I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical, found family themes, and slow burn type stories.Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fan fiction writer, and organic farmer, Eli has been a m/m romance author since 2013. The found family and acceptance themes came through strongly. I thought the secondary characters were just as well-rounded as the MCs and enjoyed the different personalities. So he hopes he’s not making a mistake by becoming intimate with John.Įven though the story is relatively short it felt completely fleshed out to me as the MCs have a courtship that spans at least several weeks. And he’s decided living lonely and pure isn’t all he thought it should be. When Alec attends the celebration he feels warm, comforted, and accepted by all John’s friends. So he courts Alec for several weeks before inviting Alec to the Christmas celebration at the boarding house where he rents a room. And once he has the reason, he can’t get Alec out of his mind. John then tracks down the first person who discarded it to find out why.

When he explains to Alec how he found it the second time, Alec gives it to him because he feels like the angel has chosen John for some reason. However, a short time later he finds the angel once again seemingly discarded so he takes it back to Alec’s shop. The story prologue has a very strong IaWL vibe, however after the prologue it becomes its own story.Īfter discovering who created the angel ornament John Trent finds floating in the Thames, he takes it back to Alec’s shop because he believes it’s too valuable to keep. I used to watch it every year when I still had network television access. One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is It’s a Wonderful Life. But when the gift keeps showing back up at his shop in the hands of a windblown and rugged thief-taker, Alec will need to reconsider his conviction that love is destined to remain an ethereal ideal. All he wanted to do was create a special gift so that a small part of himself could be with his unattainable and noble beloved, always. The blasted angel refuses to leave him be, behaving not at all like an inanimate object should.Īlec Allston is resigned to the fact that his love will ever be a river that flows out and never flows in.

But neither the angel nor the sculptor is done with John just yet. He tracks down its creator, a sad and quiet young sculptor. When John Trent, a dedicated member of the new Bow Street Runners, finds an exquisite carved angel floating in the Thames, he can’t stop thinking about it.

Christmas Angel by Eli Easton