Home for Christmas in July: A Mistletoe Mountain Novel

Melissa F. Miller

Jul 2024 · Mistletoe Mountain Book 1 · Brown Street Books

About this ebook

Welcome to Mistletoe Mountain, where the holiday cheer never ends. Even when you really, really wish it would.

Nick Jolly runs the Inn at Mistletoe Mountain, a quaint Vermont town that celebrates Christmas all year round. The town even holds a Christmas in July festival every summer to keep the holiday spirit flowing. Usually, Nick lives up to his name, but this year, he’s recently widowed and embracing his inner Scrooge. It’s his first Christmas in July without Carol, and he wants nothing to do with any of it. Nick leaves his adult daughters in charge of festivities at the inn and retreats to his fishing cabin. To grieve. Alone.

Noelle Winters is grieving, too. The town librarian and diehard mystery lover has always found the holidays a bit lonely. She’s especially melancholy this year because she’s mourning the loss of her holiday-loving best friend, Carol. So when she stumbles across an envelope that contains a Mistletoe Mountain map and head-scratching clues, she jumps at the chance to distract herself with a scavenger hunt.

At first, the hunt seems like harmless fun, but Noelle quickly suspects she’s not the only one searching. When she turns up at the fishing cabin, frightened she’s being followed, Nick reels in his line and joins her in her quest.

As Nick and Noelle work together to decode the cryptic, holiday-themed puzzle, threatening messages and sabotaged clues pile up. What began as an innocent game takes a sinister turn. And as the danger mounts, the pair’s long-buried feelings for each other spark to life.

Will Nick and Noelle survive to solve the puzzle and save Christmas (in July)? And is Mistletoe Mountain’s festive magic strong enough to return the sparkle to Nick’s eye and give Noelle the gift of love?

One way or another, there’ll be fireworks on the mountain this Christmas in July.

This heartwarming holiday rom-com mystery features a closed-door, second-chance romance loaded with crackling chemistry, gripping suspense, and small-town shenanigans. Home for Christmas in July can be read as a standalone.

Ratings and reviews

This is a cute, quaint romcom written by a very creative author Melissa F. Miller. The main characters, Nick Jolly and Noelle Winters have history but it's not a well-known story. The story takes place in a town that celebrates Christmas all year long. So, prepare yourself to be completely immersed in the Christmas spirit, although Melissa mentions other holidays throughout the story as well. As Nick and Noelle both struggle in their own ways this year with loss and a bit of grinchiness.

If you love the holiday season you will want to read the magical Home For Christmas In July by Melissa F. Miller. This is the first book I have read by this author but it certainly won’t be the last. This is Nick Jolly and Noelle Winter’s magical and at times emotional story and from the moment I picked it up there was no putting down. Everyone is gearing up for Christmas in July but both Nick and Noelle are grieving and it takes a cryptic puzzle to pull them together.

4.5 Stars I'm a sucker so anything Christmas so I knew from the title had to read this one. Plus it's a single dad romance! After reading this it makes me wish I could visit Mistletoe Mountain and stay at the Inn for their Christmas in July festivities. This town so sounds like my jam. It breaks my heart so see how the loss of best friend and wife of Noelle and Nick still impacts them. A little surprise for Noelle may just show them what is right in front of these two.