Reviewed by Ami
Title: Tis the Season
Author: Alex Jane
Heroes: Aaron/Dylan
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 87 Pages
Publisher: Alex Jane
Release Date: October 21, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Aaron has spent the past ten months alone. When he meets a sad, yet strangely familiar man on a cold Halloween night, he impulsively invites him home. But the intimate connection they share lasts only until morning. Aaron wakes up alone—wracked with guilt and devastated to have lost his chance.
Or so he thinks.
Thanksgiving brings Aaron another shot at happiness, but letting go of an old love and accepting a new one isn’t as easy as everyone keeps telling him. And by the time Christmas Eve rolls around, it becomes clear that Aaron’s not the only one struggling to let himself love again.
Christmas miracles are all well and good, but it’s going to take more than the Holiday Spirit for Aaron to get his happy ever after.
Review: This novella covers three important holidays in the span of three months … Halloween, when Aaron first meets Dylan on the bridge, thinking that the younger man was going to jump. Then Thanksgiving, when Aaron meets Dylan for the second time and joins Dylan’s family for Thanksgiving dinner. And finally Christmas.
All throughout, the two men are trying to define and work on what they have – I mean, yes they are attracted to each other but Aaron has only lost his husband ten months prior and Dylan recently lost his boyfriend and his job. Both have some healing of their own to do. So despite the short time span, I actually didn’t feel that it went too fast. I quite liked the progress of their romance.
I felt that I didn’t know Dylan enough, though. For me, he isn’t as well developed as Aaron. But it might be because the story is written solely from Aaron’s perspective. I also wish that some of their scenes aren’t just summarized – I wanted to read their conversations, to make me feel more connected to them as characters.
Nonetheless, I still liked it. Yes, it was a short-length novella. Yes, there were things I wish were extended. However, in the grand scheme of things, I thought it was sweet, tender, and hopeful.
Overall Impression: I liked it
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
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