Advent Calendar Review: Oh Hell, All Ye Shoppers by Louisa Masters

Like the last few years we at Love Bytes are reviewing the whole dsp advent calender

There will be a review posted each day throughout the month of December.

Let us know what you think of the reviews and the stories and have a chance to win a fabulous giveaway.

First Price: 10 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)

Second Price: 5 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)

Third Price: 3 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)

Day 20

Reviewed by Christine J.

TITLE: Oh Hell, All Ye Shoppers

SERIES: 2017 Advent Calendar – Stocking Stuffers

AUTHOR: Louisa Masters

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 30 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2017

BLURB:

Ethan Hall plans to fill Saturday, December 23, with junk food and bad TV, a day just for him amid the holiday chaos… until his baby sister calls and begs him to go collect a present for her. At the biggest shopping center in Australia. On the busiest shopping day of the year. Hell no. Right?

Ethan’s soft heart gets the best of him. He battles through the parking lot, and in the main shopping concourse, he’s trampled, elbowed, and bombarded with terrible holiday music. Then he enters hell itself, a specialty store aimed at women… where he meets Ty. They bond in a sea of estrogen and manic shoppers, fighting together to attain freedom, only to find they’re not quite ready go their separate ways.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2017 Advent Calendar “Stocking Stuffers.”

REVIEW:

When Ethan bumps into Ty on the busiest shopping day of the year in Australia, he would never have guessed he would find himself wanting to know more about his fellow shopper. As it turns out, there is more to their connection than either of them could have imagined.

This is a fun holiday short story filled with serendipity and romance. Ethan and Ty are adorable together as they bond over their similarities and more. Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday chaos, they find a sense of calm in one another. Their cute-meet is sweet and humorous, and the time they spend getting to know one another is engaging, despite its brevity.

I do wish the author had spent a bit more page time developing the romance between the characters instead of exhibiting a rather negative view of women and feminine gift choices. These were extraneous, adding little to the story except to create a rather unlikable aspect to the main characters’ personalities. Given that this was such a short story, I wanted to see the building of intimacy between Ethan and Ty in the brief time they interact.

Overall, Oh Hell, All Ye Shoppers is entertaining and cute. It’s a charming little ditty that provides a different view of the Christmas season through its setting and keeps the mood light while reminding the reader what it’s like to experience that thrill of finding new love.

RATING: