Reviewed by Morgan
Title: Desperately Seeking Santa
Author: Eli Easton
Heroes: Gabe Martin/Mack McDonnall
Genre: MM Contemporary Holiday
Length: 225 Pages
Publisher: Eli Easton
Release Date: November 22, 2017
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Journalism student Gabe Martin gets his first professional assignment—to write about a Christmas charity dinner that benefits a children’s home. It sounds like a total snooze-fest until Gabe learns that the event’s Santa is a mystery man. He shows up in costume and no one has a clue who he is. Uncovering Santa’s identity sounds like the perfect angle to turn a fluff piece into serious journalism.
Mack “The Mountain” McDonall, at 6’10”, is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s enormous star wrestler. When Gabe first claps eyes on him at a wrestling match, it’s lust at first sight. Gabe’s friend, Jordan, sets up the pair on a date. But when Gabe chatters on about his plans for outing Santa, Mack goes cold, and their first meeting becomes an epic fail.
As Gabe researches the children’s home, he learns that Mack has secrets a guy famous for being a brute wouldn’t want the world to know. Can Gabe find his holiday spirit, write a killer article, win the heart of a surly giant, and give everyone a very merry Christmas?
NOTE: This 50,000 word short novel features a new couple but includes Jordan and Owen, from the author’s book “Superhero”. It can be read as a stand-alone.
Review: I do so LOVE Eli Easton’s Christmas stories! One of my all time favorite M/M books is her “Blame it on the Mistletoe” and I’ve adored each offering since then. This was an extra special treat because it’s a spin off from “Superhero” – one of her earlier stories – so we get to re-visit those boys and see how their “HEA” is coming along.
We get lots to love with this holiday story. We get a geek/jock pairing. Awesome! We get college guys wrestling. Awesome! We get a pretty angst-free holiday story. Awesome! And we get some pretty sweet feels mixed with a bit of hot smexy times. Awesome!
The romance is slow burn and the emphasis is absolutely on these two guys learning to trust one another – no jumping in to bed for these guys. There is a moment or two of some internal struggle as Gabe has to decide how to process his journalist integrity with his newfound love – but it’s handled very cleverly and in a way that minimizes the stress.
It was fun seeing the guys from Superhero again and I enjoyed seeing how their HEA was progressing. If anything, the only wish I had was that we would have gotten an Epilogue a bit further down the line for Gabe and Mack. We see their HEA but it didn’t feel as “final” as I’d have loved it to be.
But… this was sweet, fun and a delight to read! Highly recommended!
Overall Impression: I loved it!
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
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