Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Little X
SERIES: A Tinsel and Spruce Needles Romance #2
AUTHOR: Elna Holst
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 53 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 3, 2018
BLURB:
Malmö, Sweden, 1996
Sofie Andersson is a dyslectic born under the star sign Aries, who drives the local buses for a living. Her hobbies include knitting terrible hats and intermittent lesbianism. This December she is on the point of moving into her first flat of her own, figuring out her place in the world, when an instant attraction to a handsome stranger leads her to question everything she’s taken for granted.
REVIEW:
I really liked Mistletoe Kisses, the first book in this little series about a group of queer rebels in 1990’s Sweden. It felt authentic and grounded in a very particular time and place. I can’t say I clicked with these characters as much as I did with the ones from the previous book, but it’s still a great holiday story with lots of detail and sweetness.
Fiffi, a bus driver who is still trying to get over the disastrous ending to her first crush, finds herself immediately drawn to a young American man on one of her routes. She panics a little, because up until then, she’s only been attracted to women. But she meets again Roz again and realizes they are not male but intersex and non-binary, and unfortunately, leaving the country in two weeks.
While Fiffi and her friends’ reactions to Roz’s intersexuality may be a little cringe-worthy to modern readers, I think it makes sense for the time period. The 90’s were a time for a shift in views on gay and lesbian people all over the world, but it was still a very different era, and Fiffi’s confusion feels relatable rather than judgmental. She thinks she knows exactly who she is, exactly what she likes, but when she feels a magnetic attraction to someone outside those neat little boxes, she has to just follow her heart.
I really like the queer holiday mood of the whole story. It’s all about finding your family during Christmas in unexpected places—be it another country or a crowded gay bar. It skips most of the angst LGBT people may feel during the holidays and goes right to the warm fuzzies.
I didn’t get to know the characters as well as I got to know Erika and Padma from the first book, but I still enjoyed their story. It’s a fast, unique holiday read.
RATING: 
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