Book Reviews

Book Blurb

“Lucky’s one thing I’ve never been.”

Martin Gibson is cursed. Ever since a childhood clash with a Christmas elf, the holiday has brought him bad luck. In a desperate attempt to avoid the Curse—or at least protect his loved ones from its calamities—he leaves his beloved Scotland and travels to America for a Christmas utterly alone.

Anthony Bello is adrift. Fired from his job as a TV weatherman, he’s returned to West Virginia to be caretaker for his family’s vacation rental properties. When a hot Scot with an unlucky—and unlikely—story checks into one of the tiny homes he oversees, Anthony is more than smitten. Now he has a thrilling new project: help Martin break the Curse for good.

Will a wild winter storm let Martin and Anthony’s attraction build into something deeper, or will it trigger the most cursed Christmas yet? And when Martin’s transatlantic escape is over, can they bear to walk away with nothing but memories?

Load up on holiday warm fuzzies with this standalone tale featuring a Christmas-tree heist, a bed-hogging dog, and the coziest hot tub ever!

 

Book Review

Poor Martin was cursed by a department store elf when he was seven years old and has had nothing but bad luck and distress every Christmas since then. Even his family is not safe from the curse so he decides to spend this year alone and the Scotsman puts an ocean between his home in Glasgow and the tiny house he rents in West Virginia. He’s worried he may have brought the curse with him so decides to spend the entire season alone, but fate has other plans for him. Enter the landlady’s son, Anthony, who is late bringing a basket of goodies to the house for the new guest and catches him in the outdoor tub—stark naked, naturally.

 

This scene brought my first smile but the smiles and heartwarming feels didn’t stop there as the author proceeded to endear Martin and Anthony to me throughout the brief time they have together. This love story is truly that, and it’s non-explicit, fade to black, so there’s more page time to build a relationship rather than a simple sexual attraction. There’s lots of snogging—kissing to those of us in the US. And there’s time spent talking in the hot tub, playing board games, touring the outdoors, and kissing as they sit on the floor before the fireplace (because Betty, Anthony’s adorable Bernese mountain dog is taking up the whole sofa.)

 

But the clock is ticking and despite their closeness, Martin has so much fear of the curse harming Anthony that he still needs his alone time. I love the way the author handled this, given the need to move the romance forward because Martin’s flight is leaving right after Christmas. Honestly, I was rooting for one of those last-minute departure gate “wait for me” scenes, and so was Martin. What happens is not going to be revealed here, but I will say that there was a very satisfying ending and as in all true romances, it was worth the wait.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author via GRRT for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 174 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	10-December-2024
Price	$2.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Curse-Avery-Cockburn-ebook/dp/B0DPCR4P5V