Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

Heath called out, “Fine, you made your point, Santa!” Then tipped back his head and stuck out his tongue to eat snow, only for Tristan to kiss him. Heath smiled against his mouth.

A cute little forced proximity christmas book. I was super excited about it early on because it started out a little sad with characters being put through the emotional wringer, and I’m a sucker for sad characters. And although it would be strange if a christmas romance was sad from start to finish, I didn’t love how the switch from downtrodden and sad MCs to OTT cheery and constant banter happened so fast. Sometimes I want dialogue that *isn’t* super witty and full of jokes, you know? Barbara does exactly that so well and the flow of the dialogue and the general humor is a big reason why I love her books so much, but it can be a bit much at times.

Heath was now on top of Tristan, holding his face, rubbing his thumbs down the line of his jaw and still kissing him as if something awful would happen if he stopped.

Overall though, the concept was fun. *My* first reaction to unexpectedly finding a strange man in the house might not be ‘let’s fuck’, but if it works for them, go for it, lol.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Christmas themed
Size difference
Forced proximity
Fast burn
Rebound x2
Edging
Casual to more
Fast feelings

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
MC cheated on by ex
Mention of SC doing drugs (cocaine)
Explicit sexual content
Alcohol consumption (on-page intoxication)
Vomiting
Mention of death of parents (past, car accident)

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: Tristan’s ex shows up and tries to cause problems by making Heath believe Tristan is engaged, but it is cleared up quickly and the ex leaves.
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual
Genre: Holiday romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile, no switching on page
Main characters’ age: 33 and not specified
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 139
Happy ending: Yes


He’d forgotten what the stages of grief were but he was self-indulgently floundering through most of them at the same time. He was all for efficiency.

Heath liked cats but he preferred ones that didn’t hiss at him when he hadn’t even done anything.



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