**spoiler alert** I'm going to go ahead and say this because it's glaring... there's a typo in the blurb. Had I seen it before I read the book, it mig**spoiler alert** I'm going to go ahead and say this because it's glaring... there's a typo in the blurb. Had I seen it before I read the book, it might have driven me a little crazy. :) I didn't, and I loved the book, so I'm letting it go.
Now to my review...
As much as I've enjoyed the other books by this author I've read, I think I enjoyed Jalen & Colby so much because it was more of a slow burn than the guys immediately jumping into a sexual relationship. Don't get me wrong, I loved the hell out of the other books, and I'll continue to read the fairy tale retellings for as long as the author is writing them. It's all a matter of what I'm in the mood for at any given time.
This is another book in A Daddy For Christmas, a multi-author series.
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Jalen and Colby are best friends, both living in Australia. Jalen's an American, with Colby being an Aussie. They became best friends years before over their shared love of a nineties TV series that they discovered through streaming. It didn't matter that they lived in two different hemispheres. They're very close, so close that Jalen got a work visa and moved to Australia to be roomies with his friend.
I cracked up over the differences between the two. I'm American and Kazza is Australian, and we're so different, but we work as close friends and blog partners. She not only gets my Americanisms, but she's stuck with the southernisms too. :)
His choice of words seems a bit odd, but then again, he's often coming out with Americanisms that surprise me.
Jalen's head over heels in love with said friend, but he keeps that to himself. What he doesn't know is that Colby feels the same for him.
Unbeknownst to the other, they're in a massive eBay bidding war as they each try to buy action figures and other items from their favorite show. The plan is to win the items and give them to the other one for Christmas.
Andreas is selling his collection, shocked when two bidders go back and forth until the auction ends. He doesn't really want to get rid of the stuff, but he feels like maybe he needs to grow up. He's been in Sydney for a few years, having moved there from the UK when his job transferred. He ends up getting a lot more than he expected, realizing after the fact that the two bidders are best friends wanting to surprise the other. This is pretty much confirmed when both bidders send him messages when the auction ends.
Imagine Colby and Jalen's surprise when there's a knock on their door a few days later and they open it to the man who sold the action figures. Not only that, but he'd also made a few repairs on the figures, and even repaid the money spent on them.
It doesn’t look like a mailman, but phew, he sure is delivering something.
“Hi?” I utter, blinking rapidly and wondering how fast that mimosa has gone to my head. I’m pretty sure I didn’t order a hunky daddy, but here is one anyway.
This visit from Andreas turned into the three of them spending more time together.
Andreas, 37, has some serious Daddy vibes.
Jalen, 29, is flamboyantly awesome, or as he called himself, a glitter-coated handful. He was perfect.
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Colby, 25, is a sweetheart who will break your heart when you learn about his horrible family. That horrible family knocked Colby down so much that he doesn't have a good opinion of himself. Thankfully, Jalen is always right there to remind him that he's somebody special.
And now he has Andreas, who is totally charmed by the best friends who so obviously love each other.
The relationship between the three men is a slow burn yet not. The friendship happens quickly, and Andreas is a true Daddy wanting to spoil his boys, even if they're not technically 'his' boys. Hell, he's only now, thanks to Jalen, even seeing himself as a Daddy. He's wanting to buy them things, take them out to fancy dinners, even surprising them with a trip to the UK to spend Christmas with his family who he hasn't seen in years.
As for the sexual part of their relationship, it happens later. It was definitely worth the wait.
A lot of things had to happen first. Colby and Jalen had to get comfortable with Andreas, who is basically a total stranger. It's especially hard for Colby to accept anything because he'd always been told he was worthless and didn't deserve good things.
First and foremost is the friendship between Colby and Jalen. Oh, how sweet it was! I just wanted to hug them both. They both wanted, needed, someone like Andreas, though they secretly went back and forth privately over allowing the other one to have him. This was long before being a throuple was even considered. What they didn't understand was that Andreas was falling for both of them equally.
I’m drawn to both of these young men, but there’s something about Colby that reminds me of a wounded bird. I just want to wrap him up warm and take care of him until he can fly on his own again.
I absolutely LOVED Andreas' family, especially Nai Nai, his grandmother. She knew right off that Jalen and Colby were Andreas' boys, even calling them his boyfriends during their first meeting. She was totally a kick ass and take names kind of old girl. You can't not adore her.
When Andreas, Jalen, and Colby finally came together, it was absolutely perfect. First, the two best friends had to finally admit their love for each other. Once that was done, it was easy to open their hearts for Andreas.
MMM books have always been hit or miss for me. While I've read some pretty good ones, there are still a select few that didn't work. The ones that didn't work had jealousy by one or more of the characters, and a bunch of silly drama thrown in. That was definitely not the case with Jalen & Colby. Their only goal was making the other one happy. Adding Andreas to the mix was just the icing on the cake of their amazing relationship.
Overall, a really enjoyable read. I felt these guys together from the very beginning, and the sex scenes - as always with this author - were written very well. They were also sweet, something that they, especially Colby, needed.
(view spoiler)[I love a good friends-to-lovers slash second-chance romance. I had high hopes for this one, even when I wasn’t overly thrill2.5 stars.
(view spoiler)[I love a good friends-to-lovers slash second-chance romance. I had high hopes for this one, even when I wasn’t overly thrilled over certain things thrown out in Tuck & Run. It was a bit of a preview of when Benji and Curtis/Laurence/Law see each other again for the first time in almost nine years. That specific scene was obviously shown with more detail in this book, and let’s just say I was even less thrilled.
The first two or three chapters were flashbacks. Benji and Laurence were best friends, starting when Benji was 13 and Laurence 12. They both came from horrible parents – one dad was the mayor of the small town, and the other one was all about money and power. They and the mothers only cared about image and appearances when it came to everything, including their sons. Regardless, the boys became the best of friends.
All that was good.
They eventually both came out to each other, fell in love, and when Laurence turned eighteen a few months after Benji, they married in a quick ceremony (outside of town, away from their homophobic parents), and were supposed to live happily ever after. Only that didn’t happen. The day after the wedding, Benji walked inside his house to grab his bag because he’d forgotten to in all the excitement of getting married. This was after having words with his horrible mother. While he was inside, Laurence ended up bolting without a word. This left Benji searching for him – including hiring detectives – for almost nine years.
Then we come back to Curtis. Because Laurence has been Curtis in all the books before now, that’s what I’ll be calling him from here on out in this review.
Curtis has been working for Mateo (from Hot & Bothered) for eight years. When he was 18, he didn’t just run from Benji, he started going by a different name to ensure he couldn’t be found.
That made ZERO sense to me, but okay! Something else that made zero sense to me… Mateo is a shrewd businessman. He didn’t get where he was by blindly trusting people. He doesn’t do anything in his career without thorough background checks, etc. Yet he had absolutely no clue that Curtis was actually Laurence.
In the real world, Mateo would’ve known every single thing about his new assistant, not just what he was told. Did he legally change his name? The word ALIAS kept being used, but the only way ‘Laurence’ could’ve had this new life as Curtis would’ve been if he had a legal name change. He’d have to get paid a salary, provide his security number, pay taxes, that type of thing. Hell, he couldn’t even rent or buy an apartment unless, again, his name was legally changed - or he used his birth name. At no point in the book is any of that mentioned. Just the word alias.
There’s being unrealistic and there’s being ridiculously unrealistic. And honestly, while I know a lot of mature eighteen-year-olds, one from Tiny Town America who has been sheltered his entire life, never could’ve just disappeared like he did without a trace. There would’ve been a lot of covering his tracks and some serious planning leading up to it. There was none of that with Laurence/Curtis.
Sorry, that’s my business brain talking.
I’ll get back to the story.
There’s this major build-up with Benji trying to find his long lost husband. Every single thing he does – including opening a bakery – is in hopes of finding his man. Mateo invests in his business, which immediately gets so busy he almost can’t keep up. In the midst of all this, Mateo is suspecting a few things. There’s even a chapter or two in Mateo’s POV.
There’s being a boss and good friend, and there’s jumping into business you know nothing about. In Mateo’s case, it was bringing Benji and Curtis back together after being apart for so long – in a very public setting. How did Mateo know there wasn’t abuse or infidelity or something like that in their relationship? If somebody goes to the lengths Curtis did to not be found, there had to be a real reason, right? Mateo didn’t know any of the details, yet he felt the need to go into matchmaking mode for his assistant.
And good Lord, these guys are all about over sharing with strangers – about their pasts, problems, and pretty much anything and everything. Curtis kept things to himself, including his marriage. Benji was out there telling everybody and their mama all about the husband who took off when they were both 18.
Benji and Curtis finally have a quick conversation about what happened the day Curtis disappeared. The reason for WHY he took off is finally out in the open. Do they take a few hours and work on catching up and maybe fixing everything? Of course not. Within seconds of Curtis having a, “Duh!” moment on why he left – he was wrong about something but didn’t bother discussing it with the man he loved at the time – they go right on to bed, and I’m not talking about sleeping. ;)
So much build up for… nothing. Almost nine years of running, and all was well after talking for a few minutes and some naked time.
It was so anti-climactic, and it was VERY frustrating. Sure, I’m glad they finally got their HEA, but it was a whole lot of rush, rush, all is well, and who cares about that silly misunderstanding that lasted almost nine years that could’ve been resolved in one quickie conversation? But no, Curtis had to run, start going by a different name, and then run AGAIN.
Uh, no.
Taylor, Aiden’s crazy best friend from Hot & Bothered (who I absolutely despised) was in this book and the last one. Apparently, she’s Rob’s cousin, with Rob being the manager of Club Deny.
Speaking of Rob… what an ass. At the end of Close & Personal, he meets Casey who will be a new bartender at the club. He’s supposed to be sitting in on an interview before Casey’s hired, maybe asking a few questions since he’ll be Casey’s boss. What he does instead is snap at the guy and basically insult him. I know this is the lead in to their book and them ‘not liking each other’. Well, it damn sure didn’t make me want to read it.
I may not. Honestly, I’m kind of over this world right now. There are only two books left, so I feel like I should go ahead and finish the series already, but I’m really just wanting to be done with it.
I say that, but I’ll probably finish it anyway. I would like to read Ball & Chain because I’ve liked Dallas every time he’s been in the series. The question is do I want to deal with Rob the jerk before I get to it? That depends on how I’m feeling later, I suppose.
Overall, I can’t say I loved this book. Had everything not been all fine and dandy after one quick conversation – after almost NINE YEARS of them being apart – maybe I’d feel differently. I’m so over rush, rush resolutions in books. With the exception of the author’s newer books that I’ve enjoyed the hell out of, His Christmas Conundrum, Bailey, that’s pretty much all I’m seeing. Also, Close & Personal may not have been super quick insta-love like the books before it, but it might as well have been because of how fast everything was fixed between these two after they'd been apart for so long.
I should also point out that I wasn’t thrilled over how Benji’s mother was handled, or the fact that he ever took her calls over the years – even if he only answered once a year - knowing that she likely had something to do with the man he loved taking off. (hide spoiler)]
I’ve been wanting to read Tucker and Patrick’s story since I saw them in Bailey. For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. The story was super sweet. I’ve been wanting to read Tucker and Patrick’s story since I saw them in Bailey. For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. The story was super sweet. Now that I’ve read most of the stories with characters who were mentioned in that book, I’ll have to go back and skim over that one again.
Tucker was introduced in this series as Miguel’s assistant in The New Hire. He’s a little sweetheart who you can’t help but love. He was funny and flirty, and just downright adorable. He was also engaged to a cheating bastard who was caught by Lewis in Hot & Bothered. After said bastard was called out by both Tucker and Miguel – who made it a mission to make the man’s life a living hell – Tucker closed in on himself. He still went to work and did what he was supposed to do, but his home life was pretty sad. This changes when Lewis shows up at his place unannounced and forces him to not so much snap out of it, but to clean up and leave with him for a little while for breakfast. Lewis also learns some things about Tucker – he’s a little, and he’s been forced to keep that part of his life to himself because of the jerk he was engaged to. With Tucker being a little in need of a Daddy, Lewis knows just what to do to help him get over the jerk.
Patrick has moved to town to help Mateo and Lewis open the members only section of their new club, Club Deny. A Daddy, he’s an expert in all things BDSM, and is the perfect person for the job.
When Tucker’s application is pushed through as a favor to Mateo and Lewis, they set up a meeting between Tucker and Patrick, and the rest (for the most part) is history.
I’m going to go ahead and throw this out there… the books in this series are mostly billed as Daddy/boy books with a lot being supposedly about age play. What I’ve seen so far – even if the blurbs say so – have been stories with almost none or very little actual age play. Sure, it’s mentioned, and the ‘little’ aspect of some of the characters is considered part of their personalities or whatever, but there’s really not much on page. Having sex in a ‘little’ room without doing all the other stuff like playing with toys, etc. does not really make it that type of book. I don’t care what the blurb says. In this one, Tucker does show Patrick his stuffies, and he even uses his ‘little’ food utensils, etc. for one meal, but I never saw him really falling into ‘little’ space. I’m personally okay with that in this case because some age play books are major overkill, but I feel like the blurbs are extremely misleading.
I liked Tucker and Patrick together, though Tucker went from being down in the dumps and ‘unable to feel’ to jumping right into a Daddy/boy relationship with Patrick without missing a beat. This whole series has some SERIOUS insta-love, which I’ve learned to expect with each book I read. But I found it rather odd that Tucker changed in the blink of an eye when he met Patrick.
I’ve loved Patrick since the first time he was introduced way back when.
Even with what I mention above, I enjoyed the story. The entire series is SO unrealistic, but I knew that going in after reading the other books before this one. I’ll likely read the rest of the series because I’ve kind of gotten invested in a lot of the characters, but I will say that the love-at-first-sight with every single one of these couples is getting a little tiring. I’m all about insta-love if written right, but these guys (like Tucker) are going from one extreme to another way too fast, in my opinion. But then again, Miguel in The New Hire took insta-love to an all new level, so maybe the others aren’t quite so bad. :) ...more
I almost skipped this one and went straight to Tuck & Run, the book I originally started this series for. The only reason I didn't was because it's meI almost skipped this one and went straight to Tuck & Run, the book I originally started this series for. The only reason I didn't was because it's mentioned at the beginning of Tucker's story that something happened at the end of this one that I needed to go back and read.
I'm glad I read it.
I didn’t love The New Hire. Everything just happened so fast in that one.
Things happen fast here too, but not Miguel and Aiden fast.
I absolutely loved Mateo. He knew exactly what, who, he wanted and he had no problem going after it. I liked Lewis too. He was a little lost when it came to certain things, but thankfully Mateo saw exactly what he needed.
While things started quickly with these guys, their relationship was actually allowed to grow over time, totally unlike the guys in the first book.
I adored Mateo’s assistant and will read his story.
My heart broke for Tucker, Miguel’s assistant. I’ve loved him since the first time I saw him in Bailey. I’m really eager to see him and Patrick come together.
I’m not rating this higher because there were quite a few inconsistencies throughout, along with several obvious typos. I also didn’t quite understand Lewis and Miguel’s friendship. At one point, Miguel saves Lewis from making a bad business decision, which was good. What wasn’t good was how he kind of treated Lewis like a child. I felt that he was quite rude during his first visit to Club Deny, Lewis’ and Mateo’s new club, like he was looking down his nose at it. He ended up meeting and falling for Aiden in the club, so it worked out, but I felt that the way he treated Lewis at times didn’t exactly fall into the ‘best friend’ category.
This a Daddy/boy story with ‘littles’ being mentioned. There’s one sexual encounter in a ‘little’ room, but that’s literally as far as it gets with any type of age play, other than Lewis calling Mateo Daddy, and Mateo calling him boy. What was done in the ‘little’ room was all sexual, no ‘little’ playtime or anything like that.
There are two versions of this book. It took me a little while before it clicked which one I'd read. The other one was 50-something pages. This one waThere are two versions of this book. It took me a little while before it clicked which one I'd read. The other one was 50-something pages. This one was apparently updated, and has 100-plus pages.
With that being said....
This started out really good. I was loving how Miguel saw Aiden on the dance floor and knew he had to have him. Aiden was all too eager to go anywhere Miguel wanted to go. ;) They ended up playing around in the back of a car before ending up at Miguel's place where they spent one hell of a night together. Well, almost all night. Aiden going blindly with this total stranger was careless, but a lot of people saw them leave together and all that.
I loved every single page of that. The sex scenes were hot, the story was good, and everything was coming together nicely.
Then it wasn't. It took a nosedive for me at exactly 60%.
There's insta-love, and there's these guys. From one hot night, and no last names exchanged, to the L word being spoken - in under three days.
(view spoiler)[They spent almost all night together on a Friday night before Aiden has to leave because of his psychotic best friend. Miguel's still asleep, so Aiden writes him a quick note and then heads home to comfort said psychotic friend. Miguel and Aiden had never exchanged last names. Miguel never sees the note, so he contacts an investigator to help him find the guy he'd just had sex with. Imagine his surprise when the guy shows up Monday morning as one of his new hires. He's barely in the conference room with lots of other people before Miguel is literally calling him 'the man I love'. You know, LESS THAN THREE DAYS LATER. (hide spoiler)]
As soon as that happened, it was downhill for me. I have no issue with insta-love, but it simply did not work with these two, not in my opinion.
I absolutely despised Taylor, Aiden's best friend. Good Lord, the woman was nuts. I won't even go into all the reasons why or I'd be here for a while.
I did love Tucker, Miguel's assistant, and the reason I read this to begin with. I loved Tucker in Bailey, so I wanted to see where he started. There's another book in between this one and Tucker's story, Tuck & Run. I may just skip the next one and go on to see how Tucker and Patrick got together. I don't like skipping ahead in series, but the two main characters in the second book just don't appeal to me.
Overall, this book was okay. I didn't hate it. I just felt that once the L word was said between these guys, there wasn't anything else to work for. As far as I'm concerned, everything after that was just words that added pretty much nothing to the story.
(view spoiler)[When I started this, I couldn't understand why a lot of the ratings were so low. As much as I hate to say it, I totally get it now. (hide spoiler)]...more
**spoiler alert** I read XOXO, Aster after seeing him in Bailey. That was a super cute story. With Jasper being Charlie’s brother, and Byron being one**spoiler alert** I read XOXO, Aster after seeing him in Bailey. That was a super cute story. With Jasper being Charlie’s brother, and Byron being one of Aster's best friends, I was eager to see their story. I was especially eager to see how Mr. Straight Jasper would suddenly turn into a Daddy who was into ABDL. Jasper knew some about Daddies and littles because of research he’d done when he was with woman who was into the lifestyle way back when. So he understood Charlie and Aster’s relationship to an extent.
Jasper suddenly decides not only is he not as straight as he thought he was, but also that he’s a Daddy who is into ABDL. So, he signs up for the same pen pal program that brought Charlie and Aster together in hopes of finding his own boy someday.
Watching Aster and Charlie fall in love has made Byron happy for them, yet sad because he wants his own Daddy. With Aster’s encouragement, he signs up for the same pen pal program that brought Aster and Charlie together.
You obviously see where this is going.
I’m not going to go a whole lot into the story. I’m just going to throw out what I liked and didn’t like about it.
I didn’t buy Jasper’s sudden change with his sexuality, especially after seeing (over and over) that he’s ‘no longer straight.’
Jasper’s described as having ADD and ADHD. I have ADHD, and the diagnosis and explanations made zero sense to me. I know every person is different, and I know there are different forms of it, but even after researching it a little before typing this review, I was shaking my head a little.
At 63% I was pulling my hair out because it was dragging so much.
At 71% Jasper and Byron have their very first phone conversation, meaning up to this point, everything was supposedly building up in their relationship. 71% is WAY too far into the book for me for them to start talking talking to each other. Not to mention that during that one conversation, Jasper called Byron baby over and over, to the point I was almost rolling my eyes.
Hey, I love endearments as much as the next guy – I’m a southerner, we’re all about them – but it felt like overkill considering they’d only corresponded via snail mail until that call.
They’d never even seen photos of each other, yet they’re already talking about Jasper moving across the country and them having a life together? This was at like 75% or so? Uh, no.
At one point, Jasper is with Aster and Charlie and he hears Byron’s voice on speakerphone, not knowing the person speaking is BYRON. He figured it was just one of Aster’s good friends. Jasper freezes and goes somewhat catatonic, I think is the way it was described? when he hears his voice. I would understand had he known it was Byron, but to have a super silly reaction over some guy’s voice because the voice ‘does something to you’ or whatever? Again, no.
They don’t even see each other face-to-face until 85%. And I have to say for a man (Jasper) to have never had sex with a guy, he damn sure came across as an expert. ;) The same applies to his being a Daddy. Not only did he realize he’s gay, bi, or pan (he’s not sure), but he’s also a sex pro and the perfect Daddy from the get-go.
While I totally expect stories to not be that realistic – Hello! It’s fiction – I still couldn’t grasp how suddenly everybody and their mama (figure of speech) can just up and move across the country in a matter of weeks. I’m not referring to Charlie for Aster. Charlie and Aster had built up a relationship – had even spent time together in person – before he did. Charlie had also been at a crossroads when it came to his life, his career, and pretty much everything else. I’m talking about Jasper and his friends, Doyle and Fisher. My little ADHD brain would be in total overdrive had anybody even JOKED with me about moving across the country in literally no time at all.
In the real world, most people can't just pick up and move house - and jobs - in a few days or weeks time.
While I did like this okay, I just couldn’t see Jasper as any type of Daddy, and when it did happen, it just didn’t work for me. I also didn’t see Byron as much of a little or princess.
I did like seeing Aster and Charlie again, though Charlie was mostly in the background.
At some point, I'm sure I'll go back into the series. For the time-being, I'm going to go into the Club Deny series so I can read Tucker's soon. I loved him in Bailey....more
”I’m here because I want to know what it’s like to touch you. I’m here because I want to know what it’s like to taste your lips and feel your skin nex
”I’m here because I want to know what it’s like to touch you. I’m here because I want to know what it’s like to taste your lips and feel your skin next to mine. I’m here because I want to know what the man who I’ve become obsessed with looks like in person.”
That was just too cute. I was introduced to Aster and his Daddy (Charlie) in Bailey. I ended that book knowing I had to see their story. I so wasn’t disappointed. Aster – excuse me, Princess Aster - was who he was, everybody else be damned. Charlie, on the other hand, has only recently come out of the closet, and only just coming into his own as a gay man.
There’s a twenty year age gap between Aster and Charlie, which I loved. I love how their relationship began and progressed, via a pen pal program where they wrote actual letters that they sent through the mail.
Everything happens super fast, which is understandable because of the length of the story. I was good with that.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable and quick read. I hadn't planned on reading the next book in the series just yet, but after meeting the guys in this one, I'll be going right into it.
**spoiler alert** This started out good. I’m all about substantial age gaps in books, and there were close to twenty years between Harrison and Nolan.**spoiler alert** This started out good. I’m all about substantial age gaps in books, and there were close to twenty years between Harrison and Nolan.
Harrison was the attorney for Diego, Nolan’s roommate. Diego was being sued over an accident that was in no way his fault. Nolan had been in the car with him at the time of the accident, so he was a key witness.
So far, so good.
Nolan met Harrison in his office, they discussed the accident, and there was some serious attraction happening between them. Long story short, they ended up seeing each other a few other times, and before I knew it, they were kinda/sorta dating and playing around sexually when Harrison had never been with a man before. Oh, he knew he was bi. He'd just never acted on it.
All that was fine. You know what wasn’t?
Troy, Harrison’s son and a friend of Nolan’s. I seriously hope like hell Troy never gets his own story. If he did, and I read it, I’d be wishing the whole time for him not to get a HEA, and for him to have a long and miserable life just like his bitchy mother.
Which brings me to Troy’s mother, and Harrison’s recent ex-wife.
What was the point of that woman other than to cause major drama? She’d cheated on Harrison with her tennis instructor. SHE’D been the one who asked for the divorce so she could be with the tennis instructor. So, why in the hell was she constantly trying to destroy Harrison? Jealousy? If so, that’s rich considering she was the one who cheated in the marriage, not him.
But wait… she didn’t just hurt Harrison – before and after the divorce, I might add – she also hurt Nolan. She also brought Troy into her little ploy as she tried her damnedest to hurt both men.
Well, the ploy worked. It hurt them both, and Troy went right along with what Mommy said like a little puppet.
There were no consequences for either the mom or Troy. Mom caused problems and was never heard from again. Troy, on the other hand, was forgiven, and all was just dandy.
Harrison was WAY too forgiving when it came to Troy. He was supposedly one of Nolan’s friends. He also supposedly loved his father. Yeah, no. He played a big part in hurting them both.
Which leads me to… wait for it… the ‘big misunderstanding’ that’s so common in books these days. You know what I’m talking about. The misunderstanding that could easily be fixed had the couple, you know, TALKED ABOUT THINGS. Did Harrison and Nolan do that? Of course not, though it wasn’t from lack of trying on Nolan’s part. He tried, but Harrison was too big of a wimp to accept his calls or return his messages.
I also didn’t like Noah, Nolan’s twin brother, much. He was a bit too judgmental for me when it came to Nolan. I know he does have his own story, but the jury’s still out on whether I’ll be reading it.
And finally, I never felt Harrison and Nolan together. What I saw was a 40-something man who’d always been attracted to men yet hadn’t acted on it who was exploring for the first time in his life. I guess I saw this as his little mid-life crisis. He got the new haircut (from Nolan), there was a little scruff happening on his face, and he went to a gay bar with Nolan and his much younger (than Harrison) friends. The only thing missing was the new Corvette, though he did drive a fancy car.
Also, the cover in no way works for this book. Nolan only wore contacts, not glasses. That was actually stressed in the book. His twin wore the glasses. And the main dogs in this story, Smokey and Bandit, were pit bulls. There were no Yorkies in the book at all.
Harrison and Nolan did get their HEA, but I’m truly not a fan of how they got there.
It’s undecided if I’ll be reading any of the other books in the series.
Smokey and Bandit are why I'm rating this 2 stars and not 1....more
Asa Beck is contemplating what led him to where he is today – on a mountaintop awaiting the sunrise that could end his lonely existence once and for aAsa Beck is contemplating what led him to where he is today – on a mountaintop awaiting the sunrise that could end his lonely existence once and for all. The question is this… does he allow the sun to turn him to dust? Or does he continue as he has for the past two centuries?
The reader doesn’t know until the very end, so I hope other reviewers don’t give it away.
This is classic Rick R. Reed. The story is short, but a lot is said in those few pages.
This is a sweet love story. There's an age gap, opposites attract, and first times. There's also some MAJOR insta-love happening. I think Mason and HeThis is a sweet love story. There's an age gap, opposites attract, and first times. There's also some MAJOR insta-love happening. I think Mason and Heaven went from meeting on a plane to declaring their love in 3 or 4 days? Even so, I didn't mind that too much.
I only had a couple of niggles with the story, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of higher.
This is a cute friends-to-lovers story. Austin and Jim have been best friends for over a decade, and roommates for a few years.
Austin is op3.5 stars.
This is a cute friends-to-lovers story. Austin and Jim have been best friends for over a decade, and roommates for a few years.
Austin is openly gay. Jim is straight.
Well, about that… ;)
Austin’s had a crush on Jim for as long as he can remember. He’s fought like hell to keep that to himself. Unfortunately – or fortunately – Austin gets a little drunk one night and things happen between the two of them that Austin never could’ve imagined even in his wildest fantasies.
The rest of the book is them hooking up, pretending it’s just a friends with benefits type thing, and then finally professing their true feelings to each other.
The story was good, but – and I said this about The Holiday Disaster too – there was so much more telling than showing. Also, certain things dragged on a bit too long.
(view spoiler)[Something that really annoyed me... if Austin was so head over heels in love with Jim, why in the world would he throw out an expiration date for their friends with benefits thing? Sure, I know the story couldn't have played out otherwise, but it never would've made sense in the real world. (hide spoiler)]
One thing I didn’t realize until the very end was that Felix (from Ready, Set, Glow!) is the same Felix mentioned in this book a few times. I still have three books to read in the Christmas Falls series, including that one, so I’ll need to go back in The Holiday Boyfriend to reread all the times his name and story were thrown out. I’ve seen him quite a bit in the Christmas Falls books, so I’m more curious now.
Overall, I liked Jim and Austin well enough, though Jim is definitely my favorite of the two. Austin was a little too ‘woe is me’ when it came to his feelings for his best friend. I could understand it to an extent, I suppose, but he took it a little too far.
This is a true GFY book, not OFY. At no point did it appear that Jim was even remotely attracted to any other man but Austin.
It was nice to see Ethan and Kingsley again from the last book. I didn’t love The Holiday Disaster, but I always like revisiting characters I’ve seen in other books....more
This is a cute story, though the young ages of the characters – especially Ethan – is really obvious. I get it. He and Kingsley are still i3.5 stars.
This is a cute story, though the young ages of the characters – especially Ethan – is really obvious. I get it. He and Kingsley are still in college, but he came across more as a young teenager than a young adult. As for Kingsley, he acted a lot more mature in some ways, but his constant teasing got old quick. Had these guys been older, had Ethan acted older, I’d probably have enjoyed this more.
Ethan and Kingsley basically grew up together, with Kingsley being Ethan’s brother’s best friend. So much was told about their childhoods, but not a whole lot was shown. Also, their constant internal monologues didn’t really do much for the story.
I wish the ‘doves of destiny’ thing had been more than it was. While I wouldn’t want legend overkill, it still would’ve been nice to see a little bit more than what I saw as far as Ethan and Kingsley.
This book isn't for everybody. Jonathan's kind of a jerk early on, and Hayden's all over the place.
I loved their story.
There’s some serious insta-lovThis book isn't for everybody. Jonathan's kind of a jerk early on, and Hayden's all over the place.
I loved their story.
There’s some serious insta-love happening here, but it was okay, in my opinion. A lot happens in those few days they’re stuck in the cabin. I was perfectly fine with it being so fast. I never, not one time, felt that Hayden was a rebound fling for Jonathan after his divorce. I felt that he was finally being allowed to be himself, not who the whole world expected him to be. It was sweet to watch as it played out.
There were a couple of things that bugged me about the parents and how certain things played out. I was able to overlook those things because I loved Jonathan and Hayden together.
Well, that was frustrating. It started out good. Unfortunately, the author chose to drag Ivy’s issues out until almost the end of the book. 2.5 stars.
Well, that was frustrating. It started out good. Unfortunately, the author chose to drag Ivy’s issues out until almost the end of the book. By the time they were resolved, there weren’t enough pages left to give him and Emory a chance to live as a real couple instead of a fake one. There’s an epilogue that takes place the following Christmas, but by the time I got there, I was over Ivy. Throughout the book, I felt that Emory could do better. I hate that because it could’ve been a really good book for me.
I hate rating books low, and I'm obviously the minority if other ratings are to go by, but I despise rush, rush endings, and that's exactly what I got with this book.
Hermie and Erik were close friends back in college, but neither had the courage to ask for more. It's nowThis is a super sweet second chance romance.
Hermie and Erik were close friends back in college, but neither had the courage to ask for more. It's now several years later, and they've found each other again. Everything happens pretty quick, but it worked for these guys.
I enjoyed this, but I felt that a few things weren't resolved.
(view spoiler)[The first time Avi is left alone at Edward’s house (Edward went shopping)I enjoyed this, but I felt that a few things weren't resolved.
(view spoiler)[The first time Avi is left alone at Edward’s house (Edward went shopping), a man shows up at the door. Avi only opens it because the man had called out ‘Delivery’ or something like that. The man, whose name was Royce Spencer, was a slimeball. He forced himself inside the house, drank a bunch of Edward’s whiskey, while trying to force himself on Avi. Thankfully, Avi manages to get away, but he still could’ve froze to death while hiding as he waited on Edward to find him.
This guy obviously knew Edward because he kept referring to him as Eddy. But how did he know him? Why would he just appear on his doorstep demanding to get inside? He said he was a Dom, but where did he come from? Maybe he was a character in another of the author’s books? Even so, I was not happy with the lack of resolution with him. It’s like it happened and that was that. Sure, Avi was checked out by a doctor (a neighbor of Edward’s) but as for the Royce guy? Nada. No police. No anything. Had it just been a scare, I’d get it, but this guy tried to force himself on poor Avi. He should’ve been arrested.
Another thing that I felt was just forgotten was the landlord who punched Edward. I get that Avi was terrified – of both the landlord and the creepy Dom – but to just let both go? I wasn’t happy with all that.
I also felt that Edward’s constant British lingo explanations, his tax jokes, and his going on and on about his age got extremely tiring. (hide spoiler)]
Overall, this is a nice and sweet story by an author I’ve enjoyed many times over the years. Buttons: A Daddy for Christmas is a super slow burn for both men. While it’s definitely a Daddy slash little book, it wasn’t as heavy on that as most Daddy and little books I’ve read. I’d like to see these guys a little down the road. I’m also curious about the club. I’ll have to stalk the author’s books to see if they’re from another book/series that’s already been published.
Full review - with the spoilers I listed above - can be found at -
It just clicked that I'd not published this review when I finished the book a few days ago.
I've been eager to read Bailey's sto4.5 stars, rounded up.
It just clicked that I'd not published this review when I finished the book a few days ago.
I've been eager to read Bailey's story since he was introduced in His Christmas Conundrum, that I absolutely loved. With the exception of a few minor issues, I wasn't disappointed.
Bailey's had a rough life. The only child of a ridiculously wealthy family with political aspirations, he's been forced to play the game. He had to be the dutiful son who pretended to be part of a happy family both privately and publicly.
His parents were horrible, though that's too nice of a word to describe them.
Another person making Bailey's life miserable is his former professor, Kelvin Page. It was bad enough when he was Kelvin's student a couple of years before, but now he's the man's PA. To be blunt, the professor is a total ass, constantly calling Bailey out for silly reasons. Kelvin doesn't really hate Bailey - far from it, actually - but he feels like he has to be mean or Bailey might see how he really feels.
The only way to describe Kelvin when it comes to Bailey is obsessed. From the first meeting two years prior, he's wanted Bailey with every fiber of his being. No, not just wanted Bailey, he wants to be Bailey's Daddy. Only he has no clue if Bailey is even into kink, much less a Daddy/little relationship.
Spoiler alert - he is.
The way things come together for these guys is cute, if more than a little rushed. I've noticed that about this author's books.... everything comes together quickly, sometimes too quickly.
Even so, I really enjoyed the book. The only reason I'm not giving it a full 5 stars is because of that rushed thing I just mentioned, and a couple of other minor issues.
I absolutely loved these guys together. I loved watching Trevor come to terms with his sexuality, and how Milo was right there to guide him. I loved MI absolutely loved these guys together. I loved watching Trevor come to terms with his sexuality, and how Milo was right there to guide him. I loved Milo’s dominance and protectiveness. I loved how he never really made it a secret what he felt for Trevor, even if things seemed to be moving fast. Really, they do move super fast, but it totally works.
And, lastly, I love how Trevor's ex was dealt with once and for all.
I guess some readers might say this is a gay-for-you book, but I’m going to go with a bi-awakening because it was pretty obvious that Trevor had been bi-curious for quite some time.
This is a great book that kept me interested from the first page to the last. I’ll definitely be reading more books by this author. I was kept smiling throughout all of this one.
This is my favorite Christmas story so far this year.
Claus and Nicholas are cute together. Nicholas is the perfect Daddy, and Claus is the perfect boy. Claus is in little mode quite a bit, but it's not oClaus and Nicholas are cute together. Nicholas is the perfect Daddy, and Claus is the perfect boy. Claus is in little mode quite a bit, but it's not overkill.
There's also a kitten named Noelle, and a bunch of Christmas festivities for Daddies and their littles.
There's zero drama in this book, just a whole lot sweet Daddy and boy time.
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