Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: The Holiday List
SERIES: The Script Club, Book 4
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
NARRATOR: Alexander Cendese
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 3 hours and 44 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 10, 2021
BLURB:
The Mars maestro, the single dad, and a wish list….
Chet
Boy, am I lucky! Finding a living situation with a houseful of passionate scientists just before the holidays is ideal in every possible way. As the newest member of the Script Club, I feel it’s important to step up and tackle the to-do list my friends would prefer to avoid. Item one: Address the tutoring request from the neighborhood-hottie-slash-single-dad on the next block. I’ve got this!
Or do I?
Handsome, older, sporty gentlemen intimidate me. And Mr. McSwoony doesn’t like the holidays. This may be a daunting task.
Sam
What do you do when a new neighbor shows up on your doorstep with cookies and a wacky plan to spread holiday cheer? I don’t need cheer, but I could use help with some of the experiments my son wants to try. I know football, not science. Hopefully, I can talk Chet into a mutually beneficial trade. The only snag is that I’m seriously attracted to my local Mars expert. He’s unintentionally charming…in the very best way.
Don’t quote me, but maybe this holiday elf with thick glasses and a mile-long list might be exactly what I need.
The Holiday List is an MM bisexual, geek/jock romance with a holiday twist featuring a lovable scientist and a single dad who’s probably on the naughty list!
REVIEW:
The Holiday List is the fourth, and best, book in Lane Hayes’ The Script Club series. Although, to be honest, it’s hard to dub this book part of the series at all. It felt like a standalone even though it lives within The Script Club universe. The storyline’s connection to Topher, George, and Asher – the eponymous “Script Club” – is pretty tangential. In fact, they barely appear. The leading men in this story, Chet and Sam, are brand new characters that we’ve never met before.
Chet is the Script Club guys’ coworker and new roommate. Like Topher, George, and Asher, Chet is brilliant, eccentric, and nerdy. He also carries sexual confidence and prowess atypical of what we’d typically think of with a “geek”. He’s a few years older than the other guys, so his outlook is different. He’s more mature and settled, so we get a refreshingly new twist on romance.
Chet falls for his grumpy, grinch of a neighbor, the gorgeous, older (by eleven years), single dad, Sam, aka “Mr. Rooney McSwooney”. The opposites attract trope holds firm here. Chet and Sam couldn’t be more different. Chet needs order, lists, and plans. Sam is more impulsive and disorganized. But where they align in approach is on their steady attention and patience with Sam’s son Linc.
While shorter in length than its predecessors, The Holiday List packs a lot into those pages. It contains an engaging storyline with Chet and Sam, who sizzle with chemistry. The events aren’t predictable, albeit not entirely novel either. There’s just enough “newness” to the plot that it keeps you interested. Then Chet, Sam, and Linc’s charm seal the deal.
I loved everything about Chet and Sam’s relationship progression. My only complaint is that the payoff, shown in the epilogue, is way too short. Also, the story’s resolution was disappointingly abrupt, especially given the slow burn throughout the majority of the story. The HEA is lovely, but I wish we were shown more of it.
Alexander Cendese continues his narration of The Script Club series in the audiobook of The Holiday List. His often OTT, heavy-handed “geek” portrayal, aka Asher, is diluted here, achieving the right balance of nasal nerdiness. Mr. Cendese is able to convey Chet’s age and maturity through his voice, tempering some of the goofiness and frenetic energy of Chet’s Script Club counterparts. This is particularly important juxtaposed to Sam, a single dad divorcee struggling to find his footing with his exceptional son. Sam has experienced more life and disappointment than Chet, and Mr. Cendese captures that in Sam’s voice. Interestingly, Sam’s voice sounds very much like Mr. Cendese’s natural tone, lending it authenticity.
Mr. Cendese’s ever-present energetic delivery serves him well in this story, mainly because its brevity demands momentum and an invested portrayal of these two complex men who fall in love fast, hard, and quite unexpectedly. Mr. Cendese’s expressive narration brings this story to life. I read The Holiday List and then listened to the audiobook and vouch for the value-add from Mr. Cendese’s vocal performance.
Overall, The Holiday List is a delightful, feel-good holiday story. And like the other Script Club books, the romance is sweet, low-angst, and filled with humor. It’s an easy way to pass a few hours reading amongst holiday decorations and seasonal cheer.
RATING: 
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