Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Victoria Sue

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Age Gap (28 Years), BDSM (Daddy/little), Christmas, Romance, Series, Virgin

Length: 151 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Edward wasn’t a fixer. He wasn’t someone’s white knight, maybe beige in a good light, and no one with any sense would give him a sharp implement to wield.

He liked his numbers and had been known to get occasionally creative with a tax return, could cook a respectable shepherd’s pie and was kind, or tried to be.Which left him somewhat of a loss to know what to do with a battered and bruised young man with haunted eyes and a penchant for scrubbing his hands until they almost bled, who clung onto Edward’s old childhood stuffed bear like it was the answer to all life’s troubles.But it was soon to be Christmas. A season of miracles. A season of wishes. Of hopes and dreams that sometimes came true. Maybe, just maybe, not all knights needed to slay dragons.Some might just gather pieces of a single broken heart together, one fluffy blanket, one gentle word, and one shoulder to cry on, one step at a time.Buttons is part of A Daddy for Christmas, a multi-author series. All the books are standalones, but each Daddy has a unique gift for his wonderful boy (or boys). Except all boys know that sometimes Santa gets it wrong, and it’s going to take a very special Daddy to make it right. So why not read them all?

**This book contains some memories of past physical abuse. If you feel this might be triggering, please skip this one. You enjoying this holiday season is far more important to me than selling a book. Merry Christmas xx

Review –

When I ended this, I originally planned to review it on Goodreads so that I could hide spoilers. I decided to go ahead and do a full blog review. With that being said, there are spoilers at the bottom of this review. Keep that in mind before reading.

Also, the abuse mentioned in the blurb is in regard to Avi’s stepfather who abused Avi in the name of religion before his grandfather saved him. When his grandfather passed away, Avi was forced to run away or be forced back home with his abuser (s).

Edward, a fifty-one-year-old accountant, has been asked by his sister to deliver a Secret Santa gift. It’s not just any Secret Santa gift. It’s from his brother-in-law’s kink club, the gift going to a ‘little’ who’d attended an event a few months before. The guy, whose name is Avi, lives not far from Edward, so why not?

Avi is twenty-three. When he eventually opens the door, the first thing Edward notices is how sickly thin the young man is. He’s barely made it inside the apartment before the door is being kicked down by Avi’s landlord, who punches Edward in the stomach while Avi scrambles to collect his things. Of course, Edward offers to take Avi home with him until they can figure out other accommodations.

Avi is understandably skittish, but Edward does everything he can to make him uncomfortable. He feeds him, buys him clothes, and makes sure he has a warm bed to sleep in. Over the period of a few days, Avi starts opening up about his horrible family. Even so, the abuse he suffered isn’t something he can just let go. He was taught – in the name of religion – that everything was ‘dirty’. This plays a huge part in certain things he does even now at twenty-three.

The two men slowly develop a friendship, but there are a few things holding both back from taking it further. For Avi, the hell he went through growing up is more than enough to keep him from doing anything, sexually or otherwise. As for Edward, he’s stuck on the age difference between them. He’s already figured out that Avi is a true little, even if he’s never truly embraced the lifestyle. Edward makes sure he’s comfortable, even supplying coloring books and other items. Even so, he’s stuck on the twenty-eight years between them.

It takes a trip back to Edward’s brother-in-law’s kink club for both of them to finally realize they’re meant to be together, age difference be damned.

Of course, a lot of other things happen in between, but that’s the gist of their relationship, for the most part. When they did eventually get together as Daddy and boy, I felt that it was a bit rushed. The entire book was about them both wanting something together but unable to voice it because of their own reasons. When everything is finally resolved between them, it was sweet, but I don’t think enough time was dedicated to it when it finally happened.

Oh, I should also explain Buttons. Buttons is a stuffed bear that Edward’s kept for a long time; decades, I think? Button gives Avi comfort, especially during his early days with Edward.

While I did enjoy the story – obviously because I’m giving it 4 stars – there were a few things that I felt weren’t resolved.

And this is where the spoilers I mentioned above come in. 

The first time Avi is left alone at Edward’s house (Edward went shopping), a man shows up at the door. Avi only opens it because the man had called out ‘Delivery’ or something like that. The man, whose name was Royce Spencer, was a slimeball. He forced himself inside the house, drank a bunch of Edward’s whiskey, while trying to force himself on Avi. Thankfully, Avi manages to get away, but he still could’ve froze to death while hiding as he waited on Edward to find him.

This guy obviously knew Edward because he kept referring to him as Eddy. But how did he know him? Why would he just appear on his doorstep demanding to get inside? He said he was a Dom, but where did he come from? Maybe he was a character in another of the author’s books? Even so, I was not happy with the lack of resolution with him. It’s like it happened and that was that. Sure, Avi was checked out by a doctor (a neighbor of Edward’s) but as for the Royce guy? Nada. No police. No anything. Had it just been a scare, I’d get it, but this guy tried to force himself on poor Avi. He should’ve been arrested.

Another thing that I felt was just forgotten was the landlord who punched Edward. I get that Avi was terrified – of both the landlord and the creepy Dom – but to just let both go? I wasn’t happy with all that.

I also felt that Edward’s constant British lingo explanations, his tax jokes, and his going on and on about his age got extremely tiring.

Overall, this is a nice and sweet story by an author I’ve enjoyed many times over the years. Buttons is a super slow burn for both men. While it’s definitely a Daddy slash little book, it wasn’t as heavy on that as most Daddy and little books I’ve read. I’d like to see these guys a little down the road. I’m also curious about the club. I’ll have to stalk the author’s books to see if they’re from another book/series that’s already been published.