Political activist and comic book shop owner, Michael Cooke has issues. The former college professor struggles between his fight for equality, a new business, and the yo-yo relationship established seven years ago with Beauregard Isiah Guilford. And breaking up for the sixth time may just be the last straw. After dating a younger man however, Michael realizes his heart and soul still belong to Beau. He must now find a way to get his man back for Christmas.
Trouble is, as aggressive as Michael is in his continuous battle for civil rights, he’s just as ashamed by the depth to which he enjoys being humiliated and dominated. His inability to accept his sexually submissive nature has been a lifelong conflict and easy to hide...until Beauregard. All it takes is a single look, a touch, a kiss, and Michael is a quivering, cowering mess. Will he be able to get back what he’s thrown away and rebuild what Beauregard now threatens to withhold?
With everything at risk, their only salvation is Kris Kringle who's about to bring them some Christmas cheer they'll never forget!
My last post-holidays Christmas jizz experience was ultra satisfying and this one promised to be kinky Christmas jizz. Win, win, right? Welllllll…
Political activism is all well and good, however I do not read romance to gain perspective on sociopolitical issues. I have other avenues that are more informative and entertaining for my sociopolitical rhetoric, thankyouverymuch. I can handle a mention here and there but this felt like agenda pushing and bogged the story down as well as hindered my ability to buy into these two being a meant-to-be couple.
Yuletide Knights is labeled BDSM. There were some handcuffs used………………………………………….. once………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. sorry, I dozed off just typing that. There are BDSM catchwords bandied about like, "Top", "Daddy" and "submissive" that really have no bearing on the relationship between Beauregard and Michael whatsoever. Michael is the bottom in their rocky, on again/off again relationship and is physically smaller than Beauregard neither of which equates to being submissive. He talks about being humiliated by Beauregard manhandling him and wanting to get on his knees and suck his cock. Sucking a cock does not make one submissive either. You can't just use the verbiage and tag it BDSM. I want you to show me submission and dominance and neither were accomplished here nor was there any discernible heat between them. There was more heat between Beauregard and his twinky partner than with his lost love. Furthermore, the amount of cock talk to cock action was vexing. Talk about a kinky chain yank. I had to wait til 85%! By that point, I'd been drained of my care by all the weirdness and agenda pushing. Thankfully, because it wasn't titillating.
The random appearances of ole Saint Nick in different incantations I think was meant to be charming, but missed the mark. Really, he made appearances in the oddest places and left strange, somewhat cryptic notes. His last incantation being a giant bear with a "gargantuan" cock that got put to good use, but was still somehow unsatisfying. It's not quite porn and not quite romance which left me in a murky, grey soup of 'meh'.
Adjectives abound in the writing style, most of which are awkward and/or cockamamy. "Incredibly lubricating saliva", "fuzzy" tongues, and my personal fave, "worshipping the immense landscape that was his thick, long cock". I might like to see an immensely landscaped cock. Does it have those hedges that are shaped like Christmas trees or maybe Edward Scissorhands got in on the act and put a squirrel here or there? Maybe a UNICORN!!!!! Putting a unicorn on anything makes it better, ammIright?
If you want some awkward and hokey Christmas jizz, you've just hit the jackpot.
A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
‘Yuletide Knights’ is not a sweet or fluffy Christmas story. And while the Christmas setting and timing add an extra “magical” dimension to some of what is going on, the issues and obstacles the main characters struggle with are very real and could occur at any time of the year. In fact they have occurred for seven years already, and it is the helpful intervention of a third man, one bathed in mystery, that offers real hope for Michael and Beau to finally cut through the crap, deal with the misunderstandings, and help Michael solve the fundamental conflict inside himself.
‘Yuletide Knights’ is not a sweet or fluffy Christmas story. And while the Christmas setting and timing add an extra “magical” dimension to some of what is going on, the issues and obstacles the main characters struggle with are very real and could occur at any time of the year. In fact they have occurred for seven years already, and it is the helpful intervention of a third man, one bathed in mystery, that offers real hope for Michael and Beau to finally cut through the crap, deal with the misunderstandings, and help Michael solve the fundamental conflict inside himself.
"I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads."
This is a quick and quirky read which combines some heavy issues with some some Christmas magic. It covers a lot of ground, although maybe in a superficial manner, which had me wanting more detail, but it gave a good sense of the characters and what their issues were. Fighting one's submissiveness to the point of trying to be dominant is Michael's current strategy, one which clearly fails. Beau is trying not to be there, but equally knows how good it could be ...
**I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.**
This is my first read from Johnny Miles.
Yuletide Knights is a cute Christmas themed quick read. Michael and Beauregard tried to make it work, seven years and many break ups in between and they just couldn't seem to make it. They loved each other but it wasn't enough. With a little help from some Christmas friends and admitting their feelings can they make it work? Everything is better at Christmas right?
“Michael, Michael. You are missing out on so much by constantly fighting a battle with yourself. Just let go. You can count on Beau to give you what you need, but you have to give up the fight. You’ll be happier than you’ve ever been in your life. Just do it.”
That’s exactly what I wanted to say to Michael. I wanted to be able to grab him by both ears, look into his eyes, and try to hypnotize him with those words. It was either that or slap him up alongside the head and shout it at him – the urge was a near thing.
I could feel and understand Beau’s exasperation for being on a repetitive loop with Michael – fighting for civil rights and then getting arrested; hot and quivering under Beau’s ministrations, then cold and breaking it off again. Michael is frankly a hot mess, but, he’s in luck. After all, it’s Christmas and Kris Kringle may just have a little magic up his sleeve (or in his pants).
I love second chance stories, and while this one might technically be Michael’s seventh chance, I didn’t hold it against him. I think he just needed more holding period (preferably Beau holding him down and screwing him senseless). This story had a little bit of lots of things going for it. It was a little bit cute, funny, quirky, mysterious, and hot – a very enjoyable story indeed!
For a shorter read, this book had so much packed in! It was two very real men, living very real lives and dealing with real world issues, but with a touch of magic and enough heat to light up a forest of Christmas trees.
Michael is having some issues this holiday season. He's let the political issues of being gay in the South rule his life, his relationships, and his on/off relationship with Beau, a police officer.
When Beau has to arrest Michael again, he's had enough. But the flame that burns between them is hot enough to incinerate them both. With an ultimatum, Michael needs to decide what's more important to him.
First off, these were two very real characters, which I loved. They were both imperfect and, with a history of breakups, loved each other, but something had to give.
I loved the sexual tension that crackled between them each time they were together. I loved how everything played out, with both MC's realizing that what they had might be better, and more important, that what they were fighting so hard against.
This was my first Johnny Miles read, and it won't be my last. I love his writing style. The sex scenes were off the charts hot, but with so much obvious respect, not one thing about it was cringe-worthy or over the top. It was the perfect formula for hot as sin kink.
Did I laugh? Yes. Did I relate to the characters? Absolutely. Did it leave me wanting more? Yes, please.
Again, awesome story, lots of sexy kink, smart, witty dialogue and the added bonus of feelings made this a book I'll read again.
This is the first book of Johnny Miles I read, but I don't think it will be the last. This is literally a wonderful story. I loved the magical feeling woven through the book and I loved how you really felt for both main characters. A beautiful story of giving your love the chance it deserves, even after six breakups. I only hoped to read more sex scenes that demonstrated the preference of Michael, but that is because reading about that that is my guilty pleasure :P And although I love looking at the cover, I think I would have loved it even more if the cover portrayed the main characters better, they are both older characters with white and gray in their hair, that can also make for a very hot cover!