Merry Christmas Mr Miggles by Eli Easton – Blog Tour

Author: Eli Easton

Release Date: November 23

Length: 50,000 words

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | AllRomance

Blurb

Toby Kincaid loves being the junior librarian in his hometown of Sandy Lake, Ohio. He spends his days surrounded by books and chatting with the library patrons. He especially adores the head librarian, Mr. Miggles, who is kind, witty, knowledgeable about everything, and hopelessly addicted to Christmas. Sean Miggles is also pretty cute—especially for an older guy who wears ties and suit pants every day.

But Sean keeps himself at a distance, and there’s a sadness about him that Toby can’t figure out. When Sean is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he gives up without a fight. Toby realizes that he alone can save the library—and their head librarian.

Toby will need to uncover the darkness in Sean’s past and prove to him that he deserves a second chance at life and at love too. And while Christmas miracles are being handed out, maybe Toby will get his own dearest wish—to love and be loved by Mr. Miggles.

Review

“I sucked on his tongue like it was made of cocaine, chocolate, and orgasms.”

Full disclosure first: I am a librarian in my day job so I may have been a wee bit prejudiced when it came to this story, its setting, and the characters involved. J

And this story is all about a library and its more than dedicated head librarian, Mr. Miggles. Having said that, the story is told from Toby Kincaid’s perspective. He’s the twenty-four year old assistant librarian who has looked up to his boss ever since he started his job, just as he’s intrigued by the sad aura surrounding him.  While it doesn’t occur to Toby that he might do more than ‘just’ admire Sean Miggles, those of us who read between the lines soon pick up on that fact.

When, as it says in the blurb, Sean Miggles is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Toby decides to step up to the plate and not only save his boss but also the library they are both devoted to.

I loved how the library was described in this book. Libraries are so much more than ‘just’ a collection of books; they are vital to local communities in numerous ways and this story shows that in vivid detail. And, just as the library in Toby and Sean’s hometown is under threat, so are libraries almost everywhere, which made me extra invested in this story. When Toby rallies the troops (also known as borrowers/library visitors) to state both Mr. Miggles’ and the library’s case to the local council, the book got an almost magical quality, very fitting for a seasonal story.

Mr. Miggles fascinated me from the moment the book started and the better I got to know him and the more I learned about his past, the more I grew to adore him. Unfortunately Toby didn’t work quite as well for me. For about the first half of the book he rubbed me up the wrong way, which had probably a lot to do with the Justin situation. Once he got his shit together and decided to step up to the plate, he more than redeemed himself though. By the time this story reached its happily ever after I was fully invested in both Toby and Sean Miggles, as well as their future together.

This was an easy, mostly angst free, but captivating story. Mr. Miggles past and his present predicament give the story drama while Toby mostly made me smile or grimace. The story takes its time before getting steamy but when it does….

Overall I can only say that I thoroughly enjoyed this story and was delighted to have four hours without interruptions to read it from start to finish in one sitting – Reader’s (and librarian's) delight.

Author Bio

Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fan fiction writer, an organic farmer, and a profound sleeper, Eli is happy these days writing love stories as a m/m romance author.

As an avid reader of such, she is tinkled pink when an author manages to combine literary merit, vast stores of humor, melting hotness and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in rural Pennsylvania with her husband, three bulldogs, two cows, pot belly pig, and cat.

Website        Facebook

You can email her at eli@elieaston.com

Giveaway

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Bear Among the Books by T.J. Masters

Pages: 213

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Buy links: Dreamspinner      Amazon         Amazon UK    ARe

The blurb:

Forty-eight-year-old Ben Thompson is a librarian, a passionate book lover, and a man who embodies the definition of a bear. He’s also lonely after the loss of his long-term partner. Young ex-gymnast Jason Barnes piques his interest, but Ben quickly realizes there’s more to Jason than his good looks. While Jason visits the library almost every day, he never checks out a book.

With gentle persistence, Ben befriends Jason and learns the nineteen-year-old’s tragic secrets. After years of abuse at his father’s hands, Jason was kicked out of his family home for being gay. And despite his apparent love of books, Jason never learned to read. Ben offers to teach him, and the two men bond over their lessons. Ben can’t deny his attraction to Jason, but he wonders if Jason is too young and too handsome to return his interest. With the help of the close-knit library team and Jason’s growing self-confidence, they move beyond the books and into the bedroom, where their own story is just beginning.

My thoughts: 

I should probably start this review by mentioning that I am a librarian. For that reason all the details about working in and the running of a library entertained me as much as the romance did. On several occasions I found myself thinking ‘oh yes, that’s how we do it too’ and that invariably brought a smile to my face. Something else that made me grin was the fact that I would probably describe myself as a cross between Debbie and Ben; while I love welcoming new members to the library and love seeing them peruse the shelves, I find it very hard not to frown when they disturb the order on those shelves.

But, this review is supposed to be about the book and not about my day job, and Bear Among the Books touched my heart in many ways. It contains a wonderful romance, it’s a declaration of love towards libraries and, maybe more than anything else it’s an ode to words, books, stories, writing, and reading.

“I had always felt sorry for people who didn’t read and never experienced the joy of getting lost in a well-written story.” – Ben

My heart ached for Jason. To love books so much and not be able to read. Scratch that, just to not be able to read is a nightmare scenario to me. A nightmare that Jason is consciously living, as his words about being/working in a library so beautifully reflect.

“It’s like being inside the biggest, richest treasure chest in the world. It’s like a bank vault for people’s dreams and experiences.”

Of course Jason’s illiteracy wasn’t the only thing about him to break my heart. His back-story is horrendous and brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. He’s such a gentle, kind and big-hearted soul despite everything he has endured and his insecurities are as understandable as they are heartbreaking.

Ben was the sort of person I could fall for myself in a heartbeat. Kind, generous, patient, and always putting others first, he is exactly what Jason needs even if everybody else realises that long before Ben is willing to entertain the idea.

Jason’s grandmother was a breath of fresh air and I loved her attitude. The age difference between Ben and Jason is large —28 years to be precise. And while Ben does initially have some understandable concerns about it, I love that it wasn’t turned into a huge belly-ache or an issue for any of the other characters in the story.

“The heart has no wrinkles.” – Alice / Nan

In fact, this is not an angsty read at all. Despite Jason’s past and Ben’s reservations about a relationship, this is mostly a sweet tale about healing and books, about people coming together to do the right thing, and about embracing new opportunities and love when they come your way.

Bear Among the Books is a charming and touching feel good story. Yes, there are one or two moments that will tug at your heartstrings and bring tears to your eyes, but overall, this tale will leave you with a huge smile on your face and a love for the written word that is even stronger than it was before you started reading it.