This has been on my Kindle for at least a year, if not two. I think I added it to my list when I went through the “How many MM Holiday Romances can I read in a month?” phase. Either way it sat there until now and I was flipping through looking for a light hearted read after the dense nonfiction of The West.
Starting out, I really wasn’t sure if it was going to be a hate read to finish it or if I was going to actually start to enjoy it. We start off with Xander, a spoiled elitist model who really annoyed me, but he kind of gets his comeuppance with a really bad ski injury and his dick of a boyfriend’s response. We then pick up with Ferris, who as much as I ultimately enjoyed his character, is an over the top nurse who takes a hit right as things are starting to look up! But this allows for the meet-cute and the story runs from there.
The book did get better probably 1/3 of the way through, but there were definite moments of do I want to keep reading. Most of it was from Xander’s dialogue. It just felt super forced.
Tradition was okay, but individual flair trumped it every time. Who wanted something that looked exactly like what everyone else had? (Loc. 1,618)
There seemed to be some issues with time in the story flow, but I think that might’ve been my reading it. Things happened in such a way that it felt like the action was spread out a lot more than it was, but the forced close proximity accelerated things rapidly, but even then, there were definite some incongruous transitions that didn’t make it clear when things were happening. There were flashes of great humor, and had similar trains of thought I would 100% go down:
I shouldn’t have come here. I should have taken a vow of abstinence and joined a monastery instead. Did people still do that? I’d have to look into it. One of the photographers—not Harvey—had once said I could make any clothes look good. I doubted he’d been thinking about a cassock at the time, but I’d do my best to make it work. Were monks allowed to accessorize? Sometimes a belt could make the world of difference. Yeah, I’d be the monk with the snazzy belts. (Loc. 2,684)
The sex scenes from what I can recall were well written, especially the first couple when they were figuring things out as Xander healed from his injuries. I don’t think anything stood out as awkward or horrible or I would’ve noted it at the time.
Recommendation: This is a middle-of-the-pack decent MM Holiday Romance. The characters weren’t my favorite, but there are much worse out there. I would definitely give Day another read if they came up in my list, but honestly overall it was a little bit forgettable. For me, I think that manifested in the minor characters. There were a few, but they didn’t make an impact, so you have to base the whole book on the two protagonists, the dick-of-an-ex and the vague recall of the minor characters.
Opening Line: “As I tumbled down the snowy slope, I wouldn’t exactly say that my life flashed before my eyes, but I certainly reconsidered a few of my life choices.”
Closing Line: “I stared into the eyes of the man I loved, the man I would do anything for. ‘A Ferris is for life, not just for Christmas.’ Ferris winked. ‘Exactly.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)