Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Holiday Heart Strings
SERIES: Hartbridge Christmas
AUTHOR: N.R. Walker
NARRATOR: Glen Lloyd
PUBLISHER: Bluehart Press
LENGTH: 9 hours and 15 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2024
BLURB:
Englishman Braithe Branson arrives in Hartbridge, Montana, to take on a brief substitute kindergarten teacher position. His introduction to the sleepy town is being pulled over for speeding. Not an ideal start, but at least the deputy was cute.
Colson Price takes being a deputy very seriously. After all, his job is all he has. Disowned by his family ten years ago, he’s vowed to stay closeted so it won’t cost him everything all over again. But the holidays are tough for Colson, and the new guy in town is far too tempting. With a promise of some very private no-strings encounters on the downlow, he can’t resist.
Braithe is charmed by the handsome deputy, the gorgeous town, and the great group of friends he meets. But as the countdown to leaving gets closer, the more tangled the ‘no strings’ becomes.
REVIEW:
Braithe Branson is a cute twinky teacher from England who is living in the US for a couple of years. He’s got a visa and has been taking on teaching jobs. His arrival in Hartbridge for the holiday season to cover a Maternity Leave of the local kindergarten teacher is something he’s really looking forward to. The scenery is spectacular and the town is adorable and very festive. He even gets off with a warning when he is so busy sightseeing and singing along to Kylie Minogue that he ends up speeding into town 😉
Colson Price has been in Hartbridge for 5 years and as the Sherriff’s deputy for 4 of those. He’s very guarded and keeps to himself. He finds the new teacher very attractive, but he’s so far in the closet he can see Narnia. He’s already lost his entire family who threw him out and his first job in Law Enforcement didn’t work out so well either. The job is all that he has and he’s terrified of losing that and his work colleagues. He just can’t start over again.
He keeps on running into Braithe around town – not so unusual as it IS a very small town. He finds his mood lifted every time he does though. Then he offers to take Braithe shopping in a larger town close by on a Saturday. What??? Why did he do that? Well because he likes Braithe.
Braithe has never been in so he hasn’t had to come out, but he feels for Colson who freezes up when any of the other queer men in town are around or suggest that he join them. He’s terrified of being found out and losing everything. Braithe understands and doesn’t make a big thing about it. Braithe’s time in Hartbridge has an expiration date, so they agree to a no strings friends with benefits arrangement.
They don’t park their cars at each other’s homes. They don’t go out in town together. It’s very much on the DL. The rest of the queer guys in town aren’t buying it. They have suspected that they had something in common with Deputy Price before, but it’s clear he’s a deer in a headlight when they try to include him in their circle.
The Sherriff is like a father to Colson and when it’s obvious something is going on with him, the Sherriff lends a sympathetic ear. He doesn’t care that Colson is gay. But there still things that don’t go to smoothly. Braithe is there to help settle Colson and support him. So are the other guys in town and when it comes down to it, there are a lot more folks in Colson’s corner than he knows.
This is another lovely holiday romance from N.R. Walker set in the fictional small town of Hartbridge Montana. Brathe and Colson an adorable opposites attract couple. Braithe is a real ray of sunshine for Colson. Slowing Colson comes to understand that he’s worthy of love and it should not be conditional on his orientation. I loved seeing the rest of the town come to support Colson. There are some funny moments in his coming out story too – so it’s not all stress and tears and anxiety.
Glen Lloyd does a bang up job with this performance. There are a bunch of accents here that he nails. The consistency in the voices from previous books is also spot on. He really was able to imbue Colson with the right emotional tone of his stress and fear and anxiety and well grief over his past. Braithe really is a delightful breath of fresh air in this performance. A wonderful job by a favorite narrator. Recommended.
RATING: 
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