A Christmas Notch has been a series I’ve enjoyed since I got my hands on A Merry Little Meet Cute. Today’s review is bittersweet, because I loved A Jingle Bell Mingle, but it’s the final book in this series. I will miss visiting this town and these characters. Keep on reading to find out more about this book and what I thought!
An eARC was provided to me by Netgalley and Avon to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way.
What happens when there’s no room at the inn and you and your potentially demonic cat become roommates with your grumpy one-night stand?
Part-time adult film actress/one-time adult film director/makeup artist Sunny Palmer has accidentally sold her very first screenplay to the Hope Channel. That was six months ago. Fast forward to a looming deadline, an uninspired Sunny has returned to the source of her inspiration in Christmas Notch, Vermont, to immerse herself in the local Christmas miracle on which her fever dream of a movie pitch was based.
Isaac Kelly, former boy band heartthrob and the saddest boy in the music biz, is the latest owner of the town’s historic mansion. After his years of heartbreak following his young wife’s death, Isaac’s record label is done waiting for new music. What better place to attempt his first holiday album than a snow-covered mansion where he can become a hermit in peace?
But after their best friends’ wedding leads to them waking up together in a freezing motel room with questionable wiring and a broken shower, Isaac takes a chance and asks Sunny to stay with him at his home. Surely the place is big enough that he’ll hardly see her or her unhinged cat. But when the two discover they’re both creatively blocked, they make a handshake deal: Isaac will help Sunny hunt down the truth behind the local lore, and Sunny will find Isaac a new muse.
And with these two opposites under one roof, there’s no way this jingle bell mingle could go off script…right?
Review
It’s hard to believe that A Jingle Bell Mingle is the final book in the A Christmas Notch series, and I’m kind of sad. I have been waiting for Isaac’s story since the first book and I can say he’s worth the wait!
Isaac lost his wife way too young and has the grief of that has made it hard for him to do anything anymore. He needs to make a final album for his record label, but his muse is gone. Sunny accidentally sold her first screenplay to the Hope Channel, but has no clue what she’s doing. Both of these characters were amazing and perfect for each other before they even knew it. This is a slow burn romance with quite a bit of spice, but it worked. I loved Isaac and Sunny slowly getting to know each other. They understood each other more than they realized.
Besides that I once again loved the body positivity as well as how healthy the relationships here are. They talk things through. Things may get frustrating, but in the end the communication is there. A Jingle Bell Mingle had me laugh, swoon, and even shed a few tears. I love the little town mystery added to this book.
On top of that we get to see all of the characters we’ve come to know and love from the previous books. This story comes together really well and I don’t think the authors could end this in a better way. I’m sad this series is over and I really hope that the authors continue writing stories together.
I tend to be bad at finishing series I start, so I’m proud of myself for finishing this one. A Jingle Bell Mingle was a great way to say goodbye to Christmas Notch. Have you read any holiday themed reads this year? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
