Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

I have to be very honest here—I most definitely chose to read this book because of the cover. I’m not often motivated by covers; I’m more likely to buy based on an author or blurb. In this case, I got it all: stunning cover; gorgeous silver fox; sweet, smart, sexy younger man; an author I love; and a story that fulfills its promise. Happy holidays to me!

David is a marketing exec at a large law firm. Constantly oversleeping, his favorite stop on the way to work is a coffee shop where he gets incredible bagels and perfect coffee, along with a good look at the shop’s silver-haired, sexy owner. When he is assigned the task of finding a homeless shelter his firm can adopt for promotion, he immediately thinks of his silver fox—the man who he’s seen passing coffee and a bagel to men who are apparently homeless. If his suspicion is correct, this is the man who can help.

Jason is a divorced father of one, and though he’s happy he finally came out to his family, he spends most of his time alone, not having gotten up the nerve to pursue another man. But this David guy is so cute and personable that he’s happy to accept the challenge of helping him and having something, and someone, new in his life.

Even after Jason introduces David to the staff at the shelter where he volunteers his time, the two find reasons to spend time together and quickly develop a friendship. Over the course of the few months between their initial meeting and the holiday season, they find that friendship has developed into a relationship, which from Jason’s perspective, fulfills his dreams of having a man in his life. The fact that it’s a younger man who is smart and sexy and kisses like there’s no tomorrow is a huge bonus.

Over time it’s noticeable to his staff and son and other friends that Jason is no longer the sad and lonely man he once was. And David couldn’t be happier than when he’s in Jason’s arms. Because their attraction developed slowly and didn’t leap into immediate sex, this story turned out to be even more enjoyable to me. Don’t get me wrong: there is sex—really good sex—but not until the latter part of the story. Slow burn romance is so delicious—it’s like letting an M&M melt in your mouth—you get more of the flavor one layer at a time. The fact that this story takes place in the holiday season is a bonus, especially if you read it now, but it is appropriate any time of the year.

My only problem with it is this: throughout the whole story I kept mixing up the characters in my mind. And I mean the whole story! I had to constantly stop and think about which character was doing which action, and it was all because of their names. I felt that Jason was the younger man and David the older one. Why? Because David is an “older” name that’s been around forever, and the name Jason has only been popular since the end of the 20^th century and I associate it with younger persons. I admit that this could just be me, but it created a real problem for me so I have to mark this as 4.5 stars. Other than that, it’s a wonderful story of romance.

One last word on the cover by Meredith Russell—it fulfilled its promise, big time. The cover models actually look like the characters and the scene actually takes place. And the look in David’s eyes as he gazes at Jason is just so full of love and adoration it makes my heart tingle. Perfect!

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 117 pages
Published November 30th 2016 by Island Tales Press
ASINB01MYUL6EG
Edition LanguageEnglish