Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  A Winter Admirer

SERIES:  A Nymph Solstice Romance

AUTHOR:  Gigi Rivers

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  120 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 24, 2022

BLURB:

An MM fantasy winter holiday novella.

A shy botanist. His secret admirer. Could it possibly be the nymph he pines for?

Edwin knows he is ordinary, plain, and dull. Whilst he usually looks forward to the winter solstice, this year he will be spending the long winter nights alone.

Then Edwin discovers a solstice gift from a secret admirer on his doorstep. Could it be from the mountain nymph, Sinoe with his gentle manner, striking white hair, and silver eyes. But how could boring, bookish Edwin possibly interest the stunning mountain nymph?

REVIEW:

Edwin is a botanist who, after some time in Bordertown with his family, has returned to Ores, the small village in the mountains.  He was never happy in the city.  He loves the village and the forest.  But he’s lonely.  He’s been bullied by a couple that he knew as a young man.  In fact, they are rather relentless.

When he received a rather lackluster letter from his family, then runs into his bullies, he rushes into the woods.  While drawing one of the trees he was studying, a mountain nymph appears who is watching him.  Sinoe introduces himself.  Edwin is shocked that someone so beautiful would pay him any mind.  But as he returns to the forest, Sinoe keeps appearing.  He introduces him to his family and they enjoy spending time together.

Each day in the run up to the Solstice, a gift appears on his doorstep.  He dares to hope that it’s Sinoe who is leaving the gifts.  But can that be real?  Why would the beautiful Sinoe seek out the ugly and dull Edwin?  These of course are the voices in his head and not the real world.  Thankfully those voices are wrong and it’s time for him to realize that 🙂

What a beautiful story of two characters who improbably find each other at just the right time.  Poor Edwin has really been let down by his family and bullied by another couple in the village.  His sense of self-worth is really low 🙁  He’s happiest by himself in the woods looking for and sketching his plants.  Sinoe has observed him but takes a while to approach – it’s like he can tell that Edwin is skittish 🙂  It takes a while for Edwin to realize and accept that Sinoe really does like him.  The meanies in his village do their best to undermine any happiness that Edwin might find.  Sinoe is able to help Edwin understand that his bullies know nothing about him and they are completely wrong about what he has to offer.

This series is just beautifully written.  The description of the village and the people and the nymphs and each character are so perfect.  It was nice to see a cameo from the MCs of the previous book in this series.  I cannot wait for the next one.  This is just a lovely world to visit and set just the right tone for the holiday season.  Recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon