Title: Southern Fried Christmas
Author: Poppy Dennison
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 7k words
Genre: m/m Paranormal Romance
Heat: 1 – Sweet/None
Sex Frequency: 1 – None
Keywords/Tags: Short Story, Christmas, Vampires, Unusual Creatures, Chefs, Food, Southern Men
Rating: Not Feelin’ It
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When vampire William’s minions kidnap his cooking show host crush Ricky Joe, will it be the season for love, or a recipe for disaster?
Master Vampire William loathes the holidays. He spends the season pining for the one man he can never have–television chef Ricky Joe Dash. William’s minions are tired of his foul mood and concoct a scheme to turn William’s frown upside-down: they kidnap Ricky Joe and deliver him to William for Christmas. Ricky Joe enjoys his cooking show Simply Southern, but works too much to truly enjoy the rest of life. When he’s kidnapped and left in a room with a vampire, will it be the season for holiday bliss–or a recipe for disaster?
REVIEW
William is a master vampire, surrounded by his minions that he created. They constantly frustrate him and never give him peace, especially during the one night a week when the love of his life is on television — Ricky Joe Dash, a southern chef. Ricky Joe doesn’t know he’s the love of William’s life, he’s just trying to make his local show the best it can be, while trying to sidestep the innumerable advances of his boss. When William’s minions get the idea that Ricky Joe would make the perfect Christmas present to cheer up their Sire, they’ll go to any lengths — including kidnapping — to present William with their gift.
This story gave me a bit of whiplash and may be my most severe change in how I felt about a story in a while. It was a bit disappointing for me because I truly love Poppy Dennison and I look forward to everything she writes and releases. This won’t change that, but I felt very different about this story than her others. Actually, I loved the story right to the very end (which is where the whiplash comes in). The tone of the story is great, it’s so light and funny. The vampires are the least scary paranormal predators I’ve ever seen, in a completely tongue-in-cheek way. They’re so over the top, I really took to it. It’s a story to have fun with and not take seriously. Despite the lack of sex, i really felt a connection between Ricky Joe and William.
The problem came for me at the climax. It starts with the beginning of the story as the pace is set. It moves at a moderately fast clip because this is a rather short story, but there is somewhat of a buildup to the climax as William and his minions make plans. I don’t know exactly what I expected, but I found the reveal to be a bit lackluster, and then a bomb was dropped that I wasn’t expecting. And not only that, but it was a little confusing for me — then, the story ended. I know that the very long list of information MLR includes at the back of every story didn’t help, because I thought the story was far from over at that point (that has happened to me a lot actually, with MLR and Samhain), but it just exacerbated the problem in my opinion. And, I felt like it really could have been fixed in just a couple paragraphs, or at least a tiny epilogue or something. But, it just felt like the ending fell of a cliff somewhere and went completely missing. I even went back and read it several times to make sure I didn’t miss something, but, I never really understood it or what the point was.
Sadly, the fact that I really enjoyed the first half of the story got lost in the ending as well, or I would have rated this much higher. Still, it won’t stop me from being a big fan of Poppy’s writing and I eagerly look forward to everything she writes. But, this one didn’t work for me and I can’t recommend it.
Title: An Angel Gets His Wings
Author: Missy Welsh
Publisher: MLR
Length: 14k words
Genre: m/m Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 – Sexy & Mild
Sex Frequency: 3 – Average Story to Sex
Keywords/Tags: Short Story, Coming Out, First Times, Abandonment, Christmas, Southern Men, Twinks, Hurt/Comfort, HFN
Rating: Really Like It!
Reviewed by Sadonna
**Spoiler Alert! While this story can certainly be read as a stand alone book, I think the reader might enjoy it that much more having read Every Time a Bell Rings first. Some of the conversations and events in this book could be considered a little bit spoilery for the first book.**
BLURB
Will closeted Mike make it through this year’s family Christmas without succumbing to the innocent charms of his long-lost “cousin” George?
Mike Sharp is in Little Rock, Arkansas, visiting his family for Christmas while his best friend Brian Bailey’s up north walking right into Mike’s plans to hook him up with his neighbor Trent. Unfortunately, it seems like someone’s conspiring to get Mike panting after his third cousin, twice removed (or something like that) named George Whitlock. George who keeps sneaking up on him, being all shy and cute, and then having the audacity to give Mike great big calf eyes that are just begging Mike to drop to his knees. Mike will not give in because, if he does, he could lose his entire family when they discover he’s gay.
REVIEW
I can’t believe that I didn’t know this was a related story to Missy Welsh’s Every Time a Bell Rings from last year’s MLR Holiday stories when I told Cole I wanted to review it. When I started reading, I thought, “Hmmmm. This seems like it’s characters similar to another story I read.” Duh! So I went back and read my review for that story and here’s what I said, “My favorite character really was Mike – Brian’s best friend. I hope we can have a good story about him.” Apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Thank you Missy!
This story takes place in parallel to Every Time a Bell Rings and tells us what takes place with Mike in Little Rock while Brian is spending Christmas in his apartment back in Ohio and being taken care of by Trent, Mike’s neighbor. Mike is at his family’s home for Christmas along with his extended family of cousins and aunts and uncles. But there seems to be a new addition – a very attractive young distant cousin names George that has Michael very hot and bothered right off. Mike is very worried that this perfectly “fuckable” guy is going to blow his cover with his homophobic family. Mike’s entire inner conversation about this delicious little twink is hilarious! I so love Mike’s voice.
George has a habit of sneaking up on Mike and each one of these instances results in a conversation that reveals a little more to us about George. His mother has passed away in the past year and he needs someplace to stay, so he’s staying with Mike’s family “for a while.” Mike doesn’t like how serious and sad George seems and he wants to make him smile. He spies a white bandage around George’s wrist that gives him pause. He doesn’t want to dredge up anything that might make George even more somber than he already is. Then at Christmas dinner, somehow a food fight erupts and George and Mike go to clean up. One thing leads to another once some clothes come off and Mike and George end up doing more than changing their clothes.
Mike and George have a serious conversation about family and acceptance and love and mistakes and healing. And Mike discovers that maybe his secret isn’t so secret after all and he doesn’t have to hide his true nature. He also discovers that he may be developing real feelings for George and not just want this to be some sort of a fling. Mostly he wants to protect George and see him happy and laughing. I don’t want to reveal any more of the story here, because it is like a nice Christmas present and should be opened and revealed only to the recipient. Anything else I write would spoil the surprise.
I really loved Mike’s voice once again. This is why he was my favorite character from last year’s story. He is so funny and refreshing but with a heart of gold. I’m so happy that Missy gave us his Christmas story and hopefully we might have more stories with Mike and Brian and Trent and George in the future. This is truly a wonderful feel-good story that will make the season bright!
Title: Countdown to Santa (Countdown to Daddies #2)
Author: K-Lee Klein
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 27k words
Genre: m/m Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 – Sexy & Mild
Sex Frequency: 2 – Few and Far Between
Keywords/Tags: Babies/Kids, Fatherhood, Christmas, Angst-a-licious
Rating: So So
Reviewed by Sadonna
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Matteo thinks his partner Gabe is wonderful with their twins – all that’s lacking is sleep, romance, a little common sense and maybe his sanity.
Gabe and Matteo have settled into the highs and lows of new fatherhood; exhaustion, dirty diapers, baby bottles and a whole lot of love. But as their first family Christmas looms on the horizon, Matteo is worried about how his partner is handling his new role as Papa Gabe.
There’s no doubt Gabe adores the twins, but his libido, his sense of proportion and perhaps his sanity seem to have disappeared under the strain. Matteo is determined to make their new family work, but it may take thinking outside the box to get back the calm, sensible Gabe he planned to share fatherhood and the rest of his life with.
REVIEW
I was really looking forward to this story because I enjoyed the Father’s Day story of Gabe and Matteo waiting for their babies to be born. They were so cute and anxious in the first story and I loved Gabe’s sister Mira, the birth mother of the babies. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one as much for a couple of reasons.
At the time of this story, Dominic (Niki) and Megan (Sweetpea) are a few months old and it’s coming up to their first Christmas. Gabe and Matteo have moved into a bigger place because Gabe keeps buying them more and more stuff and they needed more room. Matteo is being driven a little bit nuts by this and he keeps trying to head off Gabe’s incessant worry and shopping, but to no avail. Gabe has taken a six month paternity leave and he is using that time obsessing over every little thing with the babies. Matteo wonders what has happened to his partner and who this stranger is that has taken over his body. At Gabe’s insistence, Matteo has kept working at the yoga studio since his time is more flexible and with Gabe home for the six month, they agree that it’ll work out fine.
He finally decides to go to Gabe’s sister for some advice/help to get Gabe to stop obsessing and relax for minute. They work up a scheme to get Gabe to take his obsessive focus off the babies for at least night, but it all goes horribly wrong and the guys end up in the worst fight of their relationship. Things have gone from bad to worse and Matteo doesn’t know if he can continue to live like this. They say very hurtful things to one another and it appears that they could be on the road to Splitsville. Their communication has completely broken down and both of them are miserable. While we eventually get to a resolution, I felt like there was a lot of anxiety and unhappiness getting there.
I was really hoping for a happy holiday story with these guys and this definitely was not it. I understand that there can be a lot of stress in a relationship when a couple of kids are thrown into the mix. I also understand that everyone gets a little tired and out of sorts with the sleep deprivation of babies and holidays, but I don’t necessarily want to read it in my holiday stories. I felt like the comedy and the fun of the relationship was too overshadowed by the angst in this tale. I really like these guys and I hope that if we get another story about them, it’ll be back to the lighter, happier side of Matteo and Gabe.
Title: A Little Christmas Cheer (A Little #3)
Author: Karenna Colcroft
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 11,000 words
Genre: m/m Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 – Mild & Sexy
Sex Frequency: 3 – Average Sex to Story
Keywords/Tags: Series, Closeted, Mechanic, Small Towns, First Loves, Established Couples, Blue Collar, HFN
Rating: Pretty Good
Reviewed by Sadonna
**Might contain some spoilers**
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Will Braden Porter give his lover Vince Gutierrez the gift of moving in together?
Braden Porter and Vince Gutierrez have been a couple for nearly a year. But because of Braden’s fear of being outed, their relationship has moved slowly. Too slowly for Vince. Braden knows that if he doesn’t take the next step and ask Vince to move in with him, he might lose Vince for good. A chance encounter during a towing job to Boston helps Braden make his decision, but will he dare to tell Vince his choice?
REVIEW
This is the third short story about Braden and Vince. The first story and the beginning of their relationship is told in a Valentine’s short called A Little Kiss. It is short and sweet as the title would indicate. The second story, A Little Road Trip is a summer story that takes place over the 4th of July and further solidifies Vince and Braden as a couple. A Little Christmas Cheer takes place during the holiday season and is a perfect addition to MLR’s Holiday releases. It can be read as a standalone, but I think it’s more meaningful if they are read in order.
Vince and Braden are getting ready for Christmas. The weather has not been too bad in their part of Maine and they are looking forward to time together –which has been difficult to manage with their jobs and keeping their relationship on the DL. Braden know he loves Vince and he knows Vince loves him, but he is afraid. He is afraid of what might happen if anybody finds out they are more than friends. As far as he knew, he was the only gay guy in town until Vince pursued him. He also feels some responsibility because Vince has never been with a guy before. Neither of them has been in a relationship though, so they are feeling their way along together.
Braden lives in his own trailer outside of town on some land. Vince lives in an apartment over a beauty shop and has a nosy landlady who is the hairdresser. But the landlady is selling and Vince needs to move. He wants Braden to decide if they are going to move in together at his place or if he needs to look for a new apartment. He understands Braden’s reluctance but he’s on a pretty tight timeline.
Braden is offered another job picking up a car once again for a client. It involves a trip to a Boston dealer that will require a full day of driving. He resolves to make up his mind about the move during the trip. On the way to Boston, he is no closer to making a decision and his mind just goes in circles. He meets the sales guy at the dealer and also his lunch date – another man. They are pretty open in their communication and it’s obvious that they are a couple and they seem so happy.
Braden picks up the car and has the drive home to think about his day and what he really wants. And what he really wants is to stop being afraid.
Once again I really enjoyed this short look into Braden and Vince’s lives and relationship. Both characters are good guys and they are young and just getting started in life and in love. The stories are sweet, but not sappy which I appreciate. I hope the author will continue to give us a peek at their lives again in the future.
Title: Mr. Perfect’s Christmas
Author: Eva Clancy
Publisher: MLR
Length: 12k words
Genre: m/m Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 – Sexy & Mild
Sex Frequency: 3 – Average Story to Sex
Keywords/Tags: Short Story, Christmas, British/England, Businessmen/Office, Enemies to Lovers
Rating: Pretty Good
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A Christmas gift turns enemies into lovers.
The last thing Sam Warren wants to do is go to his new employer’s Christmas party—particularly since his arch-nemesis, Nick Foster, is going to be there. Nick’s been undermining Sam with his boss, and the fact that Sam can’t help lusting after Nick only complicates the situation. But it seems the Christmas Spirit is at work. When Sam receives an unexpected gift from Nick, it makes him question his assumptions about his rival. Could it be that he’s been misinterpreting Nick’s actions all along? And is his reluctant attraction to Nick reciprocated?
REVIEW
Eva Clancy is a new author for me, and I felt like I was taking a chance reviewing this story, but… well, it’s the season for it and I ended up finding a story that I really enjoyed.
Sam is completely dissatisfied with his life. It’s the Christmas season and a time for looking back at the year, which leads Sam into a depression every time he thinks of it. Once on a career track rising through the London offices before being made redundant, and also losing his lover at the same time, Sam has had to move to a small town and work for a small firm and pretend to be thankful for even having a job at all. And well, it’s not that he isn’t thankful, but he can’t seem to appreciate the fortune he does have when faced with all he’s lost. On top of that, he’s found that he doesn’t actually seem to know much about his job, when faced with clients that don’t have a boatload of cash and a firm with inexhaustible resources.
Somehow, all of that might be okay without the constant reminder of Nick, the “Wonder Boy”. The man whose position Sam filled seems to be everyone’s favorite person, his coworkers, his boss, and well, he’s pretty amazing, so Sam grudgingly admits to himself. He’s handsome, nice, the clients adore him. And he could do Sam’s job better than Sam ever could, making his cocky entrance to a job he thought would be below him frighteningly embarrassing. It becomes even worse when faced with Nick, again, at the Christmas party. Is karma finally collecting it’s due for Sam’s arrogant attitude, or has his misplaced depression colored everything he sees about his new life?
What I most liked about this story was that the characters aren’t who you think they are, not only Nick. Sam’s coworkers, as well as Sam himself change over the story, all because of Nick’s influence as Sam opens up and starts to see his life in an honest way. That was done quite well, in a major part by a rather honest style of prose which shows the characters in a pretty harsh light. Not only does the character change make the story interesting, but it is a perfect compliment to a holiday story, where we want to see the good in people. The story then becomes a bit of a holiday classic, in the sense that Sam is shown his misdeeds in a harsh light, all brought on by his own influence. It is somewhat subtle, yet still the focus of the story, so it didn’t overpower it in any way and worked well.
The romance here was part of that, but came in second in my enjoyment. Much of their relationship is somewhat of an afterthought — or at least implied at the end of the story. Most of what we see is an attraction and an encounter, and are left to our own thoughts about what will happen in the future. I suppose I would have liked to see a little less than perfect Nick. Sam would have a hard time seeing that, because it takes him a while to understand that Nick isn’t the “Wonder Boy” he thought and that he might have misconstrued many things about his workplace, but I would have liked to see Nick be a bit more honest with Sam. Sam finally breaks down and admits it, and I agreed wholeheartedly, that Sam is a bit of an asshole. He whines through a lot of the story and is pretty vain and has a high opinion of himself. Much of this is a front, and like I mentioned before, a front that is shed during the length of the story, but a bit of honest from Nick instead of Nick always saying how wonderful and perfect Sam is would have made their relationship seem a little more honest.
That is really my only critique of the story however. There were a few laughs on the part of Sam’s coworkers, especially a game of Secret Santa. And I liked the story, most of all. I’ll definitely recommend it.
Title: There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays
Author: Shawn Lane
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 9,000 words
Genre: m/m, Contemporary, Romance
Heat: 3 – Sexy & Mild
Sex Frequency: 3 – Average Story to Sex
Keywords/Tags: Adorable, Best Friends, Christmas, HEA, Short Story, Unrequited Love
Rating: Pretty Good
Reviewed by Nikyta
BLURB
For the first time in years, Mac is going home for the holidays with his best friend Connor in tow, but he certainly doesn’t expect the magic of Christmas to give him the love of a lifetime.
Fashion designer, Mackenzie Grayson, has no intention of going home for Christmas…until his sister calls and uses guilt to talk him into spending two weeks over the holidays at his family’s home in California. With his best friend, Connor, in tow, Mac returns to California, a place he has mostly avoided after a bad breakup. Mac no longer does serious relationships, but maybe some time spent with Connor under the mistletoe will make this a more magical Christmas than either of them would have dreamed of.
REVIEW
Mackenzie Grayson is a relationship phobic fashion designer. Going from one guy to another suits his needs just fine after a bad break up years prior. Moving to Hawaii also did the trick where he met Connor and they became fast friends. Now, Mac is being guilted into spending the holidays with his family in Los Angeles but when Connor breaks up with his boyfriend, Mac invites him to come along. While there, with the threat of an ex-one night stand and a little mistletoe, Mac finally realizes just how much Connor has come to mean to him.
This was a sweet story. I enjoyed the scenes between Connor and Mac. I adored Connor because he’s so flamboyant and exuberant. He’s extremely excited about spending the Christmas holiday with a family that goes above and beyond the Christmas spirit. His awe of everything Christmas related he came across was very fun. I liked Mac, although he seemed a bit obnoxious to me. Mac’s family were cute, though, because they were so grateful to finally have Mac home.
The story doesn’t go into much detail about anything. In fact, that was one of my problems. While we get to see the connection between Connor and Mac, we really don’t know much about them or their back stories. The bad break up Mac experienced isn’t talked about so it left me with questions over just how bad it was or who this mysterious ex-lover was. Because the story is so short, we only see the build up to Connor and Mac’s eventual intimacy and afterwards, that is pretty much it. I would have liked to see how these two incorporate their new relationship from friends to lovers into their lives.
As it was, this story was short and cute but lacked a necessary depth to allow me to love the characters. I still enjoyed the story because it gave me the warm and fuzzies and left me with a smile. It’s a great read for those looking for some Christmas spirit and a great pick me up.
The Armchair Reader 