Review: The Christmas Pageant by D. River

When Troy Swenson left the army to raise his little brother, he had no idea what he was in for. Now a high school history teacher at Brentsen Academy, he finds himself drafted into running the school's Christmas Pageant. There's just one problem: He has no idea how to do that.

Fate intervenes and sends him help in the form of Taylor Douglas, a parent of one of his students. Taylor is a handsome, funny guy and if Troy allowed himself to think such things he'd find him very attractive. However, Troy doesn't have time for romance. He barely has time to breathe as he struggles to keep the Christmas Pageant from falling apart around him.

What he doesn't realize is that Taylor is going to drag him out for fun no matter what feeble protests Troy offers. Troy finds friendship with Taylor easy. The problem for Troy then becomes, how does he keep the feelings he starts to have for Taylor in check?

I am a huge fan of Christmas stories and this one did not disappoint. There is a fine line, I feel, with Christmas stories. A line that separates cute from cheesy - now don't get me wrong, I'm a sap and I pretty much love 'em all, but there is some skill in pulling off a warm, cosy Christmas story that doesn't cross from one side to the other. This year, there has been a plethora of fabulous seasonal stories, and this is definitely one of them.

Troy is the kind of hero I like. Putting his brother before himself, even though he had to change his whole life around to do so, Troy is funny and honourable and hard working and... I just really liked him. I wanted him to be happy so I loved reading about him. Taylor Douglas is the same - a guy I really liked. Like always sounds so meh, but to me it's really important to like my MC's. Especially in a feel good story. What I liked most about him was that he wouldn't let Troy just concentrate on everyone else and made him think about himself a little.

D. Rivers is a writer I enjoy. He has a wonderful way with words and includes a cast of characters that just make a story. I'm always partial to surrounding characters as they can really make or break a story. The kids in the pageant, Troy's son... they all fleshed out a good story and added to it.

A great story that I recommend to everyone who enjoys Christmas stories as much as I do.

A copy of this story was given on exchange for an honest review.
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