Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: A DIY Christmas Miracle
AUTHOR: Ray Celar
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 168 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 3, 2023
BLURB:
Eli loves swoony romance novels, the cheesier the better. Since his own love life is virtually non-existent, he lives vicariously through his books, fantasizing about what it’d be like if Fate finally coupled him with the man of his dreams, Will.
Eli and Will have been acquaintances for years and so far nothing has happened that would suggest that Will is interested in him – romantically or otherwise. At this point in his currently no-burn love story, Eli is wondering if Fate even exists in order to lend him a hand. Done with waiting for a miracle that is apparently never happening, Eli decides to take hold of his own fate by writing a DIY Christmas Miracle of his own.
The plot is simple: take your Love Interest, aka the man of your dreams, add in a Road Trip by taking a drive to a lonely cabin in the mountains, sprinkle in a bit of Found Family-Vacation Hijinks, with an upcoming Christmas celebration in the cabin with your mutual friends, and mix everything with a heaping help of Forced Proximity via snowstorm.
If it wasn’t for the fact that both of the Main Characters are Oblivious to Love, their DIY Love Story could almost write itself.
REVIEW:
You have to roll your eyes sometimes at Eli. He is a hopeless romantic with a bookcase (and head) full of romance novel scenerios, yet he struggles to make a connection with someone. Namely, Will, a newer member of their friend group who shows no interest in Eli.
Eli made me smile. “I clearly didn’t just have a special fondness for romance novels, but a special fondness for Christmas romance novels.” I get it, Eli, I get it! He reads and rereads his favorites and yearns for that type of relationship. So he did what any head-in-the-clouds person would do: he decides to DIY this snowed in, forced proximity event to make Will fall in love. That’s the plan anyway. We all know plans usually go awry, particularly when you are counting on a snowstorm to make those plans happen.
Eli gets as far as getting his friend group to agree to a Christmas vacation in the mountains. The side characters here, Jack and Cassy especially, are lovely and great friends. The plans are made, Eli gets Will to agree to go with him early to set up, and so it begins. Of course, it can’t be that easy!
Will is lovely, a teacher who’s parents aren’t wonderful. “My parents hadn’t even bothered to invite me over for Christmas because it’d have been impractical for me to fly out to England just to celebrate a holiday I’d long outgrown.” Who outgrows Christmas with the people you love? Just Will’s parents, apparently.
The story is sweet and funny, with a little miscommunication thrown in.
RATING: 
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