Review: Blame It on the Mistletoe by Eli Easton

Blame It on the Mistletoe by Eli Easton

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: November 17th, 2013
Publisher: Eli Easton
Point of View: 1st Person & Masculine
Recommended Age: 14+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: New Adult, M/M Romance, Christmas, Contemporary, College, Novella

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BLURB:

When physics grad student Fielding Monroe and skirt-chaser and football player Mick Colman become college housemates, they’re both in for a whole new education. Mick looks out for the absent-minded genius, and he helps Fielding clean up his appearance and discover all the silly pleasures his strict upbringing as a child prodigy denied him. They become best friends.

It’s all well and good until they run into a cheerleader who calls Mick the ‘best kisser on campus.’ Fielding has never been kissed, and he decides Mick and only Mick can teach him how it’s done. After all, the physics department’s Christmas party is coming up with its dreaded mistletoe. Fielding wants to impress his peers and look cool for once in his life. The thing about Fielding is, once he locks onto an idea, it’s almost impossible to get him to change his mind. And he just doesn’t understand why his straight best friend would have a problem providing a little demonstration.

Mick knows kissing is a dangerous game. If he gives in, it would take a miracle for the thing not to turn into a disaster. Then again, if the kissing lessons get out of hand they can always blame it on the mistletoe.

Countdown: 10 more days before Christmas! If you’re celebrating, I hope you’re feeling the joy of the holiday season! …And that the coldness is not as present at it is here, in Québec. I.AM.FREEZING.

Blame It on the Mistletoe is what I needed yesterday. You know when you’re not quite feeling able to focus too much on something, because you have so many things on your mind? Well, this short story offered me ‘an escape’ and I could just relax and read it, my head brewing less and less with things as chapters flew by.

It is short! It is sweet! It is light! …But it is a little bit poor on the dear Christmassy atmosphere. The story takes place in December, but, except for the mistletoe thing and little Christmas references, I could easily see this story taking place during any other season. The fact that it wasn’t a ‘heavy’ book helped me get into the holiday mood, but I wished it contained more elements linked to the celebration.

Mick and Fielding are sharing an apartment. They’re best friends and get along very well. Fielding is the ‘geek’ one. He takes his studies seriously (Mick does too) but almost seems like he ‘breathes’ books, computer and knowledge. Still, he knows how to have fun and interact with others. BUT, what he doesn’t know…is how to kiss. He never locked his lips with anyone and needs Mick’s expertise to help him with that, so he can become ready when someone will.

Mick…refuses. I mean, he’s not gay, and he knows it. Why would he kiss a guy? A guy he starts feeling more and more attached to. But, no, he can’t. He won’t. That’s NOT who he is…or is it? Could it be that he might actually feel something for his friend? Something on the…romantic side?

This has such a ‘gay for you’ vibe. I realized recently that those aren’t of my favorite reads, since they tend to feel very unrealistic to me, and this did too, but the author actually convinced me with Mick hooking up with plenty of girls but not having a true relationship because he doesn’t feel comfortable with them. So I didn’t mind it, but the ‘‘I don’t think this is how it would go in real life’’ feeling I had was still present throughout.

Still, I repressed it as much as I could and tried to only focus on the chemistry between characters, which was easily noticeable. Fielding made this story for me. He is adorkable. But, Mick is the one I could understand best, in a way. It is strange to say this, but everything he was thinking felt like something I would too, if I were in that situation. Sometimes I even predicted his next lines, which is something I usually can never do with characters in a story, except if the story in question is banal, predictable and cheesy. But that was not the case here.

The pacing is fast, the dialogs fun, the characters adorable in their own way, but some of the secondary ones though aren’t original and quite cliché in fact. The kind we can see in many books or hear of: head cheerleader, best girl friend that gives more the impression to be a psychologist and living only for the protagonist than anything else.

I haven’t read many short Christmassy M/M stories this month (maybe 3-4) but so far I haven’t stumbled upon any that I wouldn’t recommend. These are just right if you want something light or spend your evening with cute M/M characters. This is a novella set during the holiday season that might please you!

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