Ryan Taylor (3)Critiques

4.25

The enemies to lovers isn't really my favourite romance novel trope, but in this book it was OK. On the whole, this one seemed quite forgettable.½

Perfectly fine as light bedtime reading but on the whole I found this pretty forgettable.½

Kevin had a crush on Tyler when they were in high school together, and the crush has never really gone away. But he's angry about a casual pass Tyler made on him, and it takes a while for them to like each other when they become teammates. OK as light bedtime reading.

I didn't particularly warm to either of the protagonists in this romance novella where 18-year-old best friends and team mates fall for each other.½

The Chrismukkah Crisis stars Paralegal Matt Kennington, and Lawyer Aaron Roth. The story is narrated through both Matt and Aaron’s eyes.



The blurb does a good job of describing the plot so I won’t rehash it. As with all books, there are things I like about this story and things I don’t. I’ll alternate the things I liked with the things I didn’t for comparison.

First, the title of this book is clever, Chrismukkah. I don’t think there was necessarily a crisis, but Chrismukkah is a good word.

The first half of the book seemed to be about Aaron and Matt meeting, flirting, joking around, and dating. This ‘getting to know you’ phase is very sweet, I mean really sweet. I like cute scenes and I enjoyed the beginning part of the two guys learning about each other, but for me, and this is personal preference, it went on too long and was too sugary. I could only read a little at a time before I had to put the book down because it had too much sweetness. However, I believe other readers will enjoy the level of high fluff because this is a holiday story.

My quick thoughts on the main characters. Aaron is immature. He doesn’t respect rules or boundaries, pushing until he gets his way. He convinces himself that Matt says yes…eventually, so it must be okay. He refuses to accept Matt’s worries, caution or Matt saying no at the beginning. I didn’t like him as a character. His actions didn’t come across as someone who means, ‘I really like you,’ but as a person who wouldn’t respect his partner’s choices or decisions. I liked Matt better. His insecurity seemed real. His reasoning about following rules was legitimate, but he was a pushover because he wanted to belong to someone and to be loved by someone. He therefore gave into Aaron.

Anyone who reads my reviews knows I’m not a fan of first person narration because the pov doesn’t pull me into the story. However, in this case, the authors did a good job of the characters presenting their feelings and describing their environment so I felt pulled into what was happening in their lives. I also liked that the authors used the character names to differentiate a change of view. That was a plus.

Saying that, the name indicators were necessary. In the beginning the characters’ voices sounded different, especially Matt’s insecure internal monologue. As the story progressed, both Aaron and Matt’s voices grew more alike and I had difficulty figuring out who was talking, even after I read the pov name. The narration sounded like one character until I realized it wasn’t. I’d have to stop reading and search back to see whose pov it was. This of course pulled me out of the story.

I enjoyed the second half of the story more because there was more variation on what was happening in the plot compared to the first half. Interesting events occurred at the law office, and family situations came into play. Secondary characters were introduced, who I also found interesting.

I want to mention one thing that bothered me a lot in this story. It may be an, ‘it’s me, not you’, but I’ve never run into this in a book before, except maybe in BDSM. There’s a lot of face slapping and smacking going on between Aaron and Matt. I’m guessing it’s meant to be a funny or affectionate gesture, but I don’t consider slapping or smacking a face to be affectionate or funny, unless the couple is into it as a kink. Sure, sports players slap each other’s backs, asses and arms, but a date slapping your face? If a date slapped me, they’d have crossed a line and I’d give them an angry piece of my mind. It would be a definite deal breaker. All the face slapping, and the way it’s phrased in the story it’s not a light tap, but smacking, is disturbing.

My overall impression of The Chrismukkah Crisis, is that it fits the holiday genre and is very sweet. I’m sure many readers will enjoy the sweetness. The authors did a good job pulling me into the story. However, I found it difficult to differentiate the characters’ voices as the story progressed. That still didn’t bother me as much as the overabundance of face slapping and smacking. I give this book, 3 Stars, taking off one star each for the similarity between the characters’ voices and the face smacking/slapping.



I received a copy of this book through Booksprout for an honest and unbiased review.

I struggled to warm to Jacob and Nick, the protagonists, both seemed a bit flat as characters, and their story seemed to rush at extraordinary speed.

A total feel good story for the holidays. Matt and Aaron meet on the train on the way into work one morning. They have an awesome conversation and connection and make plans to connect later that night. Then Matt finds out he is transferred to a different department at work and is working with Aaron, and the company has a strict no-fraternization policy. The guys have some hoops to jump through to stay together despite the work challenges, they didn’t let anyone get in their way. Lovely and sweet with a fabulous HEA.

I had a few small reservations about this book because it was really long and I hadn’t really heard much about these authors before, but I love hockey so I thought I’d give it a try. Boy, am so I glad I did!!!

Nick is a college hockey star in his senior year. He’s in the closet, but meeting Jacob makes him rethink everything. The two become friends and eventually begin studying together (Jacob’s in his last year of law school), and their flirtation is strong. When they finally decide to get together, Nick wants to come out, but Jacob knows how much he has to lose.

This book had heart, and frankly that is what I loved best about it. It dealt with the ugly side of bigotry and coming out, but it also showed the other positive and glorious side of friendships, teammate, and family. It was so heartwarming. There wasn’t really any angst between Nick and Jacob, and they communicated and dealt with their challenges head on. I adored these characters so much. I’m so glad I gave this book a chance.