New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton celebrates the gift of love and the holiday season with a snowy Christmas wedding at the Bellini family vineyard. Stranded at the Red Moss Vineyard a week before her best friend’s wedding, LA native and professional matchmaker Alice Weatherford is not pleased with her first trip to Oklahoma, or the epic snowstorm forcing her to stay. So much for … to stay. So much for Christmas cheer. What she needs is a project, something to distract her…and, oh, has she found one in neighboring rancher Clay Henry. Gorgeous, charming, and unlike any other man she’s ever met, finding the right woman for Clay should be easy….
Having grown up with the Bellini sisters, it’s no hardship for Clay to ride out the storm at their cozy family vineyard, especially since that means spending time with their savvy and smart houseguest. But despite Alice’s best efforts, he’s not the least bit interested in her matchmaking….
Alice is the only woman Clay wants. Now he just has to convince the matchmaker herself to give love a chance.
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This is the first time I’ve picked up a Jaci Burton book in more than a year. In fact, it’s been almost two years! I just wasn’t having luck with her lately and didn’t want to keep going down a road of disappointment with an author I used to really like. I had actually seen book one in this series first and wanted to read it, but I still wasn’t quite sure. I decided to dive back into this author’s work with this novella instead. That can be risky since novellas don’t give much room for error. Thank goodness this was a hit and not a miss. And having met the characters for the next book in this story interact with one another for a very brief time, I cannot wait to read the next book either.
As I mentioned, this is a novella, so things move fast. But the relationship being built between Alice and Clay is believable because they have a great connection. They’re both wonderful people and are honest about their expectations from the start. It’s fun to watch Alice try to prove her matchmaking skills to Clay, although he’s only interested in her. To be fair, the feeling is mutual…she just doesn’t want to give in to the pull they have.
This story helps to set up future stories, I’m sure, with the Red Moss Vineyard as the backdrop. There are plenty of characters to pull from and I’d love to see them all get the HEA they deserve. Hopefully my feelings on this book will continue throughout the series and I’ll be official out of my Jaci Burton rut.
The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission is the start of the new Boots and Bouquets series from Jaci Burton. This is a novella-length story and is super fast-paced.
When Alice is snowed in at the Red Moss Vineyard before her best friend’s wedding, she knows she will go crazy without anything to do. After meeting sexy cowboy neighbor Clay Henry, she sets her sights on putting her matchmaking skills to work for find him the perfect mate. The fact that Clay has already set his sights on Alice only made this story even more fun.
I loved the banter and chemistry from the beginning between Clay and Alice and loved seeing the fall so quickly the more time they spent together. Yes there was a bit of insta-love in this story, and it completely worked for me. I already want to read more stories that will take place at Red Moss Vineyard. Ms. Burton completely charmed me with The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission.
Rating: 4 Stars (B)
Review copy provided by publisher
Short and fun holiday story. Alice is a city girl from LA, but when her best friend decides to get married at a winery in Oklahoma, Alice arrives a week early to make sure everything goes smoothly. She doesn’t expect to get stranded by a freak snowstorm. Desperate for a project, she decides neighboring rancher and fellow strandee Clay needs her services as a matchmaker. Clay isn’t really interested in her matchmaking efforts, but if it gives him a chance to spend more time with her, he’ll take it.
The sparks flew between Alice and Clay from the minute they met. Alice tries to resist – Clay is all wrong for her. She’s LA, he’s Oklahoma, and she’ll only be there for a week. She knows long-distance relationships don’t work. Then there are their opposite opinions on love. Alice believes that a successful match depends on shared interests and that chemistry doesn’t last. Clay is of the firm belief that if there’s no chemistry, there’s no chance of anything else developing. I liked his chemistry challenge to her (which he won, of course) and how he uses it to spend more time with her. It doesn’t take long for the sparks to burst into flame, and the heat between them is pretty intense. But it’s more than just physical, and I enjoyed the time they spent together outside of the bedroom. The decorating scene was sweet, and I loved how easy it was for them to talk to each other.
The short fling turns into something deeper pretty quickly, and Clay can easily picture Alice in his life. The same pictures show up in Alice’s head, but she has a bit of tunnel vision over her life in LA, so she continues to insist that anything further is impossible. I wanted to shake her when she walked away and felt that she earned every bit of her unhappiness. Clay was pretty miserable, too, until a kick in the pants talk from his friends made him see that he gave up too quickly. I loved Clay’s big moment at the end, though his solution wasn’t much of a surprise.
This was a nice setup for the new series. I look forward to reading more.
Professional matchmaker Alice Weatherford has a great track record of bringing couples together. She believes in compatibility over chemistry but she’s about to find out differently. She’s helping her best friend with her wedding preparations and gets stranded in a storm in Oklahoma. She’s definitely a fish out of water in ranching country but when she meets the Clay, the neighboring rancher, she finds out just what it means to have chemistry with someone.
Clay is an attractive, sensitive rancher who happens to be looking for something more in his life. He agrees to let Alice find a match for him, but really just wants to spend time with her. These two really hit it off together and things just really take off from there.
I liked this story. It’s a short one, but the interaction between Clay and Alice is very satisfying. It’s a cute holiday story if you are looking for a quick romance read.
This was a quick, entertaining book with the main characters Clay & Alice getting their HEA. Alice is a matchmaker from LA in Oklahoma for her friends wedding when she meets local rancher Clay. I don’t know anyone that falls in love in a week but they were such likable characters (secondary characters also likable) that you were hoping they got their HEA. Will definitely be reading Erin & Jason’s book when it comes out!!
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Ruthie –
This is a really fun novella – it gives us both a lovely romance and, as the first in a new series, builds an enticing world for future installments. I cannot wait for the next one, especially now that I have read the blurb (don’t do it until you have read this one, it will make it more fun when you do!).
I loved the setting in a rural vineyard, especially when it then snows. The family who runs the place are delightful and make Alice very welcome when she is forced to stay due to the weather. Fortunately, she is not the only one taking refuge… enter the very presentable Clay, from the next ranch over. Oh, we know pretty quickly that these two are destined to be together, but matchmaker Alice has others in mind for him – after all, she is all about LA.
The dance they do is highly enjoyable, and I recommend this latest book from the highly talented Jaci Burton.
Reviewers received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
The book blurb is what drew me into The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission by Jaci Burton. This is a hot and steamy novella, that takes place on a vineyard in small town Oklahoma. The vineyard is also a wedding venue. The characters are fun and the food descriptions made my mouth water.
The two main characters, Alice Weatherford, a matchmaker from Los Angeles, and Clay Henry, a local rancher, have undeniable chemistry. Alice is in town to attend her best friend’s wedding. She arrives a week early to oversee the planning, and ends up getting snowed in at the venue. Clay was visiting when the storm hit, and ends up staying as well, since 48 inches of snow is impossible to ride a horse through. Alice offers her matchmaking services to Clay, and as a result, they are each others perfect match.
I liked this novella, however, I found the pace to be a bit slow. The mounds of snow added a lovely backdrop to the wedding at Christmastime theme. I am quite sure this new series, Boots and Bouquets, is the foundation for new stories about the characters that call Red Moss Vineyards home.
Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
I’m always excited when an author starts a new series. And this year we got two new ones from Burton. Exciting! The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission is a sweet, fun, Hallmark movie novella that starts the new series.
For Alice and Clay it was love at first sight, or should I say lust at first sight. These two really want each other. Not that Alice will admit it at first. In fact, she offers her services up as a matchmaker just so she doesn’t act on her feels.
Silly girl.
I really like Clay he’s smart and hard-working and very sweet. He’s willing to whatever it is to make her happy which shows just how much he cares. She feels the same way. They are just perfect for each other.
Nothing keeps these two apart. And finally, Alice and Clay act on their feels. It’s not an easy road. There is a few bumps along the way. When they finally talk, really talk they are able to smooth things out.
Due to the fact that this is less than 200 pages, the story moves quickly but I felt it was well-written so that helps with how fast the story moves. Well worth reading for the holidays.