Title: We Only Kiss at Christmas
Series: Christmas Collection: Book Two
Author: Con Riley
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 203 Pages
Category: Holiday Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: My love for a Con Riley romance is in the little things: the sincerity, the complexity, and the way each detail serves a lusher, richer, and deeper story.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: All Sebastian Street wants for Christmas is justice. Oh, and some privacy to kiss his flatmate.
Heat shouldn’t sizzle between best friends like it does between me and Patrick. He’s my flatmate, not my boyfriend, a gym-bro powered by peace, love, and understanding. In comparison, I’m a yappy terrier fuelled by rage and sugary baked goods.
Expect a third flatmate to understand our opposites-attract dynamic?
No.
This could be our last December together. Our first alone in this flat.
I can’t share it. Or Patrick.
Not when we only kiss at Christmas.
Review: One of the very many things I love about a Con Riley romance is that there’s always a catch. Not an out-of-nowhere softball that doesn’t fit in the story. This author plays hardball with my softest feelings and somehow catches me off guard every single time. Boom, right in feels, no apologies necessary. And those revelations, both big and small, do nothing but serve the characters in deeper, richer, lusher ways. Some of the fun of this book is also finding the little Easter eggs placed throughout. My favorite Trelawney doesn’t make an appearance in We Only Kiss at Christmas, but the simple mention of his surname made me smile, nonetheless.
Sebastian Street and Patrick Trelawney were introduced in last year’s His Last Christmas in London. They were Ian Fisher’s roommates until Ian met and fell in love with food critic Guy Parsons. Now Sebastian and Patrick are spending their first Christmas together, just the two of them . . . or so they thought. The someone who complicates things isn’t their new foundling, Jack, though. The someone who complicates matters, if we’re being honest, is Sebastian himself. If he and Patrick only kiss at Christmas, then why does Seb want to maul Patrick’s mouth the rest of the year too? That’s the gift that keeps on giving, because Patrick feels the same way; only he’s willing to wait for however long it takes for Seb to realize that Patrick is patient and a forever sort of man. Patrick has been counting down to their next kiss for a whole year, and he makes sure Sebastian knows it was worth the risk to prove their future together will include a lot more. No mistletoe required.
My appreciation for this author’s storytelling is in the little things: Patrick’s background, his specialized challenges, the way his family loves him. Sebastian’s background is of an entirely different sort where family is concerned. He hasn’t been without loving care and guidance. It’s simply that despicable political policies robbed him of that comfort and need to belong to someone. Something he longs to correct. He may growl and snap, but deep down it comes from a place of self-preservation and, more often, from a place of caring. He and Patrick may be opposites in the way they face life and its myriad challenges, but together they are ready to face the world and everything that comes their way. With a little help from their friends and family, of course.
The lead-in to next year’s Christmas romance is served through the loveable Jack, whom Seb and Patrick inherit by way of Sebastian’s magnificent temper and Jack’s subsequent firing. Jack arriving on their doorstep, cold and alone and at a rather inopportune moment, doesn’t endear him to Sebastian straight away, but the growth of their connection comes with all the kindness and caring I expect from this author. The tease is who Jack’s love interest will be, which no doubt promises something lovely.
Best friends falling in love is the easiest thing Sebastian and Patrick did. Admitting it is the only real complication in their friendship, but finding the courage to take that one giant leap makes their romance soar.
You can buy We Only Kiss at Christmas here: