Title: Faux Ho Ho
Author: ‘Nathan Burgoine
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Length: 152 Pages
Category: Holiday Romance
At a Glance: Faux Ho Ho is charming, fun, and sweet, everything a Christmas romance should be. And, it’s also a little bit nerdy! Which, in my book, is a bonus.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Silas Waite doesn’t want his big-C Conservative Alberta family to know he’s barely making rent. They’d see it as yet another sign that he’s not living up to the Waite family potential and muscle in on his life. When Silas unexpectedly needs a new roommate, he ends up with the gregarious—and gorgeous—personal trainer Constantino “Dino” Papadimitriou.
Silas’s parents try to browbeat him into visiting for Thanksgiving, where they’ll put him on display as an example of how they’re so tolerant for Silas’s brother’s political campaign, but Dino pretends to be his boyfriend to get him out of it, citing a prior commitment. The ruse works—until they receive an invitation to Silas’s sister’s last-minute wedding.
Silas loves his sister, Dino wouldn’t mind a chalet Christmas, and together, they could turn a family obligation into something fun. But after nine months of being roommates, then friends, and now “boyfriends,” Silas finds being with Dino way too easy, and being the son that his parents barely tolerate too hard. Something has to give, but luckily, it’s the season for giving. And maybe what Silas has to give is worth the biggest risk of all.
Review: The setup is simple: fake boyfriends for the holidays, started as a lie to get someone out of a dreaded family event, but snowballs into a more elaborate ruse. A tried-and-true formula really. But, Faux Ho Ho, Nathan Burgoine’s new holiday release, is anything but formulaic or contrived. The execution is original, and the story is an utter delight. It’s charming, fun, and sweet, everything a Christmas romance should be. And, it’s also a little bit nerdy! Which, in my book, is a bonus. 😊
Silas loves his life in Ottawa (living in Burgoine’s charming fictional queer neighborhood, dubbed the Village). He enjoys his work, hanging out with his friends playing Dungeons and Dragons, and working on Pride March, the queer app he’s nearly done developing. But the thing he loves maybe the most, is that it gives him some distance from his wealthy parents and all their judgy commentary about his life. He doesn’t share their elitist, conservative views; and though they know he’s gay, they wouldn’t understand, or approve of, his colorful, out-and-proud life in the Village.
When Silas finds himself in the market for a new roommate, he’s skeptical when his friend, and previous roommate, Ru, suggests Constantino Papadimitriou. Silas has only met Constantino once, but he can’t imagine it being an ideal living situation. Constantino—‘Dino’ to his friends and family—is a complete jock. What could they possibly have in common? In Silas’s pre-conceived notion of the world, nothing.
In the Silas Waite Venn Diagram of Life, the circles for “Big, Burly Jocks” and “People Who Are Kind to Me” didn’t overlap.
Early skepticism aside, though, Constantino ends up giving Ru a run for his money for the most perfect roommate award. He’s kind, helpful, and fun, and they have an almost immediate ease and amazing rapport. And, when he sees Silas struggling on a Skype call with his folks, trying to talk his way around going there for Thanksgiving, he pops up in front of the screen behind Silas without even thinking, pretending to be his boyfriend, and says he and Silas will be spending the holiday at his family’s. Their reaction isn’t great—which to Silas, is not surprising. The gay thing is only tolerable when it’s boosting the family’s political agenda. They don’t want to actually witness it for goodness sake.
Some cynical part of Silas knew they’d be like this. Going from being a theoretical gay to so much as touching another man in front of them crossed a line they’d never discussed but all knew existed.
Hypothetically gay Silas was okay, so long as he didn’t talk much and showed up for pictures.
Visually gay Silas? Too far.
I love how natural and easy things are between Dino and Silas. Things are so effortless between them, they have almost forgotten about the whole fake boyfriends thing when the wedding invitation from Silas’s sister comes in the mail. Dino convinces Silas that pretending to be boyfriends for a little bit longer is a small price to pay for a vacation at a fancy chalet, not to mention how happy it will make Silas’s sister, who he adores. So away in first class they go.
I don’t want to give away anything else that happens, and I really want everyone to read this fantastic story for themselves, so I’m going to stop the recap stuff there. But, I will tell you that the last quarter of the book completely kicks ass. Burgoine uses an alternating timeline in the story, going back and forth between when Dino first moves in with Silas, and the events leading up to the wedding. It’s a little unconventional, and maybe a bit confusing at first, but it works. It’s awesome to have the backstory as the foundation and the buildup, so that when we’re finally caught up to the present, the reader is fully invested and already totally in love with the guys. I one hundred percent loved how it played out.
This is a must read, guys! It’s utterly adorable. Dino is the absolute best, Si is also fabulous, and there were some fantastic supporting characters, including the gang from the Village who I now can’t wait to read about in Burgoine’s previous stories in this universe. And, I of course have to mention the complete PERFECTION of the cover. Big shout out to Inkspiral Design who totally nailed it. Huge love for everything about Faux Ho Ho!
You can buy Faux Ho Ho here:
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