Release Day Review: Christmas Spirit by Ali Ryecart

12 November of 2020 by ButtonsMom2003

Christmas Spirit By Ali Ryecart

Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM, Christmas

Tropes: Enemies-to-Lovers, Forced Proximity, Age-gap

Released: November 12, 2020

Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 159 pages

Synopsis

Forced together, can past and present enemies become future lovers?

A lowly kitchen boy, looked down upon and despised by all, sweet-natured Georgie’s a modern day Cinderella. Roland’s an award-winning chef. Arrogant, frosty, and a silver fox in the making, he’s also Georgie’s boss. The only thing the two have in common is a mutual loathing — and a mutual attraction neither will admit to.

Cornered into taking a car journey together, they’re soon lost in a sudden, violent blizzard. Their only hope of shelter is to follow a series of signs leading to an isolated hotel… a hotel with a mysterious proprietor, no other guests, but only one vacant room with one very big bed.

As the snowstorm rages, will the warmth of Christmas Spirit melt the ice between them?

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

This is a wonderful story!

Every time I read a book by Ali Ryecart (previously known as A E Ryecart) I don’t see how it can top the last one. But it does… every . single . time.

I haven’t read a lot of enemies-to-lovers books (this one truly is an enemies-to-lovers one as they really seem to hate each other) and this one has a twist. No, I’m not telling what it is. 😊

I loved every minute of reading this book. I stayed up way too late (even for this night-owl) because I had to finish it; I couldn’t put it down. The characters were very compelling and so was their story. It’s a bit of a slow burn (which I like) because, other than things that happen in their dreams, nothing sexy happens until about 65% of the way through.

I love to read about characters from completely disparate walks of life who fall for each other. Kind of like Cinderella or Pretty Woman – but even better with two male main characters. Georgie has had such a hard life and the head chef, Roland, where he currently works has made that life even harder. Roland has a secret, something he’s terribly ashamed of, and it’s colored his whole outlook on life. It’s turned him into an ice-cold Scrooge and it seems like it will take a Christmas miracle to thaw him out.

This story really brought out all of my feelings and, of course, more than a few tears. I didn’t see how the author was ever going to get these two over their dislike for one another but I knew she would. Her previous Christmas stories have gutted me in the same way but it’s always worth it for the HEA that she finally gives her boys.

I absolutely love epilogues and the one for Georgie and Roland, catching us up a year later, was perfect.