Michael P. Thomas

Todd lives what he believes is an exciting life as a flight attendant. And someone who has been to exotic places and travels the world simply must have exotic taste, right? So he completely overlooks the new neighbor, Chris, who is clearly a nice guy and has a thing for him. In fact, he goes out of his way to talk himself out of anything happening between them, until the loss of the man he believes is the love of his life makes him "reevaluate" his priorities. In short, Todd is incredibly shallow, and I honestly found him to be an irredeemable character. I was glad at the end of the book to not have to read anymore about him, and I honestly still am not even sure how I feel about the way it all ends up.… (altro)

Some relationships get off to a bad start, some are full of misunderstandings, and in some cases one or both partners are so full of secrets and a reluctance to share any of them that I wonder if the two guys will ever manage to get their acts together. Derrick and Lee in this story suffer from all three of the above problems and the fact they manage to stay together is a miracle in its own right. Not that Derrick doesn’t try to get rid of Lee, whom he thinks of as a thief, but somehow he can’t. Not in good conscience. And the way this story is told, full of humor and quirky little observations about human nature, I definitely wasn't able (nor willing!) to put it down before it finally came to its heartwarming conclusion.

Derrick is a good guy with the worst luck. His boyfriend tragically died almost three years ago, and comfort eating has expanded Derrick's waistline to embarrassing proportions. It makes finding someone to share his bed with more difficult than he wants to admit. When he gets stuck at a tiny airport, miles from where he wanted to be to see his mother and brothers for Christmas, the guy he offered to share his room with empties his wallet and kicks him out. But what the guy ends up doing with the money when a group of blizzard-stranded kids need Santa to make an appearance makes Derrick question his assumptions about Lee's character.

As Derrick tries to drop Lee of at his brother's house, but instead ends up taking him home to his own mother's house when the man won’t let Lee in, then spends Christmas Eve with Lee, more and more of Lee's past emerges in tiny little bits. The whole situation is rather mysterious and Derrick jumps to a few conclusions he probably shouldn't have. This could have ended badly, but Derrick is determined to figure out the truth and Lee seems as determined to stick with Derick.

If you like stories full of humor, even as potentially tragic situations arise, if you enjoy reading about men with so many misunderstandings between them that it seems like a miracle they’re still talking to each other twenty-four hours after they first meet, and if you're looking for a fun, slightly quirky, and heartwarming Christmas read, then you will probably like this short story with a wonderfully happy end.


NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
… (altro)