I received this book for free from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Millionaire Under the Mistletoe by Stefanie London Published by Macmillan on November 14th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 244
Format: eARC
Source: Entangled Publishing
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Stella Jackson would rather stab herself in the eye with her own stiletto than return to England. Especially in winter. But to fulfill her grandfather’s last wish, she has to spend Christmas at the estate she inherited from him...with the one man she wishes she could forget.
Self-made millionaire Evan Foss wants one thing from Stella—her estate. But thanks to their rocky past, he’s the last person she’ll sell to. So when she takes him up on a bet, with the estate as the prize, Evan can’t believe his luck. The only problem is that seeing her now, sexy and all grown up, tempts Evan to finish what started years ago between them.
Stella Jackson’s beloved grandfather recently passed away, leaving her his London estate. He requested that she go back and spend one month there, one final Christmas before selling it, if that’s what she decides to do. That’s exactly what she’d going to do; she lives in Australia and has no intention of giving up her warm weather and early morning surfing for cold, rainy, dreary London.
Evan Foss is on his way to the same estate. He grew up there, Stella’s grandfather acting as a surrogate grandfather to Evan, and now he needs to convince Stella that he’s the right buyer for the estate.
Stella may resent having to be in London for Christmas instead of surfing, but I can’t deny I find the prospect of heading to London extremely enticing right now. So I had a little trouble drumming up as much sympathy for her as I would usually have. But that’s my own issue. This book was all the things I love most in Stefanie London’s books. It was sweet and charming, but there’s are underlying deeper themes being explored and more to Stella and Evan than is immediately apparent. They have a history, having grown up together on the estate and it informs every one of their interactions. Stella has some issues she’s been trying to work through, and being thrown back into her childhood home with her childhood crush is bringing them all back up to the surface.
Evan’s been fighting his own demons, and he thinks that getting this estate will be the final piece to realizing his dreams and finally being the man he’s always wanted and the man Stella’s grandfather thought he could be and wanted him to be. To that end, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to convince Stella to sell it to him.
Neither of them have the time or interest in a relationship, especially one with so much pre-existing baggage, and double especially not with someone who lives so many time zones away. But, as we knew would happen, fate has other plans, and they find themselves very much embroiled in what is, by all appearances, a relationship.
Stefanie London has once again created a charming, sweet story that sucked me in right away. There was obviously a little more to everything than what the surface showed, and I really enjoyed finding out everyone’s secrets. I had a little trouble warming up to both Evan and Stella, but I got there eventually. And, frankly, I’m not going to put that on Stefanie London because this week was a pretty big shitshow here in the U.S. and everything has been discombobulated and topsy-turvy and nothing was as it should be. I have no way to know if I would have felt that way under other circumstances, so I’m not blaming her for something that may not even exist.
Bottom line – if you’re looking to up your holiday romance quotient, if you need a fun, charming story to help you escape the garbage fire we’re all currently dealing with, if you’re just looking for a good book, pick this one up. Then go up pick the rest of Stefanie London’s stuff. You can’t go wrong with her.
About Stefanie London
Growing up, Stefanie came from a family of women who loved to read. Her favourite activity was going shopping with her Nan during school holidays, where she would sit on the floor of the bookstore with her little sister and painstakingly select the books to spend her allowance on. Thankfully, Nan was a patient woman.
Thus, it was no surprise Stefanie was the sort of student who would read her English books before the semester started. After sneaking several literature subjects into her ‘very practical’ Business degree, she got a job in Communications. When writing emails and newsletters didn’t fulfil her creative urges, she turned to fiction and was finally able to write the stories that kept her mind busy at night.
Now she lives with her very own hero and dreams of travelling the world. She frequently indulges in her passions for good coffee, French perfume, high heels and zombie movies. Recently she gave up her day job to write sexy, contemporary romance stories and she couldn’t be happier.
I need to dig out all my holiday reads. I need a little Christmas cheer!
Right??? I’ve been glomming through them recently. Significantly more than in years past.
Call me picky but what kind of “estate” is in London. It’s a big, crowded city like Manhattan – with even really expensive buildings built close together. An estate implies grounds and would be outside the city. Having a hard time wrapping my head around this detail
Thanks for reaching out, Joanna! That’s a good point. I’m going to go back and look again. Perhaps it’s referred to as the London estate even though it’s slightly outside the city? Stella lives in Australia, and has for a long time, so it’s possible she calls it that. I’ll check and let you know what I find.
I hope it’s okay to respond here. The Jackson estate isn’t in London (although part of the story is set there). It’s a very large Edwardian home located in the English countryside. Hope that helps! 🙂
That’s great – thanks so much for responding, Stefanie!