Like the last few years we at Love Bytes are reviewing the whole DSP advent calender
There will be a review posted each day (except Sundays and Holidays so some days will have two reviews instead) 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 Prize: 10 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)
Second Prize: 5 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)
Third Prize: 3 Dreamspinner Press ebooks (winner’s choice)
Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Making the Holidays Happy Again
SERIES: 2019 Advent Calendar – Homemade for the Holidays
AUTHOR: Pat Henshaw
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 51 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2019
BLURB:
Blacksmith Butch has secretly loved his best friend, science nerd Jimmy, since grade school. Now their shops in Old Town Seven Winds, California, are only doors from each other.
They’re about to turn thirty, and Butch refuses to wait another day to make a decision: propose to Jimmy and start the family he’s always wanted or forget his dream to avoid risking their friendship. Why can’t the choice be as easy as creating decorative ironwork in his forge?
A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar “Homemade for the Holidays.”
REVIEW:
I’m a huge fan of anything ‘Henshaw’, and this short story continued that fandom.
Butch is a blacksmith in a small town, turned yuppie haven, in California. I thought at first that it was the same town in Ms. Henshaw’s Foothill Pride books, but I’m not so sure. I kept expecting some tie in somewhere along the way, but it didn’t happen.
Butch has it bad for his best friend Jimmy. Butch and Jimmy grew up together and have always been best friends. Jimmy’s mom always thought the two of them would end up a couple someday, but Butch knows that he isn’t good enough for the super smart Jimmy. Butch didn’t even finish high school and is a blacksmith. What would Jimmy want with him? The confused interplay from both sides kept the story flowing. I kept wondering how everyone could be so clueless, but hey, it all worked out in the end. A side note, I really liked how Ms. Henshaw adjusted Butch’s vocabulary to match someone with that education level. It made the story more authentic. Butch was by far my favorite character in the story.
My only complaint, as with all the stories I read every December in these Advent Calendars, is the length. I wanted more! Fitting the story into this short of a format seemed to rush the events just a little. I would have loved more filler in the middle!
The story had some interesting side characters going on that I would love to see in a future story. There is a young gay boy and his first boyfriend, there is the boy’s gay uncle and mean old homophobic grandmother for example. And don’t forget the new hot blacksmith that Butch hired. Story lines pop into my head with all of them. Let’s hope Ms. Henshaw gives them to us!
I recommend the story. If you’re a fan of Ms. Henshaw, or even if you don’t know her writing, give it a shot. Then immediately head on over to her Foothills Pride books. I’ll be waiting for more stories Henshaw.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
The book sounds like a nice Christmas read. I agree that some of the Christmas stories are too short. Some are fine but others need a little more to develop characters and the story line so they don’t seem rushed.
I guess the charm of these stories is that they manage to pack a lot in a short space.. although they leave us wanting more!
Looks like a winner!
Ooh! Friends to lovers!
I love Friends to lover stories. Looking forward to giving this one a read.
SoUnds a good one, intrigued to how the cover fits in.
Short stories are a great skill, giving enough but leaving us wanting more
Thank you for the great review, Dan! Hope you had a wonderful holiday!