Title: A Kiss Before Christmas
Author: A.E. Ryecart
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 103 Pages
Category: Contemporary, Holiday Romance
At a Glance: Overall this was a sweet Christmas story that turned out to be an evening well-spent.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Christmas is looming and Jack De Lacy needs a solution to one hell of a fix.
Dumped by his boyfriend in favour of his best friend, Jack’s been busy bragging about a hot new man in his life.
A hot new man who doesn’t exist.
With an important function to attend where he’ll come face-to-face with his ex, Jack knows he’ll be a laughing stock when his boasts are exposed as nothing more than wishful thinking. He’s desperate but time, like his options, is running out.
Rory Kincaid is scared he won’t last another night sleeping rough on London’s frozen, snowbound streets. With all the homeless shelters full, Rory seeks refuge in the first empty doorway he stumbles across.
Finding Rory shivering in the sub-zero temperatures, Jack can no more send him away than kick a puppy out into the cold. A shower, shave and hot drink later, the grubby street kid is transformed into a beautiful young man.
As the attraction between them grows, so does a plan that will get Jack out of the mess he’s in and give Rory a warm, safe home for Christmas. Sweet and adorable, Rory will make a great fake boyfriend for the festive season – the problem is, neither Jack nor Rory is sure where make-believe ends and truth begins.
Review: Jack De Lacy is in quite a state when we first meet him. As the blurb tells us, he’s been dumped by his boyfriend of three years, and to add insult to injury, it’s because his ex and his now former best friend have taken up together. He’s down in the dumps, grousing at the office holiday party, and everything he has always loved about Christmas and the holiday season now seem forever soured. Things are about to take another unexpected turn, though, when he stumbles across a young homeless man bedding down for the night in his building entry.
Back to back to back misfortunes have landed Rory on the streets. He doesn’t know how he’s even made it the few months he has, let alone how he’ll last through the winter sleeping out in the cold. But his luck finally changes when he ends up in Jack’s doorway, and finds himself being treated like a person for the first time in a while, and being enveloped in kindness. I absolutely adored Rory. And, though there were a couple of times I wanted to shake both of them, for the most part I enjoyed the slow build up of the story.
Someone recommended this book to me on a post I made looking for holiday stories—I’m a huuuuge sucker for holiday romances—and I’m so glad I decided to give it a go. When done well the fake boyfriend trope can make for a great story, and it’s done pretty well here; though, there is technically only one scene in which they actually have to fake a relationship. I also loved the snowy London setting, and some of the festive Christmas activities and shopping the guys did together. Overall this was a sweet Christmas story that turned out to be an evening well-spent.
I also wanted to quickly give kudos to whoever found the cover model for Rory. Some cover models are so overused (cough model on the right of this cover), I imagine it can be difficult to come up with fresh faces. But, the model for Rory is absolute perfection.
You can buy A Kiss Before Christmas here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B07K7TWYV1?d” style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]