Note: I know the author of this book socially.
As is probably clear from the title, this is a holiday romance in the form of a (free!) short story. It involves a whole bunch of fairly heavy themes (death of a parent, depression, racist and homophobic relatives), but at its heart it's about two friends discovering that maybe there's more than friendship there.
Kev and Andrew are college roommates and best friends, and Andrew invites Kev home with him for Christmas the first year after Kev's mom died of cancer. Kev is out of his element on multiple fronts: Andrew's family is large, and white, and lives in the heart of suburban WASPy Connecticut, and Kev's family had consisted of himself and his mom in Queens, and he's black. He's also gay, and out to Andrew, but he feels completely at sea during this holiday even when it's only Andrew and his immediate family. Things get much worse when Andrew's racist and homophobic Uncle Mike joins the gathering, and more confusing for Kev when he discovers Uncle Mike's homophobia as a result of Andrew coming out as bisexual, which Kev hadn't known before this visit.
Parts of the story are stressful simply because of how accurately they nail the tension and simultaneous boredom and insane busyness of large family gatherings at the holidays, but the friendship between Kev and Andrew is so strong and clear that you never lose the way. It's a classic Christmas romance about two friends finding comfort and love with each other, and well worth reading even in the spring.
Grade: B
As is probably clear from the title, this is a holiday romance in the form of a (free!) short story. It involves a whole bunch of fairly heavy themes (death of a parent, depression, racist and homophobic relatives), but at its heart it's about two friends discovering that maybe there's more than friendship there.
Kev and Andrew are college roommates and best friends, and Andrew invites Kev home with him for Christmas the first year after Kev's mom died of cancer. Kev is out of his element on multiple fronts: Andrew's family is large, and white, and lives in the heart of suburban WASPy Connecticut, and Kev's family had consisted of himself and his mom in Queens, and he's black. He's also gay, and out to Andrew, but he feels completely at sea during this holiday even when it's only Andrew and his immediate family. Things get much worse when Andrew's racist and homophobic Uncle Mike joins the gathering, and more confusing for Kev when he discovers Uncle Mike's homophobia as a result of Andrew coming out as bisexual, which Kev hadn't known before this visit.
Parts of the story are stressful simply because of how accurately they nail the tension and simultaneous boredom and insane busyness of large family gatherings at the holidays, but the friendship between Kev and Andrew is so strong and clear that you never lose the way. It's a classic Christmas romance about two friends finding comfort and love with each other, and well worth reading even in the spring.
Grade: B
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