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chrissymunderThe good news? Despite the amount of work involved (and don't kid yourself, it really is tough to read and do a write up for all of these) several blogs are reviewing this year's Advent Calendar from Dreamspinner Press. The bad news? I'm losing the links as fast as they are coming in to my alerts, and a few of these didn't show up via Google at all. Whoops! If you've reviewed one of my stories and I missed putting up your link, please send me an email for a little public appreciation. Here's a few from this past week or two:
JeffandWill.com - From their easy to follow, continuously updating post:
The Reason for the Season by Chrissy Munder. Munder’s second story in Naughty or Nice proves just as wonderful as the first. Here college student Adam has been stood up by his friend for a holiday ride home. In the middle of a snowstorm and with campus nearly deserted Adam turns to the ride share board and meets Michael who begrudgingly offers to get Adam home. Once again, Munder creates wonderful characters. The tension as these two strangers meet and their tentative banter as they get to know one another is spot on. There are some touching twists in the story towards the end too that add just the right amount of holiday goodness.
Better with Sprinkles by Chrissy Munder: This story started out good and got more awesome as it progressed. Tom is a stressed out undergrad with a master plan for his life… but that means he doesn’t get out much. His roommate, and best friend, Derek is a free-spirit who works to get Tom to lighten up. Derek talks Tom into baking a huge batch of cookies (Tom’s a closet baker) for the campus LGBT center’s bake sale. Tom ends up connecting with a guy he’s crushed on for years and gets a good lesson on life too. I love how Munder worked in great messages about HIV/AIDS testing, the benefits of an LGBT center and about making sure you live your life instead of just getting through it. I’d love to see more with the characters. While the story was quite short the characters were vivid and interesting.
Brief Encounters Reviews:
The Reason for the Season:Grade of A-. Overall, this was a lovely story of two men brought together by fate and bad weather, who make the best of things and get more than they bargained for. I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a well written seasonal short.
Better with Sprinkles: Grade of A. I really enjoyed this story. I loved Tom and his roommate Derek and how they interacted and seeing Tom get tongue-tied over being in the presence of his idol Isaac was cute too. The story is all told from Tom’s point of view, so you don’t get much of Isaac, but what comes out from his cousin and his own statements lets you know enough about him and what he thinks to be enjoyable. I was left smiling through this one and you get Tom’s Grandma’s sugar cookie recipe at the end, so it doesn’t get better than that.
I really do hope people try the cookie recipe. It's one of our favorites.
BookWenches: Score of 4.25. The magic of the holiday season is spotlighted in Chrissy Munder’s "The Reason for the Season" as two characters are pulled out of their self-imposed isolation and brought together by what seems to be a random series of misfortunate events. Ms. Munder gives us strong and concisely-developed characters, a touch of irrepressible humor, and just a little bit of a surprise at the end of this well-told and surprisingly sweet story.
Dark Diva Reviews (be sure to click around their new and revamped site). 5 Divas and a Recommended Read: Beautiful is what first comes to mind with The Reason for the Season ... I’m not even sure what I was expecting having read the summary but I was taken by surprise and happily followed along. and Chrissy ... has gifted us with a wonderful present in The Reason for the Season.
One of my favorite comments came from Chris over at Stumbling over Chaos: Very good short m/m holiday romance about a college student in the UP, trying to get to his sister’s house in Flint for Christmas, who gets a ride from the rideshare board into “snowpocalypse.” I especially enjoyed this story since I was reading it during what the local news stations dubbed “snowmaggedon.”.
Heh. Is there such a thing as method reading? She wins the prize.
To everyone who enjoyed these stories and were nice enough to email me - Thank you! Enjoy a Safe and Happy Holiday.
JeffandWill.com - From their easy to follow, continuously updating post:
The Reason for the Season by Chrissy Munder. Munder’s second story in Naughty or Nice proves just as wonderful as the first. Here college student Adam has been stood up by his friend for a holiday ride home. In the middle of a snowstorm and with campus nearly deserted Adam turns to the ride share board and meets Michael who begrudgingly offers to get Adam home. Once again, Munder creates wonderful characters. The tension as these two strangers meet and their tentative banter as they get to know one another is spot on. There are some touching twists in the story towards the end too that add just the right amount of holiday goodness.
Better with Sprinkles by Chrissy Munder: This story started out good and got more awesome as it progressed. Tom is a stressed out undergrad with a master plan for his life… but that means he doesn’t get out much. His roommate, and best friend, Derek is a free-spirit who works to get Tom to lighten up. Derek talks Tom into baking a huge batch of cookies (Tom’s a closet baker) for the campus LGBT center’s bake sale. Tom ends up connecting with a guy he’s crushed on for years and gets a good lesson on life too. I love how Munder worked in great messages about HIV/AIDS testing, the benefits of an LGBT center and about making sure you live your life instead of just getting through it. I’d love to see more with the characters. While the story was quite short the characters were vivid and interesting.
Brief Encounters Reviews:
The Reason for the Season:Grade of A-. Overall, this was a lovely story of two men brought together by fate and bad weather, who make the best of things and get more than they bargained for. I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a well written seasonal short.
Better with Sprinkles: Grade of A. I really enjoyed this story. I loved Tom and his roommate Derek and how they interacted and seeing Tom get tongue-tied over being in the presence of his idol Isaac was cute too. The story is all told from Tom’s point of view, so you don’t get much of Isaac, but what comes out from his cousin and his own statements lets you know enough about him and what he thinks to be enjoyable. I was left smiling through this one and you get Tom’s Grandma’s sugar cookie recipe at the end, so it doesn’t get better than that.
I really do hope people try the cookie recipe. It's one of our favorites.
BookWenches: Score of 4.25. The magic of the holiday season is spotlighted in Chrissy Munder’s "The Reason for the Season" as two characters are pulled out of their self-imposed isolation and brought together by what seems to be a random series of misfortunate events. Ms. Munder gives us strong and concisely-developed characters, a touch of irrepressible humor, and just a little bit of a surprise at the end of this well-told and surprisingly sweet story.
Dark Diva Reviews (be sure to click around their new and revamped site). 5 Divas and a Recommended Read: Beautiful is what first comes to mind with The Reason for the Season ... I’m not even sure what I was expecting having read the summary but I was taken by surprise and happily followed along. and Chrissy ... has gifted us with a wonderful present in The Reason for the Season.
One of my favorite comments came from Chris over at Stumbling over Chaos: Very good short m/m holiday romance about a college student in the UP, trying to get to his sister’s house in Flint for Christmas, who gets a ride from the rideshare board into “snowpocalypse.” I especially enjoyed this story since I was reading it during what the local news stations dubbed “snowmaggedon.”.
Heh. Is there such a thing as method reading? She wins the prize.
To everyone who enjoyed these stories and were nice enough to email me - Thank you! Enjoy a Safe and Happy Holiday.
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