M is for

Mistletoe

By Migula, Walter; Thomé, Otto W. 
[CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) 
or Public domain], 
via Wikimedia Commons

I'm sure that Rick, my gardener cum handyman from Resonance would love this botanical drawing of Mistletoe.

European mistletoe, Viscum album, is native to Europe and Great Britain. A parasitic plant with white berries that are toxic to humans. And a plant that we humans have decided that we need to kiss under it, but why?

Mistletoe remains green throughout the year, and just like holly and ivy, for this reason has been attributed with magical healing powers and associated with fertility: some cultures even viewed it as an aphrodisiac due to the suggestive arrangement of its berries. This association between mistletoe and fertility may be where the custom of kissing under mistletoe started. 
In Victorian England if a girl refused a kiss whilst standing under mistletoe, it was said that she wouldn't receive any marriage proposals during the following year.
In Norse legends there is the tale of Balder, son of the goddess Frigga, who was killed by an evil spirit with an arrow made of mistletoe. Saddened by her son's death, Frigga wept tears of white berries, which brought Balder back to life. Frigga was so overjoyed that she blessed the plant and promised a kiss to all who passed beneath it.

There is a proper etiquette for kissing under the mistletoe: first, the man can only kiss a woman or girl on the cheek and second, when he does so, he removes one berry from the mistletoe sprig. After all the berries are gone, the kissing ends.


and missed opportunities

I know I should have pimped Lovers Entwined in yesterday's L post but I didn't want to dilute the message with an obvious sales pitch. So I'm doing it today.


Ewan Matthews is one of Boston’s leading genealogy experts. When a would-be bridegroom comes looking for confirmation that there are no skeletons in his ancestral closet, Ewan considers turning the job down. Trey Capell is a jerk of the highest order and yet Ewan experiences an infuriating attraction that’s easy to justify. Trey’s exactly his type—a carbon copy of the man Ewan’s been looking for his entire life.

Harder to explain is the sense of recognition that leaves Ewan speechless the moment Trey steps into his office. Or the stomach-churning sensation at the thought of casting the job aside. Trey gets more appealing by the day, leaving Ewan struggling with forbidden desire for his client. Desire not helped by strange voyeuristic dreams that have started to haunt his sleep. Dreams that appear to be an echo of the past.


Published by Finally Love Press




Buy Links: Amazon US // AmazonUK // All Romance eBooks


Inked Rainbow Reads said "if you want a good Romance Novel, this one’s it."
Nautical Star Books said "Lovers Entwined by Lillian Francis is truly an exceptional book."

This link will take you to more reviews.