Title: Nice: Festivities
Author: Stevie Woods
Length: 5,300 words (21 pages)
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: m/m contemporary
Rating: C+
Blurb:
Joel invites his friend Graham to spend the Christmas holiday period with him, and he plans that by the time New Year arrives they’ll be more than just friends. As New Year’s Eve dawns Graham wakes with a new determination. The whole week with Joel had been wonderful and Graham is not going to let the day pass without admitting his feelings to Joel. Will the New Year really be “new” for them?
Review:
Joel and Graham have been friends for years, and Joel has been in love with Graham for sometime, but never made a move for fear of damaging their friendship. This year he invites Graham to spend the holidays with him in the hope that he can finally work up the nerve to tell him. You also find out that Graham has been feeling the same, and much of the book is spent with them dancing around each other and both wondering if a touch means something more than just “move over, you’re in my way”. Finally when New Year’s Eve day dawns, Graham realizes with a party planned for that night and the end of his stay in sight he has to make a move or give up on the whole plan.
While I liked both guys, and their friendship and love – not the passionate kind, but the kind that says “I listened when you told me something and took steps to make you happy” – was really well written and felt real, I found myself a bit frustrated by their thought processes. Did he mean to touch me? Could he like me? Should I do it? What should I say? What will he think? Probably realistic as most of us freak out about such things in real life, but I think part of the problem is that I KNEW both guys wanted it, so I just wanted to bop them on the head and tell them to get it together and go for it.
Perhaps if I’d only had one man’s perspective and been left wondering if the other was indeed interested (although it’s a romance so I guess I’d figure that out), there would have been more tension as it built up to the big event. In this case there was no chance that it would not be acted on. The sex scene was sweet and sexy as two men finally come together as more than just friends and for those who enjoy friends to lovers and sweet stories without a lot of potential conflict, it will be a definite hit.
Sounds nice but it’s not really calling me at the moment. On to my maybe someday list.
Got rid of your other comments.
It’s Monday. This is good for a light read but not a must-have in my opinion.
Good review, Tam. Unfortunately, a lot of stories are starting to fall into this nonessential category nowadays unless there is something that distinguishes them. There’s just so much stuff to read!
It is a bit of a shame Val because there was nothing wrong with the story really, it just falls in with so many others.
What Val wrote.
What I wrote to Val. LOL