✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ 4-STAR ✩ REVIEW ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

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Illustration design of two men walking with their backs to the viewer, winter landscape background. Synopsis sounds entertaining. Strong fonts, good composition.

> > Looking Deeper < <
POV ~> Third Person

Grouchy, Grinch-like 46-year-old Army Master Sergeant, Nick, is in his last month of service as an MP when he is wrangled by his CO into posing as Santa for a few events in a nearby small town.
Outreach Resource center director, Teddy, is an energetic, charming 28-year-old that loves his town, the people in it, and LOVES the Holidays. Together, they need to fulfill “Santa’s” obligations and raise enough donations for the various holiday programs that Teddy provides through the center.
Nick is stoic and stubborn; feeling too old, washed-up, and many other self-doubting things, believing Teddy deserves much more than he’s capable of giving. Teddy is cautious in most things but wants Nick, consequences be damned. He may be young but he’s mature and knows what he wants and refuses to play games or be coy about it.
Though the relationship developed at a steady pace, I had a difficult time bonding with these guys. I’m not sure if it was the “Dad/Son” age difference (Annabeth Albert has used the age-gap storyline frequently recently) or if it was all of the dang over-analyzing/exhausting internal monologuing – even during SEX! I just did not feel their connection, at all.
The secondary cast was alright but, at times, some of it felt “over the top” or unnecessary. The story in and of itself was okay for a holiday story, I would have liked to have read more antics of Nick fulfilling his Santa duties. Some parts of the story felt like déjà vu, that I’d read that somewhere before. Writing quality was very good and the pages flowed smoothly. The conflicts were all fairly easy to resolve and would not have been an issue to begin with if the men had better communication skills, with each other and others. Predictability was low. The conclusion is solid enough to be satisfying.
Overall, I’d have to say that this was not one of my favorite books from this author but it was well-written and still entertaining.
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Rating: [R] ~ Score: 3.85 ~ Stars: 4
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⭐ ⭐ **** Disclosure of Material: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the Author/Publisher with the hope that I would voluntarily leave unbiased and unsolicited feedback. I was not asked, encouraged, or required to leave a review - nor was I compensated in any way. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising". ***** ⭐ ⭐