Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Mosquitoes and Mistletoe

SERIES: 2018 Advent Calendar – Warmest Wishes

AUTHOR: Ren Holly

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 63 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2018

BLURB:

After Andrew’s boyfriend dumps him just before Christmas, he decides to take a job far, far away from city life. It’s a dishwashing job on a remote island off the coast of Georgia. Expecting sunshine, palm trees, and some quality alone time, Andrew is surprised to find alligators, mosquitoes, rattlesnakes, and Garrett—a devilishly handsome naturalist. Andrew desperately tries to resist Garrett’s charm, because a twice-broken heart before Christmas is just not an option. Besides, Andrew’s new friend Anna might already have a thing for Garrett.

But where do Garrett’s interests lie, and will Andrew find out before he’s surprised by a visit from his ex?

REVIEW:

Needing a new start after being dumped by his boyfriend of two years, Andrew takes a dishwasher job on a small exclusive island. There, he meets Garrett who makes his heart pump. But, needing to heal, he helps his friend Anna to get romantically aligned with Garretts instead.

Mosquitoes facilitate Andrews and Garretts first shirtless encounter. This also prompts Garrett to explore his attraction to men and Andrew is his chosen male.

The concept of this story is lovely, and the sex is engaging. However, the execution wasn’t as cohesive as I’d have liked. I understand that short stories can make assumptions, and some are written from the hip. Nonetheless, research is still essential – and not just about naturalistic islands, flora and fauna. In RL I work front-of-house in a local hotel, and it is in this area that I had my concerns. Firstly, no chef worth his salt is ever off on Christmas day. In this story, there is no reason given why he is. Also, a guy from pot wash would never be put in the Chef’s place either. Then there’s the problem where they use red cellophane from a ham as decoration. Even cleaned, health and safety would not permit meat wrapping to be used in this way – especially on an island with mosquitoes and an exclusive clientele. Later in the story, Garrett’s phone is dead, yet seconds after plugging it into a socket, he amazingly gets enough charge in it to run around with it to his ear.

The overall cast was varied. I liked Anna and Garrett a lot. Andrew, though is promoted as the star. Here I was again conflicted, because as chuffed as I was that Andrew found his niche and that he realized how crappy his ex was – I felt he was over-promoted. He has some lovely qualities, but not long after appearing on the island, he is suddenly the man of the hour. He is a natural at weaving wreathes, cooking, ping-pong, and he gets a hero moment, too. I get that the story revolves around him, but the way it was done made his character grate on my nerves a little. Had this aspect been toned down with perhaps him more stepping up to the plate through a series of unfortunate events, then he would have come across as a bit humbler. The only thing he didn’t seem good at was fighting off mosquitoes.

I had high hopes for this story and it started well I really tried to like Andrew (albeit I failed). The saving grace for me was the drama at the end of the story, which was as good as I’d hoped the rest of the story would have been.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon