Release Date: November 22, 2017
Length: Novella (160pages)
Genre: M/M Holiday Romance
Cover Art: Reese Dante
Links: Amazon/KU Goodreads
Blurb: Journalism student Gabe Martin gets his first professional assignment—to write about a Christmas charity dinner that benefits a children’s home. It sounds like a total snooze-fest until Gabe learns that the event’s Santa is a mystery man. He shows up in costume and no one has a clue who he is. Uncovering Santa’s identity sounds like the perfect angle to turn a fluff piece into serious journalism.
Mack “The Mountain” McDonall, at 6’10”, is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s enormous star wrestler. When Gabe first claps eyes on him at a wrestling match, it’s lust at first sight. Gabe’s friend, Jordan, sets up the pair on a date. But when Gabe chatters on about his plans for outing Santa, Mack goes cold, and their first meeting becomes an epic fail.
As Gabe researches the children’s home, he learns that Mack has secrets a guy famous for being a brute wouldn’t want the world to know. Can Gabe find his holiday spirit, write a killer article, win the heart of a surly giant, and give everyone a very merry Christmas?
Review:
A slow-burn story about a journalism student falling for a giant college wrestler/civil engineering student over Christmas. It was nice. It was sweet. It was fluffy. It was ultimately… meh. Eli Easton’s Christmas stories usually have me singing the Hallelujah Chorus by the end, but this one barely got me to Deck the Halls.
The plot was a little contrived and seemingly out of order. The Santa reveal scene needed to be more of a climax closer to the end. It felt like the plot was over at that point and the rest was an ENORMOUS epilogue. It was mushy and poking my feels and all that, but it didn’t advance the story.
Gabe was tough to connect with at first, but he grew on me as the story settled in. As others have said, the Spanish interjections were too numerous and a little weirdly placed. It felt like someone said Gabe’s character needed to sound/act more Hispanic, so more Spanish was forced into the dialogue. My biggest problem with the book is the lack of Mack’s point-of-view. He’s a closed-off guy and not having any of his internal musings to tease him out I couldn’t quite figure out why he was into Gabe or how he felt about… anything. It all worked out in the end, but I wish it had been a smoother journey.
I like the cover. It’s Christmas without giving you a cavity. Another A+ for the incomparable Reese Dante.
Advertisements Share this:
