What Can Be

4.5I was in need of a little crack this morning and though nominally this is a Christmas novella it worked very nicely in August to pull me from the doldrums of a pretty bad read. Seems fitting as my first [a:Mary Calmes 3152411 Mary Calmes https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1473696272p2/3152411.jpg] read was also a Christmas story which I wholly enjoyed. It's odd then that though I have a bunch of her books on my TBR queue and own quite a few I hadn't read any more until I recently did [b:Frog 13563087 Frog Mary Calmes https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1332881683s/13563087.jpg 19139126]. I think it might've been a self preservation thing because though I know I'm being gulled I surrendered willingly and will surely do it again. Add [a:Michael Niemann 731263 Michael Niemann https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1335717277p2/731263.jpg] as a narrator and a little slice of heaven was mine for a couple of hours.Eli/Jake has abandoned his perfect boyfriend in Chicago and come home to California to a family he hasn't seen in 13 since he was twelve for reasons that are best not analyzed because they won't bear up under scrutiny. But if you let yourself fall under the spell you'll feel rewarded and be amazed at how much story and emotion is packed in a few short pages. I won't scrutinize anything. I'll leave that for a second read. Today this gave me a much needed lift complete with a terrible past but a perfect future all wrapped up in heart melting love. A good writer can sell you bubble gum and call it dessert.