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suze_1624's review against another edition
4.0
Despite being written by a favourite author this was the one I was most worried about reading, probably being set in the time of the Vietnam war - should not have worried at all, it was great!
4.5*, not quite to the 5, probably coz of those lingering thoughts.
The war is there as Richard goes but we get it second hand through his letters.
I liked that we had the Woodstock bit - so fun and set me off googling again, then the letters, then the visits and then the SD years followed by a brief Canadien adventure.
Gary was solid and constant throughout - we all need a Gary!
Richards road to recovery shows the plight, and abandonment, of the returning vets.
But for all that it was a light and enjoyable read as two guys go about making a family and traditions in a time when life was difficult for gay people.
4.5*, not quite to the 5, probably coz of those lingering thoughts.
The war is there as Richard goes but we get it second hand through his letters.
I liked that we had the Woodstock bit - so fun and set me off googling again, then the letters, then the visits and then the SD years followed by a brief Canadien adventure.
Gary was solid and constant throughout - we all need a Gary!
Richards road to recovery shows the plight, and abandonment, of the returning vets.
But for all that it was a light and enjoyable read as two guys go about making a family and traditions in a time when life was difficult for gay people.
tiggers_hate_acorns's review against another edition
5.0
A really good read, enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. Recommended.
teenykins's review
4.0
This, this was amazing!!! It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me happy!! A true Christmas story.
EDIT: I had a nice big review but I decided to delete it 'cos it was more my wonderment about both the political and religious propaganda N.R. Walker raises as an issue within the story than about the story itself. So if you wonder about them go and read it and find out.
EDIT: I had a nice big review but I decided to delete it 'cos it was more my wonderment about both the political and religious propaganda N.R. Walker raises as an issue within the story than about the story itself. So if you wonder about them go and read it and find out.
haletostilinski1's review
5.0
N.R. Walker is one of the only author's that can take a story that includes one of the MC's going to war, to Vietnam, and still managing to make the story fluffy. There was angst, to be sure, but the fluff - especially at the end - took away any sadness from angst.
I tagged this as historical because it starts the day before Woodstock in 1969, and a few days before Richard goes off to the war in Vietnam. He's in a diner, sadness rolling off him, when Gary Fairchild sees him from across the diner as he and his three friends eat there on their way to Woodstock.
They're all hippies, but Richard seems as far as one can be from a hippie. And yet Gary is drawn to him, can't look away, and he even goes over to Richard and invites him to come with him and his friends to Woodstock.
Richard almost doesn't go, but says yes at the last second. Thank god, because it changed his life. Not only his outlook on many things - mostly with being gay, as his parents are church going, god-fearing type people who are completely homophobic - but also gaining someone to love in Gary.
In those three days he's at Woodstock with Gary, he lets go and lives as he wants to, and he's free to be who he wants to be, for the first time in his life, and it means so much to Richard. Gary means to much to Richard, and vise versa. Gary is a hippie, but he's not as passionate as two of his friends are about politics - not that he doesn't care, but he's more a live and let live kind of guy, while his friends are more fight the power type of people - and he understands that it's not Richard's fault he's going off to fight in the senseless war that is Vietnam.
We get to see their journey as they stay in touch while Richard is in Vietnam, and what the aftermath is like once he comes home, and how they deal with it, and how they just fall more and more in love. And with how horrible Richard's parents are, Richard thinks he'll have no one in the hospital he's in - because he gets injured - until Gary shows up, and never leaves his side.
These two were stinking adorable together, in that way that Walker writers her couples. They're so in love, and so cute together, and they never waver in their love for each other.
This was a perfect holiday story - even with the horrors of war (even though we only really hear about it through Richard's letters) - that managed to find so much hope even when things are dark and bleak.
I loved this, two big thumbs up from me! Great connection and chemistry between the two MC's, great story with a wonderful happy ending. Definitely recommend! :D
I tagged this as historical because it starts the day before Woodstock in 1969, and a few days before Richard goes off to the war in Vietnam. He's in a diner, sadness rolling off him, when Gary Fairchild sees him from across the diner as he and his three friends eat there on their way to Woodstock.
They're all hippies, but Richard seems as far as one can be from a hippie. And yet Gary is drawn to him, can't look away, and he even goes over to Richard and invites him to come with him and his friends to Woodstock.
Richard almost doesn't go, but says yes at the last second. Thank god, because it changed his life. Not only his outlook on many things - mostly with being gay, as his parents are church going, god-fearing type people who are completely homophobic - but also gaining someone to love in Gary.
In those three days he's at Woodstock with Gary, he lets go and lives as he wants to, and he's free to be who he wants to be, for the first time in his life, and it means so much to Richard. Gary means to much to Richard, and vise versa. Gary is a hippie, but he's not as passionate as two of his friends are about politics - not that he doesn't care, but he's more a live and let live kind of guy, while his friends are more fight the power type of people - and he understands that it's not Richard's fault he's going off to fight in the senseless war that is Vietnam.
We get to see their journey as they stay in touch while Richard is in Vietnam, and what the aftermath is like once he comes home, and how they deal with it, and how they just fall more and more in love. And with how horrible Richard's parents are, Richard thinks he'll have no one in the hospital he's in - because he gets injured - until Gary shows up, and never leaves his side.
These two were stinking adorable together, in that way that Walker writers her couples. They're so in love, and so cute together, and they never waver in their love for each other.
This was a perfect holiday story - even with the horrors of war (even though we only really hear about it through Richard's letters) - that managed to find so much hope even when things are dark and bleak.
I loved this, two big thumbs up from me! Great connection and chemistry between the two MC's, great story with a wonderful happy ending. Definitely recommend! :D
rebecca_3's review
3.0
This one felt really long and drawn out. Not one of my favourites from the series. Also it was barely about Christmas or the Angel.
But I did enjoy learning a bit more about the time period, and seeing Richard escaping his oppressive religious parents and getting his HEA.
But I did enjoy learning a bit more about the time period, and seeing Richard escaping his oppressive religious parents and getting his HEA.
sio_and_tell's review
4.0
Oh, this was just magical. The angel trope was used a lot less in this story than others in the series but I did not mind as the romance was everything. I loved the notes on how m/m relationships were viewed at the times and I am a sucker for anything with a found family and love letters between protagonists. Remember to have tissues when you read.
rissa53's review
4.0
I always enjoy reading this author's works.
This book encompasses everything: pain, war, love, friendship, adversity, happy endings, plus many more in between!
This book encompasses everything: pain, war, love, friendship, adversity, happy endings, plus many more in between!
cadiva's review
5.0
Told in three distinct parts, N.R. Walker's entry in the Christmas Angels series brings the story firmly into the remembered memories of Woodstock, the Vietnam War and a time before the rights of gay men were recognised the same as everyone else.
We're in the heart of the New Age movement at the music festival which saw more than 400,000 people come together to celebrate peace.
Here is where Gary, a hippie on his way to the festival, first encounters soldier Richard. This section of the book is full of the heady joys of new love.
The central section is letters between the young men, a chilling insight into the horrors faced in the jungles of the Far East and the growing changes happening in the USA in and around San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
And then we get the rest of this powerfully emotional story, which I won't spoil, other than to say it has all the things I expect from this author. There are strong female characters, there is some pain, there is all the feels and, finally just when you think she's been forgotten, there is our Christmas Angel.
I loved everything about this romance, Gary and Richard's youthful ideals, their fears of separation, their joys at reunion.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
We're in the heart of the New Age movement at the music festival which saw more than 400,000 people come together to celebrate peace.
Here is where Gary, a hippie on his way to the festival, first encounters soldier Richard. This section of the book is full of the heady joys of new love.
The central section is letters between the young men, a chilling insight into the horrors faced in the jungles of the Far East and the growing changes happening in the USA in and around San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
And then we get the rest of this powerfully emotional story, which I won't spoil, other than to say it has all the things I expect from this author. There are strong female characters, there is some pain, there is all the feels and, finally just when you think she's been forgotten, there is our Christmas Angel.
I loved everything about this romance, Gary and Richard's youthful ideals, their fears of separation, their joys at reunion.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
relly's review
5.0
Best of the series
4.5 ⭐️
This one has finally knocked off the first book as the best of the series. What works in both books is that the author took the time for the characters to really get to know each other. Funny because at the start when the boys were meeting each other I wondered if I would finish it, but I shouldn’t have worried.
In this one Richard and Gary meet and attend Woodstock together. But Richard who has already committed to the army leaves from there to go to Vietnam. The relationship then progresses through a series of letters and visits. I enjoyed the use of the letters as it really gave them a chance to get to know each other without the physical getting in the way. When Richard returned stateside there was a lot of work still to do and it showed Gary’s commitment.
I liked the way the author portrayed Kat as well, it was nice seeing a female character that was not a raving shrew but an actual friend to both the guys. Gary’s parents were also great.
4.5 ⭐️
This one has finally knocked off the first book as the best of the series. What works in both books is that the author took the time for the characters to really get to know each other. Funny because at the start when the boys were meeting each other I wondered if I would finish it, but I shouldn’t have worried.
In this one Richard and Gary meet and attend Woodstock together. But Richard who has already committed to the army leaves from there to go to Vietnam. The relationship then progresses through a series of letters and visits. I enjoyed the use of the letters as it really gave them a chance to get to know each other without the physical getting in the way. When Richard returned stateside there was a lot of work still to do and it showed Gary’s commitment.
I liked the way the author portrayed Kat as well, it was nice seeing a female character that was not a raving shrew but an actual friend to both the guys. Gary’s parents were also great.
susanscribs's review
3.0
Very simplistic portrayal of an era that I lived through. The relationship between the two MCs was too sweet for my liking - surely given their different backgrounds and the experiences that Richard had during the war, they would have hit a few bumpy patches, but no, it was all "you and me against the world." YMMV if that's your cup of tea.