Review: Unexpected Christmas by Nell Iris

All alone, caught in a blizzard—without a coat—on Christmas Day. Would you accept a ride from a huge guy looking like a serial killer?

Daniel Erickson stormed out of his family celebration after choking on his turkey served with a side of bigotry. Utterly miserable, he reluctantly lets himself be charmed by the hulk of a man and gets into his car…hoping he won’t be ax murdered.

Axel Wilson—Ax for short, unfortunately—is a sweetheart. Really. He may be badass-looking but his heart melts into goo at the mere mention of his four-year-old niece. Surely, he’s not dangerous?

Thrown together by family drama, they spend the evening getting to know each other. Axel is nothing like Daniel expected. But it doesn’t matter that he loves poetry, is gentle and patient—and hot!—Daniel is absolutely not falling in love at first sight. There’s no such thing.

Right…?

This story is... nice. It didn't blow me away, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. At least, I enjoyed parts of it.

It had snow, which is always a good start for me with a holiday read! It had the badass-looking Axel, who is actually as soft as a marshmallow - and who doesn't like a character that isn't quite as they first appear? I have a soft spot for likeable characters, I think they're highly underrated - bad boys can be so much hard work, sometimes. Axel was lovely, how he cared for his niece was very sweet...

Except...

I couldn't get passed the fact that he did nothing when his sister left a four year old at home alone. I know this is just a short Christmas read but it horrified me. And it wasn't the first time it had happened. Sure, he stayed with her but after it had happened once it shouldn't be an issue again. Sister or not you report that stuff - if only to give the sister support to care for the child properly. I know this is probably just a me thing but I couldn't get passed it, not really, not even for fiction. Not even just to move the plot on. My heart broke for the sweet little honey-bee who'd been left alone.

Daniel was running from the blatant bigotry displayed at his Christmas meal. I felt angry for him. A part of me was angry at his mom for letting her brother spout his vitriol, but part of me felt sorry for her. She wasn't a strong person herself and standing up to a stronger force was extremely hard for her. I think her and Daniel could have acted together and been stronger as a twosome. 

Daniel was nice and the way he and Axel fell together in this short story was very sweet. The writing was great but the story just didn't really work for me as I had misgivings about the storyline all the way through.

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