Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Mistletoe And The Lost Stiletto by Liz Fielding
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin Romance 09 Nov 2010
I happen to be a sucker for Christmas-themed romances, and I can always count on Harlequin to give me my fix every year. This latest from Fielding certainly fits the bill when it comes to holiday charm, complete with not one, but two fairy tale tropes. Sadly though, I wasn’t entirely sold on the romance.
Lucy Bright is living the life of Cinderella. Working as a low-level office drone, she catches the eye of none other than the CEO. Before you can say bippity, boppity, boo – she’s sporting a rock of an engagement ring, has been plucked, waxed, made over, and is set to be the face of the company’s re-branded retail boutiques. She’s living the dream, until she finds out the whole thing is a lie. A publicity stunt. After she confronts her sleazy finance’ at a press conference, she finds herself on the run – from him, but mostly from the press. She scurries into a local department store, and straight into the arms of proprietor Nathaniel Hart. Sparks, naturally, fly.
This book has all the charm and magic I want out of a good Christmas romance. Lucy is a nice girl, in over her head. Her life has morphed into a Cinderella-like fantasy, which in this day and age, is being played out on Twitter and the tabloids. It’s when Cinderella’s dream comes crashing down around her ears, and she begins playing Beauty to Nathaniel’s emotionally wounded Beast that things start looking up. Our girl gets smart, gets help, and it’s all right as rain in the end.
However, I wasn’t entirely convinced on the romance. First, it takes a while for our hero and heroine to get on page together. Lucy is on the run, and she’s either running or hiding for the first several chapters. Once they do hook up, the whole affair has a very love-at-first-sight quality to it. Admittedly, not a trope that really works for me. Fielding writes it well though, so if it does flip your switch, it probably will here.
That all being said, at the end of the day, I’m stuck with the pacing. Lucy literally jumps from one romance, which turned out to be a lie, straight into another one. There’s no downtime. The girl doesn’t even take a couple of months off to regroup. Hey, Nathaniel is a nice guy. I liked him loads. But frankly, after everything, I sort of expected Lucy to be, if not jaded, at least a bit gun shy.
While I wasn’t entirely sold on the romance, this was a charming read, with a nice holiday feel. It read very cinematic to me, and I could easily see this story being played out on the small or big screen. If you’re a sucker for love at first sight, with a healthy dollop of fairy tale, and are craving a holiday read? This may be what you’re looking for.
Grade: C+
Summary:
Lucy Bright can’t believe it when she’s plucked from secretarial obscurity and transformed into the pampered fiancée of a slick retail guru. But then she discovers it was all a publicity stunt! Rushing away from the media frenzy, she bumps—literally—into the arms of delicious tycoon Nathaniel Hart….
Spooked by their instantaneous chemistry, Lucy flees—but Nathaniel is determined to find his barefoot beauty. Though all he has is one very expensive red designer stiletto to help him!
