Will fake boyfriends become the real deal this holiday?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—except ex-Marine Logan is jobless and getting evicted. Worse, he’s a new single dad with a stepson who hates him. A kid needs stability—not to mention presents under the tree—and Logan’s desperate.
Then he meets lonely Seth and makes a deal.
Can Logan temporarily pretend to be live-in boyfriends to increase Seth’s chances at a promotion? If it provides a roof over their heads for the holidays, hell yeah. Logan considers himself straight—he doesn’t count occasional hookups with guys—but he can fake it. Besides, with his shy little smile, Seth is surprisingly sexy.
Make that damn sexy.
Shocked that Seth has only been with one man, Logan can’t resist sweetening their deal to teach him the joys of casual sex. No strings attached. No feelings. No kissing.
No falling for each other.
Easy, right?
The Christmas Deal is a steamy holiday gay romance novel from Keira Andrews featuring fake boyfriends, bisexual awakening, a clueless single dad with an angry preteen, and of course a happy ending.
Christelle's rating:
Keira Andrews offers us, readers of MM romances, a sweet Christmas story, with low-angst and a “fake boyfriend” trope, involving :
• Logan, gruff but dependable, widowed after a short and loveless marriage and trying hard to find a job,
• Seth, well-mannered, a bit timid, very kind and lonely as his family nastily shunned him and his long-term boyfriend left him,
• and on the side, Connor, Logan’s stepson, an angry teenager, but who could blame him as he has to deal with growing, grieving his mother and having an absent father.
I’m not a real fan of the “fake boyfriend” trope but here, it’s quite cleverly and humorously introduced : I can so imagine how a small white lie could go out of control and I was pleased to watch everybody going with the flow to help one and another.
I enjoyed Seth’s kindness, Logan’s awakening to bisexuality without disrespecting Seth, the familial interactions and all the nice and accepting sentiments from many side-characters.
It’s a sweet Christmas story, even if I admit it was a bit too insta-love and suspend-belief for me to be swooned or left dreamy. But it was a warming read nevertheless, with a very lovely epilogue for these 2 likable MCs.
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ARC of “The Christmas Deal” was generously provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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Hmmm. Respectfully, I've read this and would give it 5 stars. Part of that may well be that I met my first partner by accident in a crowded gay bar in early 1965 and we were together for 30 years until his unexpected death in 1995. So "insta-love" is something I definitely believe in, though the correct terminology should be "love at first sight." This was marvelously well-written, with eminently believable/"real" characters, and I found the whole "coming out" process handled with that same believeability. I have no connection to this site. I have no connection to the author. I bought the book at AMZ. Just sayin'. Eric-ever-offering-his-USD-.02.
ReplyDeleteHi Eric, thanks for the comment. I'm happy that the book worked for you, and better so than for Christelle. We all have our preferences when it comes to tropes, and while you believe in love at first sight, having tangible proof that it happened to you, not everyone feels that way. Christelle's opinion is just as subjective as yours and everyone else who's read this book. The important part, and I think maybe the author would agree, is that we read it. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you and yours.