Mistletoe Everywhere by Linda Banche

Mistletoe Everywhere is a sweet romance that reminds me of some of the first ones I ever read. With just a touch of magic to pull off a Christmas ‘miracle’.

A man who sees mistletoe everywhere is mad--or in love.

Charles sees mistletoe. Not surprising, since he's spending Christmas at Mistletoe Manor. But why does no one else see it? And why does it always appear above Penelope, the despised lady who jilted him after their last meeting?
Penelope wants nothing to do with the faithless Charles, the man who cried off after she accepted his marriage proposal. But he still stirs her heart--and he stares at her all the time. Or rather, he stares at the empty ceiling over her head…What does he see?
According to folklore, mistletoe is the plant of peace. Can Penelope and Charles, so full of hurt and anger, heed the mistletoe's message and make peace?

The house party at Mistletoe Manor is as much a marriage mart as to celebrate the holidays, as everyone knows. Sir Charles Gordon is now the rich owner of the shipping company he use to clerk for and has become a baronet on his father’s death. He is invited with an eye toward Miss Priscilla Ward, a niece to the family. He is also an old friend of the eldest son of the family, Edward Preston. Penelope Lawrence and her Aunt Lydia are both distant family visiting for the holidays. Only a few people know the history between Charles and Penelope.

Four years ago, Charles and Penelope had a romance and agreed to marry. The next day, each received a letter from the other breaking the engagement. Unknowing that the other also received a similar letter, both believes they were jilted without consideration or true explanation. Now seeing each other again, they are both still hurt, angry, and realizing they still love the other. But Charles is being pushed at Miss Ward. And Penelope’s life is very different now.

Penelope’s father died three years ago and left her a pauper. With no money but still gentry, she has now become a companion to her Aunt Lydia. Aunt Lydia is a mean, nasty, penny-pinching old lady who takes advantage of Penelope and keeps her from doing anything a young lady might benefit from. Just seeing Charles again causes Penelope’s heart to ache and watching him with Miss Ward breaks it even more than his jilting of her did.

Charles can’t believe he is where Penelope is, or that he still has feelings for her after what happened. He thinks seeing the mistletoe always above Penelope’s head is some sort of scheme to trap him now that he is rich and she is in need. He can’t figure out how they get the mistletoe where she always is! And he makes the mistake of asking Edward about current decorations in front of some of the other guys, who start teasing him because there is no mistletoe. As Aunt Lydia’s treatment get worse and Charles and Penelope are around each other more, old feelings and eventually the truth comes out.

Mistletoe Everywhere is a sweet historical romance with just a hint of paranormal in the Mistletoe Manor Legend. The Legend is that a man will see mistletoe only he can see appear over the head of his true love; one of these two are some family member of the Mistletoe Manor, of course.

House parties are a common setting for regency romances and can be tedious to read after a while. Mix Christmas in and I was a little worried. Mistletoe Everywhere never falls into this writing hazard. Even without major action or mystery, it is fast paced and keeps us involved with the characters. I never got distracted by overly long descriptions of costumes, food prep, or building architecture; yet still had a firm grasp of the time and culture. Perfect set-up for novella length. Aunt Lydia was a great ‘bad guy’ and easy to hate. Charles and Penelope are both nice characters, appropriate for the time, yet Charles does show a romantic side in calling her his Shinny Penny and Pen is not a push over even if stuck as a companion. And Mistletoe Everywhere stays sweet in having a nice solution for Miss Ward instead of making her nasty about loosing Charles. I was happy to see these happy for everyone endings and the warm fuzzy I was with.