AD| Review of Under The Mistletoe With You By Lizzie Huxley-Jones

Disclosure: I was given a free Kindle copy of this book by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I was super excited to receive an email from Hodder and Stoughton asking me if I would like to read an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Under The Mistletoe With You by Lizzie Huxley-Jones, because I had previously read and reviewed their other festive rom-com Make You Mine This Christmas.

I knew I was in good hands for a queer, festive read (and there aren’t nearly enough of those) and happily downloaded it ready to read come October (any earlier feels a little too early even for me to read something set at Christmas!) And I am delighted to say that it didn’t disappoint.

Catching up with old friends

Somehow I managed to miss the connection between the Christopher in this book’s blurb and the Christopher from Make You Mine This Christmas before I started reading it. But just a couple of pages in and it all came flooding back.

Christopher has followed his dream, attended culinary school, and set up a bakery in Wales. And he’s looking forward to a Christmas break in York with Haf and Kit (his fake-ex and his sister). Now, if you haven’t read Make You Mine This Christmas then you will miss these call-backs, but it will still make sense, so don’t feel you can’t pick up this book if you haven’t read the other one first. However if you want to read both then I highly recommend that you do, because it is a lovely follow on.

Anyway, back to Under The Mistletoe With You. We start the book with Christopher preparing to close his bakery after several intense months, renting his flat to a Tessa while he’s away, and having some much needed downtime. However things don’t quite go to plan. Overnight the UK is hit by a massive snow storm (I know, I found it a little bit unlikely too, but it’s a festive romance, we’ll suspend our disbelief for this) halting all the trains, planes, and leaving most people well and truly stuck (yeah, that bit wasn’t quite so far-fetched).

And this is when things start to get really interesting…

Never meet your idols?

After discovering he will not be going anywhere for the foreseeable future, Christopher heads back to the bakery, only to discover that Tessa was actually the assistant to none other than his favourite festive rom-com star, Nash Nadeau. And they are both now stuck sharing his tiny flat. And things don’t exactly get off to a flying start.

Nash is, understandably, frustrated after getting stranded in what feels like the middle of nowhere to him. And Christopher is awkwardly trying to not let Nash know how much of a fan he is. It is awkward as hell. And I must admit I found this part rather challenging. I’m not a big fan of the whole “enemies-to-lovers” trope, and I was dreading it dragging on. But thankfully Lizzie doesn’t do that, and before long the pair of them strike up an unusual kind of familiarity. Yes they bicker, quite a bit, but they also sort of enjoy it. For the most part, at least.

I was also really worried about the whole “Christopher keeping it a secret he knows who Nash is”, as I know some writers would have built it up to a really awkward “I trusted you” situation when all became clear. But again, Lizzie did an amazing job of making Nash suspect Christopher recognised him all along, and so it just came out about halfway through and was fine. Phew.

A story of community and friendship

But what was really wonderful about Under The Mistletoe With You is that it is so much more than a romance. Yes, that is a major part of the story, but the warmth at the heart of this story comes from the community as a whole. Christopher has felt like an outsider since moving to Pen-y-Môr, but the snow gives him the opportunity to get to know so many of the residents as he joins the local group aiming to support the more vulnerable members of their community.

I’m not going to spoil the book by telling you all the things he gets up to, but going around helping people keeps him and Nash busy, and helps him through missing out on being with his friends as planned. It really has that classic feel-good festive spirit, and I wanted to spend as much time in it as I could. (It actually got me through some really rough days with a ruptured cyst and two weekend visits to Urgent Care!)

There’s great rep too!

Speaking of health issues – disability is represented in this book just as it was in Make You Mine This Christmas. This time it is Nash who eventually feels comfortable enough with Christopher to tell him about his seizures. And when he has one later in the book, Christopher helps to heal a little bit of Nash’s past trauma of being told he is a burden (we’ve all been there, right my disabled friends). It was beautiful to see the representation of both how hard it is to disclose a disability to someone new, and how healing it can be to be supported with gentleness and respect.

And Nash isn’t the only disabled character. We get to meet Myffy, a wheelchair user who is stuck at home without her usual Carers due to the snow. Myffy is a delightfully cheeky character, and I think we all wish our communities would rally around us the way hers did during this book.

There’s also plenty of LGBTQ+ rep in Under The Mistletoe With You too, with Christopher being bi, Nash being trans, and a couple of lesbians in Pen-y-Môr too! I figured out who they were quicker than Christopher – he is so oblivious, bless him. And his friends are all wonderfully queer too, let’s not forget. They make several text appearances, as well as an actual appearance at the end.

Buy Under The Mistletoe With You

All in all this was a lovely read which gave me all the warm fuzzies I’m looking for in a festive rom-com, with all the added disability and queer rep I could ask for! It comes out on 24th October 2024, and if you’d like to read it yourself you can buy a copy here.

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