Christmas is Coming

by Shelley Munro

CHRISTMAS IS COMING is an emotional story about true love and the bravery required by those who choose an unconventional path to find it.

Gaby, a condom and sex toy designer at Fancy Free, has decided she needs to stop testing her products with her co-worker Marc. Gaby feels she is falling in love with Marc and knows he is not looking for a serious relationship. She turns to her two male roommates when she needs to get product evaluations in for toys she wants to have ready for the busy Christmas season. Her timing couldn't have been more perfect because her roommates have just decided that they want to pursue a relationship with Gaby, and they're going to do it together.

The situation quickly heats up and all three of them realize there is more going on than just testing of sex toys and condoms. While the three of them are experimenting and figuring out the specifics of their relationship, they decide it is best to keep things just between them.

This plan goes horribly awry when the local gossip column reports that the three of them are no longer just roommates and the narrow-minded people in their town decide to start weighing in on the unethical nature of their relationship. The negativity begins to effect their work as well as their relationship and the three of them have to figure out if their new found love is worth it.

This love story is so sweet and heartbreaking in its honesty regarding non-traditional relationships. While it would be great to believe that love is enough to bond people and keep them together, the harsh reality is that sometimes it is not. The author does a great job of showing the emotional struggles associated with deciding to be in an unconventional relationship. While the relationship is new and developing, the characters are so wrapped up in their recently discovered love that they don't spend much time thinking about how others will perceive them. When the harsh reality of the narrow-minded breaks into their happiness, they have some difficult decisions to make, which the author portrays brilliantly.

I am a huge fan of happily ever after stories, but the authors of those stories sometimes minimize the struggles the characters have to face to get them to their happy ending. Not the case here; this author made the struggles real and the characters' feelings real. There was no downplaying of the harsh realities faced by people who are considered "different."

But to balance that out, there are the friends and family members who are there to offer love and support no matter what, and those characters in this book were great. The supporting characters played a nice role in the story, again without minimizing the pain experienced by the main characters.

Despite the struggles and hardship faced, this story is also full of love and fun and laughs. How can it not when a relationship begins on the premise of testing sex toys? Gaby's open and frank discussion about sex throws her roommates for a loop at times, which made me laugh. The fact that Gaby works with her grandmother who also eagerly volunteers to test products for the company is hysterical and sweet. And Gaby's roommates, Liam and Fletch, navigating their budding relationship with Gaby while also testing their feelings for each other offers some emotional and uncertain moments.

This was a great read and a great follow up to the first book in this series. It was nice to see the return of all of the Fancy Free characters and I look forward to reading the third in this series.