Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: The Humbug Holiday
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
NARRATOR: Michael Dean
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 3 hours and 50 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 12, 2022
BLURB:
Two grumpy bears and a holiday season neither will forget…
Joe
So this sexy silver fox rolls into my small New England town and buys a run-down old house in need of renovation. That’s where I come in. My job is to do some basic repairs, so he can write in peace. Yep, the hotshot is a best-selling author, but that’s not why I recognize Cameron Warren.
No worries, I won’t let a one-night stand make things awkward. I could use the work, but is he seriously asking me to help him buy a Christmas tree too?
No way.
Cameron
I’m a good-natured guy all year long, but I have to admit…. I hate the holidays.
There. I said it.
This season, I’m hiding away on the opposite side of the country in a picturesque village. My family isn’t excited about my decision, and the only way to assure them I’m fine is to deck the darn halls. Or hire someone else to do it.
The handyman might not be the logical choice for an elf, but his grumpy act makes me smile. Which makes me think the holidays might not be so “bah-humbug” this year after all.
The Humbug Holiday is a bisexual, age-gap romance featuring two grumpy bears who find unexpected magic and learn to embrace everyone’s favorite time of year!
REVIEW:
Lane Hayes has hit on a new (or at least unusual) trope – the grumpy/grumpy romance. Joe and Cam are both grouchy grinches who dislike the holiday season. Decorations? Festivities? Bah-humbug. Cam hires Joe as his contractor to fix up the drafty Victorian mansion he’s living in while he tries to get away from the distractions of the holidays to write. Ironically, when thrown into each other’s orbits, they learn that there are things much better than isolation and loneliness. They discover that the holiday season is the perfect time to fall in love.
This is a slow-burn romance done in the way Hayes does best – the two men take time to get to know each other, to feel comfortable and trust each other. While the time frame for their relationship is collapsed into the brief period of the holidays, it feels longer because Hayes knows how to develop relationships organically. Joe and Cam’s romance feels authentic, and I loved that despite an age gap, both men are older, mature protagonists who have lived a good amount of life and experienced a good amount of pain through their journey. They have perspective and recognize the rarity of deep, abiding love. They know how to cherish something good once they find it, and allow themselves to accept it. Additionally, here they are surrounded by a lovely supporting cast of characters, including Joe’s mother and friends, Cam’s aunts and manager, and the quirky small townsfolk. They provide humor and found family to support them as they negotiate their burgeoning feelings and how it impacts the life they had resigned themselves to. Did I mention that they have great chemistry? Yeah, there’s that too. 🔥🔥🔥
Hayes uses a number of different narrators for her audiobooks, but here she returns to Michael Dean, who did an excellent job narrating her Out in College series. Dean is a highly talented voice actor who is dynamic in his performances. Here, he’s engaged in the storyline and gives an invested performance of Joe and Cam. The variation in his pitch and timbre for these men is apropos, and he clearly understands their personalities and emotions in any given scene. Dean takes a sweet, funny, low-angst holiday story and makes it even better.
While the story and audio are shorter than Hayes’ full-length novels, The Humbug Holiday packs a lot into the four hours of listening. The storyline isn’t complicated or overdone, yet it keeps you engaged and makes an impact with Joe and Cam’s warm and fuzzy HEA.
Overall, The Humbug Holiday is a delightful, feel-good holiday story made into an easy listen by Hayes and Dean. It’s a welcome way to spend a few hours amongst holiday decorations and seasonal cheer.
RATING: 
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