Liz Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 novels, including Beyond the Tides, The Last Way Home, and Summer in the Spotlight, as well as the Georgia Coast Romance Series and Prince Edward Island Dreams Series. She works in marketing, makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona, and daydreams of summer days on PEI’s shores.
In this interview, Liz shares some of her thoughts on her latest novel, Meddling with Mistletoe.
FF: Can you please provide a brief summary of your novel, Meddling with Mistletoe?
Whitney Garrett isn’t looking for love. She’s only looking to show her parents she can make something of her life in culinary school. When she meets Daniel Sloan, her friend Aretha Franklin Sloan’s nephew, she can’t deny an instant attraction. But then Aretha asks her to help set up Daniel and a visiting businesswoman. As she and Aretha begin meddling with mistletoe, Whitney soon realizes that she might be Daniel’s perfect match.
FF: This story includes a favorite romance trope: matchmaking. Why do you think we love reading stories about matchmaking?
Matchmakers usually seem to come onto the scene when a character is either not looking for love or has completely given up on it. There’s a surprise to finding love in an unexpected time and place—with a person who wasn’t viewed in a romantic way. That surprise just enhances the butterflies and adds to the story.
FF: Meddling with Mistletoe is set on Prince Edward Island. What draws you to this setting again and again? Why do readers love stories set on PEI?
For most of us, PEI carries nostalgia, whether we realize it or not. Like most women I talk to, I fell in love with PEI because of Anne of Green Gables—first the television miniseries and then the books. The island has changed since then, but it’s no less inviting. There’s a gentleness to the famous red shores, a quiet peace. I love writing about the people who populate the island too. Though my characters are fictional, I do my best to represent the kind, smart, and hardworking locals I’ve met there. PEI is a place we long to escape to—even if it’s only in the pages of a book.
FF: Whitney plans to stay on Prince Edward Island, but Daniel is planning only to visit for the holidays. What is it that makes us want to leave a place we’re so familiar with? What makes us stay?
I think it’s easier to stay in comfortable situations. Surrounded by familiar places and faces, we feel safe. Secure. In control. But we’re not called to be stagnant or to stay in our comfort zones. Sometimes we need to be brave and see how we can grow.
It can take a stick of dynamite to get us to try something new. For me, that’s looked like being laid off or needing to move closer to family. I’ve left places and people I love dearly. But so long as I’m moving toward something exciting instead of running away from something that scares me, I figure I’m on a good path.
FF: The inn is full of interesting characters at Christmastime! Who is your favorite and why?
The inn is usually closed at Christmastime—after all, PEI is famous for their snowfall, and the tourist season is usually limited to the summer months. But Aretha is just about everyone’s favorite surrogate aunt, so Marie can’t refuse her request to host a couple guests this time of year.
But it’s actually Marie and Seth’s daughter Julia Mae who stole the show for me! Julia Mae is all of four and precocious as can be. She decides almost immediately that Daniel is her person. Where she goes, he should go too. When she wants to read, he should be the one doing the reading. She’s insightful and honest and forces Daniel to examine his own heart.
Writing Julia Mae’s character was like taking a trip down memory lane to when my nieces and nephews were that age. I adore her character almost as much as I adore the kiddos who inspired her.
FF: What are some of the main themes covered in Meddling with Mistletoe, and what do you hope readers will gain from reading your book?
This book surprised me. I knew that, as a Christmas story, it would include reminders of Immanuel—God with us. I knew Daniel would struggle with wanting to be alone but being reminded that we are all made for relationship with God and with others. And I hope readers will be encouraged by those truths.
But I was surprised as I wrote Whitney’s storyline and discovered her fear of having a grand dream. Her fear of being disappointed again. Her fear of being hurt again. A long time ago, she came to the decision that dreams are dangerous, and I hope readers will relate to her struggle to find the bravery to dream again.
FF: What do you love most about writing a Christmas story? What’s your favorite part of the Christmas season?
I love Christmas! I love the cold weather—and I think I’d even like the snow if we had any in the Arizona desert! I love time with my family and traditions and talking until late in the night. I love sugar cookies and pies and my sister’s famous mashed potatoes. I like sitting next to my mom at Christmas Eve service and the way my dad picks Bible verses for everyone to read on Christmas Day before we open presents. And I love giving gifts—personal, thoughtful gifts—because something made me think of the recipient.
There’s so much love in the air at Christmas—God’s love for the world and our love for one another. It’s the perfect time of year for a romance novel.
Meddling with Mistletoe
A Red Door Inn Christmas Romance
Liz Johnson
Revell
Genres: Christmas, Romance
Release Date: September 3, 2024
ISBN-10: 0800744888
ISBN-13: 978-0800744885
Book Summary:
The recipe for romance is simple: sweets, treats, and mistletoe meets
Whitney Garrett is preparing to enter culinary school in the spring, but first she has to sell enough homemade pies at the local Christmas markets to pay her tuition. When her oven breaks, Whitney asks Marie Sloan, proprietor of the Red Door Inn, if she can use the inn’s kitchen to keep up with her orders. Marie agrees, with a catch: Whitney has to watch the three Sloan children and cook breakfasts for the Red Door in return.
The inn is busy with holiday guests—including Aretha Franklin Sloan’s perpetually single nephew Daniel and Ruby, a businesswoman in town to purchase Aretha’s antiques store. Intent on making a Christmas match for the two, Aretha enlists Whitney’s help in her schemes. But the deeper Whitney gets, the more she realizes that Ruby is not the right woman for Daniel–and the more she thinks that she just might be his perfect match.
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