Reviewed by Morgan
Title: Have Yourself a Merry Little Sexmas
Author: Kate Lowell
Heroes: Carter/Thilo
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 96 Pages
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: December 7, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Carter’s been on his own since he came out at sixteen. He was one of the lucky ones–when coffee shop wages weren’t cutting it and he was on the edge of being homeless again, a kind stranger got him a fake ID and work as a dancer in a strip club. Since then, he’s saved his money, enough for a mortgage on a small fixer-upper of a house. He’s even started thinking about the future.
Given his career choice, the possibility of a normal relationship doesn’t get a second thought.
Thilo, a cute but awkward accountant, has never had his own apartment, never lived away from his family, never had a relationship that went farther than a kiss and a hug. Now he’s a thousand miles away from home, facing his first ever holiday season by himself.
His Christmas present–and Snowmageddon–is about to change that. But while there’s enough heat between him and Carter to melt the polar ice caps, is what they’re sharing just Sexmas or can it be something more?
Review: Carter strips for a living, he’s good at it and it pays the bills. He owns his own house but it’s a fixer-upper. When the furnace blows, he’s forced to consider adding alternate income sources to make ends meet. He’s done the strip-o-gram before, and it’s hard work but it makes cash quick. So…
Thilo has moved to a new town, he loves his job but hasn’t made new friends yet. It’s lonely at Christmas, so his old work buddies send him a strip-o-gram for a present. Little do they know that on the day the present arrives, so will the snow!
Thilo and Carter end up snowed in together for 2 days and end up sharing a lot more than a turkey dinner and some conversation! Thilo is a shy and sweet virgin who inadvertently insults Carter at every turn. Carter is a bit more jaded and experienced and maybe a touch sensitive… but together they just might find more common ground than not.
**
This was well written with very interesting characters. I loved the shy/opinionated/virgin thing Thilo had going on juxtaposed with the jaded “sex worker”. What I didn’t love was the time line. Two days was not enough time to get these guys through their anger/attraction/shyness, etcetera. I wanted to explore their chemistry more slowly, and I really wanted to see their HFN develop more fully.
So… while this showed a lot of promise, it didn’t meet my full expectations.
Overall Impression: It was good
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*