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A review by fishreads
The Best Gift by Eli Easton
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I was going to rate this as a four-star read, but any story that can make me bawl my eyes out, which this one did in the last few chapters, deserves at least a five-star rating. Maybe that makes me soft, but I enjoy being soft. Crying is good for you, be it over sad or happy things. Ultimately, crying is good. And this story made me cry over sad things first, then happy things in the end as well.
The summary of 'The Best Gift' reminded me of 'The Lucky One', the movie with Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, and considering I really liked that movie, I was pretty sure I might enjoy an m/m romance with a similar plot, and I was right.
Greg Cabot is the owner of Cabot's Christmas Wonderland, and December is the busiest time of the year for him. But Greg's heart is hardly filled with Christmas cheer as he's still mourning the death of his son, who died while being deployed in Afghanistan. In fact, by the end of January, Greg is planning on selling his family Christmas tree farm and business, as the thought of not being able to share it with Sam is unbearable to him.
Robbie Sparks is a hitchhiker whom Greg picks up on his impromptu trip to town and offers a place to stay during the storm. Robbie is a veteran, fresh out of a 10-month rehabilitation, with no intention of using Greg's hospitality any longer than absolutely necessary. Except, when he goes to say goodbye, he notices how understaffed Greg is and jumps in to help during busy hours and agrees to stay on as a seasonal worker and help until Christmas.
Both men feel the initial attraction between them, but neither of them thinks it is particularly wise to give in to it. Except, the more they work together and the more they get to know each other, the harder it is to resist. I enjoyed Greg and Robbie's developing romance; they both carried a lot of grief with them, and there was such warmth and understanding between the two.
There weren't that many sexy scenes, and they weren't particularly explicit in nature, but that was understandable considering the story's themes. There was also a little "supernatural" aspect to the story, which is nothing unusual for this author, and it is always done in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it way, which I have to admit I enjoy quite a lot. Maybe others find it cheesy, and the story could work without it, but I like that little pinch of "magic dust" (might not be the best term for it) added to it.
Of course, there is more to Robbie than it appears at first. Robbie's secret is easily enough to guess,but I have to admit I did not even connect Robbie with Sam's last gift until Greg figured it out. How dumb was I? I really appreciated that the fallout did not last very long because I hate it when people drag it out just for the sake of conflict between the characters, especially when I personally think characters should have been more understanding. Thankfully, this wasn't the case here, and I just loved the way the story came together at the end and how Sam was such a big part of their family's healing process even in his absence.
Themes: dual POV, age difference, hurt comfort, veteran, Christmas
The summary of 'The Best Gift' reminded me of 'The Lucky One', the movie with Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, and considering I really liked that movie, I was pretty sure I might enjoy an m/m romance with a similar plot, and I was right.
Greg Cabot is the owner of Cabot's Christmas Wonderland, and December is the busiest time of the year for him. But Greg's heart is hardly filled with Christmas cheer as he's still mourning the death of his son, who died while being deployed in Afghanistan. In fact, by the end of January, Greg is planning on selling his family Christmas tree farm and business, as the thought of not being able to share it with Sam is unbearable to him.
Robbie Sparks is a hitchhiker whom Greg picks up on his impromptu trip to town and offers a place to stay during the storm. Robbie is a veteran, fresh out of a 10-month rehabilitation, with no intention of using Greg's hospitality any longer than absolutely necessary. Except, when he goes to say goodbye, he notices how understaffed Greg is and jumps in to help during busy hours and agrees to stay on as a seasonal worker and help until Christmas.
Both men feel the initial attraction between them, but neither of them thinks it is particularly wise to give in to it. Except, the more they work together and the more they get to know each other, the harder it is to resist. I enjoyed Greg and Robbie's developing romance; they both carried a lot of grief with them, and there was such warmth and understanding between the two.
There weren't that many sexy scenes, and they weren't particularly explicit in nature, but that was understandable considering the story's themes. There was also a little "supernatural" aspect to the story, which is nothing unusual for this author, and it is always done in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it way, which I have to admit I enjoy quite a lot. Maybe others find it cheesy, and the story could work without it, but I like that little pinch of "magic dust" (might not be the best term for it) added to it.
Of course, there is more to Robbie than it appears at first. Robbie's secret is easily enough to guess,
Themes: dual POV, age difference, hurt comfort, veteran, Christmas