Random Review: The Great Aerodynamicist by A. Nybo #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Great Aerodynamicist 
Author: A.Nybo
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Publication Date: December 1, 2019
Length: 28 pages

Reviewed by Sammy


Synopsis

Thinking he’s up to the task, droll Irishman Donnell, who is new to Australia, has almost completed assembling a model steampunk flying machine for his nephew’s Christmas present. Then an accident involving a parachute, some superglue, and his mouth lands Donnell in the emergency room with two of his fantasy men… only one of whom is real.

Purchase Link

Review

Donnell just wants time to move forward so he can redo his shop and make it into a one stop place for those needing a tasty sandwich or a hot coffee—currently it’s a disaster--but not for much longer. So he can’t blame the handsome guy who buys a sandwich and then dumps it into the trashcan right outside his shop. In fact he has good taste as far as Donnell is concerned since the current sandwiches taste awful. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the guy is also awfully nice on the eyes—who could get angry at such a gorgeous man?  In fact, Donnell is still wondering about the man later that night while working on a steampunk flying machine for his nephew’s Christmas gift. He’d like to find him and ask him out but he has no idea where the guy works.

When Donnell tips over his beer during the critical gluing process he manages to save a tiny painted figurine from being ruined by popping it in his mouth while he mops up the spill, completely forgetting he has put on the glue to cement it to the ship. Then he goes to spit it out and realizes his mouth is glued shut. A few hours and a trip to the emergency room later Donnell comes face to face with the guy from his shop and wonders if it’s kismet or insanity to try and get his phone number and maybe a date as well.

A. Nybo give us a meet/cute setup in The Great Aerodynamicist, one of the Dreamspinner 2019 Advent Calendar stories. Coming in at around thirty pages this sweet story moves swiftly and is quite a funny read—particularly since the tiny figure that Donnell accidentally glues to his lips is an action figure of a male star he quietly lusts over. But it’s the hospital scene where Charlie ends up as his doctor that really is wonderfully humorous and full of double entendre. From there it’s a swift dose of dating with a potential happy ever after.

I liked how the author didn’t make this an insta-love kind of deal but rather just left us with the impression that these guys were on the road to a serious relationship together. All in all The Great Aerodynamicist was a really nice little holidays tory that made me laugh and left me feeling happy and satisfied.

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Featured Guest: Susan Hawke ~ What Christmas Means To Me

Diverse Reader is so happy to have author Susan Hawke aka Susi Hawke here today with a lovely post and a look into her holiday book Rules for Santa. Get some cocoa, relax, and enjoy.

What Christmas means to me…  

A few holiday thoughts from Susan Hawke

While I was writing Rules for Santa, I thought a lot about Christmas. I wanted to write a sweet, fluffy story... kind of like a gay Hallmark movie in book form, if you will. This naturally required the watching of several Hallmark movies, listening to hours of Christmas carols, and consuming gallons of cocoa. Hey, we all have our methods, right?

Rules for Santa is part of Davey's Rules, a series I'm writing that features different "Daddy" types. In this one, the Sugar Daddy is a "Santa Daddy" and I let myself go over the top with the sweetness level. I have to say, writing it definitely put me into a holiday mood. I found myself doing a lot of thinking about the holidays in my free time, and the happiness of Christmases past is still making me smile, even now. So what does Christmas mean to me?

First, there's the whole expectation of a white Christmas. Having grown up on the West Coast, I’ve never experienced a white Christmas. I’ve had many wet ones, and more than my share of holidays spent in shorts because the weather was warm and sunny… but never have I had a snowy one. 

And yet, I think of snow in the air when I picture Christmas, how weird is that? It’s so real in my mind that I can almost smell it, along with all the other glorious sights and scents that make up the day. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, candles burning around the clock, the tree filling the room with its fragrance, and food. So much food. 

But wait… most of those are also manufactured scents for me. I’ve never seen a chestnut in my life, let alone smelled one roasting. I’m too nervous about fire to ever leave a candle burning unattended. My allergies are so bad that I can’t do real trees, so that’s one more fake scent memory. As for the food, well… okay. I’ll give you that one. Holiday cookies, anyone?

So if most of my scent memories are lies, where did they come from? Songs! Those kitschy, classic, hummable, unforgettable songs that we all know and love… or love to hate. The day after Thanksgiving is the best day ever for me because that’s when my season of music begins. I may not have the best voice, but I will cheerfully sing each and every one of those carols at the top of my lungs and smile while I do it. 

As you may have guessed by now, I’m a Christmas girl. I love every little part of it. Whether the trees of my childhood when we were so poor that my family decorated it with school pictures of all four of us kids and a string of popcorn, or the ones I’ve had as an adult with more lights than the Vegas Strip… or so it feels. The decorations aren’t what makes the tree—its mere existence is enough for me. What other time of year do we willingly put an actual tree in our home? 

To me, Christmas is about remembering the happiness of the past, enjoying the gift that is the present, while hoping for tomorrow. And for each of these things, there’s a song to help me feel it. Christmas isn’t about how much money is spent, whose house is decorated best, or whether or not my husband finally gets me that Roomba I’ve been hinting at for a decade.

Christmas is about nostalgia and recapturing the magic of childhood when it made sense that Santa would somehow visit my chimney-free home. Christmas is about remembering the family I’ve lost while focusing on the ones that are here. Christmas is about taking one part of the year and making it special whether with old traditions or new ones I’ve made. Christmas is about food and family—whether the one you were born to or made along the way. And woven through it all is that precious music that highlights the season and makes me smile.

Rule #18: Daddy’s boy will always believe in his Santa Daddy.

Homeless, alone, and now jobless, Cameron Evans is lost… until he’s found after a prominent local attorney literally trips over him when the boy is passed out from dehydration.

Scott Hendrickson has two things in life: his job as an assistant district attorney, and his son Davey. Other than that, he lives alone in a house that’s too big, too empty, too… lonely.

It’s not just Cameron’s life that might change for the better when Scott takes him in. Scott can provide material things and security, but Cameron returns the favor by breathing fresh air into Scott’s stale life.

Two men who need each other… one magical holiday season. Could a little Christmas magic be all that’s needed to bring the biggest gift of all? Maybe Cameron doesn’t need a Sugar Daddy… because he already has a Santa Daddy.

This is the third book in a series about not-so-perfect Daddies, adorable “boys,” and one sassy brat with an insane list of rules. Get ready for all the squishy holiday feels you’d want from a Susan Hawke book.

Rules for Santa  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YRYC69D

Contact me links:

my website: www.susihawke.com

facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheHawkesNest

Cover Reveal: Re-Release of The Holiday Hoax by Skylar M. Cates #Giveaway

The Holiday Hoax

Re-Release

Author: Skylar M. Cates

Self Published 

Release Date: November 21, 2019

Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood

Blurb

A fake boyfriend for the holidays? Why not!

Evan:

College has not been great my first year, especially in the love department. If only my family would stop asking me about it. So for the holidays, I’ve decided to bring home JD. He’s sweet and gorgeous, and the type of boy any parent would love.  

 Plus, poor JD ---he’s all alone for Christmas---I can’t just leave him. When he gathers the courage to come out,  JD gets abandoned by his only family right in front of me, and now he has nowhere to go.

In my household, JD gets a little taste of Christmas and a little taste of Hanukah to brighten his holiday season.  Maybe JD is only agreeing because he has nobody else, but that doesn’t mean we can’t become friends.

 As long as I don’t really fall for JD, it’s a win-win.

This is a standalone book with a heartwarming, holiday feeling. If you like slightly clueless guys, first-time trope, a loving family, and fake boyfriends, then try Evan and JD’s story.

Note:  This is a re-release with the same content and updated formatting. 

Skylar's Amazon Page  

Giveaway

One comment will win a E-book of The Christmas Lights Battle.

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