Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

High school is tough enough without the added pressure of deciding whether or not to come out. Jamie is out and proud though he pays for it by having very few friends. Being a member of the knitting club doesn't exactly endear him to many of the other high school boys either but he is true to whom he is. Ryan seems to be your average teen but is hiding out in the closet. The boy's homeroom teacher decides to have a secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas and Ryan winds up picking Jamie's name. It's do or die time for Ryan. This was a very well written short story that put a huge smile on my face. I enjoyed Ryan immensely and some of his panic attacks had me laughing out loud while some of his kindest things brought a tear to my eye. Jamie was the poster boy for gay youth having the nerve and strength to be exactly who he wanted to be and feeling comfortable in his own skin. Ryan's Mom was wonderful with her easy going acceptance of everything. The story flowed beautifully to its HEA ending which although I knew it was coming still touched me. The rainbow spider was just icing on a wonderful story. ( )

4,1 stars

This winter has started to get to me, so I'm trying to comfort read sweet and fluffy feel-good stories. This one was exactly that! Not necessarily very much substance, but it gave me the warm and fuzzies, so I'm not complaining. ( )

Sock it to Me, Santa! was a sweet holiday story about gift exchanges, hoobajooba sock monkeys without hearts and having the courage to face who you truly are.



It’s the Christmas holidays and the advisory period teacher, Mrs. Keats has decided to arrange a Secret Santa gift exchange. Every student in the class is to make three handmade gifts given out over a few weeks. Ryan and his friend Mike are not thrilled about the idea. What they dislike even more is if they have to make gifts for Jamie, the flamboyant gay boy who wears colorful clothes, jewelry… and knits. Pulling a name out of the bag, Ryan checks his slip of paper and dies a little inside. He’s the Secret Santa for Jamie. It doesn’t matter if Ryan himself is gay; he’s been good at keeping his sexual preference a secret. But with Jamie as his gift exchange, his life will be ruined at school if anyone finds out. Ryan bombs his first gift, but notices that Jamie appreciated it. Once Ryan notices Jamie, he sees Jamie everywhere at school. Ryan even notices how his stomach starts to flip when he sees Jamie in class or walking by and he’s horrified that he’s developing a crush on Jamie. Ryan is caught between his desire to get closer to Jamie and his fear of what everyone at school will think.

Ryan is a typical teenage boy who just wants to fit in with the crowd. Because of his fear of others finding out that he’s gay, he doesn’t always treat Jamie kindly. But his desire to get closer and to learn more about Jamie ends up overriding his fear. Jamie is sweet, thoughtful, kind and wears his heart on his sleeve. He appears self-confident when he is with others, but tries to appear invisible when he is alone. When Ryan sees Jamie like this, all he wants to do is protect him.

The characters were great in this story, but we don’t get to see much of their personalities. I wish the story was much longer so we could have gotten an even better feel for how Ryan, Jamie, Mike, Ryan’s mother Charlotte, and his little sister were like.

The part that had me laughing was Ryan’s description of his demonic hoobajooba sock monkey. He made it very easy to visualize a black, red-eyed sock monkey with no heart. Another little scene I liked in the story was a foot fetish scene that was very cute.

I don't want to forget to mention that I love the cover. I just love it. It definitely reminds me of the character Jamie and the sweetness of this story.

The ending was lovely, sweet and touching and had me tearing up. I just wish the story would have gone on longer because I wanted to revel in the happiness the two finally found in each other. I would have liked to see what happened to Ryan after he came out. Did his relationship with his friends change? Which ones still stayed his friends and which ones didn’t? It would have also been nice to see how Jamie and Ryan spent their winter vacation. I guess it says something about the story if the author leaves her readers craving for more. I would be one of the first in line for the next book if the author decided to continue on with the relationship between Jamie and Ryan.

This story is a fast, happy read that will give you a warm-feeling inside that’s perfect for the holidays or any time of the year. I recommend this story to everyone. I give Sock it to Me, Santa! 4 stars

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Super cute read. Hands down my favourite holiday story of the year so far. ( )

This was sooo sweet! Loved it! ( )