Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Two years ago, Joe Blake lost his secret lover, firefighter Bryce Marshall. Grieving, Joe left his job as a fireman and paramedic to become the spokesmodel for undergarment company Escalade. They lured him into the limelight and drove him deeper into the closet. Modeling doesn't provide fulfillment; Joe wants privacy and to feel useful again. A holiday at his mountain cabin outside Denver is the perfect escape. The last thing he anticipated, or wanted, was sharing his retreat with another man.

Last Christmas, actor Errol Lockhart discovered boyfriend Carson had stolen a play. Carson accused Errol and then blackballed him in the theater community. Some Christmas that was. Now Errol has to take whatever work he can to survive. Delivering a singing telegram during a blizzard isn't wise, but it pays double and rent is overdue. He's got dreams, not of a white Christmas, but of getting a shot at Hollywood. He's determined to make it, if he survives this storm.

As Joe and Errol ride out the blizzard, more than marshmallows get toasty in front of the fire. When Errol discovers Joe's identity, he's sure he's found his way in, his big break. But Joe won't sacrifice Errol to the Hollywood sharks. Unless they can forge a compromise, they're going to wake from their midwinter night's dream to lumps of coal in their stockings.

 

Book Review

A change in jobs isn’t always easy, especially when you're fed up with the limelight of being a model and want to go back to being a firefighter. Joe, aka underwear model Blake Huffington, finds out exactly how tough that is while also being gay and deeply in the closet. Thanks to Errol, a poor actor, wanting to pull him out into the open, so to speak, Joe has to reconsider not only his personal choices, but also the way he is trying to run Errol's life. And it all starts so simple with both of them snowed in during a blizzard… I have to say I do like the "snowed in" scenario when it is well done, and this novel definitely hit the right balance with me. And while the story happens to be set around Christmastime, sensibly so, since there tends to be a lot of snow then, the theme was definitely focused on coming out, dealing with fame, and two stubborn men with very different ideas about their careers.

Joe is all about the isolation when he heads out to his cabin deep on the woods somewhere near Denver. He needs solitude to come to grips with his secret lover's death to years ago, or so he thinks. Fate clearly has other ideas. When Joe finds a man half buried in the snow, his training as a paramedic sets in and he saves him. From then on, he is trying to figure out what the heck happened. Suddenly he is interested in a man again, for the first time in two years, and before he knows it, he begins to fall for Errol. He fights it, especially since Errol wants into Hollywood as badly as Joe wants out, and when confronted by his agent he denies everything, but the "damage" has been done. Both to himself, and to Errol, who flees the scene, thinking Joe will never come out.

Errol is in deep trouble. He wants to be an actor, but cannot find work due to his evil ex who is well-known in Denver theater circles and made it impossible for Errol to find work in his chosen profession. Errol is on his last seventy-five dollars when his car gives out and he ends up almost dying from hypothermia. He is very attracted to Joe, but cannot believe a man like that could be interested in him. Asking him for help via an intro to his agent and being rebuffed, then being denied in front of said agent is too much and he runs. Joe has a lot of apologizing and making up to do if he ever wants Errol to speak to him again!

If you like reading about men who have opposing objectives and cannot figure out how to solve their issues, if you enjoy stories set in snowed-in cabins in the middle of nowhere, and if you believe that everyone deserves  to find love or find it again after losing a partner, then you will probably like this novel.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Loose Id for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 114 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	10-December-2013
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.loose-id.com/midwinter-night-s-dream.html