Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Chestnuts Roasting Anthology
SERIES: Mischief Corner Anthologies #5
AUTHORS: Toni Griffin, Angel Martinez, Silvia Violet, and Freddy MacKay
PUBLISHER: Mischief Corner Books
LENGTH: 110,251 words
BLURB:
Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.
Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.
A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.
Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it?
I’m also not a fan of Christmas. Too many years “celebrating” with my Bible-thumping family ruined the holiday for me. So what if I envy all these cheerful souls dashing about with smiles on their faces? I don’t have to like Christmas, do I? If anyone could get me in the Christmas spirit, it would be Dane with his easy, relaxed manner and his gorgeous smile. If that were going to happen, though, I’d have to find the courage to talk to him and to admit that maybe I don’t know myself all that well after all.
Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it.
Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.
REVIEW:
I love the MCB crew and I have been looking forward to this anthology! It’s my first holiday read of the season….
Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin:
Quite often when I read a book, say about two evenly matched alpha-ish men, I think to myself that this is my favorite trope. Two equally strong men, maybe working hard to see who tops, equally strong in personality, age, work, whatever. Then I read a story about a bigger/older/stronger/dominate man paired with an opposite type of partner and I think to myself, oh THIS is my favorite trope! And that is what we have here.
Cam is a bear, literally. He’s a big burly grizzly bear shifter, and a firefighter. He’s moved away from his family in search of his mate. He’s sweet and gentle, strong and secure. He’d like to meet his mate soon, and settle down to a nice life together, in the home he’s just purchased.
Michael is a character from a previous story that I didn’t read, but I don’t think I really needed to. He’s a young black bear shifter, who’s had a shitty life. His dad and brother did something naughty and got kicked out of the sleuth (what they call a pack of bear shifters), and Michael has been taken in by the former alpha’s family. He’s uneducated, unemployed, shy, and meek. He manages to start a fire in the home of Patricia and George and in comes the fire department.
Cam heads out on a call to a kitchen fire and finds his mate! I also can’t decide if I like fates mates or not, I think it must depend on the story, because I really liked it with this one. They seem like such an opposite pairing, Cam is big, strong, smart, the responsible one, Michael is smaller, weaker, uneducated, mild, shy, and scared. They perfectly balance out one another. Cam so desperately needs someone to take care of, poor Michael seems incapable of caring for himself. On one hand he should have irritated me, he’s so meek, he needed to stand up for himself and do something with his life instead of just sitting there. On the other hand he’s so sweet I wanted to take him home, feed him and care for him. He shouldn’t need a man to care for him, but he so obviously does. I’d really like to see them in a few years when he’s grown up and gotten his shit together and can be a stronger partner for Cam.
Anyway I’m rambling! This is a great little story, just enough about these two to be satisfying. Not too short, not too long, just the right amount of detail and history. Toni knows her shifters and does them well! I need to go read the first story now…
RATING: 
A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Wow. Ok, I saw this mentioned on Facebook by Angel and I thought, sci-fi Christmas story? Well only Angel Martinez could do that, but it’s going to be fun and goofy, right? WRONG!!!
General Teer, an Irasolan, is banished to Earth as punishment for a non-mistake. He doesn’t even get the satisfaction of dying honorably, but is sent as far away from home as he can get. He is going to have a hard time adjusting to life on Earth, as he’s small and furry. He somehow ends up in Anchorage working in a florist shop, wearing lots of clothing to hide his fur, when he meets Bruce.
Bruce is a pilot, grieving for his lost love. Every Friday he stops by a florist to buy a purple hyacinth to leave on Mike’s grave. He’s about done with the twinky, weird man working at the florist shop, and acts like a total jerk to him, which starts a tentative friendship between the two, oddly.
What follows is a very strange but oh so wonderful love story. Teer and Bruce could not be more different, but they work so well together. Bruce is a big loud human, Teer is a small, furry, quiet alien. Somehow it works. Both are lonely, Bruce is still grieving for Mike, Teer is able to figure that out and accepts it for what it is, and helps Bruce deal with it. Teer is a lonely exiled freak, who will never fit in and be accepted. Bruce accepts him and loves him for who he is.
This one made me cry! I cried for Teer and his loneliness, I cried for Bruce and his pain. I was very surprised at how much this story got to me…. It was sad and sweet, with a very good message about acceptance. I loved the characters Angel created, the details were perfect. Teer is a fantastic character, I completely bought it. His physical differences, sexual attributes, the fur, his cultural differences, his food issues, it all worked. And Bruce was perfect. In some ways a typical American human, kind of a jerk to anyone different. Even as a gay man he’s freaked out by Teer’s “twink” appearance and yells at him for it. But then he helps him when he’s attacked by some local assholes, and is so open to him being an alien. He finds him after Teer freaks out and runs away, then takes him home with him. He was so sweet! The sex was a trip, I loved how it worked, even with slightly different parts. They were sweet (there’s that word again!) together, but hot as well.
Only Angel Martinez could make this work. A furry alien, living in Alaska, befriended by, and eventually caring for a grieving gay pilot. It was so amazing! I loved it!
RATING: 
Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
This story is about Tom, who has been raised in a very conservative family and church environment. Luckily he realizes it and gets out during college. He’s now on his own living in Baton Rouge, he’s finished his education and gotten himself a nice job. What he doesn’t have is any family and very few friends. He works, he goes home, and that’s about it. Now it’s time for Christmas, and he is totally lost. It’s not something he enjoyed with his family, it was all about the church and prayer, and he is baffled by the way people celebrate it where he is now. He tried though, watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music, but he’s just lonely and lost.
Every morning he stops in the coffee shop in his building for a cup of coffee, and sees Dane working there. Dane is also the bartender for his company holiday party. He’s not quite sure how he feels about Dane, Tom is not gay, he’s been with women, but there is something about the man that fascinates him. And scares him! He sees some interest in Dane’s eyes and a note with a phone number slipped to him and he freaks out. With the encouragement of his friend Shelley, and Dane’s patience, he begins to explore what could be there between the two of them.
This is a gentle contemporary love story and is a nice change after the two paranormal and sci-fi stories. Silvia gives us a deep character with Tom, I really liked him and his history. Dane is a little more vague, we only see him through Tom’s eyes, so we don’t really know him as well. But he’s so kind and patient with Tom and his confusion. I liked that this wasn’t insta-love, Tom is scared and does take his time. He hides from Dane a bit, avoiding the coffee shop at all cost. He really does think this through. Once he gets there things do move quickly between them, but it felt right to me. It didn’t seem rushed, it was just right. This is the beginning of their story, I like to think they are living a wonderful life together, but we don’t really know. I liked that. It didn’t end with them swearing undying love and moving in together. It was a very happy ending, but it wasn’t an ending so much as a beginning.
The writing was great, the plot was simple for a short story and just right. Lots of history with Tom, but not lots of drama. It’s not too busy, just a really good, romantic story. The sex is perfect for a short story and a newly gay man, they didn’t go from 0-60 in five seconds, but took it slow and easy. This was a really good story!
RATING:
Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Wow… what a creative story! Freddy made me cry AGAIN!
Finni is American, an exchange student living in Tokyo. He’s struggling, lonely, missing his family so much, with no real connections to anyone in Japan. He was with a host family, but didn’t really fit in with them, and due to a move on their part ends up sharing a condo with a young man named Mamoru. Finni is just miserable as it’s sneaking up on Christmas and he isn’t with his family for the first time. Christmas is very different in Japan, more about couples than families, and he just doesn’t get it. He’s big and blond and feels shunned by most of the Japanese around him. He gets along fine with Mamoru, and one little old lady in their building, but that’s not enough for him. Even the old man at the grocery store treats him like crap, and yells at him.
Mamoru isn’t sure what to do about his roommate, he knows he’s unhappy but they haven’t lived together very long and he doesn’t know what to do about it. Mamoru is out of school and working, but he wants to make time to take Finni out and show him Tokyo, hoping that maybe that will help him settle in. Finni cooks dinner for him one night and they actually seem to get a little closer.
Then the secrets start to be revealed, and we really get to the heart of this story. And the part I don’t want to talk about! It’s a really cool, creative plot, very magical and paranormal. I did not expect that from the description and I was pleasantly surprised. Two very different cultural myths are used, one I was familiar with, one not at all. The characters are great, Finni and Mamoru are the stars, but the little old lady they are friends with, and Finni’s uncle play huge parts in the story. I had no idea where it was going, and I totally enjoyed the trip. Finni and Mamoru turn out to be a perfect pair, each with something magical about them. I want to know what happens next!
I haven’t read much by Freddy, the two stories I have read have both made me cry! Which is fine, I have no problem enjoying emotional stories. I really enjoyed the creativity of this one, the writing was very good and I’m assuming the Japanese parts are accurate. It felt authentic to me, but I know very little about Japanese culture. It was a great addition to the anthology!
RATING:
OVERALL REVIEW:
I loved this anthology! The stories were all so different, some paranormal aspects, sci-fi, and contemporary, but they all had a common theme around Christmas. They were all just the right length, short stories are hard to do right, that balance of a short length but needing to create a realistic story is difficult. They each were long enough to give some depth to the characters and the story, but were still short enough to fit together in one book. Each felt contained, and I was satisfied with the endings. There was a good mix of character types, some had more sex than others, and they were all very well written. This was a great way to start off my holiday reading!
RATING:
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