The last read of the year! I was going back, thinking maybe this would be post #52 in the Friday Reads category and turning it into an anniversary post of sorts – it’s #54. Apparently, I didn’t start 2016 by deciding to do Friday Reads posts, I started in December 2015. Time flies. So, for this 54th post, I’ve read The Christmas Mansion by Hollis Shiloh.

I’m absolutely certain I’ve read Hollis Shiloh before but according to my read shelf on Goodreads I haven’t. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t, though, I fear I’ve read a lot of books that never made it to my GR shelves.

The Christmas Mansion is a short, sweet story about a man fixing up a mansion for a Christmas party and the magician he hires to help him.

It’s a gentle story in a historical setting, but apart from the mentioning of Christmas a few times I didn’t get a holiday feeling. This is not a steamy read, it’s not packed with action, and even though the love interest is a magician there isn’t much of the paranormal either…but it’s sweet.

If you want one last Christmas read for the year, check it out.

books2read.com/ChristmasMansion *

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In a world of gas lighting and horse-drawn carriages, Rex is fixing up an old mansion to host a Christmas party for his wealthy family’s business. He meets a gentle, insecure magician named Gene, who’s come to work on the crumbling mansion’s moldings. He doesn’t expect to fall in love.

Note: This story first appeared in “Christmas Delights,” a collection of Male/Male gay romance stories set in and around the
Christmas season.

Length: 9,615 words

Heat level: sweet

Themes: Christmas, magic, gay romance, sweet romance, historical fantasy

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* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

I’ve just finished reading Joys R Us by Kim Fielding. If you’re looking for a sweet Christmas read with a focus on the joy of the holiday instead of steamy scenes then this is a story for you!

I really enjoyed it. I loved the beginning of the story when Reece’s sister orders him to help her get a special, queuing-all-night kind of toy and he is arguing for a deposit to the nephew’s college fund instead. It could’ve been me. Not that my kids don’t get toys but I do like practical things.

Reece is standing in line all night, but then things get out of hand. He trampled to the ground and misses out on the toy. Angel, the toy store manager, is there to patch him up and then sparks fly. When I say sparks fly I don’t mean that they rip each other’s clothes off and get it on in the toy store. No, this really is a sweet story with smiles, the occasional touch, and a promise of something more in the future.

I’ve read quite a few of Kim Fielding’s stories and I always like them. If you haven’t read anything by her you should check her out.

books2read.com/JoysRUs *

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Reece is a practical, orderly man, a financial analyst who considers most holiday events wasteful. But his sister coerces him into standing in line overnight for this year’s must-have toy. Supplies prove smaller than expected, and Reece gets trampled in the resulting stampede. Toy store manager Angel tends to Reece’s wounds. When Angel discovers Reece’s cynical attitude, he invites Reece to spend Christmas Eve with him. Over the course of the day, Angel shows Reece what Christmas means to him. With Angel’s guidance, maybe Reece can finally understand the joy of the holiday—and maybe even find love as well.

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* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

For this Friday I’ve picked The Elf and Cranberry Creampuff by C.L. Etta. This really isn’t my kind of story, but it’s that time of year.

As both the title and the cover suggest, this is a lighthearted holiday romance. Edmund is an elf who has been banished from the North Pole for making inappropriate toys. Every December for the last fifty years he’s been helping out at different malls. The rest of the year he’s been trapped in a glass globe. Then, when the banishment is over, and it’s time for him to go back to the Nort Pole he meets Dexter. Sparks fly and wood is created.

This novelette is filled with holiday cheer and love. Me being me, I’d rather gone without the love declarations, but I think you romantics out the would object to that. Sometimes there was a little POV-confusion on my part, but I had a few laughs, and it did live up to my expectations so I won’t complain.

I haven’t read anything by C.L. Etta before, but after having snooped around a little I saw that she has two other books out and one to come at the very beginning of 2017. If you like pink glitter and spunk tasting of Christmas cookies, be sure to check this one out!

books2read.com/CanberryCreampuff *

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Edmund is an esthetic over industrious elf banished from the North Pole. His punishment — 50 years spent serving the suburban mall Santas. During his final earthbound Christmas season he meets one of his living and breathing creations–Cranberry Creampuff, the doll that got him banished five decades earlier.

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* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.