to her name: Marie/Seth; Caden/Adam; Natalie/Justin. Aretha is looking to help her nephew find love – though, she has someone else in mind.
Daniel is in town to help Aretha and the sale of her antique store that Ruby wants to acquire. Given the similarities she thinks she sees, Aretha assumes Ruby and Daniel are perfect. Yet, there is an instant attraction between Daniel and Whitney. Despite Aretha’s influence, and Whitney’s attempts, Daniel isn’t interested in Ruby. She reminds him of his ex-fiancée.
It also doesn’t hurt the Daniel/Whitney relationship when Julia Mae, Marie’s daughter, connects with Daniel and helps him relax during his stay. He often sees how Whitney is with the little girl and has his own dreams. One thing he is trying to help Whitney figure out – her dream.
Filled with holiday goodness, sweetness, and cooking; this return to PEI is a delightful read. It embodies the holiday spirit and sparks joy. A cozy, by the fireplace read. All one needs is a cup of hot chocolate and a fuzzy blanket. I was drawn right in, and despite what was going on in my life, I managed to read this inside of 36 hours. Not bad for a story that was 237 pages. The short chapters really helped move this story along.
I deeply enjoyed this sweet, endearing, and feel-good read; though it had a slight open end. It is a slow burn type of romance. The oven story seemed like it was taken from a personal experience. About 5-7 Thanksgivings ago, my gas oven started having issues. It resulted in longer than normal cooking times, and having to re-start the oven in the middle of cooking. Thankfully, as I rent and have on-site maintenance, it was fixed immediately.
I’m wondering if the author plans to return to this book, or the series again. Which, I wouldn’t mind. Though I’m hoping to read the series before then. The Christian tones were light, and hardly noticeable.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html;update https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html)
DATES READ: 9/28/2024 – 9/29/2024
PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
Series: Prince Edward Island Dreams (Book #1)
Paperback: 350 Pages
Publisher: Revell Books (March 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 080072402X
ISBN-13: 978-0800724023
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“Marie Carrington is running from a host of bad memories. Broke and desperate, she's hoping to find safety and sanctuary on Prince Edward Island, where she reluctantly agrees to help decorate a renovated bed-and-breakfast before it opens for prime tourist season.
Seth Sloane didn't move three thousand miles to work on his uncle's B&B so he could babysit a woman with a taste for expensive antiques and a bewildering habit of jumping every time he brushes past her. He came to help restore the old Victorian--and to forget about the fiancée who broke his heart.
The only thing Marie and Seth agree on is that getting the Red Door Inn ready to open in just three months will take everything they've got. Can these two wounded souls find hope, healing, and perhaps a bit of romance on this beautiful island?”
Series: Prince Edward Island Dreams (Book #2)
Paperback: 378 Pages
Publisher: Revell Books (October 18, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 080072450X
ISBN-13: 978-0800724504
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“In her kitchen at the Red Door Inn, executive chef Caden Holt is calm, collected, and competent. But when her boss asks her to show off their beautiful island to impress a visiting travel writer and save the inn, Caden is forced to face a world much bigger than her kitchen--and a man who makes her wish she was beautiful.
Journalist Adam Jacobs is on a forced sabbatical on Prince Edward Island. He's also on assignment to uncover a story. Instead he's falling in love with the island's red shores and Caden's sweets.
When Caden discovers Adam isn't who she thought he was, she realizes that the article he's writing could do more than ruin the inn's chances for survival--it might also break her heart.”
Series: Prince Edward Island Dreams (Book #3)
Paperback: 332 Pages
Publisher: Revell Books (July 4, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0800724518
ISBN-13: 978-0800724511
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“Fifteen years after she left Prince Edward Island, Natalie O'Ryan had no plans to return. But when her fiancé, music producer Russell Jacobs, books their wedding in her hometown and schedules a summer at Rose's Red Door Inn, she sets out to put the finishing touches on the perfect wedding. But she can't possibly prepare for a run-in with Justin Kane--the best friend she left behind all those years ago after promising to stay.
Justin's never forgotten Natalie or the music career he always dreamed of pursuing. He'd been prepared to follow her off the island until his dad died and he was left to run the family dairy farm. He's done the best he can with the life that was thrust upon him--but with Natalie back in the picture, he begins to realize just how much joy he's been missing.
After Natalie's reception venue falls through, she must scramble to find an alternative, and the only option seems to be a barn on Justin's property. As they work together to get the dilapidated building ready for the party, Natalie and Justin discover the groundwork for forgiveness--and that there may be more than an old friendship between them.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LIZ JOHNSON is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including Beyond the Tides, The Last Way Home, and Summer in the Spotlight, as well as the Georgia Coast Romance and Prince Edward Island Dreams series. She works in marketing, makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona, and daydreams of spending Christmas on PEI. Learn more at www.LizJohnsonBooks.com.
She can be found on the following social media accounts:
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