Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: North’s Pole
SERIES: Camp Bay
AUTHOR: Leta Blake
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 241 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 2, 2022
BLURB:
Located on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille in beautiful Northern Idaho, Camp Bay Chalet is a discrete and cozy B&B, popular with both locals and minor celebrities for its fabulous holiday weekends.
The pic seen around the world….
The son of Hollywood royalty, North Astor-Ford has lived his entire life in the public’s eye. He knows better than anyone that someone is always watching.
So when one not-so-innocent picture meant for a hook-up accidentally ends up crossposted across all his social media, North is left humiliated and scared. With no one to turn to, he flees to Camp Bay Chalet to be close to the one person he used to count on to protect him from the world.
Liam’s life has been in a holding pattern since the moment North fired him three years ago, even if it was for the best. A romance between a bodyguard and his client would’ve caused exactly the sort of scandal Liam was hired to prevent.
Now that North is back in his orbit, Liam’s going to do what he does best, protect North from the world. And maybe, just maybe, the charm of a Camp Bay Chalet Christmas will be enough to both heal North and bring about the romance they’ve both always wanted.
North’s Pole takes place in the Camp Bay shared universe, but can be read as a stand-alone. Look for more of the Camp Bay universe in Stolen Christmas by Marie Sexton.
REVIEW:
North Astor-Ford is the oldest child of a Hollywood power couple. His whole life has been a series of carefully controlled events but he’s not made the best decisions and has been exploited by others 🙁 Unfortunately, this time it’s his own mistake, accidentally cross-posting a dick-pic to all of his social media that lands him in particularly hot water. He’s humiliated and no one is there to help or support him. So he runs – from his apartment in Seattle to Camp Bay in Idaho. Liam, his former bodyguard had worked there and it was the only place and person he can think of that might be able to help him.
When North shows up, he lucks out that there is a cancellation at the Camp Bay Chalet and he holes up in the one room he gets for the week. Liam has kept tabs on North even though Liam had fired him three years before. Liam knew why he was being fired. It was clear that there were feelings between them, but North wasn’t even 18 yet and Liam had been protecting him since he was 16 and it would have caused a huge scandal if either of them had acted on their feelings for each other. Liam wasn’t even mad really. He didn’t love the job and he didn’t want to cross a line with North.
North hasn’t left the room and Liam shows up at the Chalet to check on him. North is obviously in a bad way. He’s ignoring his phone – which is going crazy with notifications. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone and he’s shocked that Liam is there. But clearly he cares about North and finally North feels like someone at least might be able to help him and have his back.
They clear the air pretty quickly and North confesses his feelings which Liam obviously reciprocates. Then they have to deal with the fallout of the picture and North’s family. His parents are totally absorbed in their holiday parties and are furious with North for whatever scandal this bringing to their door. His sister belittles him as well and it’s just a mess. But the only way to deal with it is for North to issue an apology. Liam helps him deal with his family, the lawyers and the apology post. And then they spend the rest of the time together 🙂
North is actually a pretty innocent and naive guy regardless of his upbringing. He’s never actually had sex with anyone and he’s loved Liam for years. Despite the time they have been apart, he still feels like Liam is the one who understands him and cares for him. Liam knew he cared for North immediately upon taking the job protecting him and it did become harder and harder to ignore them as they worked together. He assures North that yes, he did care for him back then and he does now and that he will be there for him. Despite the circumstances, North is so happy to have Liam back in his life. And now that he’s 21 and truly an adult, they can explore what is between them 🙂
There are other guests at the Chalet and there are some funny moments with them. The owners of the establishment are supportive of both Liam and North. Liam wants North to meet his family though and North is reluctant. Liam obviously hasn’t had an easy time of it after North fired him and he’s got to deal with some animosity from Liam’s sister. But that is short-lived. Ultimately things get better and Liam and North are determined to figure out a future together.
I can’t say that this was my favorite Leta Blake Christmas book, but I did ultimately enjoy this fairly low-angst story of North and Liam’s unusual reuniting romance story. There were a few niggles for me – particularly the disparaging way everyone in North’s life and family in particular call him stupid and an idiot for much of the story. I loved how Liam defended him and cared for him, but beyond that Liam was kind of a flat character for me. Luckily North more than made up for it and I was so happy for him to get his man and have somebody who really had his back. Frankly North’s parents were ridiculous. They cared nothing for their son or his pain. Their only motivation seemed to be how their reputations or their parties were affected. Towards the end, they seemed to finally give a damn, but not enough to really be there for their son – they were happy to outsource that work to Liam. North is a sweet and naive character who makes a huge mistake. It’s clear that he’s never had anyone’s real support, respect or unconditional caring with the exception of Liam and that is the big difference for him. In the end, this couple gets their HEA just in time for a wonderful Christmas.
RATING: 
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