Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Jamie Bailey has not had such a wonderful life. He gave up his dreams of Harvard at 18 to raise his sister’s unwanted baby, and later a prized job to help a sick friend. Now the father of six-year-old Mia, and assistant manager at Raven Books, Jamie’s dreams are dashed once again when Uncle Billy admits what dire straights the bookshop is in.
Stanton Potter, son of the most notorious businesswoman in Bedford Falls, loves his job teaching at the local elementary school. But he’s less than thrilled when he is forced to put together a Christmas pageant with first-graders, including Mia Bailey.
When Stanton meets Jamie, angels sing. Jamie’s gender-bending fashion sense, and sweet aura, have Stanton suffering through the worse crush he’s had since he was a teen. But can there be any hope for them when Jamie and Mia’s lives are about to be uprooted?
This Christmas, its Jamie’s turn to receive a little help from heaven.
Angels Sing (Daddy Dearest #2) by Eli Easton is another sweet, heartwarming installment in her Daddy Dearest series that started with Family Camp, one of my favorites. Here the young, single father isn’t a foster dad but someone who took on the responsibility of his sister’s baby at a young age, giving up his own dreams in exchange for becoming a dad and raising Mia.
While Angels Sing doesn’t have the comlex layers that Family Camp had (foster system, feelings of abandonment, multiple children and adjustments at all levels from childhood to adults), there is still plenty here to love. Gender fluidity, homophobia, and, the age old financial stresses that impact everyone’s life. Jamie Bailey of the angelic face and flowing ahir is a endearing character, as is the precocious Mia. They are an instant pair that’s easy to love and connect with.
Plus they come with a old bookstore, which I always adore, in stories and RL.
Stanton Potter, the smitten kitten, as I would call him, also cute and quite wonderful. Honestly, this is a sweet romance and very quick read. The Christmas pageant is straight out of almost every elementary school USA, so people ought to be nodding their heads at this, although I would believe that its a Holiday Pageant these days, still recognizable in the trials and tribulations that go into putting one on.
There is a slight drama, easily taken care of, and a lovely ending in keeping with the season and holiday.
One again, Eli Easton has given her readers and fans a contemporary romance to love and a sweet addition to a series I easily recommend..
Cover art is a delight!
Sales Links: Amazon
Book Details:
Jarrell isn’t happy about being a thief, but sometimes it’s the only way he can make ends meet. Broke and alone at Thanksgiving, he breaks into an apartment in a wealthy neighborhood. He’s only looking for cash, but when he spots an unfamiliar book by his favorite author, he impulsively takes the book as well. Reading it, he finds a letter used as a bookmark and realizes the recipient hasn’t finished the book. He decides to return it and accidentally wakes the owner.
Walker Reed’s Louisiana cattle ranch is in debt after costly repairs from hurricane damage. To get the money, his family schemes to make Walker the star of a new bachelor reality series: Queer Seeks Spouse.. How hard can it be to fake interest in a dozen handsome men for a few weeks in exchange for enough money to solve all of his problems?
For Manuel Aguilar, holidays often bring on depressive episodes. But this is his first Halloween in the beautiful Victorian that his lover, Brett, renovated for them. He finds himself eager to celebrate. With the help of the neighbor girl, Poppy, he gets the house all decked out, including Blackberry, the large black and purple spider Brett gave him.
This is an expanded edition of a short story being turned into a series. The relationship dynamic between the three lead characters is clear from the first scene, which is a phone call about a fatal car crash. The alternating of all three points of view throughout the story is vital to help piece together the different personalities, as well as softening the reader’s perception of what are three strong masculine characters. There are moments of insecurity and jealousy on Scott’s end, but it was Scott who decided they needed a third–someone nearby for Casey while he was on the road during hockey season, to be there for him with the horrors of his job as Sheriff. After adding Will, they have all been together three years. The author does a great job of capturing the tensions of the triad needing each other, but not being out–of not being able to touch each other in public, of everything happening behind locked doors, of living in fear of discovery. This relationship works really well because Scott is the glue that holds it all together–I knew it, but it was good to hear the guys say it too, that they know. These characters feel real. There is intimacy in everything they do, so while the sex is satisfying, it’s not the reason for the book; it’s well integrated into their relationship and the plot.
Christmas is coming, and young couple Casey and Ellis are very much in love. Unfortunately, they’re also the definition of dirt poor, and they don’t have the money for nonessentials like decorations. Or a turkey. Or gifts. Between the recent death of Casey’s beloved momma and Ellis’s estrangement from his family, all they have is each other.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 