12 Days of Low-Angst Christmas… in July!
Hey all! I’ve hooked arms with a dozen other authors for 12 Days of Christmas—in July—and we’ve got thirteen Christmas-themed queer romances for y’all to take a peek at. My offering is Handmade Holidays—I’ve dropped the price down to $0.99 for the duration of the next twelve days—but even if you’ve already read my chosen family, Misfit Toys bunch celebrating their way through fifteen Christmases, I hope you’ll go check out the rest of the titles and maybe find a new favourite!
At nineteen, Nick is alone for the holidays and facing reality: this is how it will be from now on. Refusing to give up completely, Nick buys a Christmas tree, and then realizes he has no ornaments. A bare tree and an empty apartment aren’t a great start, but a visit from his friend Haruto is just the ticket to get him through this first, worst, Christmas. A box of candy canes and a hastily folded paper crane might not be the best ornaments, but it’s a place to start.
A year later, Nick has realized he’s not the only one with nowhere to go, and he hosts his first “Christmas for the Misfit Toys.” Haruto brings Nick an ornament for Nick’s tree, and a tradition—and a new family—is born. As years go by, Nick, Haruto, and their friends face love, betrayal, life, and death. Every ornament on Nick’s tree is another year, another story, and another chance at the one thing Nick has wanted since the start: someone who’d share more than the holidays with him.
Of course, Nick might have already missed his shot at the one, and it might be too late. Still, after fifteen Christmases, Nick is ready to risk it all for the best present yet.
“Handmade Holidays,” by ‘Nathan Burgoine
