Advent Calendar Book Review: The Fortune Cookie by Matt Burlingame

We will review the Dreamspinner Press advent calendar one review a day. At the end of the month THREE winners will be picked to receive some great prizes!

First prize is 10 books from your Dreamspinner wishlist .

Second prize is 5 books from your Dreamspinner wishlist.

Third prize is 3 books from your Dreamspinner wishlist.

December 10th

REVIEW BY: Christie

TITLE: The Fortune Cookie

SERIES: 2016 Dreamspinner Press Advent Calendar – Bah Humbug 

AUTHOR: Matt Burlingame

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH:  56 Pages

RELEASE DATE: November 29,2016

BLURB:

Thirty-three-year-old technical writer Laurence Hart is a modern-day Scrooge when it comes to the holiday season—and the rest of the year too. He doesn’t like most people, they don’t like him, and he’s happy to keep it that way. Over lunch with his best friend, he receives a fortune cookie promising him true love. The next day, forced to work on a holiday charity committee or lose his job, he meets Nick, a jolly ginger giant who loves all things Christmas. Together they face numerous obstacles to put together a holiday fair to raise money for children in foster care in only four days. While Laurence has to mend his curmudgeonly ways to make the event a success, Nick’s holiday magic might mend Laurence’s heart.

REVIEW:

Aah yes, how can you have a holiday season without at least one story of a scrooge-like person?  Well, look no further than Matt Burlingame’s The Fortune Cookie.  Although I wish the story was a bit longer, so the characters can be fleshed out more, it was cute story that can be read in 2 hours or less.

Laurence hates Christmas, with a capital “H”.  He also detests being around and interacting with most people, though that is quite difficult while at work.  Especially when a particularly perky and overly friendly woman constantly hangs tree or Santa shaped cutouts on his cube wall every day (of which he immediately shreds, to the chagrin of said perky woman).  But, I digress…

A few days before Christmas, Laurence goes to lunch with his best friend and ends up getting quite the prediction in his fortune cookie that essentially states his true love is near.  -Side note: If any of you play the funny “in bed” game with your fortunes (just add “in bed” to the end of your fortune), you can understand why I snicker every time I think of that fortune.-  Then, back at work the same day after lunch, Laurence is notified that as part of a corrective action upon him (for being a Scrooge McScrooge-pants to people and upsetting them badly, might I add), he needs to assist the Holiday Charity planning committee on their annual function to be held in only a few short days.  What if he refuses, you might ask?  Well, he would then lose his job.  So yeah, Laurence is now stuck between a rock and a hard place.

That is, until he meets Nick, the gorgeous, ever cheerful, Pollyanna-like (movie reference, meaning always finding the positive in things, to the point the behavior is almost pathological) head of the committee. Can Nick’s ever cheerful, constant positivity be the balm to heal Laurence’s heart and soul this holiday season?  Will they be able to pull of a gigantic charity event despite only having a handful of days to plan and execute it?  Whatever happens to the attraction Laurence has for Nick, is it reciprocated even in the slightest?  Please, please get the story!  It’s a quick  but sweet and cute read that will warm up your heart and make you smile.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon  

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