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A review by falulatonks
The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
4.0
4.5 stars because WOW THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE! I was promised a really endearing male lead and I got it and I'm so pleased - so easy to laugh, with the biggest grins, super clumsy, a little bit of a dummy, and super endearing. I love that even with his little mind-fumbles and physical fumbles he's never made out to seem like he's lacking anything, like he's less than anyone - I think it would've been easy to write him that way, and Willig does a really good job of not. Dreamiest thing about Turnip, too: never described as 'rakish'. Wow. Doesn't that make your heart sing!
It's so nice to see a dude who doesn't care enough to be brooding and gruff, it's so nice to see a dude who openly does this for people and treats people nicely. It's so nice to see a dude who realises when he's been careless about his privilege and his wealth. I liked, in particular, that when he realised he'd been careless, it wasn't an "oh, I was rude, that's why she rejected me" moment (because dudes in books set in this period do that), but an "oh, I was rude. that was rude of me" moment, which is so much better: not expecting anything. What a good person.
I loved Arabella, too! - and her little side-jokes and the way her mind jumped between things. In books like these with leads with a specific sense of humour, the writing seems to reach a little bit and it falls short, but I never felt like that with her. All of her POV chapters were a pleasure. I also really like that she loves what she does - she's not always been happy, but she was definitely on her way there, and it's nice that she would've gotten it regardless of if she'd met Turnip or not.
And Arabella and Turnip are lovely - my favourite thing in romance is when people make each other smile and laugh a lot (and when people make each other smile and laugh so much that they start noticing things about how they try not to smile! you guys!). They were sweet and giddy without being dense or blunt or unbelievably floaty, you know? How nice.
Spy shenanigans are my favourite thing, especially when they're done goofily, and this book did the goofy perfect. Knocked off half a star for being a little slow to get into, but when I got into the rhythm of the story and fell in love with the leads, I breezed right through. God, what an enjoyable book. I'm going to read the rest of the series now!
It's so nice to see a dude who doesn't care enough to be brooding and gruff, it's so nice to see a dude who openly does this for people and treats people nicely. It's so nice to see a dude who realises when he's been careless about his privilege and his wealth. I liked, in particular, that when he realised he'd been careless, it wasn't an "oh, I was rude, that's why she rejected me" moment (because dudes in books set in this period do that), but an "oh, I was rude. that was rude of me" moment, which is so much better: not expecting anything. What a good person.
I loved Arabella, too! - and her little side-jokes and the way her mind jumped between things. In books like these with leads with a specific sense of humour, the writing seems to reach a little bit and it falls short, but I never felt like that with her. All of her POV chapters were a pleasure. I also really like that she loves what she does - she's not always been happy, but she was definitely on her way there, and it's nice that she would've gotten it regardless of if she'd met Turnip or not.
And Arabella and Turnip are lovely - my favourite thing in romance is when people make each other smile and laugh a lot (and when people make each other smile and laugh so much that they start noticing things about how they try not to smile! you guys!). They were sweet and giddy without being dense or blunt or unbelievably floaty, you know? How nice.
Spy shenanigans are my favourite thing, especially when they're done goofily, and this book did the goofy perfect. Knocked off half a star for being a little slow to get into, but when I got into the rhythm of the story and fell in love with the leads, I breezed right through. God, what an enjoyable book. I'm going to read the rest of the series now!