This story is as much about true love and acceptance as it is about Christmas. The holiday is the setting that brings about Aaron and Ben's increased closeness as they work their way through the "minefield" of their first Christmas together. It is clear they have very different personalities, but they clearly fit well together. As long as they can work out which of their families' traditions they're going to make their own.

Aaron is a lawyer, and likes things "just so". Clean and orderly, keeping their apartment neat and "sanitized" is his thing. He is also so deeply in love with Ben, that he is more than ready to compromise on certain things. And the Christmas present he gets his new lover? It is more than adorable. So is Ben's reaction, proving that these two really do belong together.

Ben comes from a farm, and is much less bothered about keeping the apartment looking neat all the time. He does love his family and traditions though, and it turns out he is not only extremely impatient in the presence of a wrapped gift, he is also a neat-freak where opening Christmas presents. He doesn’t hold back with his emotions, but will do anything to make Aaron happy. Even spend Christmas Day away from his family.

I loved the devotion these two show each other. The slow build of tension as we watch Aaron pick Ben's present, without ever finding out what it is until Ben opens it was amazing. And the many small things Aaron and Ben did for each other more than clearly demonstrated their love for each other. If you like quiet Christmas stories, if you enjoy learning about a couple by reading about the way they deal with life and their partner, and if you're looking for a sweet story full of emotions and some very hot loving, then you will probably like this story as much as I did.




NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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Learning to share old traditions and to make new ones. ( )