Length: 56,000 words approx.
Cover Design: Reese Dante
Blurb
Iceland. Of course.
But there's more in Iceland than snow. When Arnar, a handsome Icelandic man, offers to escort Sam on a several-day tour of the beautiful countryside, they soon find themselves drawn to each other. But Arnar is firmly rooted in his native soil, and Sam has to return to the US in a week to care for his ailing grandfather.
Suddenly, yule can’t last nearly long enough.
NOTE: Though this novel includes characters from "A Cop for Christmas," it is a standalone adventure. It isn’t necessary to read "A Cop for Christmas" first.
Review
In
a (book) world where it sometimes feels as if writers are trying to outdo
themselves and each other when it comes to heartstopping and heartbreaking
storylines, it was an utter joy to read a story that was all about love rather than
pain and hardship.
Sure,
there were one or two ‘angstier’ moments, such as Sam’s panic when he finds
himself in a snow storm or the impending end of his holidays which will also
mean the end of his time with Arnar, but they don’t dominate the story. This
book is all about Sam and Arnar meeting, being attracted to each other, acting
on their feelings and growing closer as their week together progresses.
As
stated in the blurb, this story (re)introduces the reader to characters first
introduced in A Cop for Christmas. Since I didn’t read that book I can
honestly say that you don’t need to be familiar with that story to fully enjoy
this one.
I
don’t want to say too much about the how the story develops. What I do want to
talk about is one or two scenes that made my heart melt. I loved Sam’s fascination
with Arnar’s long hair and the joy both men got from Sam braiding it for him at
night. Arnar’s attraction to Sam’s ears was just as adorable. The descriptions
of Iceland, both the landscape and the culture, fascinated me and made me want
to visit, despite the freezing temperatures being described so well that they
made me lean closer to the radiator while I was reading.
What
I will remember this book for is the wonderful, heartwarming love story it
contains. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Sam and Arnar getting ever closer to
each other. I adored the easy, almost subdued, tone of this story and the
relationship in it. The book is so well written it almost reads itself; I just
lost myself in the narrative and would be surprised to discover time and pages
just disappeared while I read. And while I have to say that maybe the bond
between these two men grew very fast and the ending was maybe a bit too good to
be true, I also have to admit that for me it worked perfectly well. When I
finished reading A Viking for Yule I found myself happy, content, and satisfied.
There’s not a whole lot more I can ask for when reading a (Christmas) romance.
Author Bio
Jamie Fessenden is an author of gay fiction in many genres. Most involve romance, because he believes everyone deserves to find love, but after that anything goes: contemporary, science fiction, historical, paranormal, mystery, or whatever else strikes his fantasy. Jamie Fessenden set out to be a writer in junior high school. He published a couple short pieces in his high school's literary magazine and had another story place in the top 100 in a national contest, but it wasn't until he met his partner, Erich, almost twenty years later, that he began writing again in earnest. With Erich alternately inspiring and goading him, Jamie wrote several screenplays and directed a few of them as micro-budget independent films. He then began writing novels and published his first novella in 2010. After nine years together, Jamie and Erich have married and purchased a house together in the wilds of Raymond, New Hampshire, where there are no street lights, turkeys and deer wander through their yard, and coyotes serenade them on a nightly basis.
Jamie recently left his “day job” as a tech support analyst to be a full-time writer.
 |
| Hosted By Signal Boost Promotions |
No comments:
Post a Comment