Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Strawberry Kisses
SERIES: Kiss Me
AUTHOR: Charlie Novak
NARRATOR: Dan Calley
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 33 minutes
RELEASE DATE: February 4, 2022
BLURB:
Patrick’s To-Do List:
- Tell family I’m gay.
- Make giant cake for anniversary party.
- Convince Connor to be my fake boyfriend for the weekend.
- Try to keep my hands off Connor.
- Make sure Connor doesn’t find out I’ve been in love with him for the last three years.
Connor’s Steps for Success:
- Perfect pole routine for Chrome Stars.
- Continue search for perfect music.
- Survive weekend with Patrick’s family without mauling him while sharing a bed.
- Prevent feelings from exploding like a glitter bomb.
- Make sure Patrick doesn’t find out I’ve been in love with him forever.
Strawberry Kisses is a 78,000-word stand-alone, contemporary MM romance featuring a sweet pastry chef, sassy pole dancer, a nosy but loving family, fabulous makeup, fluffy feels, and copious amounts of cake.
REVIEW:
Patrick is a pastry chef working at a Nottingham area pub for restauranteur friends Aaron and Ben. He met them in London during his training and when they opened their own place, he joined them. He loves his job. He has a best friend, Connor, that he spends the majority of his non-work time with and they get on like a house on fire. There is just one catch – Patrick has been in love with Connor for years and hasn’t even told him that he’s gay.
Patrick is 29, a virgin, and hasn’t come out to his family. When he finally does, they jump to conclusions 🙂 Connor has not known that Patrick is gay as they’ve never actually talked about it and Patrick is a bit more reticent than the out and proudly glittery Connor is. When Patrick’s family jumps to the conclusion that Connor is Patrick’s boyfriend and insist that Patrick bring him for the family Christmas, well there’s only one thing to do – convince Connor to play his boyfriend for the weekend.
Connor has had feelings for Patrick for forever. Patrick confesses that he’s told his family finally that he’s gay and they’ve jumped to the conclusion that Connor is his boyfriend and now what can Patrick do? He sweetly asks Connor to play his boyfriend for the weekend so that he doesn’t disappoint his family. Connor is happy to do it – he’d love to meet Patrick’s family. But he’s not sure he can keep his hands off Patrick as they “pretend” to be in love.
Of course all bets are off when they are alone and it’s clear that there is an attraction. But neither guy is sure where this is headed and where they are going to end up 🙂 They are definitely besties and support each other, but they both definitely want more. Someone is going to have to bit the bullet and confess their true feelings before they lose this chance.
This is a super sweet and fluffy story 🙂 If you’re in the mood for friends to lovers with some minimal conflict, then I think you’ll enjoy this. Dan Calley does a good job with the fairly large cast of characters – mostly Patrick’s family and coworkers here. The pacing is well done and the performance solid and believable. I normally enjoy his narration and that goes for this one as well. While there is nothing groundbreaking in this story, it’s a cute bit of holiday fluff that will leave a happy holiday smile. Recommended.
RATING: 
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