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This is the story of two college professors who share an office and not much else – until the holiday season works its magic.
Eric’s semester hasn’t been going all that well. Not only have renovations to the English Department’s physical space forced him to share an office with the department’s newest faculty member, Mike Kistler, his mother showed up at the beginning of the semester with all her worldly possessions and a U-Haul. It’s not that he doesn’t care for his mother, but she’s disruptive. She keeps wanting to honor traditions they never cared about when he was growing up, starting with the giant antique advent calendar she dragged over from her parents’ house in Hamburg.
Eric has a solution, though. He might not have much interest in his mom’s traditions, but his irritating office mate does. He’ll bring Kistler over, and his mom will have someone who cares, and someone to speak German with, and Eric will be left alone to grade papers in peace.
Mike is the rising star of the English Department. He’s worked damn hard to get from homeless teen to young PhD, he’s proud of his accomplishment, and he loves to give back. He likes his work. He could live without his office mate, who’s attractive but stuffier than an overfull burrito. He’s shocked when Eric invites him to help his mother celebrate Advent, but intrigued by the old traditions. And it’s been more than ten years since he’s had anything like a family to celebrate anything with, so he agrees.
Moving from a cramped office to a family setting shifts things for Eric and Mike, and they start to see each other through different eyes. Can they find love, or will old family issues keep them apart forever?
Reviews
In a tale of opposites attracting, an uptight and a “radical” professor battle it out in this festive story about family, professionalism, and the events that might just help bring two lonely men together. Between lots of family drama, bad memories that need replacing with better ones, and a few nice pre-Christmas traditions, both Eric and Mike face unexpected challenges and more than one surprise. There is angst as well as a battle of wills, and I found myself hoping throughout that “professional courtesy” would not win out for once.
Eric is conservative, set in his ways (and that’s an understatement!), and finds it very hard to deal with new situations. An office partner is not something he expected, but to find out that Mike is much younger and a “radical” just makes Eric mad. The situation made me grin – because Eric’s definition of radical is not exactly textbook. All Mike is “guilty” of is displaying the Pride flag in the shared office. However, Eric also has to deal with his mother moving into his condo and disturbing his peace at home by putting up Christmas decorations, so as far as Eric is concerned, he is under attack from all sides.
Mike has fought hard to get where he is. His work as a professor means a lot to him, as does his writing. He is attracted to Eric, who is fourteen years older, and is not at all sure starting a relationship with a coworker is a good idea. But Eric’s mother keeps inviting him over for advent celebrations German style since she and Mike share a common background, so Mike can’t exactly ignore the feelings he is developing for Eric. Both men resist as long as they can, but giving in turns out not to be the solution either. Theirs is definitely a complicated situation!
If you like stories that begin with conflict between the two main characters, if you enjoy reading about different countries’ Christmas traditions, and if you’re looking for a fun read where sparks fly in all directions, then you will probably like this novella.
–Rainbow Books
So, I’m a bit torn about this book. On one hand, I completely adored Mike, he was such a sweet, kind man, who’d put himself through school/college after his grandparents threw him out for being gay and ended up living in the streets and yet he still had that joie de vivre that Eric lacked, despite having had his parents support on most things. Really, the way Eric behaved with his mother at first made me want to clobber him and then to use her as an excuse to avoid his intimacy issues and push Mike away? So not cool, Eric! Grrrr! And then we have the way they made up at the end, frankly, I don’t think Eric deserved Mike’s forgiveness, he didn’t even put in much of an effort after how much of an ass he was to Mike. Ugh! headdesk
I think had the book been a tad longer and had Eric been less, well, himself, maybe my rating would’ve been higher. The story is well-written and I loved Mike and Eric’s mother, I found Mike’s story compelling and I was so happy when his brother found him, but Eric ruined it for me. Oh well, it’s possible it was just me, so try it out and perhaps you’ll think different. Stranger things have happened. 😉
–Bayou Book Junkie
Eric isn’t having to best start to the college year. His mum showed up to live with him, and he’s gotta share his office at work with the new guy in the English department. Now his mum wants Eric to immerse himself in all the Christmas traditions that she did as a child. But Eric is not a holiday person, Eric likes order and peace and calm so to appease his mother, and to get to know Mike, he invites Mike to dinner. His mum will be happy, Mike can talk to her in her native German, and Eric will have his peace and calm. So why does it feel like a storm is brewing inside him, one that might break his heart?
Too stinking cute and warm and fuzzies all wrapped up in some 70 odd pages and I rather enjoyed this!
It’s very well told, from both Eric and Mike’s point of view, and they both have distinctive voices, mostly due to their earlier experiences in life. Eric’s life has been handed to him on a platter, but Mike had a difficult childhood. Sending your child across the world because you prefer your drug dealer is bad enough but what happened to Mike as a teenager is truly shocking.
The attraction between Mike and Eric grows steadily and they come together just the once, which is why I gave it the contemporary tag I did but it’s a sexy book!
I’m not usually one for the holiday stories but while this one is set around Christmas, it’s not shoved in your face on every page! I’m a bit of a Scrooge really!
This is only the second book I’ve read of Speyer and they’ve both been on the short side. I’d like to read something longer, something with more bite. She can write a lot into a few pages, so I’m curious what would happen in a longer book.
–Archaeolibrarian
They say opposites attract but not always. In this book, two college professors, who were thrown together in an office space because they were gay, have to learn to co-exist. People are noticing the tension and Eric feels bad. So he invites Mike over for dinner to break the ice. He never in his life thought he would get along with Mike. They were two different people. Or so it seemed. But the more they get to know each other, the more they seem to like each other. And maybe even more. But both have a few issues and they may not be able to get past them to move on.
For these two, life was rough being gay. For Eric, his parents never accepted it. And it strained his relationship with them. Well that and other things. His father is a humdinger, let me tell you. For Mike, it was being completely cut off from what family had left. His past was already bad enough to give him nightmares before that, but that and what happened after just made like suck. I admire both of them. Mike especially. Mike went through some hell and in spite of being so young, he is a role model for other gay youths. He tried hard to be too. Eric wasn’t out like Mike. Oh, he was out, but he didn’t believe in flashing it so to speak. But I still admire him because he made a decent life for himself. What I really love about these two those, is they were actually so perfect for each other. Mike needs the wisdom of age and such from Eric and Eric needs someone to pull the cob out of his ass once in a while.
A good romance. A bit of angst. And some Christmas miracles you never see coming. A good book.
–Love Bytes