For the Nice List…
When She’s Merry by Ruby Dixon
Release Date: December 5, 2022
Content Notes
Switch Grumpy/Sunshine Dynamic
Cute Animal Sidekick
Virgin MMC
Christmas Romance
Depression
Trauma
When She’s Merry by Ruby Dixon is going to mark off all the reader checkboxes for a Christmas Romance. It is short enough for many readers to fit into the holiday craziness. It even has fun times while spending the night in someone’s living room during the holidays. (I personally related to that.) It also has some heft in the plot, acknowledging mental health issues with sincerity and sweetness.
This is a cute story, but what gives it dimensionality is Dixon’s willingness to explore emotionally difficult parts of her Risdaverse. In a universe with slavery, there is trauma. There is depression. Yet, this is a tricky task to approach in the Romance genre. The modern role of Romance in Western Literature is to allow readers mental and emotional release. If Dixon tried ignoring emotional wounds wrought by kidnapping people from their homes in her universe, that would rob her stories of depth. So, Dixon has dual obligations as an author in this sense. From a story crafting point of view, I think When She’s Merry is a great example of how romance writers can walk that balance.
For the Naughty List…
There Arose Such a Clatter: Tales from the Naughty List by C. M. Nascosta
Release Date: December 15, 2021
Content Notes
MMC with Talented Long Tongue
Krampus MMC
Dubious Consent
Consensual Non-consent
Forced Punishment
Sex Work
Forced Orgasms
Readers of morally grey MCs and dark romances, I found you a Christmas story in There Arose Such a Clatter by C. M. Nascosta. Do read the CWs. Do allow yourself to be caught in a sensory feast. Do feel welcome to the Naughty List.
The anthology is most enjoyed with the stories read all together. Technically you can treat this anthology like others and read the stories as stand-alones and sporadically. I don’t recommend that method for this book. It is perhaps fair to warn you that it might feel some confusion about where the book is going. This is an anthology, but the same Krampus is in all the stories, based in the same world, and written by the same author.
I have a confession. I tried reading this last Christmas, got distracted, and got into other things instead. There was nothing wrong with the writing, the book, or whatever. Sometimes you need something else. The darker it gets here in the northern hemisphere during winter, the darker I need my stories to get. I jumped back into this book this year and, wow, I made a mistake not pushing forward, fellow readers. Learn from me.
Currently Reading
To Be Read
Housekeeping
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