Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Deck the Fire Halls
SERIES: Hartbridge Christmas
AUTHOR: N.R. Walker
NARRATOR: Glen Lloyd
PUBLISHER: Bluehart Press
LENGTH: 8 hours and 12 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December, 2024
BLURB:
Doctor Robinson O’Reilly is burned out. Exhausted, jaded, and disillusioned with the bureaucracy of his profession, he’s ready to throw away his entire career. Convinced to take a part-time position in a small town instead, he packs his medical bag for Hartbridge, Montana.
Who knows, maybe the change of pace and mountain air will do him good.
Firefighter Captain Soren De Silva moved to Hartbridge two years ago. He loves the town, the people, his job. What he doesn’t like is the lack of queer men. Well, the lack of available queer men. There are a few queer couples in town whom Soren can only look at with envy.
He wants what they have.
There’s a new doctor in town; not Soren’s usual type, but there’s something about him that Soren can’t ignore. A friendship sparks between them and Soren can’t help but wonder if that Hartbridge Christmas magic the others joke about is real.
Because a spark leads to flames, and this is not a fire Soren wants to extinguish.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the fifth book in this series and has major spoilers for all the previous books. If you’re OK with that, the you can listen to this as a standalone.
Rob O’Reilly has moved from his exhausting ER doc job and life in Seattle to the small town of Hartbridge, Montana. He is trying to settle in when the next door neighbor leaves quite early by motorbike. A very loud motorbike! Rob is still half asleep when he steps outside on day 2 to confront the neighbor – who of course is his dream man – tall, dark, handsome, ripped. It gets even better when he discovers the guy is a fireman and works right across the street at the fire station by the medical office 😉
Soren De Silva is attracted to the hot older (well than him) doctor who has moved to town and sqwacks at him in his flamingo rainbow pajamas. Ah, one for his team? Anyway, he decides to be friendly and offers to show the new neighbor the town and the Christmas festivities. He can see that Rob is holding back and is skittish. He’s clearly been through something.
Rob is still trying to decompress. He’s unused to having free time or days off or regular work hours. He’s attracted to Soren, but he hasn’t dated in literally years. He’s honest with Soren about that and they decide to keep things friendly. Surprisingly there are a number of gay couples in town and Soren introduces Rob to the friends group. Things go well but Rob is still a little bit reluctant to jump in.
Soren suggests that Rob do some community work. He volunteers to help at the local youth center that has been set up by one of the other gay men in town. This helps him get out of the house and have something to do in his unstructured time which helpss him also feel more a part of his new community.
When Soren takes Rob to the tree lighting, well the atmosphere is a little bit romantic. Rob wants to pursue something but Soren holds off. Rob things that Soren isn’t interested but he’s really just afraid he’s pushing for too much too fast because he wants to settle down like his lucky friends.
After a very short awkward day, Soren and Rob get back on the same page. The holidays are a special time in Hartbridge and the Christmas miracle that has been active the last several years that has resulted in so many finding their partners is something Soren really wants. But he thinkgs Rob isn’t interested in that.
Things get back on track though and they end up being more than friends 😉 But are they on the same page about potentially being boyfriends and more? They tell everyone they are dating but both are catching feelings. They think it’s too fast though and are both holding back from sharing becuase of the fast pace. But with holidays some some definite things to work through, including a near tragedy to one of Soren’s coworkers. Will this be the push they need?
This is another dellightful story in the fun small town. I really liked both Rob and Soren. Is it a bit instalove? Sure. Is it filled holiday cheer and goodwill? Absolutely. Is there hot chemistry? Of course. This follows the same pattern of a newcomer arriving and bringing love and laughter to a Hartbridge resident. Thorough enjoyable and for fans of the series, I think you will have a great time getting to know these guys.
Glen Lloyd does his usual great job with this series. The accents, the consistency, the emotion and the humor are spot on! He’s a favorite narrator for a reason and this book is another example of why 🙂 Recommended!
RATING: 
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