Series: Lighthouse Bay #1
Publisher: self-published
Release Date (Print & Ebook): November 29, 2018
Length (Print & Ebook): approx. 65,000 words
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Tropes: May/December, small town
Cover design: Jay Aheer at Simply Defined Art
All buy links or pre-order links:
Amazon: http://geni.us/XmasLane
iBooks: http://geni.us/XmasLaneApple
Synopsis:
It’s recent college graduate Zach Greenfeld’s favorite time of the year and he’s just received a temporary gig planning Lighthouse Bay’s Christmas parade. Not only does it speak to his penchant for organization, it also puts him face to face on a daily basis with his unrequited crush—Holland Stone. But his new job starts off in disaster when the most important float—Santa’s sleigh—gets damaged.
Holland needs to win the Lighthouse Bay Christmas parade float competition in order to grow his new dollhouse-making business. The prize is an article in a major city newspaper, and nothing beats free advertising. Except, eager to help the adorable parade organizer, he volunteers to help fix Santa’s sleigh, leaving no time to work on his own float, and putting his prize at risk.
Damaged floats, snowstorms, and a last-minute parade emergency force Zach and Holland closer than ever. All they need is a little bit of Christmas magic to help them realize they belong together.
Excerpt:
Holland dragged a thumb over Zach’s cheek, causing Zach to break out in chills, and lowered his head again.
Zach met him halfway this time, and it was…perfect. Sweet. Disney-channel worthy tame. Just lips against lips and breathing each other in.
Until Holland tilted Zach’s head, slanting their mouths together, and probed at the seam of Zach’s lips with his tongue.
Zach opened, a combination of excited, anxious, and curious. But, to his surprise, Holland didn’t swoop in and take over. He coaxed. He teased. He seduced.
One hand settled at Zach’s lower back, drawing him in, snuggling their bodies close. The other cupped Zach’s neck. He was hard and firm all over and, cocooned in his embrace, Zach had never felt more cherished. And in this one simple act, where Holland held him so carefully and didn’t push and pressure, Zach had never felt more desired.
They were both breathing unsteadily by the time they separated. Holland’s eyes were at half-mast as he swept that damnable thumb over Zach’s wet lower lip. Zach nipped it playfully, and Holland smiled at him.
3.5 Stars
I really wanted to love this book and while I enjoyed some aspects of it, unfortunately, there were others that diminished my overall enjoyment of the story.
I really liked Zach, he was steadfast and sweet, and even if he was the younger of the MCs, I felt he was the more mature of the two. I'm not sure how I feel about Holland, while I didn't exactly hate him, I was frustrated with him. There were several instances in which I wanted to either scream at him or shake some sense into him, like with how he treated Zach when he realized Zach was crushing on him or how he reacted after finding out about the job Zach was offered. Overall, though, I just felt Zach was too good for Holland.
Then we have the thing with Mika, which I wasn't happy at all with how things played out when he first showed up, even if I liked Mika in the end. Actually, the only one I didn't really like was Zach's sister, she was just awful.
All in all, I enjoyed the whole parade organization aspect of the story, and the romance (at least when Holland wasn't being an oblivious jerk). The book is well-written and interesting, and hey, perhaps some other readers might like it more than I did.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
About Amy Aislin:
Amy started writing on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class was forced to stay inside for recess. Tales of adventures with her classmates quickly morphed into tales of adventures with the characters in her head. Based in the suburbs of Toronto, Amy is a marketer/fundraiser at a large environmental non-profit in Toronto by day, and a writer by night. Book enthusiast, animal lover and (very) amateur photographer, her interests are many and varied, including travelling, astronomy, ecology, and baking. She binge watches too much anime, and loves musical theater, Julie Andrews, the Backstreet Boys, and her hometown of Oakville, Ontario.
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Giveaway: Amy is giving away a Christmas Lane prize pack, including a signed paperback of Christmas Lane, a personalized Christmas tree ornament, vanilla-flavored loose leaf tea, and a character art print.
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