A Many Sided Christmas Story
Publisher’s Description
A love story for Christmas—now a Hallmark Channel original movie—from the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box and The Walk.
Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.
Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks—until the evening of December 24—he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:
1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day
The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.
Details
- Title: The Mistletoe Promise
- Author: Richard Paul Evans
- Reader: January LaVoy
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (November 18, 2014)
- Categories: Holiday, Christian Romance
- Runtime: 4 hours and 58 minutes
- Excerpt
My Thoughts
I wanted to post this before Christmas but unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Hopefully, you won’t miss listening to or reading this book even if it is after the fact. If you’re like me, however, there’s never a wrong time of year to read a simple, heartwarming Pretty-Woman-type-story?
Two people connect in a very unusual way. Nicholas, who is somewhat of a loner, notices Elise in the food court where they both take lunch breaks. Elise also appears to eat alone most of the time. So he approaches her with an idea. He wonders if the Christmas holidays might be more tolerable if they welcome the season as a team. He suggests they pretend to be dating. Then at holiday parties, they won’t feel so alone.
Elise agrees to his plan, which seems somewhat odd, but certainly beats staying at home throughout the holidays, Nicholas, a lawyer, creates a contract so that they will both feel more comfortable with the plan.
This is a well-told story. The characters are easy to connect to and they each have interesting backstories.
What Concerned Me
Nothing. But this story is not all smiles and lollipops. The backstories, which bring a reality to the book, could also cause some to relive their own life-similarities.
What I Liked Most
The characters were flawed but extremely believable and likable.
About The Author
Richard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box. Each of his more than thirty-five novels has been a New York Times bestseller. There are more than thirty-five million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Mothers Book Award, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel of the Year Award, the German Audience Gold Award for Romance, five Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards, The Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award, and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children. You can learn more about Richard on Facebook at Facebook.com/RPEFans, or visit his website RichardPaulEvans.com.
