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.
Day 12
Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: The Stockings Were Hung
SERIES: 2016 Dreamspinner Advent Calendar – Bah Humbug
AUTHOR: Cassie Sweet
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 44 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2016
BLURB:
Hill hates Christmas. The shoppers. The cheer. The drama. All of it. Each holiday season is a painful reminder that seven years before, his lover, Drew, walked out of his life and moved across the country, leaving Hill like a cup of rotten eggnog. Now Drew is back and wants Hill to put a little jingle in his bells. Well, not this Scrooge. Drew admits he moved to get away from Hill—but not for the reasons Drew gave him all those years ago. Some of his best memories are of Christmases he celebrated with Hill, and he wants nothing more than to spend a little holly jolly with the only man he’s ever loved. However, getting Hill to agree to a reunion is going to take a Christmas miracle.
REVIEW:
I love a good second chance story and there’s just something about the Christmas season that makes reading one seem so much better. I found the premise of the story really appealing; two men separated for almost a decade suddenly reunited right before Christmas. I really felt for Hill’s character; Drew was pretty much the love of his life and seven years after he’d left, Hill still wasn’t over the man and every Christmas since was merely something to be tolerated at best. I really didn’t agree with Drew’s decision not to tell Hill the real reason he was leaving but I did like that, once he felt he was ready, he came back to, if not reclaim Hill’s affections, to at least try and make things right.
The story itself was really good; both men were stubborn yet showed the ability to bend when necessary though nothing in their interactions was easy, especially in the beginning. I was drawn fairly quickly into the story and found myself invested in both Drew and Hill’s happiness in a ridiculously short amount of time. This really had all the makings of an excellent second chance story and I just wanted to keep reading. Aside from how much I loved this, however, I found myself more than a little disappointed by the ending. While it could be looked at as a happy for now, things didn’t quite feel up to that point on Hill’s end for me and, of course, I felt these two men deserved a solid happy ending; I was kind of crushed that I didn’t get to see that. Still, this was a solid story with a good execution and if you don’t mind not getting a happily ever after, it was a great read.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Thank you for the review. And that’s such a sweet cover. This would be a new author to me.
Thank you for the review. I love the cover. Those guys are sweet.
Thanks for your review.
Thank you for the review. I am always interested in reading books by new to me authors and this one sounds good even though the ending is a little open ended.
I love second chance story as well. Thanks for the review
Thanks for the review! I find I have a similar reaction to many shorter stories – I want more.
The cover is adorable.
I enjoyed books that are giving the MC’s a second chance. and a cute cover too.
Thank you for your review, i’ve put it on my tbr list because now i really want to know what the reason was that Drew left Hill
Hmm, don’t know about that HFN…
I’m a little cautious about second chance stories. I love the cover though.
I LOVE reunion and second chance stories. And the cover is lovely. I prefer a more solid happy ending too but if I’m nade aware its not so HEA or HFN im less dissapointed when i read. Thank you for the review. Another I’ll be checking out. Loving these advent reviews! 😀
It sound like a winner for me, thank you for the review.