Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe - An Appalachian Christmas & Once Upon a Christmas (2 novella anthology) by Irene Brand & Anita Higman

About the book: Two Christmas stories - one historical, one contemporary - under one cover. Love Finds You under the Mistletoe: An Appalachian Christmas - A promise to her dying sister compels Julia Mayfield to take her young nephew to Mistletoe, Kentucky, a tiny town tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains. Sparks fly when she meets David Armstrong, a World War II veteran like herself. Even as shadows from the past weave a dangerous web around Julia and David, will their love flourish like the mistletoe that blankets the nearby hills?

Love Finds You under the Mistletoe: Once Upon a Christmas - EveHollie Goodnight's store has just been voted best Christmas shop in America. All the new publicity draws flamboyant novelist Van Keaton to the cozy town of Noel, Missouri, demanding to write Hollie's story - a dramatic tale of misfortune and triumph. She is swept up in his world of beautiful words and fanciful interludes...until Owen Quigly, her lifelong best friend, launches a plan to win her back. (from Goodreads.com)

My thoughts:  I thoroughly enjoy novellas centered around Christmas that are sweet, endearing, hold a glimmer of truth, and leave a warm-fuzzy feeling. That is just what authors Irene Brand and Anita Higman have accomplished.  Ms. Brand has woven a delightful tale in Love Finds You under the Mistletoe: An Appalachian Christmas that draws the heart and mind to the beauty of untamed and unclaimed and unspoiled living in the Appalachian Mountains at the end of WWII. This is a period of time in history when much progress was being made in the "outside" world and yet progress that had eluded the Appalachians needed to penetrate yet not destroy. This tender story revolves around the mistletoe for which the town is name but the real clincher for it doesn't come until the end and that is the connection between the two novellas that are a couple of generations apart.

Anita Higman, author of Love Finds You under the Mistletoe: Once Upon a Christmas, has brought a delightful story to the table in this set of two. How Holly came to connect with the Christmas Shop in Noel and the love she has for her "fathAr" is so tender and sweet. Her interaction with the two young men - one an old friend and the other a newcomer are fun to watch. I can say I really enjoy Anita Higman's writing. (See my other reviews of her works on Chat With Vera).

Now if you can find a bookstore with a copy or a library be sure you grab it for an enjoyable "Christmas" evening read that is relaxing and pleasurable. 

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book from author Anita Higman with no obligation to review. It was a pleasure to read and review.

Books by Anita Higman reviewed on Chat With Vera:
Texas Wildflowers
Winter In Full Bloom
A Merry Little Christmas