Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Orc who Hated Christmas
SERIES: An MM Monsters Christmas
AUTHOR: Gigi Rivers
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 196 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2024
BLURB:
A grumpy orc who hates Christmas. A Christmas-obsessed pixie. Can these opposites find love together?
Graal is an orc who hates Christmas. Every year, he spends the day alone in his crappy rented room, haunted by memories of a family who never loved him. He just wishes Christmas and everyone who celebrates it would leave him alone.
Cas is a pixie who loves Christmas. He dresses up in sparkly outfits, calls himself the Christmas pixie, and spreads holiday cheer and pixie dust in the bakery where he works. But this year, his partner cheated on him and then left him. Still, Cas won’t let a broken heart ruin his favourite time of the year.
When Graal steps into Cas’s bakery, Cas is determined that the grumpy orc will enjoy the holiday. Graal is reluctant, but it’s hard to resist the pixie’s charms. As Cas shows Graal the magic of the season, something lingers in the air between them. And it isn’t just pixie dust.
But can a pretty Christmas pixie really love a grumpy orc? And can Cas open his heart again so soon after being betrayed? Or will Graal celebrate another Christmas alone?
REVIEW:
Oh my goodness! Poor Graal has had a rather unhappy life. Mistreated by his mother and then his stepfather and then leaving home as a very young age and just working and living in rather deplorable condition thanks to him being an orc was just so unfair! He’s a hard worker and he doesn’t bother anybody but he’s still shunned by people who call him a monster and run away in fear. His landlord is a jerk of a vampire and the lady who is supposed to be taking care of his water and laundry is even worse. It’s a sad and lonely existence.
When Graal is waited on by the pixie Cas at the local bakery where he buys his break, he is the true embodiment of Bah Humbug! This of course makes Cas sad because Christmas is his favorite time of year. He doesn’t realize that Graal has never had a Christmas or a present or even a family dinner. So of course Christmas is nothing more than a reminder of what he’s never had. Graal does feel bad for bringing Cas down though.
Grall doesn’t know that Cas has just been dumped by a lying cheating no good incubus boyfriend of three years. Cas is doing THE BEST “Fake it til you Make it” Christmas Cheer impression. But the next time Graal is a the bakery, he decides to throw Cas a bone and get some Christmas cookies 😉
Their next interaction is much more amenable. Cas hopes that he will run into Graal at the Christmas market – although Graal has studiously avoided them since people tend to point and run. But they do end up meeting there and Cas really really wants to be with Graal. Graal is shocked but he’s not going to turn down the delightfully delicious pixie 🙂 Cas is putting up a front about his breakup but insists that he’s not looking for a relationship – just some fun.
Everything is going well between Graal and Cas and then Cas discovers truly have terribly Graal has been treated. Then he witnesses it himself at Graal’s apartment. And he gets spitting mad! He stands up for Graal in a way nobody ever has. Oh and that leads to a situationship with Graal’s living quarters 😉
The closer Graal and Cas get and the closer Christmas gets, the more time they spend together and with Cas’s family. Due to a snowstorm that pretty much shuts down the town, there is a lot of alone time to be had 😉 When things finally get back to normal, Cas and Graal miss each other’s company. But they both have unpleasant visits from the past that interfere with their good holiday vibes. Can they work things out? Or will this just be a holiday fling? You’ll have to read to find out.
I am loving this holiday series from Gigi Rivers. She has given us a really fun world filled with all different kinds of creatures. There is so much story to be mined with this large family of witches and their adopted and found family. This is the second story I’ve read and there are more to come. Each couple is interesting in their own right and then there are all the other couples and family that figure into this fabulous group. I love the holiday elements and the found family and mates and just all the characters who a realizing their own worth. There is a lot about how “others” are treated here which I think is such a parallel to the times we are living in. Highly recommended, especially if you’re looking to kick off your holiday reading 🙂
RATING: 
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