Length: 55,000 words approx.
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
The Christmas Angel Series
Christmas Angel - Eli Easton - Amazon US | Amazon UK
Summerfield's Angel - Kim Fielding - Amazon US | Amazon UK
The Magician's Angel - Jordan L. Hawk - Amazon US | Amazon UK
Christmas Homecoming - L.A. Witt - Amazon US | Amazon UK
Shrewd Angel - Anyta Sunday - Amazon US | Amazon UK
Christmas Prince - RJ Scott- Amazon US | Amazon UK
Blurb
The year is 1969…
Gary Fairchild is proud to be a hippie college student, and he protests the Vietnam War because he believes in love and peace. To him, it isn’t just a counterculture movement—it’s a way of life. When tickets to the Aquarium Exposition—3 Days of Peace & Music, or Woodstock, as it was better known, go on sale, there’s no way he isn’t going.
Richard Ronsman is a sheltered farm boy who lives in the shadow of his overbearing father. He’s hidden his darkest secret to earn his father’s love, but nothing is ever good enough—not even volunteering for the Vietnam War. And with just a few days left before he’s deployed, he’s invited by a striking hippie to join him at a music festival.
Three days of music, drugs, rain, mud, and love forged a bond between these two very different men that would shape the rest of their lives. They share dreams and fears, and when Richard is shipped off to war, they share letters and love. For Richard’s first Christmas home, he is gifted a special angel ornament that just might make a soldier’s wish come true.
This story is one of seven stories which can all be read and enjoyed in any order.
5 +++ Stars
This book was, well, it was perfect. I’ve read 4 of the books in this series and although the angel is much more in the background in this story than in some of the others, it was still by far my favorite of the series and truthfully, one of my favorite books that I’ve read so far this year.
From the moment I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down and I was torn between wanting to get to the conclusion and wanting to slow down and savor the story.
I absolutely loved Richard and Gary from the moment I met them and they were absolutely perfect together. Their chemistry was out of this world and the love they shared, well, you could practically feel it coming off the pages at you. The sex was not only hot, but it was passionate, intense, loving and sweet. These men didn’t have sex, they made love.
The story is well-written and it flowed well. I love this era, it’s one of my favorites to have a story set in although, I think it’s disgusting that there was ever a law outlawing being gay, but I won’t get on my soapbox about that. Ms. Walker did an amazing job at transporting me back to the 1960-70’s, the clothes and slang felt authentic.
I can’t say enough how much I loved this story. It was sweet and sexy with a bit of angst thrown in. It’s a bit instalove and maybe a bit sweet and sappy in places, but it worked. This was an enjoyable read that is headed into my favorites collection on my kindle and that I know I’ll reread down the road. Go one-click A Soldier’s Wish, you won’t regret it, I promise!
*copy provided by author/publisher in exchange for an honest review*
5 Stars!
This is in a class of its own where Xmas tales are concerned. I smiled and I cried sad and happy tears.
I don't love kitsch, soppy Xmas tales that seem to abound around this time of year, and was SO glad that this isn't like that. At all. It's simply a sweet, soberingly realistic and at times sad tale, starting at the end of the 60s, during the Vietnam war, with the events that made Woodstock famous. I believed it, and believed in the leads, who were simply regular guys but with very different lives due to where they were born in the US, and to whom, and had very different paths. One's path was of his choosing, and the other's was forced upon him due to others' attitudes and small-mindedness. Some of what I read made me angry and made me almost hate a couple of not-on-page characters who had no right to the names they bore. I kind of wish they'd gotten their comeuppance, but whilst I didn't quite get to read about it, Richard's newfound confidence and courage, and his new attitude and stance, translated into that, of sorts.
Sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, in an organic, non-cliche way, were part of the tale, giving birth to a weekend fling that turned into a love story that lasted years. And, at the end, I believed that it would last until death did these guys part, gay marriage or not.
Parts of the tale were sad, but most was happy and with hope and an innocence that's lost nowadays and I ended up feeling satisfied and warm inside. It was pretty realistic, and it may be a case of me reading between the lines, but I think I got a glimpse of this author's stance on wars, human rights and freedoms, much like I've seen from several other MM authors this year. If so, it was done entirely organically within the leads and the storyline, and wasn't at all preachy or planted.
I loved how Richard changed over this tale. He went from forced-into-it draftee to a happy, confident, loved and loving gay man, finding himself, accepting himself and blossoming in Gary's love, and with the help of Kat's frankly amazing friendship. Seeing Richard grow and find his mental strength, his courage and his confidence, was lovely, and it made me realise how curtailed people's lives were in many ways that aren't even on my radar in 2018, especially that of a gay man from a small community in the era of the tale. I ended up feeling rather humbled and aware of how much I have always been able to take for granted.
And the tale wasn't just about them. NRW touched on how the US was developing at the time, and I could almost picture a Steve Jobs-like character in Pauly, who made brief appearances in this tale, and who went on to achieve great success. I think Gary was himself heading for success in that area, but a sudden tangent made his, Richard's and Kat's lives veer into an entirely different direction. They may have lost out on the big bucks, but they all hit the lottery in other ways, more meaningful and sweet, real and lasting ways.
All too often, females in MM tales are nothing but token characters, but Kat was so integral to the tale that Gary and Richard's story could have been quite different without her and her kickbutt ways. She's possibly one of the best side characters that I've read about, and at the end we find that she's living her HEA too.
The tale ends on 21 January 1977, a pretty significant day for Americans, with the leads preparing to embark on the rest of their HEA, some 8 years after the start of the tale. I loved that they didn't do a complete 360, but continued to live the lives that they'd chosen after being forced into making a decision. And the angel that's featured in all the books in this series (which can be read as standalones) is handed over to someone else in need.
I loved this book, which I can't and don't often say these days.
ARC courtesy of the author, SignalBoost Promotions, and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.
Dec 2 - Boulevard des Passions, Gay Book Reviews, Dec 4 - Lelyana's Reviews, Dec 6 - Cupcakes & Bookshelves, Megan's Media Melange, Dec 8 - Xtreme Delusions, My Fiction Nook, Dec 10 - Mirrigold, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Sexy Erotic Xciting, Open Skye, The Secret Of Ko, Rainbow Book Reviews, Dec 12 - Bookaholic & Kindle, Dec 14 - Making It Happen, MM Good Book Reviews, Dec 17 - Momma Says: To Read Or Not To Read, Lillian Francis, Wicked Reads, Two Chicks Obsessed, Dec 19 - Drops Of Ink, Kimmers Erotic Book Banter, Bayou Book Junkie, Amy's MM Romance Reviews, Dec 21 - Bonkers About Books, Book Corner Reviews
The Christmas Angel Series
In 1750, a master woodcarver poured all his unrequited love, passion, and longing into his masterpiece—a gorgeous Christmas angel for his beloved’s tree. When the man he loved tossed the angel away without a second thought, a miracle happened. The angel was found by another who brought the woodcarver True Love.
Since then, the angel has been passed down, sold, lost and found, but its magic remains. Read the romances inspired by (and perhaps nudged along by) the Christmas angel through the years. Whether it’s 1700s England (Eli Easton's Christmas Angel), the 1880’s New York (Kim Fielding’s Summerfield’s Angel), the turn-of-the-century (Jordan L. Hawk’s Magician’s Angel), World War II (L.A. Witt’s Christmas Homecoming), Vietnam-era (N.R. Walker’s Soldier’s Wish), the 1990’s (Anyta Sunday’s Shrewd Angel), or 2018 (RJ Scott’s Christmas Prince), the Christmas angel has a way of landing on the trees of lonely men who need its blessing for a very Merry Christmas and forever HEA.
Author Bio
N.R. Walker is an Australian author, who loves her genre of gay romance. She loves writing and spends far too much time doing it, but wouldn't have it any other way.
She is many things; a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer. She has pretty, pretty boys who she gives them life with words.
She likes it when they do dirty, dirty things...but likes it even more when they fall in love. She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.
She’s been writing ever since...
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