Rating: 4.5 Stars

Publisher: Must Love Books LLC

Genre: Gay Holiday Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Bi Character, Christmas, Fake Boyfriend (Kind of), Grumpy/Sunshine, Opposites Attract, Romance, Series, Small Town

Length: 212 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

I’m the grinch who saves Christmas … Yep, you read that right. Every year I save Christmas–and Christmas Falls–by organizing a massive festival that sustains tourism for our little town. But it turns out when Christmas is your life 24/7, the shine wears off the twinkly lights after a while. The holidays are a heck of a lot of work, and when I go home, I want peace and quiet, not fa-la-la’ing on my porch. That all changes when my sister brings me an early Christmas gift. One I didn’t ask for. One that’s tall, broad, and handsome…

Suddenly this season got a whole lot brighter.

Christmas Falls is a multi-author M/M romance series set in a small town that thrives on enough holiday charm to rival any Hallmark movie.

Review –

Griff, also known affectionately as Grinch, is grumpy. It’s kind of funny considering that it’s his job to make sure everything is put together and runs smoothly in the small town of Christmas Falls during the holiday season. He’s in complete charge of organizing the massive Christmas festival the town has each year. Trust me, he’s a taskmaster, and doesn’t do well when things don’t go exactly as planned. Let’s just say that some nice Christmas graffiti that’s popping up on buildings around town gets him all hot and bothered, and not in a good way. We’re talking serious Christmas art, not just a few paint splatters here and there.

Logan is Griff’s sister Jess’ friend from Granville. If the name of the town sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same small town in the Games We Play series. That’s a series I should’ve long gone back into after reading Two Truths And A Lyle and Never Have I Evan, two cute stories. Logan’s kind of a drifter, moving from one place to another for work. His parents died when he was eight, and he was bounced from one foster home to another. It’s no surprise that he’s iffy about putting down roots in one place. His last job has ended, and Jess has invited him to go to her hometown for the holidays. It’s not done just because Logan loves Christmas, which he does because of memories of the holidays with his parents. The invite is because Jess knows her overwhelming family will bug her about her love life or lack there of. She’s not long out of a longterm relationship with Rob. The last thing she wants is her family hovering and asking questions she doesn’t want to answer. So instead of sucking it up, she asks Logan to be her fake boyfriend during the trip. Logan agrees because he has nowhere to go, and he’s heard a lot about the small town that basically celebrates Christmas year-round. The only thing… there’s no way Jess’ family would agree to allowing the two to share a room or bed at their house. So, what does Jess do? She asks her grumpy brother, that would be Griff, if Logan can stay with him while he’s in town.

To say that sparks flew between Griff and Logan the first time they met would be a major understatement. Griff is bi, so no big deal, right? Wrong. As far as he knows, he’s lusting after his sister’s new very straight boyfriend.

So I was attracted to a man. Sue me. It had been a long time since someone had taken my breath away at first glance. Not that I was that superficial. I dated people who were more than just sexy shells. But damn, this man had a sexy shell, and I was human, after all. It had been months since I’d been laid and years since I’d actually had a good lay.

Well, about that… Logan is gay and has absolutely no attraction to the sister at all. Even so, he has to pretend when what he really wants is to climb Griff like a tree. 😉

A few days staying with Griff turns into more when Jess has to go back to Chicago to fix an issue at her job. While she’s away, Griff and Logan work together and get to know each other a little. Jess and Griff’s family also make sure Logan feels welcome. Only after a night out without family does something almost happen that most definitely should not be happening between Griff and his sister’s ‘boyfriend’.

Shortly after is when the truth came out – thank goodness! I was scared it would drag and drag, but it doesn’t. Well, it’s not like the secret is shared immediately in the book, but it didn’t drag on until the end.

For the record, not all of Griff’s family was as clueless as Jess would’ve liked when it came to her ‘relationship’ with Logan.

And, holy cow! On what happened when the two men were free to be together. This will forever be one of my favorite moments in a book. Griff knew what he wanted, and he wasted no time once he learned the truth.

“Want you so much,” I growled between kisses.

“Yes,” he muttered, shuddering as my lips moved to his neck. “Take me. Please. I’m all yours.”

“Not Jess’s,” I felt the need to confirm, even though she’d told me herself.

“No, never,” he said, the words music to my ears. “I’m gay, Griff. The only one I want is you.”

I pulled back to look him in the eye. “Then get on your knees.”

It also doesn’t drag out too long with Griff’s parents and the town.

I adored Logan right off. He was outgoing and personable, yet he had a sadness that’s there because of the loss of his parents.

I also loved Griff. He was such a grumpy stickler with pretty much everybody, but when he and Logan were free to be together, he was a total romantic sweetheart. Griff has his own sadness. He has a son and daughter from his ex-wife who barely even take his calls, much less want to spend time with him. When their mother remarried, she moved the kids across the country, and didn’t exactly encourage a good relationship with their father. That broke my heart. Griff loved those kids, but they acted like he was a bother when he tried to talk to them.

Watching these two men fall in love was so sweet. It also touched my heart to see Griff’s family welcome Logan into the fold as if he’d always been there. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t exactly a fan of Jess. Even when she could see the sparks flying between Griff and Logan – though they never acted on it in any way until the truth came out – she still insisted that Logan pretend to be her boyfriend, even with Griff. She’s in her thirties, I think? I came from one of ‘those’ families who felt like they had a right to get into mine and my sisters’ business, but you know what? I also grew out of being weird when it came to that, and I just started speaking up. But then again, had Jess done so, there’d be no relationship between Griff and Logan.

Even as nice as things are going between him and Griff, Logan’s still hesitant. He’s never had anyone want him to stay before, so he’s scared of being rejected by not just Griff but also his family and the town. This comes from being rejected so many times as a foster child. It kind of takes a come to Jesus moment for him to realize that he’s right where he needs to be, with Griff. It was around that time when Griff got me all misty-eyed by baring his heart and soul to Logan. He wasn’t scared to show his feelings or to voice them, especially when it counted the most.

Then there’s the matter of Griff’s children. I was scared it would end without any type of resolution there. I was happy that wasn’t the case.

There’s a super sweet epilogue that takes place a couple of years later. It definitely added to the story.

I’ve enjoyed quite a few of this author’s books. Grinch Kisses definitely didn’t disappoint. It’s a very sweet romance.

I love the cover.

I look forward to reading the others in the series.