Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Santa’s Naughty Helper
SERIES: Lawyers in Love #1
AUTHOR: Ari McKay
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 58 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2017
BLURB:
2nd Edition
Lawyers In Love
Shy lawyer Kevin Anderson is presented with an unexpected opportunity when he draws hunky litigator Erik Wilson’s name for their office’s secret holiday gift exchange. Kevin has pined for his friend for a long time, but he fears ruining their working relationship if Erik doesn’t return his feelings. The anonymity of the exchange gives him the chance to let Erik know someone is interested, so Kevin turns the gift into a game: twelve days of presents, each more suggestive, culminating with a Christmas Eve meeting—if Kevin finds the courage to see it through!
Erik is intrigued by his secret Santa, who has given him something to look forward to during the holidays for the first time in years. But as Christmas approaches, he realizes he doesn’t want a mystery man; he wants his best friend, Kevin. When his attempts to instigate something with Kevin fail, Erik accepts the dinner invitation of his secret admirer. Little does he suspect that Santa’s naughty little helper might be just the man to make all his Christmas dreams come true in a holiday friends-to-lovers romance that progresses from sweet to spicy for two sexy lawyers.
First Edition published by Torquere Press, 2012.
REVIEW:
Even though Christmas is still about six months away, sometimes it can be really nice to read a holiday story in the middle of the year and this one fit the bill quite nicely! You’re basically getting what it says in the blurb but this was more fun than expecting and I found myself looking forward to the Secret Santa gifts almost as much as Erik! Kevin and Erik have been friends for years and while you know of Kevin’s feelings right at the beginning, it was nice seeing Erik come to the realization that he wanted more from his shyer counterpart.
Though most of the story takes place within the office that both main characters at, the holiday spirit came through in a nice variety of ways, not just through the giving of gifts. There were also enough work related items thrown in to show what Kevin and Erik did for a living without it overtaking the general holiday theme/spirit and I personally liked the little breaks from the gift giving to see a little every day realism introduced to the story.
While most of the story was on the sweet side, those looking for a little something more on the spicy side shouldn’t be disappointed; much like how the gifts move past the straight romance stage, the character interactions move out of the office and into the bedroom at the end. I did feel the jumping into bed was a little fast after the pacing of the rest of the story but I felt the big reveal and official move from friends to lovers was well done and I liked it enough that I didn’t mind the quicker move to a more intimate relationship in the end.
Overall I found this to be a sweet, interesting read that gave just the right amount of Christmas spirit to keep me going until the actual holiday. If you enjoy a little spicy with your sweet or are just looking for a little Christmas in July, I’d recommend giving this one a look.
RATING: 
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