Review: Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles by Eli Easton

Title: Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles

Author: Eli Easton

Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 50k Words

Category: Holiday Romance

At a Glance: Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles is just about pitch perfect and would be a delightful addition to any Christmas library.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Toby Kincaid loves being the junior librarian in his hometown of Sandy Lake, Ohio. He spends his days surrounded by books and chatting with the library patrons. He especially adores the head librarian, Mr. Miggles, who is kind, witty, knowlegable about everything, and hopelessly addicted to Christmas. Sean Miggles is also pretty cute—especially for an older guy who wears ties and suit pants every day.

But Sean keeps himself at a distance, and there’s a sadness about him that Toby can’t figure out. When Sean is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he gives up without a fight. Toby realizes that he alone can save the library—and their head librarian.

Toby will need to uncover the darkness in Sean’s past and prove to him that he deserves a second chance at life and at love too. And while Christmas miracles are being handed out, maybe Toby will get his own dearest wish—to love and be loved by Mr. Miggles.

Review: I am pretty sure I married the straight version of Mr. Miggles many years ago, and I am here to tell you he is every bit as wonderful as the incredible character author Eli Easton created in her Christmas release, Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles. Tenderhearted, clever and caring best sums up Sean Miggles, who comes across as a conglomerate of every unsung hero ever to grace a Christmas story that has made its mark over the years. Yet, despite the familiar tone, this story is one teary eyed original that left me smiling and sighing with complete satisfaction.

The story is tried and true—poor Mr. Miggles, who has done more for the community, unseen and unknown, runs afoul of a negligent single mom who accuses him of some pretty awful things, and is essentially left hung out to dry by both the town council and law enforcement. In an effort to save the man, his assistant, Toby, slowly but surely discovers more about our Mr. Miggles than he ever dreamed possible, including the fact that he likes him—really likes him—nd wants to see if there is even a chance that the kind but aloof head librarian could possibly like him right back. As the two men grow closer, so does the very real possibility that Sean will end up losing his job and the library will suffer. In true It’s A Wonderful Life-esque style, the town turns out to help—but will it be enough? Especially since there is much more to Miggles than meets the eye, and his past is not as neat and tidy as the man appears to be himself.

What really makes this little gem shine is Eli Easton’s ability to write characters that pluck at your heartstrings, and never stop tugging. Sean and Toby are just magical together—they are nearly a decade apart in age and yet, there are times when it is the younger of the two, Toby, who steers both the fight for saving Sean and their relationship to boot. In that classic turnaround, it is delightful to watch someone as nice as Sean Miggles finally have someone who really wants to take care of him, particularly since he has been doing that job for so many in the town for so long. The slow build in their relationship is just the right pace to keep this story from becoming clichéd or from falling into an insta-love type trope that I feel would have truly damaged this lovely story. I would say the only thing that left me just a bit unsettled was the end—suffice it to say, I will never enter a library again without remembering that portion of this novella.

All in all, Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles is just about pitch perfect and would be a delightful addition to any Christmas library.

You can buy Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles here:
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