“Then came the healing time, hearts started to shine, soul felt so fine, oh what a freeing time it was.”– Aberjhani
The Healing Power of Eggnog is part of Dreamspinner Press’s Advent Anthology. It was a quick read at only 68 pages. The title refers to the eggnog concocted every Christmas by the mother of one of the main characters.
Will came out to his parents four years ago and hasn’t been home since. His parents were involved with a very strict church at the time and handled the revelation of his sexuality very badly. He has finally worked up the courage to go home for Christmas this year.
Ryan is a young gay man who rents a room from Will’s parents. This comes as a surprise to Will, who only finds out when Ryan picks him up at the bus station instead of one of his parents. Ryan is sweet and cute and Will has trouble making sense of his parents’ willingness to help Ryan out when he was in a bad situation by giving him a place to live. He is jealous of the love and support that Ryan is getting that Will didn’t get when he came out.
Ryan is very attracted to Will and vice versa. The more Ryan learns about the circumstances under which Will left, the more he feels as though he is being used to soothe the guilt that Will’s parents feel about the way they reacted to Will’s coming out.
This was a sweet, short Christmas read. I am a huge fan of Jamie Fessenden, so I was happy to have the opportunity to read and review this story. It left me wanting, though. I felt like there were huge chunks of the story to which I wasn’t privy. There was no way that the things which transpired in two days in that story could really happen. I was pushed past the threshold of my ability to suspend disbelief. Christmas shorts often feel rushed to me, and that was the feeling I got from this one. Another fifty pages and more time passing would have gone a long way to make this story more believable.
You can buy The Healing Power of Eggnog here:
