Like the last few years we at Love Bytes are reviewing the whole dsp advent calender
There will be a review posted each day throughout the month of December.
Let us know what you think of the reviews and the stories and have a chance to win a fabulous giveaway.
First Prize: 10 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)
Second Prize: 5 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)
Third Prize: 3 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)
Day 2
Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: An Open Window
SERIES: 2017 Dreamspinner Advent Calendar – Stocking Stuffers
AUTHOR: Rick R. Reed
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 21 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2017
BLURB:
Two men. One Christmas Eve that changes the courses of both their lives.
Henry’s homeless and only wants a warm place to sleep on the coldest night of the year. A forgotten open window in a darkened house entices Henry inside with the promise of warmth and comfort. He knows it’s wrong, but he promises himself he’ll be out before the owner wakes on Christmas morning. Except he oversleeps and the homeowner, Jim, discovers a bearded stranger sawing logs under his dining room table. When the shock and the drama that ensues dies down, Henry and Jim discover that they might have found, quite unexpectedly, the Christmas miracle they’d both been longing for—love and home.
REVIEW:
I’ve yet to be disappointed by any Rick Reed book that I’ve read, and An Open Window was no exception. No matter that the story was only twenty pages long, this author always delivers what his blurbs promise.
I really enjoyed the way that this tale was approached. We begin with Jim and Henry snuggled up by a fire. It’s Christmas Eve and the men are celebrating the anniversary of twenty years together. The love between these two, the absolute adoration, is evident from the very first page. With so few pages, it was well done of the author to establish that right away. So instead of having the story of Henry and Jim meeting, and then skipping forward twenty years to find out – where are they now? – the beginning and end show us their well established relationship, while the middle is set in 1997, as our two lovers reminisce about the night they met.
I appreciated that the author didn’t try to squeeze in the story of Jim and Henry falling in love. What we have is the initial meeting and the end result, but Mr. Reed wrote both in such a satisfying way that I didn’t miss that middle part of their story at all. It was evident from their first meeting that Jim needed Henry just as much as Henry needed Jim, and it wasn’t difficult to believe these guys would quickly fall in love and be perfect for each other.
This is exactly the sort of feel good short story that I love to devour at this time of year.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Dreamspinner Press – Complete Advent Calendar
Dreamspinner Press – Single Story
Sounds just right for this time of year!
Ok, so another one to my TBR list… Thank you for the great review, Dona
Thanks for the review. I guess another one added to my to read list. I love the holiday books!
Love the sounds of it and that DSP always have their advent calendar anthology for the holiday =)
Thank you for the review. Sounds like a story I would really enjoy.
Now this does sound a good holiday read, and Rick R Reed does them well!
Sounds fantastic! Thank you for the wonderful review!
This story struck a note with me. Don’t really know what to make of it, but I guess I liked it. I agree with you that it was nice not to get the whole story how these two became lovers. Fits the story well.
Sound like another winner. Thanks for the review.
I know with a Rick Reed story, I’m going to get something good. This was the first Advent story I read and while it was a little far-fetched for me, I found it sweet and showed how the spirit of Christmas can transform us. I also felt deeply for Henry and was rooting for him.