This review can be found at The Armchair Reader.3.5 stars
The blurb does a great job of describing the story. It’s a cute and sometimes funny tale of Steve attempting to diet but failing miserably. It’s also written in an interesting way where the first chapter is told from Steve’s third person POV but then the next is told through his journals (in first person) during the time of his diet. When Steve finally meets up with Jackson that is again told from his third person POV. It was intriguing the way this was done but I also felt like it took away some of the needed experience since the journals told instead of showed Steve and Jackson’s character development.
I’ve always enjoyed stories where the MC is not physically fit. With Steve being worried and insecure about his ‘dough boy body’ and thinking he needs to diet for Jackson to be attracted to him, it added some realism and sweetness to the story. It was amusing to see Steve’s troubles with dieting because, while he joined a gym and hired a trainer, he feed his trainer sweets and ended up not having to do endure half the torture he should have since he was stuffing his trainers face with desserts.
While I enjoyed Steve’s journals, I was very glad to finally see Steve and Jackson meet for the first time. I really liked the way they were simultaneously comfortable and nervous around each other. It was sweet seeing these boys, who know almost everything about each other, become slightly awkward in real life. It was just adorable. More than that, I really liked the laughs they had together. Some of the stories they told each other I found extremely hilarious! We don’t know much about Jackson but from what there is, he’s an amusing and patient guy, which suits Steve very well! Especially since he embraced Steve and all his extra cushion so excitedly.
However, the story is definitely too short. I would have really liked actually seeing these two talking and getting to know each other during their weekly Skype dates. Aside from the first scene, there’s none of that so I didn’t exactly feel the connection that was talked about. Because of that, I felt like the ending was a tad too fast and too easy for their first real get together. It was definitely sweet, though, so I did enjoy it.
Overall, a good story. If it had been longer, I bet I would have felt the connection Steve and Jackson so apparently had. I did enjoy their time together because it was both fun and adorable. It’s definitely a good read for someone looking for a quick and easy Christmas story that has both sweet, fun and sexy moments.
