Title: Needing a Little Christmas
Author: Silvia Violet
Length: 15,226 words (82 pdf pages)
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: m/m contemporary
Rating: A-
Blurb:
Discovering his boyfriend’s affair with a co-worker wrecks Eli’s holiday plans. He thinks getting stuck in his getaway cabin has made things worse until he calls Mac’s Wood Delivery and hears the owner’s deep, sultry voice…
Discovering his boyfriend’s affair with a co-worker wrecks Eli’s holiday plans. With his parents on a cruise and his brother and sister out of town, he’s on his own. His mother insists he escape to her friend’s mountain cabin. Eli reluctantly agrees, but he takes off unprepared and ends up driving into the worst snowstorm the area has seen in years.
He survives the trip, but he’s stuck with no logs for the wood stove and little food. Fortunately, he gets the number for Mac’s Wood Delivery. Mac doesn’t mind riding to the rescue, and his deep, sultry voice has Eli eagerly anticipating the delivery. Is Mac the little bit of Christmas cheer Eli has been needing?
Review:
This is an absolutely cute and appealing story that just struck me the right way, and I might have rated higher if I hadn’t felt the ending didn’t quite match the rest of the story. As the blurb says, Eli has recently broken up with his ex, although he’s more angry at the circumstances than heart-broken, realizing that they were not right for each other at all. He agrees to go to a relatives cabin as his family all have plans. However not thinking, he ends up in a snowstorm and when he finds the wood fire heated cabin has no wood, he calls for a delivery, ending up with sexy-voiced Mac who comes to rescue him.
The chemistry between the two is instant, but at first Eli’s not sure the guy is gay, but he has all these wicked fantasies and they kind of dance around it all. Finally, Christmas day Mac arrives with family leftovers and a tree to make it a real Christmas. I just loved Eli. The story could have been all “woe is me, my lover cheated on me” but he’s sensible enough to realize that while what happened was embarrassing, that he had let things go too long anyway. Then he is just so random. He’s an m/m author, of course, but he makes these wry comments about being an author that are so true and humourous. It’s not slapstick funny, just the kind that makes you let out a little huff of humour. I’ll give a couple of examples:
My car skidded off the side of the road, and I lost control for several seconds. My heart pounded, and my hands convulsed around the steering wheel. What were those damn rules I’d learned so many years ago in driver’s ed? Turn into a skid? Turn away from a skid? Don’t brake? My plan so far had basically been, if it’s snowing, don’t drive. That had worked well.
For dessert I had a piece, well two pieces, okay maybe two and a half, of the caramel cake Mac’s mom had sent.
His skin was so hot it warmed me instantly. My writer’s brain began to wonder if he ran so hot because he was a werewolf or maybe a werebear.
Despite knowing next to nothing about Mac, Eli was so enjoyable I didn’t mind that he remained more of an enigma to the reader. My biggest disappointment was the rather rushed ending. They only met the day before, and talk of moving there was already happening. Eli only lived two hours away, I think I would have preferred them say they would spend some time going back and forth first, rather than rushing to the “perfect” ending. Still, even with that little niggle, it was really an enjoyable story and I think when you want sweet, without being sugary, with a touch of humour, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Sounds cute! I’ll have to read this one
It just really struck me the right way. Very cute.
Great Review. I bought this last week. I’ll have to move it up.
Thanks. It’s definitely a feel good read.
This sounds fun. I like a sarcastic narrator so this will be right up my street
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Yes, he’s got that dry self-deprecating humour. I enjoy it when they don’t take themselves too seriously.
*adds to to read list*