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 20th

day 20

REVIEWED by MARTE

TITLE: Scrooged Over

SERIES: 2016 Dreamspinner Advent Calendar – Bah Humbug

AUTHOR: David Connor

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 69 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2016

BLURB:

For duelling radio hosts Deke and Dudley, the battle over Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving. Deke hates the whole season. Dudley is a yuletide overachiever. They put their debate to a vote, inviting audience members to weigh in. The loser must go on a blind date of the winner’s choosing. Dudley decides he wouldn’t mind taking the loss, if his blind date, picked by Deke, turns out to be Deke himself. As Christmas gets closer, not only does that fantasy seem unlikely, but everything that can go wrong for Dudley does, including malfunctioning decorations, rancid cookies, and a lost pile of hundreds of handwritten Christmas cards. Just days before Santa’s arrival, Dudley’s about to throw in the red and green towel and join all the haters. It’ll take a miracle to change his mind….

REVIEW:

Unfortunately, this story wasn’t to my taste at all. Deke was the Grinch personified. He was such a jerk, bordering on obnoxious. He hates Christmas, and was a loudmouth about it.

I get that he was a radio host, and Deke and Dudley’s supposedly friendly banter was part of the show. Dudley could hold his own, but some of the things Deke said to him were just plain rude, and offputting.

Their on-air banter was supposed to be funny, but for me, it fell short. It was like a joke that no one laughs at, and it just made me wince in discomfort, and in sympathy of Dudley. I did like Dudley to an extent. He was just a happy, positive, Christmas loving guy, with an unrequited crush on his co-host.

I didn’t understand what he saw in Deke, though, since he was such an ass. But that might be his attraction to Deke?

“Then he [Deke] stood and pulled his pants partway down in the back. There was the ass–part of it– all pale and perfect, covered in dark hair Dudley wanted stuck in his teeth.”

Uhm….. To each his own, I guess? Not only was Deke a (hairy) ass in regards to what he said to Dudley, but also what he did. I’m not spoiling the things he did, but let me just say, I wanted to strangle Deke with those Christmas lights! Dudley seemed unfazed by Deke’s digs, though.

“Deke’s sarcasm was as thick as his chest hair.” And he continues to moon, and daydream about Deke. “

He wanted to take him into the john after the show and whip out Frosty’s proboscis. He wanted to lick Deke’s freeform candy cane and toy with each other’s dangling Christmas balls. Dudley dreamed of working Deke’s knot with tongue and his finger until he opened the gift of his hot, sexy ass.”

Uhm…

All in all, the writing didn’t work for me, the descriptions weren’t great, and Deke was horrid. Even the romance felt off. The brief sex scene was one of the least sexy I have read. I would have welcomed a fade to black.

I’m sorry to say I didn’t like this. It put me in an un-Christmas-y mood. Such a bummer, since the cover held a promise of a sweet story. I can only hope it will appeal to other readers.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon