There's Something About Merry by Codi Hall (Mistletoe Romance #2)

Merry Winters has the holiday blues. She's spent the last year learning to love herself, and now she's ready to find the right guy. But the pickings are slim in Mistletoe, Idaho, and it’s just her luck that the man who catches her eye is the stoic new foreman at her family’s Christmas tree farm. Too bad he wants to keep a 39-and-a-half-foot pole between them.

Single dad Clark Griffin isn't looking for romance, but he wouldn't mind a friend to snuggle with on a cold winter's night. When he signs up for online dating, he doesn't expect to connect with the sassy, crafty Knottygirl25 and get wrapped up in every message she writes.

But when Merry turns out to be his blind internet date, his surprise causes him to miss his chance under the mistletoe. Can a little Christmas magic give these two a second chance at a first impression?

Series: Mistletoe Romance #2 | Publisher: Audible | Narrators: C.J. Bloom and Lee Samuels | Length: 10 hours 43 minutes | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source: Publisher | Rating: 4 

I did not like the first book in the series (Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist) and ended up DNFing it so I wasn’t sure about this one. In fact, I had it on my TBR list for two read-a-thons and kept putting it off until it was the last Christmas book left in my audiobook que. I’m so glad I gave this book a listen as I enjoyed it.

While Merry and Clark work together, they’ve both been determined to avoid each other, when possible, due to issues in their past but it seems they’ve been hitting if off  anonymously through a dating app. While the two begin to suspect early on, they still have some issues to work out.  

This was a fun book. I’ve seen it labeled as enemies-to-lovers and I wouldn’t go that far, they had some previous misunderstandings but nothing that made them enemies. It was more a grumpy/sunshine situation. They were both fun characters; Merry was a little more free and jovial and Clark’s more cautious and serious, which makes sense seeing as he is a single father.

The romance in this one was a little off-kilter in the pacing but I still found it to be believable. While it starts sweet, it does turn a bit steamy.  

Out of all the books that I’ve read this season, this one was the most Christmassy but it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

I’m a little on the fence with the rating, I initially gave it a 3.5 then ended up rounding up to a 4. While I did enjoy the book, the pacing felt a bit off to me. It started very slowly, then quickened up in spots but slowed down in others. I felt like the author spent a lot of time on the fluff of the story but the relationship aspects were rushed. I also thought they rushed the reveal a little too early. In the end, I did settle on a 4 because I enjoyed the characters and the Christmassy vibe

Overall, this was a fun, sexy, Christmas romance that I do recommend. The unevenness of the plot, thankfully, didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the characters.