Reviewed by Vicki

TITLE: Red Dirt Christmas 

SERIES: Red Dirt #3.5

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: Blueheart Press

LENGTH: 54 pages

BLURB:

Travis had been here at Sutton Station for just over a year. We were technically engaged, not that we’d told anyone. He was happy just knowin’ I’d said yes, and I had some head-clearin’ stuff to work through. Knowing I was good enough for Trav was one thing, but knowing if I was good enough to be a husband and father was somethin’ else entirely.

Life at Sutton Station had never been better. Business was strong, Trudy and Bacon’s little baby, Gracie, was a few weeks old now and as cute as a button, Ma’s health was good, and my relationship with Laura and Sam was in a pretty good place. And Travis? Well, life with him was still all kinds of perfect.

But, to Travis’s dismay, Christmas at the Station was just another day. Another day of getting up before the sun, feeding animals, fixin’ what needed fixin’, and checking water troughs all while tryin’ to keep out of the blistering heat.

And this year weren’t much different. Only that it was Travis’s first Sutton Station Christmas. The fact we didn’t go all out with decorations and celebrations baffled him, and if I was bein’ truthful, it disappointed him too.

Which was why I had to make it a special kind of Christmas…

REVIEW:

I am such a sap for these Christmas stories! Especially when they are part of a series that has ended….

I love the Red Dirt Heart books, seriously love them. I’ve just read them once, but this story made me want to read them all again. For those of you not familiar with them, you are missing a huge treat. The series follows the same two characters for four full length books, and now a short story. I like that. Lots of time to really get to know the characters. Who are: Charlie Sutton, owner of Sutton Station, a farm in Australia, tough, lonely, and gay, meets American student Travis Craig, lovely, happy and also gay. Sparks, drama, injuries, death, illness, separation, really hot sex, more drama, love, happiness, family, we get it all. The series was ended with a book that was so perfect it broke my heart. I was sad to see it end, but it was the right time.

Now with this one, N.R. Walker takes us back to a perfect time in the lives of Charlie and Travis, they are settled, things are calm, they are happy. Living at the station as a couple, with a baby wombat, they are a family with the crew on the station. It’s Travis’s first Christmas in Australia, in the summer, and away from his family. He doesn’t understand the lack of holiday spirit amongst the station family, especially with Charlie, who appears to be a bit of a humbug. “Appears” to be is the key word! Charlie sees Travis’s disappointment and has a plan.

This is just a little story, but even then we get the usual Charlie and Travis drama. A wombat bite, a broken nose, a case of heat stroke, a little sex, and some serious happiness. It’s like a short visit with some old friends, it made me happy, it made me laugh, and it made me miss them even more! I may have to read these again this year. Damn, wish the series was available in audio.

If you have read the series, you will love this one, no way you won’t. If you haven’t read the others, you could probably read this one on its own. You won’t know who everyone is, but the joy of the story would still come through. It’s only .99 on Amazon, that’s not much, and it might be a good way to try these boys out and see what you think. If you like it, go start with the first book. One of the things I like about them is they are written with Australian english and phrases. The author doesn’t try to Americanize them. I have stopped to google a word now and then to figure out what something means. That makes me happy.

So yes, I am giving another five hearts to a short Christmas story! I know, I can’t believe it either, but I had to do it. More as an homage to one of my favorite m/m series, and this books place in that series. This is certain a well written short story, it fits in with the other books, and is full of sweet, sappy holiday fun!

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

ARe