Tis the season once again and I, for one, am a happy, happy unicorn! We'll be posting reviews weekly of Advent stories and while this week is a bit behind (I'd like to know who's idea it was to make Thanksgiving a week late this year, I really hate when that happens), but December is here and it's time to let the love of the Christmas short story flow.
The Carpenter's Prince by Jayce Ellis
Sean Edwards would do anything for his nephew, including designing the props for a children’s version of the Nutcracker. He’s ready for the long nights and weekends in the workshop—they’re part of the job, especially given the short notice. The insanely sexy head ballerino is completely unexpected, however.
All principal danseur Keni Jackson wants is to surpass last year’s performance, blow people’s socks off, and cement his place in the studio. The last thing he needs is something to shatter his carefully held control—like a cuddly carpenter who favors jazz over Tchaikovsky.
Sean and Keni are drawn to each other, but not everyone is a fan of their relationship. When Keni’s position is threatened, they have to decide whether to walk away for good, or if what they’ve found is worth fighting for.
Ann - 3.5 Hearts
Sean makes this story for me. You know how, when you read about a character, and you fall for them in all the ways within the first bit of page time? That’s Sean. I mostly was down with whatever happened as long as my Sean got his happy ending. And he did, but there was a bit of minor manufactured drama that got in the way a bit.
That little nugget of a plot point didn’t make me super happy, but there had to be some sort of speed bump on the road to the HEA, and as far as speed bumps go it wasn’t terrible, but stilllllllll, Sean was unnecessarily sad and I did not like that one bit. Of course there was another MC, his name is Keni and he’s a dancer and he’s good and all, but he was onboard, albeit reluctantly, with the nonsense that hurt Sean, so that didn’t endear me to him a whole lot. Sean likes him so very much though and Keni does feel the same for Sean, but I need Keni to grovel some more and make sure Sean knows how amazing he is on the daily. In my head that all happens even after the story was done and they got their HEAs.
Christmas Ghosts by Jenn Moffatt
Dealing with the unexpected loss of his mother isn’t how carpenter Steve Browning planned to spend his Christmas. Hoping her costume jewelry can bring some happiness to others, he takes it to the local community theater, where he runs into his first love, Troy Baxter.
Troy’s trying to help his sister put on a gender-fluid version of A Christmas Carol, but no one on the cast or crew knows which end of a hammer to hold let alone use a power tool. Then a face from the past brings a present-day miracle… one that could lead to the happy future they both thought they gave up back in high school.
Ann - 2.5 Hearts
Christmas Ghosts had good bones to it, but the story never fully coalesced for me. There was a lot of info and relationships to get background on in a short period of time. I think because it was a second chance kind of romance, I needed to feel the love Steve and Troy had before and how it evolved and worked in the present. I was told about the love before, but I was told a lot of things and so I never had a sense of their connection and how it could have held together and rekindle over the years.
I liked Steve and I liked Troy and I wanted to feel moved by them, but there were too many distractions in the form of siblings and grief in a short story to give the guys the page time they needed to become fully fleshed out characters and in turn a romance worthy of a second chance.
Crochet My Heart by Carol Pedroso
Accountant Tristan plans to make a ton of crochet items for his local LGBT charity to sell at their holiday fair. His only problem? He can’t crochet.
Fortunately the community center offers a class, and it’s taught by Charlie, who is gorgeous and sexy and seems interested. At first. Can grandmotherly fellow classmate Ivy guide the clueless men to each other, or will it take something more serious to help them see the possibilities?
Ann - 3.5 Hearts
This story is just adorable. It has all the elements for a warm and fluffy Christmas story and the author delivered the fuzzy love very well. Tristan and Charlie have a super sweet homespun meet-cute and their banter was enough to feel the chemistry between them as they spent more time together. Tristan’s good intentions to the LGBTQ center he volunteers with have him overextended and needing Charlie’s help to meet his goal to provide handmade crocheted treasures for the holiday craft sale. So, already you know he’s a good guy. Charlie is also a good guy and so I couldn’t help but want to read about them getting their happy on.
There was some outside drama that provided the bit of bitter with all the sweet and the secondary characters kept Charlie in line when he veered off track in a moment of stupidity. Instead of being annoyed by the stupid, it actually made Charlie seem a bit more real because people do dumb things when they are falling in love and he redeemed himself quickly and in the end heroically.
An Elf to Myself by Emy Calirel
The last thing Wilhelm expects to find at Michaels, three days before Christmas and in search of a gift to make for his niece, is one of Santa’s elves—a cute one with a wicked, inappropriate sense of humor and a kinky streak. Alabastair may have been kicked out of Santa’s village, but he’s still a Christmas expert. And he’s determined to give Wilhelm and his family the best holiday he can.
With only two days to turn the Grinch’s house into a Christmassy wonderland, they have a lot on their plate. Among the glitter and the cheer, Wilhelm and Alabastair might find more than just the holiday’s magic. But will it be enough to keep Alabastair in Wilhelm’s bed and life when the North Pole calls him back?
Ann - 4 Hearts
I don’t know how, but the author made me suspend all my disbelief and by into elves as quickly as Wilhelm did. I should have been wanting more backstory and worldbuilding, I mean it’s an elf hanging out in Michael’s and he’s pretty open relatively quickly about who and what he is. But no, I was all “meh, it’s cool, these dudes obviously dig each other, let’s roll with it”. And roll with it, I did.
I think it worked partially because the elves in question weren’t super magical, etc. They were, for the most part, regular people who just happened to work in the North Pole. I was fine with the modern twist the author put on Santa’s story, so I could pretty much forget about that and just wallow in the pepperminty sweet goodness that was Alabastair and Wilhelm. They both fell pretty hard and fast, but they had enough snark and attitude in their banter to balance the sweetness a bit and make their relationship seem possible for the long haul.
Evan Versus the Sharlotka by Chrissy Munder
Rumpled tech support Evan Carmichael has a crush on pristine programming supervisor Gavriil Cottan. The whole company knows it. Except Gavriil. As a closet romantic, Evan dreams of declaring his feelings with a grand gesture, something out of the movies he loves.
The company holiday potluck luncheon gives Evan a perfect opportunity. He finds out Gavriil’s favorite dessert and is determined to make an apple sharlotka just like Gavriil’s mother used to make. The only problem is, Evan is a disaster in the kitchen. Can he master the mystery of the sharlotka and the intricacies of the springform pan in time to both woo and wow Gavriil?
Ann - 4.5 Hearts
I look forward to Chrissy Munder’s stories every year. They are always amongst my favorites and she always writes characters I fall hard for. Evan is right up there as a guy I rooted for from page 1. He’s an everyman that can’t seem to catch a break and his mom is his biggest cheerleader. On paper, he may not seem like a romantic leading man type MC, but heeee isssssssss.
The story is told from Evan’s perspective and being inside his head is a little sad at times, but he’s forever hopeful. His crush on his co-worker Gavriil is so swoony as told from Evan’s view. While I didn’t get to know Gavriil well, he still felt fully fleshed out and I could completely understand why Evan was smitten. The author does a great job of making the time the MC’s spend together count and their conversations are the perfect vehicle to make the romance progress.
Evan’s attempts at baking Gavriil’s favorite dessert for the office Christmas luncheon was freaking adorable and about the sweetest thing I’ve read in a long time. Gavriil’s reaction made it even better and that had to be one of the most satisfying endings to a short story ever.
The Fairy Shop by Tara Lain
When Nate Hawthorne meets Asher Dane, the huge, tattooed hunk is the personification of Nate’s dreams. But Nate knows there’s no future, because Asher is also the personification of his beloved five-year-old daughter Delly’s nightmares. She’s frightened of big men. Things turn around for both of them, however, when Delly goes Christmas shopping at the Fairy Shop and begins her quest for a wand that will make her brave. Neither of them guesses that the Fairy Shop will be the source of far more than Delly’s courage. On Christmas Eve, under the influence of a very unusual fairy, Nate’s life will change forever.
Ann - 4 Hearts
The Fairy Shop is total Tara Lain reading candy for the holidays and I enjoyed every sweet little nibble. The author knows how to write super fluffy love stories that balance with a bit of drama to give a Lifetime feel that’s easy to dive into and get lost in. There’s a lot of story packed into this one, but everything seemed to balance out in the end.
Delly, Nate’s daughter really read like a little kid at first, but her vocabulary changed towards the end that made her seem like a little adult at times which was a little off putting, but not too bad that I was drawn out of the story.
The secondary characters added to the depth of The Fairy Shop and the only thing I would have liked, was more of Asher’s story. I don’t think that could have really been a thing in this case since it’s a short story and I know Asher’s story would be pretty involved. I really liked him though and while there wasn’t anything missing for him, I just wanted more because the author made me like and respect him so much.
**copies of the Advent stories were provided for honest reviews**
Thank you so much for reading my story!! Hugs! : )
ReplyDeleteAwwww, I loved it. Perfect holiday sweetness! And I'd take some more of Asher's story any day!
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed Wilhelm and Al's story
ReplyDeleteI loved these two together, they were so great to read!
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