Mistletoe Melody and Mistletoe Mission

Mistletoe Melody:
Former musician, Melody Staff, spends Christmas at a bed and breakfast in the village of Mistletoe Meadows. While everyone sings familiar carols of Christ drawing near, Melody stumbles over misplaced notes. Her recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis has scared off her fiancé and thrust her life into a grand pause. She’s not sure her heart will ever sing again.
Quentin Oxford has endured a devastating year. His preteen daughter suffered a stroke, and they’ve grieved his wife’s sudden death, but the Lord coaxes a surprising refrain from Quentin’s heart as God rewrites his and Melody’s score into a holiday love song that will last for Christmases to come.
Mistletoe Mission:
While her own relationships always end up doomed, Emily Colt is still determined to create happily-ever-afters through her wedding and event planning business. In hopes of expanding her business, she enters her latest project–staging the Christmas wedding of the year–into a town-wide contest. But between crossing paths with the first man to break her heart and dodging a saboteur, she doubts even career success is within her grasp.
Jilted pastor, Luca Wilson, fled to the mission field to escape a broken heart. All the hurt rushes back when he returns home to officiate his cousin’s wedding, and he finds Emily, the girl to whom he once promised forever, organizing the celebration. Despite his lost faith in love, their unforeseen reunion rekindles a spark, and Luca vows to help her save her struggling business. But to succeed, they will have to learn what it means to trust each other and believe in the God of Christmas miracles.

My thoughts: Mistletoe Melody is the story of two people who are thrown together at Christmas time that are both suffering from things that have happened in their lives. Quentin is holding back from truly living after losing a wife to drugs and left in the care of raising their daughter. Melody is struggling to come to terms with a diagnosis that cost her both her fiancé and her career. Can they find hope during the holiday season? This story really struck home for me, since the holidays have become a bittersweet time for my family, since it has many good memories for my husband and I as a couple (getting engaged before Christmas 11 years ago), but then also some sad memories like my sister in law going through two surgeries to remove a brain tumor within a year of each other (which we eventually lost her to). I can see how the holidays can be a difficult time for those who have lost loved ones or morn over fading dreams. This book is an excellent story that reminds the reader of hope and love.
In Mistletoe Mission, readers are invited back to Mistletoe Meadows for a wedding that seems to be falling apart from the start. I enjoyed the chance to return to some of the characters in the previous book, and wish that this one was full length! Emily is a wonderful character, and I thought that Stacey did an excellent job of bringing the characters and their stories to life. I look forward to reading more by Stacey!
I received these books from Celebrate Lit. This is my honest review and is in no way influenced by receiving a complimentary copy.

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About the Author:
Stacey Weeks is the multi-award-winning author of Glorious Surrender (2016) and Chasing Holiness (2020), inspirational romances The Builder’s Reluctant Bride (2016), Mistletoe Melody (2018), Mistletoe Mission (Dec 2019) and inspirational romantic suspense novels In Too Deep (2017), and Fatal Homecoming (2019). Stacey lives in Ontario where she speaks at women’s conferences, teaches writing and bible study workshops, and writes about the things of the Lord. www.staceyweeks.com

More from Stacey
It is strange, sometimes, what inspires a story. At the time of writing Mistletoe Melody, the ten-year-old daughter of a good friend was on the recovery side of a massive stroke. This young girl inspired Janie, and she gave the character her contagious smile, a mischievous pre-teen sense of humor, and a fierce love for family. You don’t read all of Janie’s story in Mistletoe Melody, but perhaps you will in a later novella.
Melody was the result of my lovely twenty-something niece receiving a shocking diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. She endured painful tests, had hopes raised and dashed, and was blessed when the Lord saw fit to work through a drug trial to ease her suffering. Watching her life, her plans, and the things she assumed were a given for her future get shaken to their core sent me to the Scriptures.
Not too long before drafting Mistletoe Mission (book two set in Mistletoe Meadows), my husband and I travelled to Haiti. As our driver transported us from the airport to the compound on which we stayed for the duration of our trip, he pointed in the general direction of the beach that receives cruise ships and tourists. He said that portion of Haiti is separated from the rest and is considered by some to be the most beautiful section of Haiti. I disagree.
To be fair, I didn’t visit the cleaned-up beach just around the other side of the mountain, but I saw something most tourists do not get to see. I met the people and visited several in their homes. I witnessed the determination and hard work that life requires from them. I observed a light in their eyes, fueled by a love for Jesus. There is nothing more beautiful than a person on fire for the Lord, a person who is ready to be a light in a dark land.
Luca’s character is loosely based on the Director of Missions and Compassion at Hope Bible Church in Oakville, Ontario. He arranged our trip – my first overseas mission trip – and it changed my life. I have huge respect for the work he is doing, and I am thrilled to see how God is blessing the work.
Another real-life connection that made its way into Mistletoe Mission is a business that inspired the fictional start-up I called One Village. Little by Little is a business for mission committed to empowering Haitian parents. Little by Little sells the Morse Code bracelet featured in Mistletoe Mission. I fell in love with the concept of this business, and it was my delight to write a fictional version into the story. You can visit Little by Little’s website and order a bracelet like the one featured in the book (or maybe you’ll win the one I am giving away on this tour!). http://www.littlebylittle.ca/store/p326/morse-code-bracelet.html
Be blessed this holiday as you seek the Lord who has done and is doing great things.
Stacey

A Gift from Stacey:
Coloring pages based on the books!

Mistletoe Melody Miracle

Mistletoe Melody

Mistletoe Mission

For a complete list of blog stops, go here!

Micro-read


Giveaway!
To celebrate her tour, Stacey is giving away the grand prize of the winner’s choice of a Morse Code Bracelet!! (found here: http://www.littlebylittle.ca/store/p326/morse-code-bracelet.html)
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link here to enter.