Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: To Wish Impossible Things: An MM Holiday Romance 
SERIES: Home for the Holidays
AUTHOR: B. Ripley
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 159 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 5, 2022
BLURB:
Carmichael.
The one last name in all of Hadley, Saskatchewan that can send a chill down my spine. The Carmichaels are rude, loud and dangerous. Everyone in town knows to avoid them, so when my mother lets it slip that she’s hired one of them at her bakery, I can’t help but think that she’s playing with fire. When a fall sends her to the hospital, I head home early for Christmas, unwilling to let all of her hard work fall apart at the hands of a Carmichael.
I didn’t expect him though.
Avery Carmichael is a whirlwind of ridiculous ideas and impossible dreams. Growing up under the shadow of his last name has only made him more vibrant and I don’t know what to do with how he makes me feel. I came anticipating a fist fight and all I’ve gotten are snowballs, sugar cookies and the urge to let him kiss me like I know he wants to.
I’m used to calm, predictable things and Avery is anything but. It’s impossible for me to want him like I do, but beneath the mistletoe, impossible wishes can become real.
Can’t they?
REVIEW:
Avery Carmichael has lived in the same small town all his life. His family lived in a trailer park and his parents made many bad choices. His older brother made even worse choices and is prison. His mother left when he was seven. Avery was outed when he was 15 and that didn’t go well for him either. He’s still trying to make ends meet living in the trailer while his father is now in a care home. He’s got a job working at the local bakery though which he loves. His boss, Suzette Henderson, is both his boss and sort of mother figure. She’s been teaching him the ropes and he’s doing really well. It’s almost Christmas and he’s looking forward to his first Christmas tree and a day of drinking hot chocolate and enjoying the Christmas movies he didn’t get to watch when he was a kid growing up in a rough family.
Suzette, against the advice of both Avery and her son Eldon, decides to put up her Christmas light, falls and breaks her hip. So she ends up in hospital needing surgery. It’s the busiest time of the year for the bakery and Eldon arrives from Regina to help. He is the same age as Avery’s older brother Delray, and he, like the rest of the town, ha no use for the Carmichaels and can’t believe his mother has one employed! He shows up at Avery’s door to bring him his paycheck and he realizes he’s going to need Avery’s help to keep the bakery going, like it or not. But he’s actually quite surprised by what he finds. Avery is sweet and funny and really does do a great job with the baking. He’s doesn’t know everything about Avery’s life, but he does know that he doesn’t deserve the poor treatment he’s been giving in Hadley. And it breaks his heart a little that Avery is so resigned to his fate.
As Eldon and Avery work together, Eldon is determined to help Avery and also stand up for him when he’s being mistreated. He also is very attracted to Avery. He’s only dated women – not successfully – with the exception of one date with a man, which also didn’t go well. He pretty much goes to work and comes home. He doesn’t take vacations, and he likes things predictable. This is the polar opposite of Avery – who’s life has been a rollercoaster ride. They discover they have more in common than they thought though and eventually Eldon can’t stop himself from kissing Avery and the chemistry is fire. This is what he’s been missing! But he has a life in Regina and Avery has his life in Hadley. Can they find a way to make that work?
I almost missed out on reviewing this book and I’m really glad that didn’t happen because it’s a solid and uplifting holiday story that provides a wonderful happy ending. Sometimes we don’t even know what we’re missing until it surprisingly falls into our laps and that’s just what happened to Eldon in this story. He’s sort of plodding along in life, not happy, not unhappy. He’s got a stable, predictable, if busy and somewhat demanding job. He doesn’t really have a personal like or friends. His dating has been largely unsuccessful – and frankly it’s too much bother when he’s just too awkward and uncomfortable. He completely misjudges Avery without every knowing him and he’s quite surprised by what he finds. He cannot figure out how this person came from that family. But he finds out he’s misjudged that as well.
Avery shares with him that it wasn’t all bad – that he did have support and still has the love of his father. Avery has been dealt a really tough hand, but he doesn’t feel sorry for himself and he continues to put one foot in front of the other. He’s got an amazing outlook on life that Eldon is rather in awe of at the end of the day. I loved how he came to feel protective of Avery and made sure he know that he was in his corner. He realize that Avery’s color was what he was missing in his life and he didn’t want to be without it any more.
The secondary characters were also so well written here. Beth, Avery’s school friend and nurse, Suzette, Sherry who owns the cafe, Avery’s father, all have a hand in helping these two men discover the gifts they are to each other. The setting was so well described – winter in Saskatchewan isn’t for sissies 😉 I could even see Avery’s trailer in my mind’s eye. Just a thoroughly enjoyable experience with this book. This is the first book I’ve read from this author but it won’t be the last. If you’re in the mood for an opposites attract story with a dash of overcoming obstacles and a really sweet happy ending, then I think you will really like this one. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
BUY LINK: