Kate Sands

As a collection of stories, I think the 2015 Advent Calendar was one of the best of its kind. I have been following these since 2009, but the number of stories I totally adored has never been this high. And even though I had my ten favorites (see individual titles for my reviews and ratings), I really liked the vast majority of the remainder as well. Each story had something to contribute, and that included (as it does every year) stories of winter traditions other than Christian. I had a ball reading these and already look forward to the 2016 collection.


NOTE: The stories in this collection were provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of reviews on Rainbow Book Reviews.… (more)

Children of famous parents never have an easy life, but in the case of this story, it’s a particularly difficult situation Noel finds himself in. He is the son of Santa, and with all the pressure and expectations I can understand why he wants a break. A long one. How is he supposed to become his own person otherwise? Never mind find someone who sees him for who he really is? The interesting thing about this story is that it shows how all the “Christmas hoopla” has blinded Noel himself to the one person who might be right for him – Fannar, the gorgeous ice sprite who has vexed Noel for a very long time.

Noel’s sabbatical from the North Pole allows him to be himself, and to explore the human realm, and living in anonymity is exactly what he wants. He is so determined not to let anyone close that it takes quite some doing for Fannar to get through to him. Noel is still trying to deny his feelings when Fannar has already made more than one move to clarify that their past when they avoided each other is not what he wants their future to be like. I loved Fannar’s approach and watching Noel slowly get it was very entertaining.

If you like stories about “celebrities” from the North Pole, if reading about beings from different realms dealing with humans and each other sounds like fun, and if you’re looking for a read that shows how the son of Santa begins to learn to deal with his heritage, then you will probably like this novella.



NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.… (more)