Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Christmas List
SERIES: Believe
AUTHOR: Shea Balik
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 144 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 18, 2020
BLURB:
Winter was Gabriel Wells’ favorite time of year. Having been born in Colorado, snow was in his veins. When his life turned upside down and he ended up in Florida for the winter, Gabriel didn’t handle it well. Who was he kidding? He fucked up royally.
Timmy Shaw had always believed people deserved a second chance to make a first impression. As an occupational therapist, he didn’t always meet people when they were at their best. But after a month, he was sure Gabriel had to have ice in his veins considering how he treated others, especially the man’s own mother.
What neither man realized? There’s a thin line between love and hate. Any other time, they may not have had a chance, but it’s Christmas and miracles are happening everywhere. It may take some work, but if they can find common ground, they may have a chance at happily ever after with the help of a special Christmas List.
REVIEW:
Gabriel has relocated, albeit temporarily, to Florida to help his mother who has had a stroke. He hates heat and Florida in general and he’s not at all happy to be missing the winter and ski season and snow in the only home he’s ever known, Colorado. On top of that, his agent and his assistant are hounding him to get a book finished that he is now late on. Unfortunately it’s a book he didn’t want to write in the first place, so it’s really not going well at all. Add that onto the stress of his mother’s health and his unhappiness at being in Florida, and he’s really a huge pain in the ass.
Timmy is Gabriel’s mother’s occupational therapist. She has been making a lot of progress in her recovery and therapy, but Timmy has just about had it with Gabriel. Timmy hears the way Gabriel complains to his assistant, his agent, his ex-boyfriend about how much he hates being there, he misses winter, etc. etc. and of course his patient does as well. Gabriel’s mother, Dorothea, is deeply affected by Gabriel’s behavior and Timmy has had enough. He has words with Gabriel and pushes him out of their therapy sessions.
Soon it’s Thanksgiving and Timmy can tell something is wrong. Dottie, as he calls Gabriel’s mother, doesn’t even want to get out of bed. When Timmy tells his own mother, Penny, what’s going on, she of course can see the problem right away 😀 And she has a solution. Her plan starts with having Gabriel and Dorothea spend Thanksgiving with her family and extended guests. Once she has Gabriel in her orbit, she begins to work on him and help him see that maybe he’s looking at things from all the wrong angles. And then she enlists Timmy to start on a mission to get Gabriel out of his funk and force him into a new perspective.
When Gabriel puts together his Christmas list of things he’s missing during a Colorado winter, Timmy has his work cut out for him. But once Timmy and Gabriel spend some time together away from their mothers and Timmy decides to prove to Gabe, as he’s now calling him, that there are plenty of fun things to do in Florida too, the sparks fly. Turns out that Timmy’s mom has planted a bit of a seed and then sets out to make sure it’s watered and fertilized and soon enough, feelings start to sprout 🙂 But there is still the issue of Florida vs. Colorado and what will Gabe do if and when Dorothea is ready to be on her own again? And what will Timmy decide to do about that as well?
This was a really cute and sweet story. I LOVED the mothers of these men – particularly Penny. She was just so smart and perceptive about everything and everyone 🙂 Wouldn’t it be great if everyone had such a supportive and loving mother as Timmy does? There were a few crucial lessons in this story aside from it’s good to have a smart mom 😉 Timmy’s anger at Gabriel’s behavior blinded him to the underlying reason for it. Gabriel was also blinded to his own reactions to his mother’s illness and it took him some time to realize and process his own emotions. He also had let a lot of the wrong people into this life – and it took a crisis to force him to see what was right in front of him. Timmy of course was a godsend in so many ways and I loved having a front row seat to Gabriel’s realization that maybe he was looking at things all wrong. I loved how Timmy did everything he could to show Gabe that there was more to life than snow and skiing – especially if you’re doing it with the right person. I loved Timmy from the get go, but I really loved him after he didn’t give up on Gabe. If you’re looking for a fun quick read with some characters who go from enemies to lovers against a wonderful holiday backdrop, I think you’ll enjoy this one. Recommended.
RATING: 
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