Christmas Reads and Recommendations – week 5 of 6

This week’s reads and recommendations

Nicky James – Matrimonial Merriment (Valor and Doyle Mysteries #7)

Quaid Andrew Valor and Aslan Ronan Doyle cordially invite you to be an honorary guest as they join their lives in matrimony. The ceremony is set to take place at Strongwind Castle on December 23rd. Save the date!

Time is short. Quaid has less than three months to plan the wedding of his dreams. A wedding that happens to land two days before Christmas. Don’t be fooled. It is not a Christmas wedding—at least not if Quaid has anything to say about it.

The wedding binder is fat and the list of things that need to be done is long, so when the department decides to implement a mandatory team-building Secret Santa event that will take up every one of Quaid’s available Saturdays, he is livid. There is no time for nonsense on his tight schedule.

When Aslan sees what the stress is doing to his fiancé, he calls in the cavalry to help plan the wedding. What could possibly go wrong with Ruiz and Torin on their side?

Relationships grow deeper. Friends and family come together to celebrate. And Quaid and Aslan finally tie the knot.

**Matrimonial Merriment is the seventh book in the Valor and Doyle series. Unlike the other books, this one does not contain a mystery and is wholly focused on our two favorite detectives finally getting married. It was meant as a bonus book but somehow came in at over 100k words. Oops. More of them to love.**

https://geni.us/NJ-MM

Release: Out Now, KU

Tags: Wedding

My Review: Not a Christmas story (or so Quaid says) – loved this book but it’s NOT a standalone 🙂

---

Lane Hayes – Holiday Crush (The Elmwood Stories, Book 3)

The hockey has-been, the barista, and some holiday magic…

Court

Cut from the team, fired my agent…now what?

This can’t be it for me. I need a new agent and a new team stat. Unfortunately, the phone isn’t ringing. My best bet is to head home for the holidays and regroup.

I can help out at the rink and visit the guy who owns the coffee shop next to my family’s bakery. No, no, it’s not what you think. Ivan and I went to school together. We’re acquaintance-friends…nothing more.

But you know, I like him. A lot. He’s funny and relentlessly upbeat. I’m a better person when I’m with him—the kind who volunteers to deck the halls and wrap garland on lampposts and—

Whoa. What is happening here?

Ivan

I spent my formative years mooning over Court Henderson, our high school’s hockey phenom even though he was out of my league. Thankfully, I grew up and left silly remnants of my youth behind. Good thing ’cause he’s grumpier than I remembered.

He’s also going through a tough time and if I can be a friend to him, I will ’cause under his gruff yet extremely fine exterior, he’s a good soul with a huge heart. He’s charming, sweet, handsome, and—uh oh.

My crush is back. Just in time for the holidays…

Holiday Crush is an MM bisexual, small town romance featuring a renewed ancient crush, some mistletoe latte art, and a little seasonal magic.

https://geni.us/LH-AHC

Release: 10/12/2023, KU

Tags: Friends to Lovers, hockey, small town

My Review: Loved this story – recommended

---

Lee Blair – Mistletoe Kisses (Dare Me Christmas Duo book 1)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…until you get laid off.

The fastest way to trigger my anxiety is losing my job at the holidays. Fortunately, I can always count on my platonic bestie to keep me grounded. Except our commiseration drinks lead to planning pre-Christmas vacays for each other, so instead of grounding me, my bestie sends me flying to Dahlia Springs, Oregon. 

Did I mention we each have to complete a dare? Mine is to meet the side of my family who has no idea I exist. 

On my first day in town, a hot sauce mishap gets my chestnuts roasting like they’re in an open fire. But Lucas, my server in shining armor, comes to my NSFW rescue. And instead of just handing me my bill and wishing me a happy holidays, he becomes my jingle bell rock while I try to work up the courage to tell my family who I really am. 

Soon my gratitude turns into deeper feelings for Lucas, and I don’t want to imagine facing the new year without him. 

But I have a life back home, and it would take a Christmas miracle to let me stay in Dahlia Springs. 

Or maybe it would just take a dare.

Mistletoe Kisses is a low angst M/M romance full of small-town holiday cheer with a vacation romance, opposites attract, and forced proximity. It’s half of the Dare Me Christmas Duo, but each book is a standalone romance. If you’ve read other books in Lee’s Dahlia Springs universe, like 24 Dares of Christmas, you’ll recognize some beloved characters.

https://geni.us/mk_preorder

Release: 22/11/2023, KU

Tags: small town, Vacation romance, Forced proximity, Low Angst, Opposites Attract

My Review: I love this book… it has a bookshop (check), romance (check), coffee (check) and a gorgeous Christmas vibe. Recommended.

---

Ellie Thomas – Christmas Below Stairs

At the age of twenty-three, Joseph Paul has come a long way from an abandoned foundling to the dizzy heights of a position as a second footman in London’s Bedford Square. But Joseph doesn’t want to remain in service forever and harbours ambitions to be his own master.

Eli Turner might have become a valet by his thirties, but he is weary of his profession and lacks direction. He can’t even summon the energy to seek out a new position in a more prestigious household.

Under ordinary circumstances, working as servants for the same family, these two men might not have the chance to exchange more than a few words, let alone confide their feelings. But when they both remain in the virtually deserted townhouse over Christmas, they take the opportunity to talk as equals and explore their mutual attraction.

Is this just a short-lived holiday fling? Or might it be the start of a long-standing romance?

https://books2read.com/u/4jENVj

Release: 10/12/2023, KU

Tags: Friends to Lovers, forced proximity, vacation romance

My Review: Next up on my TBR!

---

Brina Brady – A Daddy for Christmas: Daniel 

Daniel is in a tight spot. He needs a job as soon as possible to pay for his rent and his motorcycle loan. He loves dancing, but he has a bad habit of flirting with everyone he meets. He lost his last gig at a nightclub because he couldn’t stop flirting and dating his co-workers and customers. He wants a daddy boyfriend more than anything, but he knows he must focus on his career first. He swears to himself that he will stop dating and just dance at his new job at the Glitter Box Club, a notorious gay hotspot for the rich and powerful.

Mr. Baranov is a cold and ruthless man. He runs the Glitter Box Club with an iron fist, and he doesn’t tolerate any mistakes from his employees. He is also a member of a notorious Russian mob family, and everyone in the city knows better than to cross him. He has no interest in romance or commitment. He only dates the dancers at his club for fun, and he makes sure they know it’s nothing serious. He never expects to feel anything for anyone until he saw Daniel Sparks dancing on the bar top.

Their problem: Secrets and enemies threaten to ruin Daniel and Mr. Baranov’s lives, but their irresistible attraction to each other makes it impossible to break their bond.

During the Christmas holidays, Mr. Baranov creates an online auction for employees to bid on gifts. Though the delivery is flawed, it brings about unexpected surprises.

Daniel is part of A Daddy for Christmas, a multi-author series. All the books are standalones, but each Daddy has a unique gift for his wonderful boy (or boys). Except all boys know that sometimes Santa gets it wrong, and it’s going to take a very special Daddy to make it right. So why not stay and read them all?

https://geni.us/BB_ADFC

Release: 10/12/2023, KU

Tags: Hurt Comfort, Age Gap, Russian Mob Boss, Daddy/ Flirting Dancer Boy, Hurt/Comfort, Spankings, Forced proximity, Mixed-up Xmas Deliveries, Surprises

---

Aria Grace – A Little Christmas: Travis’s Secret (An MM Age Play Christmas Daddy Romance)

Travis is always the trusted and reliable one. He’s there for anyone who needs him, gives up his weekends to donate time to several charities, and is always the designated driver so other people can have fun and still get home safely. But he has a secret that he can barely admit to himself. There is no way he’ll ever be able to admit it to someone else…even if that means he’ll never truly be happy.

Joey has been supervising scenes at Primal, the local kink club, for years. But he’s never connected with anyone who was right for him. And he’s coming to terms with the fact that he probably never will.

By a stroke of fate, he meets Travis and can instantly tell what he truly needs. The trick is to get Travis to admit to them both.

https://geni.us/AG-ALC

Release: 10/12/2023, KU

Tags: Hurt Comfort, Daddy/Boy, Age Play

---

Have You Read?