As with many Christmas romances, a bit of suspension of disbelief is required to accept the premise of Avery Cockburn’s The Christmas Curse – namely that a grown man could continue to believe he’d been cursed by a cranky elf at a shopping centre when he was a kid – but it’s worth getting past…
On Circus Lane is the prequel to 2020’s Merry Measure, in which the central romance unfolded against the backdrop of a trip to Amsterdam in order to celebrate the engagement of Tom Wright (older brother of primary school teacher Arlo) and his boyfriend, Bee Bannister. Readers were captivated by the pair – so obviously happy…
Saving Mr. Bell is a fluffy, snowed-in, only-one-bed seasonal romance featuring a burned-out concert pianist and a film-maker who decides it’s time someone stepped in to stop him going completely off the rails. It’s a quick and entertaining read with lots of snarky humour and two likeable protagonists; the inciting incident is a bit silly,…
I admit I’ve veered somewhat off course for this year’s December theme of “It’s a Party!” with this one; I usually read something festive/Christmassy for the final TBR Challenge of the year, and that’s what I had in my mind when I chose to read Avery Cockburn’s A Christmas Harbor. I suppose I could make…
Narrated by Simon Goldhill Unnatural is a childhood-friends-to-lovers story featuring Iain Sinclair and James Hart, whose years-long friendship goes disastrously wrong and causes them to spend several years deliberately avoiding each other. It’s 1824, and Iain has just resigned his army commission and accepted a post as a government agent in India. He will be…
Narrated by Joel Leslie Tobias Lykke is big, awkward, and accustomed to spending his holidays alone. This year, however, his godmother—who may or may not be an Italian countess—gives him an elf doll originally entrusted to her by her second husband, who might or might not have been a wizard. An evening of THC snickerdoodles…
Earlier this year in Promises of Forever, Nicky James introduced readers to Niles Edwidge the best friend/former lover of Koa Bugard, one of the protagonists in that story. Niles teaches music at Timber Creek Academy, the prestigious private school where Koa teaches English, and although they were no longer romantically involved it was clear they…
Twisted Shadows, the sequel 2023’s Liar City, is quite possibly my most eagerly anticipated book of 2024. Liar City was a tense and inventive paranormal thriller featuring superbly drawn, complex characters and a compelling storyline, and while there was not even so much as a kiss on the page, the hints of sexual tension and…
Annabeth Albert’s holiday gift to us all this year is Deck the Palms, a charming grumpy/sunshine romance set in Hawaii, so instead of snow and reindeer we’ve got surfing santas and light-wrapped palm trees. As is often the case with Christmassy books it skews towards the overly sweet, but the author’s excellent character work shines…
The Christmas Switch is a fun, frothy and festive confection of a romantic comedy featuring two guys who’ve known each other since their school days and have never got along – until something forces them to really think about exactly what lies behind their mutual antagonism. Joshua Van De Bogart and Gabriel García have known…
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