Dana reviews ‘Tis the Season by Alex Jane (Self-published October 20, 2016, 87 pages. Released on audio October 13, 2017. 2 hrs 57 mins length. Narrated by Michael Fell.) An audiobook was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Blurb:
Aaron has spent the past 10 months alone. When he meets a sad, yet strangely familiar man on a cold Halloween night, he impulsively invites him home. But the intimate connection they share lasts only until morning. Aaron wakes up alone – wracked with guilt and devastated to have lost his chance. Or so he thinks.
Thanksgiving brings Aaron another shot at happiness, but letting go of an old love and accepting a new one isn’t as easy as everyone keeps telling him. And by the time Christmas Eve rolls around, it becomes clear that Aaron’s not the only one struggling to let himself love again.
Christmas miracles are all well and good, but it’s going to take more than the Holiday Spirit for Aaron to get his happy ever after.
A story of grief, sadness, and letting it go; and finding love when you least expect it.
Buy links: Audible | Amazon || Add to Goodreads
The narration – This is the first time I have listened to this narrator. His voice is pleasant and I think he added to the story with his narration. I would definitely listen to him again.
The story – This is a great holiday story as it covers moments between Halloween and Christmas. Aaron meets Dylan on a bridge Halloween night. It appears that Dylan is going to jump or fall and Aaron awkwardly stops him and dubs them Clarence and George. I love the movie reference but the nicknames are all the two works have in common.
Aaron is still mourning on his first Halloween without his husband. He hasn’t completely closed himself off. He has friends but falling for someone else is not even an idea his brain will entertain. Dylan is also grieving in his own way. He lost his home, his boyfriend, and his job after his relationship with his boss ended. Both men have a sadness about them but when they talk over coffee and go home together both of them seem lifted.
Neither knows the other’s name (so it seems) and a little mishap the next morning means that the two men might not see each other again. Until they do on Thanksgiving day. The romance starts building after that even though neither’s heartbreak is really gone.
I think this story is really cute. There is a little angst but it doesn’t sting quite as bad in novella form. The story moves fast enough to fit in Aaron and Dylan’s relationship and acknowledges their past hurts without dwelling on it. I think with a little more development I could have been on an emotional ride but for a shortish story I think it played out really well.
8.5/10 Pots of Gold (85% Recommended) – Compares to 4.25/5 Stars
After spending far too long creating stories in her head, Alex finally plucked up the courage to write them down and realized it was quite fun seeing them on the page after all.
Free from aspirations of literary greatness, Alex simply hopes to entertain by spinning a good yarn of love and life, wrapped up with a happy ending. Although, if her characters have to go through Hell to get there, she’s a-okay with that.
With only a dysfunctional taste in music and a one-eyed dog to otherwise fill her days, Alex writes and walks on the South Coast of England—even when her heart and spellcheck are in New York.
Blog and Newsletter available on my website – http://www.alexjane.info
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Thanks for the review!
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