The blurb had me curious about this book, particularly the bit about eight-year-old Adam gets his own back when a bigoted Santa tries to lecture him about his gay dad wanting a new boyfriend. Adam sounded like a great kid, and he definitely didn’t disappoint! I just love kids like that who know what they want, say what they think, and basically get the adults around them to listen because they approach life in such an uncomplicated way, entirely based on common sense. The old boyfriend made daddy cry – so, clearly, he needs a better one. I wish we were all so wise!

Garth trying to "cancel Christmas" is understandable from where he is, depressed about his cheating ex leaving, but he should have known better. When you have children, as he does, you cannot just ignore a major holiday. Luckily he comes to his senses with his mother's "help" as a reminder, and goes off to the mall for some last-minute shopping. The "Santa incident" mortifies him and he fears the worst when a built security guard approaches them, but then Adam becomes the guy's newest friend and "arranges" a date for the men. It made me laugh out loud.

Tony, the security guard who notices the commotion around the "fallen" Santa is the one who goes to talk to Garth, but needs to clarify a few things with Adam first. That whole discussion is just too cute for words, and when Adam ends up asking Tony to be Daddy's new boyfriend, Gareth is embarrassed but secretly hopeful, and Tony is totally with the program.

This is a wonderful and much-too-short story with great characters and a very, very romantic feel to it. I just hope Drew Hunt will write a longer book about Tony, Garth, and his super-cute son Adam! If you like romantic holiday stories, if you enjoy reading about kids for whom life is still simple, and if you're looking for a cute, sweet read with a Christmassy message of hope, then you will probably like this short story. I think it's adorable.


NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
( )