What a perfect Christmas story. Both Jonah, the ex-choirboy, and Callum, a hyperactive artist, stole my heart from the beginning. There is such heaviness around their meeting again after eleven years apart that I immediately wanted to know what had caused that. As it all unraveled, in beautifully written flashbacks, I was pulled in even more. These two are so perfect for each other, I loved watching them find their way back to the only man each of them had ever loved.

Jonah is quiet, loves music and signing, but has no family life to speak of. His parents are off somewhere in Singapore and Dubai, and he has to manage on his own in boarding school. He only really cheers up a little when he meets Callum, and that remains the same when he is an adult and returns to the town he grew up in.

Callum is hyperactive, always gets into trouble, and has "a lot of worst subjects in school". His mother struggles to raise him and his sister, and his father is absent. Jonah is the only friend who has ever accepted him the way he is, but as they get older, and Jonah decides he "cannot be gay" on top of all his other "unacceptable" characteristics, Callum loses his way and that costs them their friendship - for a while.

The other thing that was perfect about this story was the ambiance. The cathedral, the traditions of the choir, the Christmas market, it was the perfect setting for this story and gave it just the right touch of festive spirit.

If you like stories about boyhood friends becoming more over the years, if you enjoy reading about reunions, and if you're looking for Christmas spirit and deep emotions, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.
( )