Rating: 5 ‘Milo’ Stars

Publisher: A.W. Scott

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Christmas, Daddy Kink (lite), Fake Relationship, First Time, Romance, Series

Length: 174 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

“I’ll take care of everything, Little Bit…”Trevor Cooper is down to the wire and in trouble. He needs a date to take home for the holidays since his family believes he’s in a long-term relationship. Problem is, Trevor and his girlfriend broke up months ago. Since then, she’s sabotaged every chance he’s had to speak to girls on campus.When his friend Bailey mentions there’s another way for him to find someone to take home for the holidays – even if it’s just to play pretend – Trevor grabs the opportunity with both hands.Milo Adair exudes BDE and would be the perfect person to not only take home to his family, but to also stand up to Trevor’s ex. When proposed with the idea of being Trevor’s fake date, Milo agrees easily enough. It’s the questions that come after that send Trevor reeling. Questions about limits and safe words and what rules he should follow.When Trevor winds up with a special surprise during a Secret Santa gift exchange, a surprise that has him whispering “Daddy,” things go from fake to real in an instant.This holiday season is full of secrets. Secret Daddies that is. Follow a few of your favorite MM authors as they bring you tales of kisses, cuddles, and holiday cheer. Each Secret Santa Daddy Season Three book is a standalone and can be read in any order.

—————————–His Christmas Conundrum features fake dating, bi-awakening, found family, a college setting, and more. While there are characters from His Christmas Crush, second edition, this can be read as a standalone. This book is designed for readers 18+.

Review –

I found this series when I saw Daddy’s Secret Christmas List by Della Cain that I read before this one. I thought I was reading them out of order – something I almost never do – but I don’t believe there is any order in this series. I say that because this book had absolutely nothing to do with the other one as far as characters, settings, or anything else. They just both carry the same theme, with that theme being a bit of Daddy kink and a Secret Santa gift exchange.

I believe this is my first book by A.W. Scott. After reading about Milo and Trevor, I know for a fact it won’t be my last one. I’ve already added Bailey to my TBR on Goodreads. Bailey is part of another multi-author series, A Daddy For Christmas. That will be the 4th (I think?) Christmas series I’m reading at the same time, because of course I’m now wanting to go back and read all the (10) books before Bailey comes out on December 19th. This is one of those ‘too many books, not enough time’ scenarios. I doubt I’ll finish them all before Christmas, but I’m sure going to try. 🙂 Of course, now I have to go back and find Noah and Carter’s story too, so it looks like I have a lot of reading material for the foreseeable future.

Trevor Cooper has a conundrum. What he saw as a fake-ish type of relationship with his professor’s daughter Jane turned out to be anything but fake for her. He breaks up with her as gently as he can – her father could make or break him in law school – but to say Jane doesn’t take it well is a serious understatement. Not only is she furious, but she’s bound and determined to get Trevor back. Not just get him back, but to destroy any chance he has of dating any other girl. She’s goes so far as to scare all girls off that Trevor is interested in.

The best way to describe Jane is as a creepy stalker.

Bailey, one of Trevor’s few friends, suggest something so out there but not so out there that Trevor doesn’t consider it. The suggestion is for Trevor to pretend to be interested in guys, not girls, and maybe find a fake boyfriend. He knows Trevor’s not homophobic because his own best friend is with Trevor’s brother, so why not? After admitting to Bailey that he’s always secretly thought fellow university student Milo Adair was hot, Bailey places a call. The next thing Trevor knows is that he has an appointment with Milo Adair the following day at Milo’s house. Trevor will have 30 minutes to convince Milo to be his pretend boyfriend, at least until Jane backs off. Trevor nervously arrives at Milo’s at the appointed time and is quite shocked over how things play out.

I’m just going to throw this out there now… I LOVED Milo. I loved him from the minute he was introduced, and I loved him even more at the end of the book. He has an aura about him that has people fearing him in a sense because he’s so secretive about pretty much everything. Nobody knows if he’s gay, straight, pan, bi, or anything in between. He keeps everything close to the vest, which makes a lot of sense considering that his family is extremely wealthy. He wouldn’t know if anybody was interested in him or his family money. He’s a mystery.

Milo is cool and collected, and Trevor’s unable to read his face at all. After he lays out the Jane situation is when things get interesting in the little 30 minute meeting. Milo asks a lot of questions, some personal. When he’s satisfied with the answers, he agrees to help Trevor make Jane back off. Holy cow on what happens in that meeting.

What Trevor doesn’t know is that Milo has been interested in him since their freshman year. His agreeing to be Trevor’s boyfriend isn’t to just help make Jane go away. His agreeing is because he knows before everything’s all said and done, their relationship will be real. And trust me, what they get up to even during that first meeting is very real.

Then there are their families, both of which I loved. Milo goes home with Trevor for their two-week holiday break like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I adored Trevor’s mother, father, brother, and his best friend, Carter. There’s also a charitable gala during their time at home that they go to for Milo’s very wealthy family. I loved them too. His parents, sister, and brother all treat Trevor as family. No snobby jerks here.

Because the blurb mentions it, there’s the Secret Santa exchange that turned out to be way more than Trevor expected. It also opened the door for Milo to finally tell Trevor his true feelings, and how everything he’s feeling is quite real and has never been fake. There’s also a bit of Daddy kink without it being too much. It’s more of a ‘taking care of you and your needs’ than anything else. Milo is Trevor’s Daddy who simply wants to take care of his boy. And man, does he take care of his boy, and I’m not just talking sexually.

I absolutely loved these guys together. I loved watching Trevor come to terms with his sexuality, and how Milo was right there to guide him. I loved Milo’s dominance and protectiveness. I loved how he never really made it a secret what he felt for Trevor, even if things seemed to be moving fast. Really, they do move super fast, but it totally works.

And, lastly, I love how Jane was dealt with once and for all.

I guess some readers might say this is a gay-for-you book, but I’m going to go with a bi-awakening because it was pretty obvious that Trevor had been bi-curious for quite some time.

This is a great book that kept me interested from the first page to the last. As I said above, I’ll definitely be reading more books by this author. I was kept smiling throughout all of this one.