Scan barcode
thereadingtrashqueen's review
4.0
A big thank you to Riverdale Avenue Books and NetGalley for providing me a free copy in return for an honest review.
Holiday Gay is a book compiled of six short stories, all centring queer characters and relationships during the holidays. It's quite diverse, in the sense that it's not all just loveydovey stuff. In terms of diversity beyond that, don't expect too much. There are only gay men, and in one story two gay women are featured, but it's short, barely there, and written from a man's point of view. That was the only true disappointment I had with this book.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection! The foreword already set the mood, and the stories were easy to read. I would recommend reading one story at a time, to make sure they don't blend all into one. Out of the six stories, I absolutely loved four (one of them is NSFW, be warned!), and was pretty meh about the other two- one being the one featuring the gay women. I did love the '20s setting in that story, however, and the ending had me smiling broadly.
My favorite story I'd say is the third one, A Tale of Aloha, written by David Noh. The setting is beautiful and it's a lovely love story, but with a bittersweet ending that broke my heart, wanting to know what happened eventually.
In the first story, Christmas is Cancelled, I was uncomfortable with some of the words and descriptions used, as I felt they geared too much to stereotypes, but as I am not a gay man myself I don't know if that is just me, or an actual thing. Other than that, the dialogue felt a bit stilted at times, but nothing that really drew away from my enjoyment of the story.
A small note for Ryan Field: I loved I saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus, but I have to ask- where was the prep!? I know a lot of authors find writing that tedious but it's honestly so important. The lack of a condom gets explained, which was great, but then prep was completely non-existent, which made me feel kinda bad for Dennis.
I won't go too much into the stories, or the ones unmentioned, because this is really a collection you have to experience for yourself. Don't expect some out-of-this-world writing, or life changing stories. Just let yourself be entertained, be swept into the stories provided, wishing there was more of them.
Holiday Gay is a book compiled of six short stories, all centring queer characters and relationships during the holidays. It's quite diverse, in the sense that it's not all just loveydovey stuff. In terms of diversity beyond that, don't expect too much. There are only gay men, and in one story two gay women are featured, but it's short, barely there, and written from a man's point of view. That was the only true disappointment I had with this book.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection! The foreword already set the mood, and the stories were easy to read. I would recommend reading one story at a time, to make sure they don't blend all into one. Out of the six stories, I absolutely loved four (one of them is NSFW, be warned!), and was pretty meh about the other two- one being the one featuring the gay women. I did love the '20s setting in that story, however, and the ending had me smiling broadly.
My favorite story I'd say is the third one, A Tale of Aloha, written by David Noh. The setting is beautiful and it's a lovely love story, but with a bittersweet ending that broke my heart, wanting to know what happened eventually.
In the first story, Christmas is Cancelled, I was uncomfortable with some of the words and descriptions used, as I felt they geared too much to stereotypes, but as I am not a gay man myself I don't know if that is just me, or an actual thing. Other than that, the dialogue felt a bit stilted at times, but nothing that really drew away from my enjoyment of the story.
A small note for Ryan Field: I loved I saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus, but I have to ask- where was the prep!? I know a lot of authors find writing that tedious but it's honestly so important. The lack of a condom gets explained, which was great, but then prep was completely non-existent, which made me feel kinda bad for Dennis.
I won't go too much into the stories, or the ones unmentioned, because this is really a collection you have to experience for yourself. Don't expect some out-of-this-world writing, or life changing stories. Just let yourself be entertained, be swept into the stories provided, wishing there was more of them.
chrisvigilante's review
3.0
I only liked a couple of stories in this and of those two only one that I'd like enough to talk about it after completing the six. The ones set in the past didn't grab me at all. The last one could have been great but the perspective didn't work for me. I didn't like the way the story was told. The voice of the character wasn't engaging.
I Saw daddy kissing Santa Claus was my favorite. Even with the issues, I had with it. I didn't understand why the MC didn't just talk to his husband about what he wanted. Also hated that he fantasized about other people while they had sex but the story was linear. The kink elements were cool. Loved the husband character. The MC does love his husband, We get that from small things. Sexy dream and fantasizing aside. I feel like they are in the right direction to liven things up at the end. This feels like an important for them.
I Saw daddy kissing Santa Claus was my favorite. Even with the issues, I had with it. I didn't understand why the MC didn't just talk to his husband about what he wanted. Also hated that he fantasized about other people while they had sex but the story was linear. The kink elements were cool. Loved the husband character. The MC does love his husband, We get that from small things. Sexy dream and fantasizing aside. I feel like they are in the right direction to liven things up at the end. This feels like an important for them.
novelbloglover's review
3.0
Book Review
Title: Holiday Gay
Author: Various
Genre: Erotic/Romance
Rating: ***
Review: As this book is a collection of LGBT erotic romance holiday themed stories, I will be reviewing each story individually.
Christmas is Cancelled By Adam Schubak
Christmas is cancelled is one huge satirical take on the gay community celebrating Christmas. We are introduced to Kevin who is dealing with the aftermath of posting an anti-Christmas post of his blog when he meets his best friend Omar for drinks. During the course of the night we are introduced to a hot bartender, the sassiest drag queen ever and the liveable Jack just filled with Christmas cheer.
After bumping into each other Jack makes it his personal mission to cure Kevin of his scrooge affliction before the night is over. What follows is the sassiest, fluffiest most adorable gay romance short story I have ever read. Kevin and Jack's chemistry is great from the moment they met, and I would have loved more from the pair and some more explicit content, but I am happy with the first installment in this anthology.
Three Cars, Two Miracles and a Matador By Alan Amtzis
This story was ok in my opinion, it centres around a couple travelling around Mexico on New Year's Eve after being kicked out of one of the only friendly gay hotels. After their second accident the couple get into a huge arrangement and call off their relationship. They then decide that many drinks are in order and end up meeting several interesting people which leads them to a disco where one of the men meets a matador named Flavio, after sharing a passionate kiss he agrees to watch Flavio fight the next day.
True to their word the couple watch the bull fight and end up outing their relationship right and it is all thanks to the mysterious matador who the couple could find no mention of years later when they try to search for him. While I liked this story it didn't really hold any major appeal for me other than a laugh out two when the couple total their second rental car of the week.
A Tale of Aloha By David Noh
A Tale of Aloha was my favorite story so far as the couple and the romance are adorable because they share many loves, but they also have to deal with prejudice from their families which made the story more real to read and made it far more relatable. I would have like this story to have been a full-length novel as I feel it would make a perfect LGBT contemporary romance, almost like a note adult version of Adam Silvera`s work which would be a hit.
The Pope of West 44th Street By Frank Lovece
The Poor of West 44th Street want that interesting apart from the ending of the story which was a delightful addition, but I didn't like the fact the whole story was told from the perspective of someone who wasn't even involved in the romance.
I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus By Ryan Field
This was my favorite story of the whole collection as it was hot and heavy and exactly what I wanted from this collection of stories. The couple, the romance, the sting and the fantasies were just perfection and I would definitely read more from this author in the future. If you don't read anything else in this collection read, I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus, it was utterly delightful.
My Big Fat Gay Thanksgiving By Jackson Gold
The final story in this collection was ok, this series overall wasn't what I'd expected but a few of the stories really saved the day in keeping me hooked.
Title: Holiday Gay
Author: Various
Genre: Erotic/Romance
Rating: ***
Review: As this book is a collection of LGBT erotic romance holiday themed stories, I will be reviewing each story individually.
Christmas is Cancelled By Adam Schubak
Christmas is cancelled is one huge satirical take on the gay community celebrating Christmas. We are introduced to Kevin who is dealing with the aftermath of posting an anti-Christmas post of his blog when he meets his best friend Omar for drinks. During the course of the night we are introduced to a hot bartender, the sassiest drag queen ever and the liveable Jack just filled with Christmas cheer.
After bumping into each other Jack makes it his personal mission to cure Kevin of his scrooge affliction before the night is over. What follows is the sassiest, fluffiest most adorable gay romance short story I have ever read. Kevin and Jack's chemistry is great from the moment they met, and I would have loved more from the pair and some more explicit content, but I am happy with the first installment in this anthology.
Three Cars, Two Miracles and a Matador By Alan Amtzis
This story was ok in my opinion, it centres around a couple travelling around Mexico on New Year's Eve after being kicked out of one of the only friendly gay hotels. After their second accident the couple get into a huge arrangement and call off their relationship. They then decide that many drinks are in order and end up meeting several interesting people which leads them to a disco where one of the men meets a matador named Flavio, after sharing a passionate kiss he agrees to watch Flavio fight the next day.
True to their word the couple watch the bull fight and end up outing their relationship right and it is all thanks to the mysterious matador who the couple could find no mention of years later when they try to search for him. While I liked this story it didn't really hold any major appeal for me other than a laugh out two when the couple total their second rental car of the week.
A Tale of Aloha By David Noh
A Tale of Aloha was my favorite story so far as the couple and the romance are adorable because they share many loves, but they also have to deal with prejudice from their families which made the story more real to read and made it far more relatable. I would have like this story to have been a full-length novel as I feel it would make a perfect LGBT contemporary romance, almost like a note adult version of Adam Silvera`s work which would be a hit.
The Pope of West 44th Street By Frank Lovece
The Poor of West 44th Street want that interesting apart from the ending of the story which was a delightful addition, but I didn't like the fact the whole story was told from the perspective of someone who wasn't even involved in the romance.
I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus By Ryan Field
This was my favorite story of the whole collection as it was hot and heavy and exactly what I wanted from this collection of stories. The couple, the romance, the sting and the fantasies were just perfection and I would definitely read more from this author in the future. If you don't read anything else in this collection read, I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus, it was utterly delightful.
My Big Fat Gay Thanksgiving By Jackson Gold
The final story in this collection was ok, this series overall wasn't what I'd expected but a few of the stories really saved the day in keeping me hooked.
More...