Reviewed by Valerie 

TITLE:  His Last Christmas in London   

AUTHOR:  Con Riley

PUBLISHER:  Figment Ink

LENGTH:  169 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 17, 2022

BLURB:   

Falling for his final client won’t make leaving London easy…

Ian ~ A talented, young photographer desperate to stay in London.

Guy ~ An older, fierce food critic, determined to keep him in his city.

Ian shouldn’t be attracted to a scathing food critic like Guy Parsons, not after the last time he fell for someone older, arrogant, and gorgeous. He knows better than to let dramatic good looks sway him since his last heartbreak. Besides, he’s accepted a new job at the far end of the country and won’t be staying in London.

Having one month left doesn’t seem enough now Ian’s fallen in love with the city. Working as Guy’s photographer for December might help him afford to stay for longer, even if he hates Guy’s brand of restaurant reviewing. When Guy turns out to be worlds away from the last man Ian fell for, shared meals soon result in shared secrets and feelings.

More than attraction sparks between them as Christmas approaches. Intimate moments lead to intense passion, but is being well matched in the bedroom enough to stop the clock counting down to Ian leaving London, and Guy, for good?

♥ Steamy, snarky, and sweet, His Last Christmas in London is an utterly British, low-angst, age-gap, workplace gay romance set in London and Cornwall. ♥

Celebrate the holidays with a lovely long novella full of heartfelt hurt/comfort and second chances from Con Riley, author of the much adored Charles: Learning to Love.

REVIEW:   

Oh my, this book! His Last Christmas in London is e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! I love it so, so much. It hits all the right notes for an enchanting Christmas book, complete with a sprig of mistletoe that incites their dizzying, scorching-hot first kiss, or as Ian puts it, “pressure-washing a stranger’s tonsils.” This is a sweet, lighthearted book chock full of adoration, humor, and warm fuzzies. What makes Con’s stories so special, though, is the deeper meaning to her words. Beneath the gorgeous romance is a lesson on first impressions and honesty.

Up and coming photographer, Ian Fisher, is not ready to leave London and return to his home in Cornwall, but after being fired by Lito, an unscrupulous, manipulative, louse of a photographer – “an STI waiting to happen” – he’s down on his luck and running out of money. With less than a month left in London, he takes one last job from Lito – filling in for him photographing a restaurant critic known for his contemptuous reviews that eviscerate the restaurants he features in his Worst Meal of the Week column. “His literal job is being a bastard who dishes out criticism.” Ostensibly.

Ian hates Guy Parsons before he even meets him. He’s brutally honest with his first impression of Guy, telling the wanker to his face that he’s a few choice words I can’t repeat. But Ian can’t deny this man nearly twice his age is beautiful and intriguing:

“He’s exactly my type, from his hair to the way he looks down his nose at the menu. Order from it? He looks as if he’s more likely to spank someone with it.”

As they dine their way around London, critiquing and snapping pictures, Ian gets a lesson on the fallacy of first impressions. He continually needs to redefine Guy as he peels away the layers of his food critic persona – seemingly that of a reviled monster. Through the camera lens, Ian captures the many aspects of Guy, each snapshot contributing to a complex picture of the man he now respects: kindness, charity, altruism, dependability. A friend to many, honest above all else. Guy insists he’s only ever truthful in his reviews, and that honesty is a gift. Ian knows that cameras lie but he strives to always find the truth in any situation.

The men build up a hunger as they get to know each other and become intimate. There are sexy times and intimacy beyond the sex, like when they slow dance without music or when Guy thoughtfully wraps a scarf around Ian’s neck on a cold day. There’s teasing and snark and fun. Despite their differences in age, status, and life stage, they give and take as equals. They have an affinity for each other.

“There’s no stopping this level of want, this need that makes my heart hammer. It’s intense. I grab one of his hands, dragging it down from my chest to my pelvis so he can feel what he does to me, scoring myself another exhale from him across my ear that every nerve inside it leaps at.”

As the clock ticks down on his return to Cornwall (and I shed more and more tears) Ian’s no longer the naïve young man he was when he arrived in London. He has grown professionally and personally and has learned his worth. He knows he needs to live in the moment because there aren’t many left with Guy. And just maybe he falls in love.

Ian’s roommates, Seb and Patrick, are compelling side characters, as is Guy’s dear friend, Robin, and Ian’s mom in a brief appearance. There are also delightful cameos from some characters in Con’s Learning to Love series.

Gah! I fell in love with this #bestcoverever (right??) Anyone who knows me knows I love Con Riley’s book covers This one had me drooling and immediately made this one of my most anticipated books of the year. As soon as I got it I chucked everything else aside and inhaled it. As of this writing, I’ve read the book three times. I was instantly transported to London, a city I love. I’ve even been there at Christmastime and Con captures the essence perfectly. It’s her poetic imagery that brings this vibrant city alive:

“Stay for all her hustle and bustle contrasting with secretly quiet corners. For all her sharp, unforgiving edges hiding soft surprises. For the passion around every corner that gets my heart thumping and also shatters it— like now.”

I would happily read 500 more pages of Ian and Guy’s romance. That’s not to say I feel this novella is too short, rushed, or incomplete; it’s actually an ideal length. This book is enchanting. It made me feel like I was snuggled into a warm cocoon as I read. And the epilogue, set six months in the future, provides a heartwarming happily ever after. I’m so thankful for this epilogue. I just can’t get enough of these men, and I bet you can’t either.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon