Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Mistletoe Kisses
SERIES: Dare Me Christmas Duo (Book 1)
AUTHOR: Lee Blair
PUBLISHER: Bosta Books
LENGTH: 342 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 22, 2023
BLURB:
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…until you get laid off.
The fastest way to trigger my anxiety is losing my job at the holidays. Fortunately, I can always count on my platonic bestie to keep me grounded. Except our commiseration drinks lead to planning pre-Christmas vacays for each other, so instead of grounding me, my bestie sends me flying to Dahlia Springs, Oregon.
Did I mention we each have to complete a dare? Mine is to meet the side of my family who has no idea I exist.
On my first day in town, a hot sauce mishap gets my chestnuts roasting like they’re in an open fire. But Lucas, my server in shining armor, comes to my NSFW rescue. And instead of just handing me my bill and wishing me a happy holidays, he becomes my jingle bell rock while I try to work up the courage to tell my family who I really am.
Soon my gratitude turns into deeper feelings for Lucas, and I don’t want to imagine facing the new year without him.
But I have a life back home, and it would take a Christmas miracle to let me stay in Dahlia Springs.
Or maybe it would just take a dare.
Mistletoe Kisses is a low angst M/M romance full of small-town holiday cheer with a vacation romance, opposites attract, and forced proximity. It’s half of the Dare Me Christmas Duo, but each book is a standalone romance. If you’ve read other books in Lee’s Dahlia Springs universe, like 24 Dares of Christmas, you’ll recognize some beloved characters.
REVIEW:
Yay a trip back to Dahlia Springs for more Christmas cheer! 🎄🎉
Arlo and his roomie/best friend, Keaton just got devastating news. Just as the holidays are approaching Winchester Publishing laid of a fifth of its workforce where they both work. The two decide the best way to deal with losing their jobs is to get drunk on the bottle of tequila that Keaton snuck out of his parent’s bar on Thanksgiving. When the two are quite tipsy they decide to challenge the other to a dare. “We should send each other on vacation as a big Christmas gift. Wouldn’t that be fun? You plan a trip for me, and I plan a trip for you.” Then they added “ an addendum. We send the other with a dare. Something we have to complete during the vacation.” So off on separate vacations they go. Now Arlo is stuck in a Bed and Breakfast full of creepy dolls everywhere in Oregon and he has to meet his dead father’s, that he never meet and only recently learned about, family as his part of the dare! No big deal…NOT!!! When a dinner out to escape the doll horror leads to a very unfortunate mishap involving the ghost pepper sauce on his ribs and his penis he is doomed right? But his knight in shining armor server Lucas comes to his rescue and the vacation is finally starting to look as bright as all the lights on the B&B!
I absolutely loved Lucas and Arlo’s story. These two were perfect puzzle pieces that fit together. They complimented each others strengths and weaknesses. Lucas may have appeared as the strong one but truly his strength allowed Arlo to come into his own and raise above his crippling anxiety. He allowed Arlo to finally learn to trust himself and let people in. Watching him grow and help others was the true treat. His helping his Uncle Ron allowed him to discover that working in a bookstore and having his talents appreciated gave him the initial boost. But his helping Lucas overcome his years of misfortune, at the Making Spirits Bright event, to help Reed make his proposal to Warren be even more special was the icing on the cake. There could never be a more perfect fit for these two than each other.
This book contains so many of things I hold special about Oregon. The Dahlia Lane tradition reminds me so much of Portland’s long history of Peacock Land and my parents bundling us up to go see each year. Going to the historic Pittock Mansion for the Christmas decorations is a trip I won’t soon forget. My beautiful and talented niece has had a spot there for many years and has taken me as her guest. And yes, that lookout over Portland is just as beautiful as Lee described. My grands love the Polar Express that takes off from Hood River and goes the foothills of majestic Mt. Hood. I hadn’t heard before that the one down on the coast did this but will be researching for a new winter adventure while back visiting our family. Going to Bee’s Dahlia Farm always makes me think of all the years my friend took me to Swan Island Dahlia Farm out in Canby for my birthday and a new tuber for our yard. And mention of Powell’s Books, a staple on Burnside in Downtown Portland, brings back all the memories of taking my class there on field trips. Lee’s books capture the heart of what Oregon truly is. I went to college down in the area she describes as where the fictitious Dahlia Springs is and I so wish it was a real town. I want to go to celebrate so many of the wonderful events that happen there.
I can absolutely feel for Arlo and his anxiety of finding family he never knew he had. In my fifties, after my parents passed, I discovered that I was actually adopted. My kids pushed for me to do DNA testing to discover my heritage. I, like Arlo, are one of the lucky ones. I have discovered a half brother that was also adopted out and we have an amazing late-in-life relationship. But the anxiety leading up to our actual meeting was a bit crippling. As we are continuing on with our search, each time there is a new DNA hit my anxiety grows leaps and bounds. What if they don’t want to meet me? What if I’m not good enough? What if they don’t like me? I have felt each of Arlo’s anxieties that he experienced. Yes, I’m an extrovert like Lucas, but even extroverts suffer from anxiety that they aren’t “good enough”. Ms. Blair truly captured all those feelings perfectly and having Lucas understand what Arlo was going through and holding his hand while he navigated this new path was key. Anyone in that situation would treasure having a support like that.
As you can tell, I really am a HUGE fan of Lee Blair and her Dahlia Spring’s books and the diverse families that she shares with us in her wonderful books. If you read last years 24 Dares of Christmas you will get to catch up with Warren, Lucas’s older brother and his partner Reed. Now I can’t wait to read about Keaton and how his trip and dare that Arlo sent him on to snowy (that’s right) Arizona!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: