Book 893: His Perfect Christmas Gift – Ali Ryecart

I’m legitimately holding my breath for the producers at Hallmark, Netflix, Hulu, etc. to discover the depth and breadth of MM Holiday Romance novels that are already out there ready to be adapted into made for TV movies. I mean GET ON IT.

This is one of those perfectly canned books that could be turned into a movie really quickly. It would require two big sets at most and not a large cast and it’s fully contained within a week. it’s seriously written explicitly to be adapted!

His Perfect Christmas Gift sees Felix, a bad boy trust fund baby from London crashing his car and getting stuck in the middle of nowhere Devonshire and being taken in by Gabriel, the young trusting pub operator who left the town he grew up in but came back because there was nowhere better, and his family.

Felix slowly learns how to live the slow small-town life Gabriel adores and begins to add his own spin to the work he learns in the pub. Gabriel guards his heart knowing Felix isn’t going to stay, but they get closer the more time they spend together and with this the heat increases exponentially.

The main reason this would work as a made for TV movie is the lack of sex. There is one scene and a couple of kisses, but for the post part it happens off the page and is the perfect fade to curtains/black opportunity.

The big crisis of the novel of course comes when Felix’s car is unburied from all the snow and he’s able to leave the town and Gabriel and get back to his life in London. Nature has another plan for him with detours and more snow forcing him to realize that he doesn’t want to go back to the business of London and his playboy lifestyle. This of course results in a heartwarming declaration of love in front of the entire village (it is a small one and everyone does go to the pub) and a happily ever after where Felix and Gabriel turn the town into a tourist destination and turn the stable block into a small hotel with the help of Felix’s sister.

What I enjoyed most about this novel was the magic and whimsy Ryecart wove in with local legends and stories. She didn’t make Gabriel come across as too naïve or innocent when he shared them with Felix, he had enough self-awareness and tongue-in-cheek to both firmly believe in the stories and also question them. The orchard scenes and the conversations there were by far my favorite.

Recommendation: Worth the quick read! I enjoyed the magic of the isolated winter wonderland Ryecart created and the evolution of both characters as they got to know each other in such a short time period. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for more by Ryecart in the future.

Opening Line: “Wherever you are, you’d better keep your head down.”

Closing Line: “Joining their hands, and holding on tight, Felix and Gabriel wound their way through the orchard, the budding branches heavy with the promise of warmth, and light, and the fruitfulness to come.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)