Review: Jingle Spell by Chris Ethan

It’s the most horrible time of the year.

Smooches under mistletoes and tacky reindeer decorations. 

Newly single, Davey has had enough of wasting his love and having his heart broken. Better to be single, he decides. No more dates. No more falling in love. No more dreaming of happy ever afters. Those are for movies.

He’s resolute.

And then Avery steps into his life, bringing care, compassion, and tenderness in his path.

Davey’s so tempted to hope again. But can an online date and a brief encounter turn into anything other than an ephemeral sexual encounter?

Is there a future for them? Will Avery stay? And most importantly, can Davey bear to offer up his heart to the season’s love—just one more time?

Jingle Spell is a relatively angst free May-December Christmas romance between one MC who has given up on finding lasting romance (May) and one who has recently gotten out of a long term relationship (December).

Davey is a retail worker who hates his job, which is fair at the holidays, but I really wished he wasn’t such a bitch about it. There is plenty to hate about working retail without bugging his manager ad nauseum about time off and always being late. It made him seem too immature and hard to believe he was already giving up on romance. He didn’t have the greatest track record, which seemed pretty normal for his youth to be honest.

Davey muddles through his shift, nothing too much seems to happen and when he gets home he hits up a dating app because he’s a pretty lonely guy. He finds someone to meet up with and it turns out to be a customer he had in his line that day at work. They recognized one another, were pretty happy to see one another again and had a very nice date. I had hoped they would have had more of a connection when they met at the store earlier in the day, but nothing of significance happened and the description of them interacting was just a thing that happened rather than a meet-cute. It was an opportunity missed that would have given their connection more meaning.

The two spent time getting to know one another and did all the sweet dating things. It was obvious they were falling for one another and I liked their interactions even if their banter was a little stiff. It was good to learn more about Davey’s history and it explained a little bit about why Davey really just wanted to love and be loved.

While I said the story was relatively angst free there was a moment when Avery’s past came back around and it was a bit of a heartbreaker for Davey. It was relatively brief but kind of crappy of Avery. He redeemed himself, mostly. It was just a little quick, I wasn’t ready to forgive him just yet, but he has some pretty damn good words and they were definitely going to get back together, so Davey did what was best for Davey.

I do believe in the HEA for them even though their time together was short from meeting to I love you’s. I would have liked an epilogue, mostly for Davey. He wasn’t happy with his job and didn’t seem to have quality friends, so reading about him maturing and going for some happiness in all aspects of his life, with Avery’s support, would have been a perfect end.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Santa's Naughty Helper (Lawyers in Love #1) by Ari McKay

Shy lawyer Kevin Anderson is presented with an unexpected opportunity when he draws hunky litigator Erik Wilson’s name for their office’s secret holiday gift exchange. Kevin has pined for his friend for a long time, but he fears ruining their working relationship if Erik doesn’t return his feelings. The anonymity of the exchange gives him the chance to let Erik know someone is interested, so Kevin turns the gift into a game: twelve days of presents, each more suggestive, culminating with a Christmas Eve meeting—if Kevin finds the courage to see it through!

Erik is intrigued by his secret Santa, who has given him something to look forward to during the holidays for the first time in years. But as Christmas approaches, he realizes he doesn’t want a mystery man; he wants his best friend, Kevin. When his attempts to instigate something with Kevin fail, Erik accepts the dinner invitation of his secret admirer. Little does he suspect that Santa’s naughty little helper might be just the man to make all his Christmas dreams come true in a holiday friends-to-lovers romance that progresses from sweet to spicy for two sexy lawyers.

I do love summertime Jizzmas so very much. It’s my crack no matter what the calendar says to be honest, but the novelty of Christmas when temps are at their peak is a balm to my sweaty soul. The novellas are the best too, they’re generally the fluffiest and that’s what I’m after. Santa’s Naughty Helper is exactly that, a fluffy sweet novella that’ll just make you happy and anxious for cooler temps.

I’m also a huge fan of this author team and they write holiday stories that appeal to me especially. Last Leap of the First-Foot and Letters from Cupid come to mind first and On the Rocks is a must read. And while I enjoyed Santa’s Naughty Helper, it does show me how much these authors have honed their craft since this story was originally published. Kevin and Erik are best friends but their exchanges felt a little unnatural to me, they were telling me about everything instead of showing me, so the closeness between them didn’t flow as naturally as some of their later characters.

Kevin and Erik were completely charming though and it was obvious they are meant to be together. They are complementary opposites with Kevin being shy and unassuming while Erik has no problem being in front of an audience (or courtroom). They work together on projects often, balancing their skill sets nicely. Kevin is a top notch researcher and Erik is the man presenting the findings. Since these two are good pals, the angst level is very low so, I mean, you know these two are going to be a thing, so instead of being stressed about outcome, I was able to just enjoy the cuteness.

Kevin is Erik’s Secret Santa and he literally decides to go all out. Or in. And out. You know what I mean. This is his chance to come clean to Erik about how he feels and he decides not to let his shyness rob him of his chance to get his man. Kevin decided that gifting Erik with 12 days of Christmas goodies was the way to go and he upped the ante every day. The gifts quickly went from sweet to sexy, and not subtle sexy either. When Kev decides to do something, by God he does it. I gotta respect that.

Erik was on board with the gifties too which encouraged Kevin all the more, hence the absence of angst. If we take a quick step into the real world and these gifts were being gifted to your average Joe you’d have an HR nightmare on your hands, but thankfully the real world had no place here and Erik embraced the gifts with his horny holiday heart.

My fave part is the big reveal and I have to admit, I read it twice. I really like Kevin and the setup was just perfectly him along with his newfound courage. These two went from friends to in-love-lovers in literally one thrust. I had no trouble believing it for Kevin since he’s been crushing on Erik forever but I would expect Erik would need a smidge more time to process the new dynamics. But as I’ve said reality has no place here so Erik was right there with Kevin and that made me happy for my Kevin and his Christmas.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Detective Fox and the Christmas Caper (Dick and the Sidekick #1) by Isobel Starling

Every good Dick needs a sidekick…

Actor Tom Lewis’s world came crashing down when a honey trap and tabloid exposé outed him and put pay to his flourishing career. The housewives favourite was most well-known for his role as ‘Detective Fox’ in the quaint British series Malmesbury Murders. But after the media speculation about his sexuality, the show is in hiatus and Tom hasn’t worked six months.

Now things are getting serious, the money he made from M.M is running out and he needs a job desperately. So when Tom’s agent offers him a six week seasonal acting job, he reluctantly agrees… and takes on the role of Santa for a top London department store. 

This decision changes Tom’s luck. Not only will he have an income for the holiday season, he’ll also be working with a very sexy young elf that he spotted at the auditions, named Eli Mason. 

While on a break Tom overhears two unidentified store workers discussing a ‘job to get a little Christmas bonus”. He realizes the job is of the illegal sort. Now, Tom could call the police, but then again, wouldn’t it be great for his flagging career if Detective Fox saved the day.

So Fox is on the case, and as every good Dick needs a sidekick, Tom decides Eli will fit the role, in more ways than one.”

I had a lot of fun reading this Christmas novella. It’s got humor, steam, a bit of mystery and did I mention steam? Detective Fox definitely read like the first in a series to me. Not that that is a bad thing, but there was necessary setup to the characters, plus the mystery plus the lead in to further episodes to cover in a novella length story, so much was touched on without a ton of detail. Again, not a bad thing and I’m hoping the bits I want more of will be further explored in coming tales. If they are, then I can see this as being the kind of series you want to reread once you get to know everyone and the whole series will end up balanced and complete.

The mystery isn’t overly mysterious and for me that worked considering the detectives here were not detectives by any means, so anything more complex would have been too unbelievable considering the time that was dedicated to solving the Christmas crime. The fun was in Tom, Eli and their band of merry elves working together to figure out how to be heroes so they can get a little face time. Tom is an actor after all and while I wouldn’t exactly say he’d been disgraced, he did have a serious slump going on with his recent scandal in the press.

I liked reading about Eli and Tom together and feel like we are just at the beginning of something with them. That pacing worked well even though that is a big part of the bits I want more of. If their relationship evolves how I’m hoping, the progression of their togetherness will be better than any mystery, and then the mystery can be a fun vehicle to move these guys forward. There is some delicious kink that the author tapped into that was a total treat and I most definitely need more of that. What I read was complete but because I loved the unexpected avenue the author went down with Tom and Eli, it felt like such a tease which has got me hooked and ready to read book two.

For more information on Detective Fox and the Christmas Caper, check it out on Goodreads.

Buy Links

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1889QP

Barnes and Nobel

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1124865786?ean=2940153783772

ibooks

https://itunes.apple.com/id1166116268

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/672621

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Holly & Hockey Boots by V.L. Locey

Minor league goalie Adam Seiger is a nice guy. He’s kind, cute, and a little quirky (but show me a goalie who isn’t) and he loves to interact with fans. During a meet and greet after a game Adam meets Cason Reyes, a hard-working young man with stunning amber eyes and a smile as sweet as a candy cane. Desperate to see Cason again, Adam does something more than a little naughty.

To add insult to the egg nog, it appears that one little white lie may end Adam’s chance of having a merry Christmas with a new boyfriend. Will he end up with nothing but a lump of coal in his stocking, instead of the man who owns his heart?

This little story came along and grabbed me by the Jizzmas nuggets and never let go. That’s all actually a good thing because this story was adorable. What made it so was all down to the main character, one Adam Seiger, a minor league goalie with dreams of someday playing for the Leafs. Any hockey fan worth their salt knows that goalies have a reputation for being very . . . shall we say . . .special, quirky, unique, crazy-pants. Adam fits into the quirky and unique stereotype perfectly and in the most adorable way. He’s now on my list of all-time favorite characters.

Honestly, I could read a story just about Adam cruising along in his daily life, just being Adam. His inner voice and the paths his brain takes are amuse me to no end. After a game one night at a meet and greet, he meets and hardcore lusts after after, Cason Reyes. He tells a little white lie in hopes of seeing Cason again and the little white lie spirals into a shit storm, as white lies tend to do and Adam is worried about the truth ruining the any chance he might have with Cason.

The white lie moves the plot along, Adam has bouts of guilt and angst (that were still freakin’ adorable) and Cason was a little rough on him. He had good reason, given his past, but it’s an HEA Jizzmas story so everything works out in the end with warm fuzzies and hearts that grow three sizes. While Adam made the story as great as it was, the supporting characters, especially his roommate Rob, added to Adam’s personality in spades. I’d love to read anything Rob was a part of too. He and Adam’s relationship was a highlight throughout and what made the rating start and stay high from beginning to end.

Holly & Hockey Boots is a winner for me this Jizzmas season, it’s got the most memorable of characters, enough conflict to keep it interesting but not heavy, the best of best friends, and dirty talk! Did I mention the dirty talk? I don’t think that I did and shame on me for being remiss in mentioning that little pearl of yumminess. Soooooo, there’s dirty talk . . . and it’s awesome. Cason may not have been as strong of a character in my mind as most of the others, but he made up for it in the end as soon as he opened that dirty little mouth of his. Good job Cason, Adam and I enjoyed it muchly.

For more information on Holly & Hockey Boots, check it out on Goodreads.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

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