A Cop for Christmas is about Mason Collier who’s visiting his parents and siblings for the Christmas holiday, and Steve Coleman, the local small-town cop. The story is told in third person through Mason and Steve’s povs.

3.5 Stars



This story has a nice holiday feel to it with descriptions of the Collier family and their festivities, and the winter environment.

The author did a good job of creating distinct personalities for Mason, Steve and Sam, and kept them consistent throughout the story. Steve once dated Sam since he’s the only other gay man in town, except now Mason has arrived. Mason and Steve get off to a bad start because Steve ticketed Mason for speeding. Even though both are attracted to the other, they have preconceived ideas about the other because of that first encounter, so then the story unfolds on how they learn about each other despite that bad first meeting. Steve is an uptight controlled guy and he lives in a mobile home with his dog on the property next to the Colliers. He used to be satisfied living his life alone, but now he’s lonely. Mason is outgoing, a bit cocky, and confident most of the time. Poor Sam has no one, but he gets his own love interest in the next book.

This is a slow growth relationship with no angst. It’s just two guys getting to know each other. The one thing I didn’t like about the story, is that it has what I would call a cliff-hanger ending. There is no resolution to Mason and Steve’s relationship. It’s not even an HFN. It’s a ‘let’s try long distance dating and see what happens.’ The ambiguous ending lowered the enjoyment of the story for me.

If you want a slow-moving romance with definite holiday feels, then you might like this story. I plan on reading the next book about Sam to see what happens with his romance. I give A Cop for Christmas, 3 Stars.

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The Publisher Says: Mason Collier isn’t big on authority figures. When Office Steve Coleman pulls him over and gives him a speeding ticket, he doesn’t react well. He’s even less happy when he discovers the cop lives next door to his parents’ house.



No matter where they turn this holiday season, Steve and Mason keep running into each other, and whenever they talk for more than a minute, they piss each other off. But from wayward dogs to Christmas tree hunts to maple syrup festivals, it proves impossible to avoid each other in the small town.



If Mason can see the good man behind the badge, he might just get a cop for Christmas.



THIS WAS A GIFTIE FROM DEARLY BELOVÈD RONI!



My Review: Pretty much straight-people safe! Moderate steam!



One thing to know about this story is the whole reason these guys work as a couple from the jump is they're the only kind of guys the other thinks about. They're just primed, ready to go, when they meet. Being attracted to someone's essential presentation of self is a good quick-start to instaluuuv.

“I’m all for getting some sleep—I’m wiped. But I wouldn’t object to a little cuddling.”



Steve’s eyebrows twitched. And something much, much lower on his body twitched too. “Um… sure. We could do that.”



“Did I shock you? Collier men aren’t known for being subtle.”



Steve laughed. “Well, Coleman men kind of need to be hit over the head.”



“Consider yourself hit over the head, then.”

I love the calm way Steve the cop makes his sexual versatility obvious. I love Mason's equally calm clarity that he's bottoming being so matter-of-fact.

“I told you,” Steve said, fishing {a condom} out and examining it. “Jackie is a woman of the world. And, no, I don’t mean she sleeps around. I mean her life would make a great novel, she’s probably the smartest person I know, and this isn’t the first time she’s had guests who might need condoms and lube. Is this for my dick or yours?”



“Yours.”

Cute. Sweet. So cheerfully positive!

“We forgot to put a snowman at the end of the driveway, so I volunteered to stand here until morning.”



“Wiseass. Are you going back inside or do you want a ride somewhere?”



That was kind of a dumb question. Where the hell would he be going on foot in a snowstorm? But Mason couldn’t resist saying, “I’ll go wherever you’re going.”

See? Sweet! Two w-bombs lowered the score a half-point, and another half-point died when Author Fessenden made two not-snarky not-unkind mentions of Thomas Kinkade Painter of Light™. But on balance, it does what it says it will do on the box so here you go: small-town sweetness and one (1) full sex scene. ( )

This was very well written. I found that I really enjoyed the author's writing style, and it was well edited and organized. I enjoyed reading about Mason and Steve, and the secondary characters of Kade and Sam made me interested in their stories as well. I liked this a lot. ( )