Reviewed by Dan

TITLE:  A Family For Christmas

AUTHOR:     Jay Northcote

PUBLISHER:    Self-Published

LENGTH:     136 Pages

RELEASE DATE:   November 18, 2016

BLURB:

Zac never had a family of his own, but Rudy has enough to share.

Shy, inexperienced Rudy has a crush on Zac from the moment his new colleague walks through the door. On an office night out before Christmas, Rudy finds the courage to make a move, and they form a tentative bond. When he discovers Zac will be alone at Christmas, he invites Zac to come home with him.

Zac prefers to keep people at arm’s length. Yet when Rudy offers him a family Christmas it’s impossible to resist. With no parents of his own, Zac is pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by Rudy’s. The only drawback is that everyone assumes they’re a couple. Unwilling to disappoint Rudy’s mum and make Christmas awkward, they decide not to deny it.

It’s not a chore for Zac to pose as Rudy’s boyfriend, but the pretence makes him want things that scare him—things like a real relationship with Rudy. Zac’s suffered enough rejection in his life already and is afraid to risk his heart. If he can get over his past rejection and let Rudy inside his armour, he might get more for Christmas than he ever imagined.

REVIEW:

I quite liked this charming little Christmas tale from Jay Northcote. I needed a feel good, happy ending story today and this was perfect.

Rudy works in an office that does something with LGBT+ something. I’m not really sure what, but I know it mentioned it somewhere and then it went right out of my swiss cheese brain. It doesn’t make much difference, except to be a setting for Rudy to develop a crush on the new guy, Zac. The office is predominantly all LGBT employees, so it is safe for Rudy to assume that Zac is at least Bisexual. But he has been suffering in silence. He is painfully shy, and Zac puts on an appearance of being totally unapproachable.

All that changes when there is an office ‘night out’ shortly before Christmas and both Rudy and Zac have a few too many shots of tequila. The next morning, Rudy wakes up with a headache and a head on the pillow next to him! You guessed it…Zac. But all Rudy can remember is throwing up his own shoes after Zac kissed him, and maybe inviting Zac to spend Christmas with his family in the country.

The tale builds from there. What will happen when Zac and Rudy arrive at the family farm and everyone instantly assumes they are ‘boyfriends’?  I liked the story and how it progressed. There was little or no angst, something that was important to me today, and instead there was a tale of two lonely men finding out there might be more to life that what they have right now.

I’d definitely recommend this one!

RATING:

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