Eli Ward hasn’t been back to his suffocating hometown of New Port Stephen, Florida, in ages. Post-transition and sober, he’s a completely different person from the one who left years ago. But when a scandal threatens his career as a TV writer and comedian, he has no choice but to return home for the holidays. He can only hope he’ll survive his boisterous, loving, but often misguided family and hide the fact that his dream of comedy success has become a nightmare.
Just when he thinks this trip couldn’t get any worse, Eli bumps into his high school ex, Nick Wu, who’s somehow hotter than ever. Divorced and in his forties, Nick’s world revolves around his father, his daughter, and his job. But even a busy life can’t keep him from being intrigued by the reappearance of Eli.
Against the backdrop of one weird Floridian Christmas, the two must decide whether to leave the past in the past…or move on together.
As soon as I read the synopsis of this book, I felt like I was going to enjoy it. I love a festive romance, and this one felt like it had some themes I haven’t seen before in Christmas contemporaries.
I really loved how this book was revisiting a relationship, a small town, an old life. This book had so many discussions of both nostalgia but also the difficulties of revisiting the place you were in and people you were around as a teen, especially as a trans man. There were so many layers to this story, and it did include a lot of difficult topics, outlined in a thoughtful content warning at the start of the book (see the bottom of this review).
Although this book did tackle some heavy topics, it also felt so touching and heartwarming at every step. Yes, these topics are discussed and do trigger some emotional scenes within the plotline, but they are also explored with understanding and heart. They are balanced with a blossoming romance, some lovely side characters and a very cute character in Nick’s daughter.
I really loved the way this book explored all topics with understanding and openness, but also showed a myriad of characters, not all of them approaching these topics in the same way. I particularly enjoyed Nick’s plotline of exploring his queerness as an almost forty year old man, and the discussions of demisexuality.
Overall, this book had so many joyous moments and often felt like a warm hug, with all of the difficult discussions being approached with care. I’ll definitely be checking out more books by this author!
Author’s Note (from the start of the book: This is a funny book with a happy ending. However, it contains some heavy subject matter, including the rise of hateful trans-phobic legislation; the loss of a parent in an accident, which occurs before the events of the book; discussions of racism; and alcoholism. You can find a detailed list of content warnings at tjalexander.com.
★★★★
4 out of 5 stars
-Beth
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