About the book:

Title: The Mistletoe

Author: Patricia Catacalos

Published: November 14th 2014 by Smashwords Edition

Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Format: epub

Blurb:

England 1874…The irresponsible Marcus Brody is suddenly guardian to his recently deceased brother’s three little girls. Christmas is fast approaching and he needs feminine help from the children’s maternal aunt, a reclusive young widow, Lady Alyssa, who wants nothing to do with her nieces. But in soliciting Lady Alyssa’s help, is Marcus unknowingly drawing her into a paranormal encounter with Spirits warning of mortal danger.

Check it on: Amazon  & Goodreads

My Review:

My second book by Patricia Catacalos has not disappointed me at all. I loved every page and it held me captive between its lines. I was not quite quick to write my review though – kind of lazy.

The main characters evolve from the beginning till the end of the story and the beauty is they evolve together, helping each other, leaning on one another. Marcus meets Lady Alyssa at his niece’s birthday party and his interest in her is quite evident. Still, her being married and his lack of commitment make any kind of intimate relation impossible. However, time will do its magic and bring them close, unfortunately by means of a tragedy. What happens next? You’ll have to read through the book.

What I mostly liked about the story was how well the characters evolve together. Alyssa will overcome her fear of men and society with Marcus’ help, while he will start focusing on having a family, hopefully with the lovely Lady. But there are people who do not desire their happiness. There are traps, deceiving and there is envy.

Same as in her other book, “The Aura Of The Crescent Moon”, we have again a situation of abuse, this time we have a woman abused by her husband. The consequences are way beyond physical pain. The trauma is well presented, but the author has insisted more on the recovery process. I do appreciate when this subject is not treated lightly and I believe the author has done another great job.

A small spoiler alert: there is something that is not as believable as the rest of the book and that seems kind of out of theme. One of the children has some outwardly help and tips her aunt and uncle of the bad things to come. I cannot say I hated the idea, but it just doesn’t feel well. Other than this, no other complains.

After two books by this author, I find myself enjoying Patricia Catacalos’ writing and her stories. Even if I liked more “The Aura Of The Crescent Moon” (review can be found here), I did enjoy “The Mistletoe” and I hope You’ll give it a try as well. Enjoy J

 

About the Author

Patricia Catacalos holds a BA in Theatre from Seton Hill University and a MA in Theatre from the University of Denver. Years ago, when still single, she acted in and directed plays in the Philadelphia area but suffered the fate of many artists, struggling financially. So, she entered a career in sales but her creative spirit needed to express itself. So approximately eight years ago, she started writing historical romances. Many of the historical romances have a subgenre of mystery and/or the paranormal. She discovered that writing historical romances and ultimately, mystery/intrigue is her passion. Currently, she has written twenty novels and novellas.

She has been happily married for twenty-eight years to a loving and supportive man with a Greek heritage (which influenced a couple of her novels) and they live in southern New Jersey.