Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Merry Christmas Cupid

SERIES:  Hartbridge Christmas, Book 3

AUTHOR:  N.R. Walker

NARRATOR:  Glen Lloyd

PUBLISHER:  BlueHeart Press

LENGTH:  7 hours and 1 minute

RELEASE DATE: January 17, 2023

BLURB:

After a year of tragedy, 44-year-old Gunter Zuniga is leaving heartbreak behind and moving to the peaceful and picturesque town of Hartbridge, Montana. He buys an old house in need of some work, which he naively thinks he can manage now that he’s single and retired—he has nothing but time.

Clay Henderson runs the local sawmill with his dad, and it’s the busiest time of year. Firewood and Christmas trees are in high demand, and a delivery of firewood to the old house on Cedar Bark Road leaves him curious about the new man in town.

Clay has never had time for romance and Gunter certainly isn’t looking, but Hartbridge has a way of working its Christmas magic; the jingle of Christmas bells, snow, and love are ringing in the air. And Gunter and Clay are about to get the best Christmas gift they never asked for.

REVIEW:

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m reviewing the audiobook for N.R. Walker’s Merry Christmas Cupid, a sweet confection of a holiday story that’s set at Christmastime but contains all of the hearts, flowers, and schmoopy feels of Valentine’s Day. Gunter Zuniga has retired at forty-four(!) and moves to the small town of Hartbridge, Montana.  After Gunter’s father died the year before, his callous ex-boyfriend dumped him the day after the funeral. Heartbroken and hoping to heal, Gunter decides to wipe the slate clean and start over – new town, new friends, new projects, and nothing but time. So he packs up and heads to Hartbridge and throws himself into a top-to-bottom remodel of a gorgeous old home in disrepair.

Clay drives his way right into Gunter’s heart after delivering a haul of firewood to his house.  He’s immediately taken with Gunter, although he’s thrown off-balance by his unexpectedly strong attraction.  He’s always known he is bisexual but never explored that side of himself or told anyone of his sexuality.  Gunter and Clay are as different as night and day, and there’s a decent age gap between them too. However, they (inexplicably) work as a couple, naturally slotting into each other’s lives, and nothing seems to dissuade them from pursuing this thing developing between them.

The story is endearing, sweet, and funny. There’s no angst to speak of – just a lovely relationship filled with patience and understanding as Gunter and Clay navigate their challenges, like Clay embracing his sexuality, experimenting, and then exposing his true self to his father, best friend and coworkers, and the small town.

Hamish and Ren from the first book, Tic-Tac-Misletoe, and Cass and Jayden from the second book, Christmas Wish List, make appearances here. Jayden and Hamish, in particular, have decent-sized roles in this book as Gunter’s “new” best friends.  If you’ve read Christmas Wish List, you’ll recognize Gunter as one of the guests that stayed at Cass and Jayden’s B&B for Christmas the previous year.  So when he returns to stay at the B&B while his house is under construction, Jayden and Hamish already know him and immediately usher him into their friends group. These two – especially Jayden – are by far the funniest part of this story, especially when they gossip with Gunter and titter like a bunch of high school girls.  Clay’s Dad Cliff is a close second in terms of humor.  I adored his close relationship with Clay and his unconditional support and love for him.  If his fatherly advice strays into the overly intrusive at times … well it’s easy to forgive the well-meaning, loving teasing, and Clay’s embarrassment in response to the double entendres provides tons of laughs.

Like many of Walker’s shorter novels, in Merry Christmas Cupid, she spins out an uncomplicated story that’s fun, heartwarming, amusing, and swoonily romantic, starring expertly drawn, colorful characters within a lovely small town, found family dynamic. 

Glen Lloyd’s narration of this audiobook is highly enjoyable. He’s energetic in his delivery, thoughtful in his pacing, and executes the fundamentals exceedingly well.  He gets the right pitch and intonations for both leading men, as well as the side characters like Jayden.  But where he fully invests Jayden with a twink-attitude and tone of voice, he imparts a similar (albeit slightly less exaggerated) portrayal for Gunter.  Maybe it’s a “me” thing, but Gunter did not read as such a flighty, “twinky” character to me.  It’s not a big issue, but I did feel a bit of a mismatch between Lloyd’s version of Gunter and the Gunter I met in the text.  Lloyd gets Clay just right though, as well as Cliff.  Most importantly, Lloyd’s emotionally invested in the characters and their journey across the storyline.

Overall, this is a very pleasant, warm fuzzy inducing, feel-good listen that puts a smile on your face throughout, has you laughing out loud at many points, and clasping your hands with a happy sigh and “awwww” when Gunter and Clay get the HEA they deserve.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible 

Amazon