Review: Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings by Nell Iris

Title: Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings

Author: Nell Iris

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Length: 46 Pages

Category: Contemporary Holiday Romance

At a Glance: Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings is a lovely, hopeful example of what Christmas is truly about.

Reviewed By: Jules

Blurb: Christmas is coming, and young couple Casey and Ellis are very much in love. Unfortunately, they’re also the definition of dirt poor, and they don’t have the money for nonessentials like decorations. Or a turkey. Or gifts. Between the recent death of Casey’s beloved momma and Ellis’s estrangement from his family, all they have is each other.

When Ellis finds the saddest-looking Christmas tree south of the Mason-Dixon Line thrown away outside his workplace and brings it home to Casey, things look up. Life is still a struggle, but wealth isn’t always measured in money, and what seems worthless to others is often invaluable to the people who love it.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2017 Advent Calendar “Stocking Stuffers.”

Review: Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings, from this year’s Dreamspinner Press Advent Calendar “Stocking Stuffers,” was very sweet and uplifting. Nell Iris is excellent at writing characters who are struggling in some way or another—whether it’s that they are overcoming some type of adversity or prejudice, or dealing with something like depression—and making them the heroes of their own story. I’ve connected to the characters on some level or another in all three books of her books that I’ve read, including Casey and Ellis in this one.

As the blurb says, Casey and Ellis are dirt poor. They live in a small trailer, and subsist on a very small food budget (thankfully, Casey is extremely creative in the kitchen) and each other’s love. That’s seriously pretty much it. And, now that Casey’s momma has passed, they won’t even have the luxury of the cozy new socks she knits them each year. But, Casey loves Christmas, so not even the prospect of no presents, eating mac and cheese for their Christmas supper, or the sad little tree that Ellis brought home are going to bring him down. I was so touched by how much Casey loved that sad little tree.

“I love you, tree,” Casey mumbled and kissed the sprig he held in his hand, ignoring the tiny prick of needles on his sensitive lips. “If only I had a gift for Ellis to put under you.”

I adored Ellis. He was incredibly sweet and so enamored of Casey. Iris included a childhood flashback in the story, taking us back to a nine-year-old Ellis and a six-year-old Casey, and it was such a nice device to show their connection, and how much Ellis loved and was protective of Casey, even then. They are so happy and in love, despite their financial hardships; it warmed my heart to see how they cared for each other.

Told over the span of three days, and including the previously mentioned flashbacks, Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings is a lovely, hopeful example of what Christmas is truly about, which is being with the ones you love, and appreciating what you have.

You can buy Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings here:
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