A Cop for Christmas

This was ... okay? free? angst free? not really a romance? Yup.

Maybe I'm being grumpy because I've read other yumminess recently but I felt that for this being a short Holiday story it necessarily needed to zero in on the MC, Mason & Steve, but what is does is gives us an expansive visit with Mason's family, the Colliers, centering with particular interest on Kade, the youngest brother, who's all things modern, progressive, and hip. In fact the Colliers are a picture postcard of modern acceptance. Cool. But we know precious little about Mason and he's one of the MC.

Next we have oodles of time spent with Sam, Steve's ex, and only other gay man in town. I gather the reader is perhaps meant to feel sorry for him but I would've happily murdered him.

Finally we know the bare minimum about Steve: he loves dogs and kind of lives up to the reputation of a stodgy, stick-up-his-ass, judgey cop. Or it was just me.

The story takes place over 2 or 3 days and Mason & Steve don't spend any significant time together until the last 20% and mostly not alone. It logically ends in a HFN which I didn't buy and I don't think the MC hold out hope that it will lead to anything lasting either. It's realistic, I agree with that, but it doesn't do much in the romance department which is what it's meant to be and I'm not talking poems & roses. Steve & Mason seem to be a thing because they find each other physically attractive and are two of the three openly gay men in this teeny New Hampshire town.

I'd say I would look forward to seeing these two work out an actual relationship. I like the writing but I don't know enough about them to care. Kade is another story. Go figure.