Review: Mr. Popsalos by Lisa Worrall

Title: Mr. Popsalos

Author: Lisa Worrall

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Pages/Word Count: 116 Pages

At a Glance: Don’t wait until the holidays come around again! Pick this one up now.

Blurb: Advertising executive and single parent Luke Fisher has grown painfully aware he becomes less dateable the minute he reveals he has a son. Not entertaining any hope of finding love is difficult, but after six years of failed romances, he’s resolved it doesn’t matter. He has all he needs in life: beautiful son, great job, supportive family.

Until two weeks before Christmas, he believed he needed nothing and no one, but that was before he met Jamie Papadopoulos. Jamie is the most attractive man Luke’s ever seen, and one look into his eyes confirms the feelings are mutual. After one amazing night, Luke’s doubts cloud his reasoning, and, deciding to pre-empt heartache, he throws away Jamie’s number, sure he’ll never see him again.

Luckily for Luke, Jamie knows they could be good together, and he is persistent, eventually wearing Luke down. As their one year anniversary approaches, Jamie knows exactly what he wants to give Luke. The platinum wedding bands have been burning a hole in his suitcase in the attic for two months. But before he can say those four life-changing words, an accident throws their well-ordered lives into disarray.

Review: What a delight! I’m so happy that I chose this as my final Christmas story for review. The new reissued version contains both Mr. Popsalos and The Perfect Gift, and I’m so glad I read them both together in one volume. Mr. Popsalos is good, but it was the second part of the book, The Perfect Gift, that bumped it up to that next level and made it great.

Being a single dad has really put a damper on Luke’s dating life. Being Reggie’s father is his greatest joy… But experience has taught him that once potential boyfriends hear about ‘the kid’, they go running. So, it’s no big shock that Luke is gun-shy and reluctant to give new guys a chance. Add in that his mother and his best friend continue to set him up on awkward, and at times painful, blind dates, and the dating future certainly seems bleak to Luke. Until he meets Jamie.

Even their meet-cute at a coffee shop and then a steamy night of sex don’t stop Luke from trying to screw things up with Jamie. Luke still thinks that Jamie will freak out after finding out about his son, so he cuts and runs before he can get hurt again. What he doesn’t count on is Jamie’s tenacity and the fact that he’s Reggie’s “Mr. Popsalos.” Luke has been hearing about Mr. Popsalos for a few weeks, but it’s not until the December parent-teacher conference that he finds out Mr. Popsalos is Jamie Papadopoulos, the new teaching assistant in Reggie’s class. Jamie, seeing that there is something special there with Luke, takes the opportunity to get through to him and turn things around.

Jump forward one year… It’s almost Christmas, and almost Jamie and Luke’s one year anniversary, and Jamie is planning a spectacular surprise for Luke. Life has other plans, however, and a tragic accident puts the little family’s future in jeopardy. I’m not going to go into details about what happens. I’ll let you discover that for yourselves. I will say, though, that this part of the story will play on all of your emotions. It’s at times scary, but mostly beautiful and heart-warming. It is a story about what being a father/parent truly means, and about love. Fabulous.

I can’t end the review without quickly mentioning a couple of other things. First, Reggie is adorable. I’m a sucker for cute kids in stories, and I know many of you are as well. Reggie is wonderful. Second, the story of Luke and Reggie’s mom, Sarah, is so beautifully written. I have to give kudos to Lisa Worrall for making me cry before even 5% of the story had gone by.

Mr. Popsalos is a charming, sexy, feel-good Christmas story that can absolutely be enjoyed any time of year. Don’t wait until the holidays come around again! Pick this one up now.

You can buy Mr. Popsalos here: