Of Holiday Spirits, Wake-Up Calls, and Happily Ever Afters

by Shae Connor

How many chances does a man get before it’s too late? When Guy staggers home after a raucous Christmas Eve with his closest friends, he’s visited by a spirit who looks suspiciously like Teddy, the friend Guy’s secretly crushing on. Can Guy learn the lessons of the past—and make the right choices in the present—so his future will be less about one night and more about forever?

Genres: M M Romance, Holiday, Christmas, Short Stories, Anthologies, Contemporary, Romance

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

Shae Connor lives in Atlanta, where she’s a lackadaisical government worker by day and writes sweet-hot romance under the cover of night. She’s been making things up for as long as she can remember, but it took her a while to figure out that maybe she should try writing them down.

Shae is part Jersey, part Irish, and all Southern, which explains why she never shuts up. When she’s not chained to her laptop, she enjoys cooking, traveling, watching baseball, reading voraciously, giving and receiving hugs, and wearing tiaras. In her copious spare time, she volunteers as director and editor of the Dragon Con on-site publication, the Daily Dragon.

Reviews

[Mandy*reads obsessively*]

This ultra short Christmas Carol like story is sweet, but due to the length just feels incomplete.
I wanted more, to see a bit of the MCs friendship, the love, the longing, what attracts them to each other, who they are....

[Ami]

This short story has a "Christmas Carol" vibe, as Guy is visited by an uhm, not!ghost of his friend, who shows Guy the true feeling that one of his best friend, Teddy, has harbored feelings for him for a long time. It's short and sweet, definitely the kind of story I know will come from Ms. Connor.

[Deeze]

Short and sweet. A nice little twist with the "visiter"

[Serena Yates]

This story definitely grew on me. It was short, fun and a little confusing at first, but once I 'got' what was going on, I really enjoyed it.

Guy is one of those people who don't understand emotions (not even their own). He doesn't even know what he is missing because he goes from conquest to conquest and never looks back. His friend Teddy is different, though, because he is a friend - or so Guy thinks. Once guy gets - it - boy does he become unstoppable.

We never really 'hear' from Teddy (since Guy tells the story) - but I found that didn't matter. As Guy's understanding of Teddy's feelings grew, so did mine. The descriptions of the situations are so lively, that even Guy gets it, and with him, so did I.

If you like stories where friends become more, if adding some thoughtful observations is something you like, and if a passionate ending makes your heart beat faster, you will probably like this sory.



NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Queer Magazine Online

[Bubbles Hunty Honest & Direct Opinions]

Book starts at 1% and ends at 80%

So goes from 5:30 am to 6:15pm but is still morning... I hate editing mistakes like this they completely pull me out of the story

It was an ok short but way too short. No time to show a story just quickly told a story. And with the one mc being such a slut he needed a lot more development for me to like him

[Meggie]

This really short chapter had an interesting plotted idea, I liked that part. But come one, it could have been done more out if this. The plot could have been longer and deeper, this work is just sad, sad work!

[Paws]

Great short! Thought it was interesting that this book was from the perspective of the more gregarious/oblivious of the couple. Usually these friends to lovers stories are from the point of view of the one pining away for the other. Watching him go off with his conquests and wishing it could be him. Nope. Got a bit of Christmas Carol going here and twisted it around!

[Sadonna]

This is a cute twist on A Christmas Carol. And a wake-up call for those who are ignoring what's right in front of them all along in search of "something better"

[kasjo_peja]

I really liked this one. I was sweet story with good amount of events packed in such a short story. Still, too short to receive more than 3 stars.

[Rachel Emily]

A nice attempt at a Christmas Carol type of story, and I liked the idea of it, but I think the shortness hurt the overall read.

[Enny]

The gay Ghost of Christmas Past thing was done so much better by Kim Dare in The Gift.

[melek]

Confused once again. Guy somehow had a dream or something like it says a wake up call, to finally tell teddy how he feels.

[qx]

2.5

[OkayKim]

Kind of Scrooge like. Cute!