The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria
Rating: 4.25/5 Heat Level: 3.75/5 Pub Date: October 7th
My review:
I had a lot of fun reading this sexy take on the Twelve Days of Christmas, and I am once again reminded that when Alexis Daria wants to write high-heat, she can BRING IT.
So, Valencia is an EPA lawyer (god bless) who happens to run into her former high school nemesis Gideon at a gay bar. Gideon hits on her before realizing who she is, cue momentary *shocked Pikachu* faces before they quickly give into temptation for the night.
But they don't end it after a night! They decide that they're going to do twelve days of wholesome New York City Christmas activities during the day, and fulfill items on their sex bucket list at night. It's wholesome in a "Hallmark after dark" kinda way, which I'm a sucker for, along with their mutual delusion that they can really keep this to twelve days before going their separate ways.
As far as the plot goes, I liked that Gideon and Valencia begin the story with a mutually checkered history, plus some individual baggage (racist homophobic dead daddy issues, cheating ex, etc.), but nothing too insane; it makes for the kind of build-up and resolution that easily fits into a novella-length story.
As for the sex, look... y'all know I'm TRASH for an early sex scene, and this book delivered! I also really loved the exploratory vibe of their twelve days bucket list, because not everything does it for them, but they sure have fun trying. Also! It's very equal opportunity and never one-sided, see: mutual vibrator shenanigans, mutual BUTT PLUG stuff...
I love a good holiday novella, and while holiday romances as a whole continue to be... aggressively straight and white, this book is a breath of fresh air in both the casual queer and Latine rep, as well as the dirty but wholesome vibe. I'd strongly recommend it for anyone looking to get into the holiday spirit from October onwards (and I know there's a lot of you guys lol).
Thank you to Alexis Daria and Montlake for the advanced copies.
