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Little Village
Faux Ho Ho
Silas Waite doesn’t want his big-C Conservative Alberta family to know he’s barely making rent. They’d see it as yet another sign that he’s not living up to the Waite family potential and muscle in on his life. When Silas unexpectedly needs a new roommate, he ends up with the gregarious—and gorgeous—personal trainer Constantino “Dino” Papadimitriou. Silas’s parents try to browbeat him into visiting for Thanksgiving, where they’ll put him on display as an example of how they’re so tolerant for Silas’s brother’s political campaign, but Dino pretends to be his boyfriend to get him out of it, citing a prior commitment. The ruse works—until they receive an invitation to Silas’s sister’s last-minute wedding. Silas loves his sister, Dino wouldn’t mind a chalet Christmas, and together, they could turn a family obligation into something fun. But after nine months of being roommates, then friends, and now “boyfriends,” Silas finds being with Dino way too easy, and being the son that his parents barely tolerate too hard. Something has to give, but luckily, it’s the season for giving. And maybe what Silas has to give is worth the biggest risk of all.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2019
5 people are currently reading
650 people want to read
About the author
'Nathan Burgoine
50 books461 followers'Nathan Burgoine grew up a reader and studied literature in university while making a living as a bookseller. His first published short story was "Heart" in the collection Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction. Since then, he has had dozens of short stories published, and despite being "the tall queer guy who writes mosly shorter queer fictions" novels have happened between the novellas and short stories.
A cat lover, 'Nathan managed to fall in love and marry Daniel, who is a confirmed dog person. Their ongoing "cat or dog?" détente ended with the rescue and adoption of huskies. They live in Ottawa, Canada, where socialized health care and gay marriage have yet to cause the sky to cave in.
You can find 'Nathan on the web at nathanburgoine.com.
A cat lover, 'Nathan managed to fall in love and marry Daniel, who is a confirmed dog person. Their ongoing "cat or dog?" détente ended with the rescue and adoption of huskies. They live in Ottawa, Canada, where socialized health care and gay marriage have yet to cause the sky to cave in.
You can find 'Nathan on the web at nathanburgoine.com.
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December 1, 2025Update, December 1st, 2025: Hello all! Author here, being authory—and letting you know that it looks like my entire Bold Strokes Books backlist has been added to the KoboPlus program, which includes Faux Ho Ho! I love KoboPlus, so this makes me super-happy.
It's here! You can now get Faux Ho Ho at Audible, with Giancarlo Herrera performing it brilliantly, just like Handmade Holidays.
December 8th, 2021: BookRiot put 'Faux Ho Ho' on their 20 MUST-READ QUEER HOLIDAY ROMANCES FOR HALLMARK MOVIE LOVERS list and I am over-the-moon to be in such good company!
I guest-blogged at the brilliant Corey Alexander's blog about how Faux Ho Ho involved breaking some so-called "rules," and how I can't write every-queer, just individual queers.
I guest-blogged at the wonderful Anthony R. Cardno's blog about how Faux Ho Ho fit into the fictional Village I've been building.
I guest-blogged at JenEric Designs about finding the voice for Silas, which was mostly about D&D.
I was up at the Spoonie Author's Network chatting about how Faux Ho Ho came to be (and almost didn't come to be) recently.
Coder geek + personal trainer + fake relationship + Dungeons and Dragons cartoon cosplay + accidental wedding invitation + Venn diagrams + flung jockstraps (and more) await!
*
Hello! It's me, the author, being all authory.
Faux Ho Ho drops next month, and I'm so excited it's happening. A fake relationship, a gay nerdy coder geek, a bi physical trainer, some Mario and Toad cosplay, a flung pink jockstrap and an unexpected wedding invitation all coalesce into what I hope is a fun holiday read. To say that 2019 wasn't a good writing year for me would be understating, which only adds to my joy to see this coming to life.
When I wrote Handmade Holidays, I honestly assumed I'd be done with holiday romances. I wrote it with a specific goal in mind: more-or-less to put out a story that reflected something a bit more in line with my own holiday experience as a queer man, which I hadn't really bumped into much (especially in romance, where the HEA/HFN tends to misrepresent family reconciliation as the only path to happiness).
But something odd happened. Another idea occurred to me. And then another. Much like Ottawa snow, the ideas piled up, and before I knew it, I was eyeing all the people in my fictional Village and writing another story. Faux Ho Ho is the result—I should say, the first result—of those inclinations.
Silas, the nerdy UI-design computer geek, is part of a group of four fellas who hang out at the Village coffee shop, Bittersweets. They call themselves "the Bittersweets Club." If you've read Handmade Holidays, you've already met another member, Ru, and in Faux Ho Ho you'll get your first glimpse of the other two, Owen and Felix. I have plans for Owen and Felix.
If you've not read any of my other Village stories, don't worry. One of my main goals with my novellas and short stories of the Village is to drop Easter Egg appearances and cameos, but not to put any sort of required order to them. Obviously, there'll be spoilers about particular people ending up together, but this is romance, so that's not a real spoiler anyway, right?
That said, if you're curious, the Village stories, from a chronological point of view, would be thus: "A Little Village Magic," (found in Of Echoes Born) happens first, though there's zero character crossover with Faux Ho Ho unless you count a coffee shop and a café; second is Handmade Holidays, where you'll meet Ru, Nick, Phoebe, Fiona and Jenn, as well as some children, all of whom have appearances in Faux Ho Ho; and then third is Saving the Date, where Phoebe appears again, alongside Morgan and Zach (who are also mentioned in Faux Ho Ho).
I hope you enjoy!
It's here! You can now get Faux Ho Ho at Audible, with Giancarlo Herrera performing it brilliantly, just like Handmade Holidays.
December 8th, 2021: BookRiot put 'Faux Ho Ho' on their 20 MUST-READ QUEER HOLIDAY ROMANCES FOR HALLMARK MOVIE LOVERS list and I am over-the-moon to be in such good company!
I guest-blogged at the brilliant Corey Alexander's blog about how Faux Ho Ho involved breaking some so-called "rules," and how I can't write every-queer, just individual queers.
I guest-blogged at the wonderful Anthony R. Cardno's blog about how Faux Ho Ho fit into the fictional Village I've been building.
I guest-blogged at JenEric Designs about finding the voice for Silas, which was mostly about D&D.
I was up at the Spoonie Author's Network chatting about how Faux Ho Ho came to be (and almost didn't come to be) recently.
Coder geek + personal trainer + fake relationship + Dungeons and Dragons cartoon cosplay + accidental wedding invitation + Venn diagrams + flung jockstraps (and more) await!
*
Hello! It's me, the author, being all authory.
Faux Ho Ho drops next month, and I'm so excited it's happening. A fake relationship, a gay nerdy coder geek, a bi physical trainer, some Mario and Toad cosplay, a flung pink jockstrap and an unexpected wedding invitation all coalesce into what I hope is a fun holiday read. To say that 2019 wasn't a good writing year for me would be understating, which only adds to my joy to see this coming to life.
When I wrote Handmade Holidays, I honestly assumed I'd be done with holiday romances. I wrote it with a specific goal in mind: more-or-less to put out a story that reflected something a bit more in line with my own holiday experience as a queer man, which I hadn't really bumped into much (especially in romance, where the HEA/HFN tends to misrepresent family reconciliation as the only path to happiness).
But something odd happened. Another idea occurred to me. And then another. Much like Ottawa snow, the ideas piled up, and before I knew it, I was eyeing all the people in my fictional Village and writing another story. Faux Ho Ho is the result—I should say, the first result—of those inclinations.
Silas, the nerdy UI-design computer geek, is part of a group of four fellas who hang out at the Village coffee shop, Bittersweets. They call themselves "the Bittersweets Club." If you've read Handmade Holidays, you've already met another member, Ru, and in Faux Ho Ho you'll get your first glimpse of the other two, Owen and Felix. I have plans for Owen and Felix.
If you've not read any of my other Village stories, don't worry. One of my main goals with my novellas and short stories of the Village is to drop Easter Egg appearances and cameos, but not to put any sort of required order to them. Obviously, there'll be spoilers about particular people ending up together, but this is romance, so that's not a real spoiler anyway, right?
That said, if you're curious, the Village stories, from a chronological point of view, would be thus: "A Little Village Magic," (found in Of Echoes Born) happens first, though there's zero character crossover with Faux Ho Ho unless you count a coffee shop and a café; second is Handmade Holidays, where you'll meet Ru, Nick, Phoebe, Fiona and Jenn, as well as some children, all of whom have appearances in Faux Ho Ho; and then third is Saving the Date, where Phoebe appears again, alongside Morgan and Zach (who are also mentioned in Faux Ho Ho).
I hope you enjoy!
Read
February 20, 2022Charming short romance with sweet scion of a conservative political family and his hot roommate/PT/fake boyfriend. A very sweet and soothing read.
December 5, 2023
I had loved Handmade Holidays, it's characters and storyline. Faux ho ho was like Handmade Holidays a christmas novella that's still a bit different from the usual mm-christmas-novellas, as it has no sex just a few kisses at the very end, but it felt more "mainstream" to me.
Obviously that's not a bad thing, it's just not what I had hoped for.
Silas and Dino were sweet characters, and I loved that we got to see more of the friend group from the series, espescially Ru and Nick.
I could have done without the flashback to when Silas had cooked Dino's hookup Shaun breakfast (before Silas and Dino were fake dating) and the third act drama, and (MILD SPOILER AHEAD) I'll never be okay with kicking someone (even if it's your homophobic brother throwing insults) in the face, breaking their nose. That whas celebrated too much for me.
3,75 stars.
I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
Obviously that's not a bad thing, it's just not what I had hoped for.
Silas and Dino were sweet characters, and I loved that we got to see more of the friend group from the series, espescially Ru and Nick.
I could have done without the flashback to when Silas had cooked Dino's hookup Shaun breakfast (before Silas and Dino were fake dating) and the third act drama, and (MILD SPOILER AHEAD) I'll never be okay with kicking someone (even if it's your homophobic brother throwing insults) in the face, breaking their nose. That whas celebrated too much for me.
3,75 stars.
I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
December 16, 2019
Faux Ho Ho
By ‘Nathan Burgoine
Bold Strokes Books, 2019
Five stars
A fellow author whose opinions I respect greatly loved this book, so I bought it. I am one of those cynics who sort of rolls his eyes at the annual holiday season romance fest, authors cranking out their classic tropes dressed in tinsel and candy canes. I love romance, but after reading hundreds and hundreds of them, I also have learned that I need more than just the same-old-same-old to jingle my bells.
Well, I figured I was gonna be OK when I fell in love with Dino Papadimitriou almost instantly. ‘Nathan Burgoine somehow managed to write this character – seen through the eyes of the story’s protagonist, Silas Waite – exactly in the most appealing way. Silas, on the other hand, is presented less clearly, so that it’s hard to get a grip on just who he is. Clearly smart and amusing and a bit bottled up – coming from a rich Conservative family in western Canada can do that to a guy – Silas is a bit of a nerd puzzle with low self-esteem. That is, until you begin to see him through the eyes of his flatmate, Dino, whose main job is to keep Silas from seeming too obviously poor and unsuccessful in his ambitious political family’s eyes.
Burgoine shows us, through Dino’s behavior toward Silas, that Silas is rather more special a person than he thinks he is. That Dino is special is obvious from the beginning, but we are distracted, rather cleverly, by constant descriptions of what a big muscular jock he is, not to mention a significant player on the anyone-goes dating scene. Silas accepts Dino for what he is; but he doesn’t quite recognize that Dino is seeing him just as clearly.
A simple lie to avoid Thanksgiving with his family keeps Silas happy, even as he gets used to Dino being the perfect roommate and pretend boyfriend. What more obvious set up than a Christmas wedding in Alberta to put the lie to the ultimate test? It takes a deft plot craftsman to negotiate the minefield of tedious tropes and trite cuteness endemic in this genre, and yet Burgoine does it. His humor, clever dialogue, and richly textured character studies give an emotional immediacy to the story that brings the reader along without a hitch.
I’d also note that there is in fact no on-page sex in this book – even though both men are in their early thirties. I like this, generally, since it’s yet another trope of the m/m world that can get tedious. On the other hand, I was so ready…and there you are: the author being so very good at manipulating his readers again. Well played.
By ‘Nathan Burgoine
Bold Strokes Books, 2019
Five stars
A fellow author whose opinions I respect greatly loved this book, so I bought it. I am one of those cynics who sort of rolls his eyes at the annual holiday season romance fest, authors cranking out their classic tropes dressed in tinsel and candy canes. I love romance, but after reading hundreds and hundreds of them, I also have learned that I need more than just the same-old-same-old to jingle my bells.
Well, I figured I was gonna be OK when I fell in love with Dino Papadimitriou almost instantly. ‘Nathan Burgoine somehow managed to write this character – seen through the eyes of the story’s protagonist, Silas Waite – exactly in the most appealing way. Silas, on the other hand, is presented less clearly, so that it’s hard to get a grip on just who he is. Clearly smart and amusing and a bit bottled up – coming from a rich Conservative family in western Canada can do that to a guy – Silas is a bit of a nerd puzzle with low self-esteem. That is, until you begin to see him through the eyes of his flatmate, Dino, whose main job is to keep Silas from seeming too obviously poor and unsuccessful in his ambitious political family’s eyes.
Burgoine shows us, through Dino’s behavior toward Silas, that Silas is rather more special a person than he thinks he is. That Dino is special is obvious from the beginning, but we are distracted, rather cleverly, by constant descriptions of what a big muscular jock he is, not to mention a significant player on the anyone-goes dating scene. Silas accepts Dino for what he is; but he doesn’t quite recognize that Dino is seeing him just as clearly.
A simple lie to avoid Thanksgiving with his family keeps Silas happy, even as he gets used to Dino being the perfect roommate and pretend boyfriend. What more obvious set up than a Christmas wedding in Alberta to put the lie to the ultimate test? It takes a deft plot craftsman to negotiate the minefield of tedious tropes and trite cuteness endemic in this genre, and yet Burgoine does it. His humor, clever dialogue, and richly textured character studies give an emotional immediacy to the story that brings the reader along without a hitch.
I’d also note that there is in fact no on-page sex in this book – even though both men are in their early thirties. I like this, generally, since it’s yet another trope of the m/m world that can get tedious. On the other hand, I was so ready…and there you are: the author being so very good at manipulating his readers again. Well played.
December 21, 2021
4.25 stars
An adorable winter holidays story! I fell in love with Silas and Dino. Intelligent, witty dialogue. Great secondary cast of characters. If I had to fault it, it would be the bouncing back and forth from past to present. Not a fan of that device. That said, grab a mug of hot apple cider or cocoa and curl up with this delightful, romantic novella.
An adorable winter holidays story! I fell in love with Silas and Dino. Intelligent, witty dialogue. Great secondary cast of characters. If I had to fault it, it would be the bouncing back and forth from past to present. Not a fan of that device. That said, grab a mug of hot apple cider or cocoa and curl up with this delightful, romantic novella.
December 9, 2019
I'm not going to lie. I don't think I've ever read anything by 'Nathan Burgoine that I didn't love. Even when the subject is difficult, the characters and storytelling are amazing. Faux Ho Ho is no exception. I adore this story. It's just what I needed to improve my day. If you want a delightful holiday romance, this is the story for you.
December 7, 2020
Thank you Secret Santa for the book!!!
November 7, 2022
This was really cute!! As with every novella I wish it was longer just to flesh some more things out but it was still adorable. The only thing that threw me at first was the chapter order jumping from past to present to past again, but once I figured that out I was all good. Definitely recommend for a quick read, also this is not really a Christmasy festive holiday book imo 😭
December 27, 2019
OH MY FREAKING WORD! This novella restored my faith in holiday romance stories. I loved it so much. I cheered and whooped at the end, too. Aside from this being an amazing take on the fake boyfriend trope, there are some solid truths about how gross ultra-conservative attitudes are towards marginalized people. It also underscores that even though you might have loving family members among the trolls, there’s nothing like chosen family.
Also, as a disabled woman with fibromyalgia, I loved the representation in the character of Anne. LOL—she is no pathetic soul. I would have made the same choice as she did. (You’ll get what I mean when you read this book.)
I cannot recommend it enough. Makes for a lovely read during the holiday season! (Actually, it’s so bleeping good, it makes for a good read any time of year.)
Also, as a disabled woman with fibromyalgia, I loved the representation in the character of Anne. LOL—she is no pathetic soul. I would have made the same choice as she did. (You’ll get what I mean when you read this book.)
I cannot recommend it enough. Makes for a lovely read during the holiday season! (Actually, it’s so bleeping good, it makes for a good read any time of year.)
December 18, 2023
‘Nathan Burgoine’s Faux Ho Ho filled my queer little romantic heart with happiness. As I read, I just kept thinking to myself how wonderfully queer it is and how much comfort I get from Burgoine’s stories. I finished last night, telling myself this is one I need to read annually and this morning, I opened my FB to a blog post from Burgoine, Existing While Queer—during the Holidays that perfectly encapsulates why his holiday stories resonate so perfectly and powerfully. They truly tell the stories I want to read the most but don’t get nearly enough: own voices stories of the lived reality of a tonne of queer people I know. Myself included.
5 shining stars
5 shining stars
December 11, 2019
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.25 stars
Faux Ho Ho is a totally delightful and lovely holiday story. I fell in love with Silas and Dino and rooted for them to make it work together throughout the book. Both are sweet, kind, and generous people; they are “givers” as Dino would say, and each man is truly caring about others. I couldn’t help but love them and really enjoyed seeing their progressions from strangers, to roommates, to friends, and ultimately more.
The story has an interesting structure, as we start in December with Silas racing to the airport. We don’t know what has happened, only that he is in a hurry. Then we go back a few months to when the guys get the invitation to wedding. The book then alternates between the present timeline in a linear fashion, as well as jumping us back to the past as we see the men meet and various chapter focusing on their lives together before the boyfriend ruse.
Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
4.25 stars
Faux Ho Ho is a totally delightful and lovely holiday story. I fell in love with Silas and Dino and rooted for them to make it work together throughout the book. Both are sweet, kind, and generous people; they are “givers” as Dino would say, and each man is truly caring about others. I couldn’t help but love them and really enjoyed seeing their progressions from strangers, to roommates, to friends, and ultimately more.
The story has an interesting structure, as we start in December with Silas racing to the airport. We don’t know what has happened, only that he is in a hurry. Then we go back a few months to when the guys get the invitation to wedding. The book then alternates between the present timeline in a linear fashion, as well as jumping us back to the past as we see the men meet and various chapter focusing on their lives together before the boyfriend ruse.
Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
Read
December 25, 2019This is a very sweet book. I enjoy reading books about people who remind me of my friends + also books abt Greek people. It could have gone through another round of editing probably? The writing isn't bad, but it's a little unpolished, I think. The characters are good though + I enjoyed the way Silas grows more confident over the course of the story. It feels very natural.
There are relatively few stakes in the book, which is good, + I would have preferred a little more pining? But in general this book is exactly what it says on the tin + I had a nice time w it.
There are relatively few stakes in the book, which is good, + I would have preferred a little more pining? But in general this book is exactly what it says on the tin + I had a nice time w it.
February 9, 2020
Fake dating/marriage is my catnip. And this one is well done. The story bounces from past to present but chapter heading alleviate any confusion.
A sweet holiday(ish) story about 2 seemingly different people who find their perfect other. Warm, funny, charming.
Hoping to have a bit more of a review soon
4.5 stars rounded up
A sweet holiday(ish) story about 2 seemingly different people who find their perfect other. Warm, funny, charming.
Hoping to have a bit more of a review soon
4.5 stars rounded up
January 19, 2020
I love this community of Nathan Burgoine's imagination and the characters that populate it. This stand alone short story references many other characters previously met in the collection, Handmade Holidays, but main character, Silas, and love interest, Dino, are brand new.
I had meant to read this during the Christmas holidays, but library books I'd let pile up which had fast-approaching due dates kept me from it. Reading it mid-January was a nice way to extend the holiday cheer. It was a sweetly spun happily-ever-after-romance gift to myself!
I had meant to read this during the Christmas holidays, but library books I'd let pile up which had fast-approaching due dates kept me from it. Reading it mid-January was a nice way to extend the holiday cheer. It was a sweetly spun happily-ever-after-romance gift to myself!
December 17, 2022
How is it possible that I may be like this one even more than handmade holidays? This was so freaking cute and I absolutely live for kicking conservatives in the face. I will admit that I was a bit confused by the chapter setup in the beginning but you catch on really quickly. This has a nerdy computer gay and a big burly tank bisexual love interest who are roommates and end up fake dating.
Gay MC, bisexual LI, lesbian SCs, sapphic relationships, disabled SC, set in Canada
Reread December 2022
Lovely. Perfect. An absolute delight.
Gay MC, bisexual LI, lesbian SCs, sapphic relationships, disabled SC, set in Canada
Reread December 2022
Lovely. Perfect. An absolute delight.
December 29, 2020
This is my favorite book of the season. The characters were completely charming and their relationship was a treat to read as it evolved. Both Silas and Dino were brilliant on their own, so they were even better together. They each had enough subtle nuances and quirks to their personalities to make them both fully fleshed out and I could see where they complimented one another as both friends and partners.
February 3, 2024
Silas and Dino were adorable. I love that their friendship and chemistry is just effortless. Silas’ family is absolute trash (Elisha excluded), and I’m so glad that Silas has a supportive network outside of them.
December 17, 2021
Tis a delight visiting with the gang from the Village again. However, the plot does the alternating back and forth in time which may annoy some readers; I didn't mind it.
May 13, 2021
This was the second story I read from this author and I can say: I really love it. We can consider it a short story, but it is as powerful as any other book with more pages. I loved it and I was incredibly happy to have read it after so many days without being able to read anything. An author that I, definitely want to keep and read more stories.
It will not be a big review because as I said it is a small story, but imagine this: roommates, who are going to pretend to be boyfriends to be on an important family event. What else can go wrong? Exactly.
And if you think it's just cute, you are mistaken, because the author messes with our emotions through the characters. It has a lot of fun, serious and cute things. And… a lot of LGBTQIA + information, for those who need to educate themselves a little or just understand.
Wonderful and brilliant 5 stars and favorite!
It will not be a big review because as I said it is a small story, but imagine this: roommates, who are going to pretend to be boyfriends to be on an important family event. What else can go wrong? Exactly.
And if you think it's just cute, you are mistaken, because the author messes with our emotions through the characters. It has a lot of fun, serious and cute things. And… a lot of LGBTQIA + information, for those who need to educate themselves a little or just understand.
Wonderful and brilliant 5 stars and favorite!
November 21, 2020
One of the most adorable MM Christmas books out there.
Loved it!
Loved it!
December 7, 2023
it's exactly what you would expect after reading the description
May 17, 2020
I enjoyed this so much!! This was one of my most anticipated reads for this Christmas, so I'm glad I was still able to get to it. I read most of it in one sitting as I really couldn't put it down. It was a very fast read, and I loved the characters. There was also some excellent disability rep in the form of two side characters.
Rep: gay MC, bisexual love interest, disabled side character, f/f couple, several gay side characters
CWs: homophobia
Rep: gay MC, bisexual love interest, disabled side character, f/f couple, several gay side characters
CWs: homophobia
December 2, 2019
I loved every minute of this. There was a moment, there, where I was afraid it was going to go to a bad place, but then, instead, it got even better. I'm so glad Mr. Burgoine gave us a holiday story this year.
December 20, 2019
Genuinely sweet! I alway enjoy this author's stories and this was a lovely holiday treat. <3
December 31, 2019
Just adored this friends to lovers holiday romance from one of my favorite writers. Thanks ‘Nathan for another great story. I fell in love with Silas and Dino and their simmering love story.
December 27, 2019
Okay, this is it, this one wins the prize! 🏆This wonderful, ultimately feel-good novella gave me all the feels & is my absolute favorite holiday read for this season; it's one of my favorite overall reads for 2019! It's just about perfect: An m/m "fake boyfriend" romance with two very different but equally endearing main characters, it's touching, hilarious, and just, sweet to the core.
It also tackles some very serious issues around the pressures of family at holidays and other special occasions - especially for queer people with problematic family members - and the emotional toll of constantly putting the comfort of others ahead of your own wellbeing.
This book features one of the most gorgeous, moving declarations of love I've ever read (it made me bawl 😭), a homophobic bully gets a righteous comeuppance, and there's a declaration of independence of sorts that made me want to cheer, cry and hug people all at the same time. And it ends with a warm & lovely HEA at Christmas. What more can you ask? 😊
Highly recommended; I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could! ❤❤❤❤❤
It also tackles some very serious issues around the pressures of family at holidays and other special occasions - especially for queer people with problematic family members - and the emotional toll of constantly putting the comfort of others ahead of your own wellbeing.
This book features one of the most gorgeous, moving declarations of love I've ever read (it made me bawl 😭), a homophobic bully gets a righteous comeuppance, and there's a declaration of independence of sorts that made me want to cheer, cry and hug people all at the same time. And it ends with a warm & lovely HEA at Christmas. What more can you ask? 😊
Highly recommended; I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could! ❤❤❤❤❤
December 19, 2025
I've done pretty well picking holiday novellas this year and this trumps all of them. I loved this! Silas and Dino were adorable together, even fake dating. A story that goes back and forth in time like this one does usually annoys me but the author handled it really well and you learn how the roommates' relationship changed as they lived together and became close friends. With around 130 pages of story we learn a lot of backstory for both characters as well as other minor characters and it doesn't leave you feeling like you missed out on a longer novel. I snickered quite a few times and loved the banter. The contrast between Silas's and Dino's families was huge and I liked how we learned who they were through those family members. Silas's family was awful (Elisha being the exception) and you just know there's going to be some drama with them all getting together for his sister's wedding. Loved the ending and even though I'm all about the spice in a romance and this had very little on-page PDA let alone anything sexier, I still enjoyed the intimacy between the guys. Just an all-around sweet gay holiday novella to add to the fun of the Christmas season.
December 15, 2019
This was a great story that kept me up way too late reading. It's told from Sila's POV and that helps maintain the "are his feelings reciprocated?" tension to the delicious end. It's not written in a linear manner in that each chapter covers a different period of time in Silas and Dino's friendship. This kind of setup can be confusing if not done right, but Burgoine handles the shift in time well, not only calling out the month in the chapter heading, but just by the "feel" of the action taking place. Dino is a physical marvel who quickly gains depth as the story progresses, and the friendship that develops between him and Silas is wonderful. When Sila's sister's wedding initiates the idea of Dino accompanying Silas as his pretend boyfriend, there are emotions aplenty. This is the perfect holiday story, especially for those who might come from a non-accepting family. Highly recommended and I will definitely be reading this story every year as a holiday treat. <3
December 18, 2021
I love this series!!!!
Silas was such a cute mom friend and Dino such a big cuddly teddy bear. I loved them together, accidentally being boyfriends for month and not noticing. 😂😂🙈
I love how this whole series is written in flashbacks and present moment. You always get to know the characters and how their relationship was slowly building over months, even if these books aren’t actually that long.
The kicking part was a little…too much for my taste? 😂
I loved the ending though and can’t wait to read the next one.
I also loved how we finally got a few glimpses of how Ru reacted when he first got Nicks book! We need a shortstory about that!!!
Silas was such a cute mom friend and Dino such a big cuddly teddy bear. I loved them together, accidentally being boyfriends for month and not noticing. 😂😂🙈
I love how this whole series is written in flashbacks and present moment. You always get to know the characters and how their relationship was slowly building over months, even if these books aren’t actually that long.
The kicking part was a little…too much for my taste? 😂
I loved the ending though and can’t wait to read the next one.
I also loved how we finally got a few glimpses of how Ru reacted when he first got Nicks book! We need a shortstory about that!!!
March 6, 2021
What I really wanted to read this past week was something comfortable. I made exactly the right choice. I needed to see a couple who really get each other and support each other. I needed to see a situation where's it's okay to walk away from toxic family members. I needed to see a nerdy adorable cinnamon roll and a big strong cinnamon roll have a happily ever after. I got all of that as well as early 80s cartoon Halloween costumes.
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