Ah, the magic of Christmas.
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, which is where, of course, all the traditional Christmas visuals and vibe comes from, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, the season when reality takes a much welcome hike and all the travails and sadness of the past recedes into the tinsel-decked background.
It’s a wholly lovely and seductive thought and it’s one that Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake by Holly Martin to beguiling effect in a story where two people, bruised and broken by life, get a wondrously invigorating second start courtesy of the mythical Jewel Island off the Cornish Coast in England.
Zoey Flynn has arrived to stay for a short time on the island where her mother, to whom she’s very close, lives, and her aim is solely to create some cute landscapes, make them Christmassy enough to attract the seasonal crowds and to then head off somewhere she can lick the considerable wounds of a terrible break-up.
And what a break-up it is – her ex-fiancé is having an affair in the most stereotypical way possible with his assistant, and he breaks off their Christmas Eve wedding only to insert the new lady in his life into the ceremony and reception exactly as is.
Quite a nasty to send the message that you don’t matter – and nor for that matter does Zoey’s replacement who should realise how disposable she could be in turn – and it leave Zoey reeling and wondering where the hell she goes next.
He [Kit] smiled to himself as he felt his body relax into the sofa. He’d come to Jewel Island as a bit of a distraction from the memories of his last disastrous Christmas, to make a bit of pocket money selling churros and to spend time with his sister with no expectations beyond that. He certainly hadn’t got his hopes up it would be anything wonderful. Despite the odds, he got the impression that this Christmas was going to be a really good one.
Handsome, sweet and lovable Kit Lewis is in much the same boat; after his marriage broke up after eight months thanks to his wife’s infidelity, he retreated into his cartooning and drawing close to his sister and brother and hasn’t dared stick his head above the romantic parapet.
Then he and Zoey meet on a freezing cold Cornish coastal night at a Christmas market where she’s selling her art and he and his sister are hawking churros – the meet-cute is funny and imaginative and worth the price of the book alone – and all that emotional reticence and protectionism goes hurtling out the window.
Well, not completely.
Though the connection is comprehensive, witty and immediate, and they both KNOW something has happened that could well and truly last the distance, they mutually decide, at Zoey’s urging, to calm the farm, cool their heels and take the pedal very much off the metal.
It’s friendship all the way which seems eminently doable until Zoey decides to re-Christmas a reluctantly Grinch-y Kit and they end up spending lots and lots of time together making wreaths and ice skating and, well, indulging to the nth degree in the romanticism of the season.
Just try to resist and frankly they struggle, but Zoey has a secret and she’s worried that if Kit finds out, that could be the end of things, and she’s too burned by past hurt to really put her trust in a man who gives every indication he’s as loving and trustworthy as they come.
(courtesy official author site)
While Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake has a lot of very traditional rom-com, and particularly festive rom-com elements to it, Martin does an extraordinarily good job of injecting new life and passion into some very well-worn tropes and cliches.
Part of her success in this regard comes from the fact that Zoey and Kit are beautifully and fulsomely formed characters who vivaciously, even in their romantic trauma-weakened states, make their way through a narrative that feels simultaneously like a great big festive hug of hot chocolate and woollen jumpers and carolling out in the snow but also very grounded and real.
It’s rare to have a rom-com feel this honest about the cold, hard emotional facts but Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake is, and it manages to be that honest while somehow keeping the fairytale and hope of new beginnings well and truly alive.
Much of its appeal comes from the fact that you can lose yourself in the utter, redemptive loveliness of it all, and it really is the perfect tale of Christmas as the ultimate time of healing, hope and change, but also feel here are two broken people whose experiences feel real and their magical love well and truly earned.
It adds a pleasing realism to that story, and combined with absolutely sparkling, witty and vividly-delivered dialogue, makes Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake a joy to read because who knows, unlikely as it is, maybe this sort of new start can actually happen in the real world?
‘I better go, Mia has just woken up, I love you kid.’
‘I love you too.’
Zoey hung up and let out a happy sigh. She had a feeling Christmas was definitely going to be a good one.
But even if it can’t, it feels like it could, and that adds a whole seductive layer of emotional substance and possibility to proceedings and elevates Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake from just another light-and-frothy tale of love of Christmas – by the way, this reviewer adores rom-coms in all their sugar plum fairy glory and so that description is not even remotely, nor will it ever be, a pejorative – into something that feels wonderfully warm and tangible.
So tangible, in fact, that you wish you could just jump on a plane and hurtle across to Jewel Island and get yourself a cosy cottage and spot at the Christmas markets and maybe get a new start to yourself, whether you need or not.
That’s how beguiling this gorgeous tale is, and honestly even if you’re happily ensconced in a relationship, it’s hard not to dream of how warmly seductive and lovely it could all be.
But fictional musings aside, Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake makes you fall in love with the idea of love and new starts and how they seem especially in the realm of the possible at Christmas, helped by two delightful protagonists, zestfully top-shelf rom-com banter that’s witty and hearfelt, and a setting that is every fairytale scenario wrapped into one and which feels like the perfect place to head to heal your heart, see what the future holds and grab it with both hands, unwrapping this unexpected present with all the gusto you can manage.