Frosty former friends get a steamy second chance in this Christmas gay romance!Can true love warm his frozen heart?When Casey Stevens went away to college four years ago, he ghosted on his straight best friend, Joel Vreeland. He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a … hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool façade again.
Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog—and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling—Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw.
Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart? Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and steamy mm first times.
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If you’re looking for a holiday book with a little more substance, Leta Blake delivers it in Mr. Frosty Pants. Despite the title sounding whimsical, it’s a deeply moving story about two young men who have suppressed who they are and what they want finding the courage to choose love over the holiday season. It’s a friends to lovers romance — one of the best holiday tropes, in my opinion — and as always, Leta does a great job of developing her characters and story to give it a an emotional depth you don’t see in a lot of other seasonal romances.
Sexy and sweet Christmas romance! It’s a treat to get a full-length holiday novel, and Leta Blake delivers the feels and two compelling young men who get a second chance at love as they figure out what to do with their lives. Great angst with a holiday happy ending!
I love Joel!
This was a fabulous read!! Casey is an only child expected to work with his father after going to NYU and then hopefully to a Wharton’s Business School. His father has made that very clear. But Casey has other plans but he just hasn’t told his parents yet. When he comes home for the holidays, first time in 4 years, he decides to start living his life and going after what he wanted….Joel!!
Joel, life was hard. He’d lost his mother at a young age, put up with an abusive father and now he was barely making ends meat running the garden store while his dad was in the nursing home, still being as verbally abusive as always. When he see Casey come to buy a Christmas tree, he snaps. Not a word from Casey in 4 years, they were best friends. He didn’t want Casey to see his life now.
After making it clear what he wants with Joel, Casey must prove over and over his love and commitment. He has a little over two weeks, he’s now determined to do what he wants in his personal life and what he wants to do for his career.
This is a story of two boys growing up together each from different sides of the track, both have family issues, but together they could make it work if they try. This book is full of emotion and laughs, first times and a little angst. Leta Blake does a fantastic job writing such powerful and emotional stories, she really hit the spirit of the season with this love story!!
It was a cute, predictable, feel good read!
The characters were so sweet. The emotion from both guys was very touching. A very enjoyable read. Will look for more from this author.
When you’ve loved someone forever, can you accept that he loves you back?
What a wonderful feel- good Christmas tale. I loved this book! The characters are
well thought out and intriguing. I felt like I knew them. The world is vibrant and alive, drawing you in. There are loyal friends, humor, remembrances, family angst, first times, pride and trust issues, and a little Christmas magic. Oh, and a big, slobbery, loveable dog. What’s not to love!
This is Joel and Casey’s story. Casey has loved Joel since high school. Believing Joel is straight, he leaves for college after coming out to his rich, biased parents, not knowing how to tell him. Coming home after almost 4 years away, he wants to clear the air between them. Joel is having a really rough time. With his abusive dad in a nursing home, debt piles up. Now running the family store, while trying to be a successful writer, Joel is still the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. But Casey is back. And Joel isn’t straight. He has been in love with Casey forever. The frosty walls he has built up are being tested. When they break, watch out! The heat factor is off the charts. Casey doesn’t expect to be Joel’s first time, for everything. But he is determined to be his last time. And he will fight everyone to keep him, even Joel himself.
This book will make you laugh, cry, hope, and believe in the magic of the Season. Yes, there is smoking hot sex. Trigger: there is past physical and emotional abuse. There is bravery, understanding, and HEA. You will love this book!
This book contains adult themes and language, mm sex and is intended for mature readers only.
I loved their story and self growth… this was a sweet story
It was an easy fluffy read. I was able to pick it up and put it down a few times without losing content
Great Christmas book for the naughty people on your holiday list! And its free on Amazon right now, 11/27/19.
4.5 stars!!! A wonderful Christmas story
Heat Rating: 4 (for the realness and tenderness I felt for the characters)
Narration: 5 (Love John Solo!)
This was a great read, not fluffy or sappy, just REAL! I loved it, even more, the second time around!
I loved going back to Joel and Casey and loved the audio version! I highly recommend it!!
I was drawn in from the start by the depth of the characters. I could feel the hurt and confusion as Joel and Casey found each other again after years apart and a lot of miscommunication. I must say I hated Casey’s parents at many stages and it saddened me to read such bigotry and classism that sadly exists in real life. It’s a slow-burn romance with great heat that complements the story wonderfully and doesn’t detract from the story; it just fits!
Leta has created great characters that are on the verge of ‘finding themselves’ as well as each other. Although the book title is a little “gimmicky” I’ve got to say I love Mr. Frosty Pants and felt that he was very relatable and real. This is a perfect friends-to-lovers, hurt/comfort read and a highly recommended Christmas listen with a heartfelt happily ever after!
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Mr. Frosty Pants by Leta Blake is a m/m holiday romance. Casey and Joel are good characters… they had that base friendship and attraction and then the chemistry. They are from different sides of the tracks but that doesnt matter in love. The story had angst, drama, humor, sweet moments, sexy times… it was a good read.
It was interesting to see the give and take between Joel and Casey. As the story unfolds you see all the layers of pain. Both have come through some real junk to get where they are now. Their love is a beautiful thing. It is a story of finding your way back and then forward.
Halfway through “Mr. Frosty Pants” it was not only one of my favorite gay romances, it was one of my favorite gay romances ever: heartbreaking and heart warming, poignant. The characters are so well developed, Not just Casey and Joel; but RJ, Becca, Angel, Pops, Jonathan and Deanna Stevens, and Aunt Courtney, even Bruno, are carefully crafted and complete.
My only complaint it is left me wanting more, as stand alone novels that I’ve really connected to tend to do. If not books dedicated to Casey and Joel, perhaps stories about RJ, or even Walker, where we could at least get updates on Casey’s and Joel’s continued life together.
It’s always been uphill with Joel as far as Casey is concerned, and then Casey left Joel behind to go to college, convinced he couldn’t reveal his true feelings to Joel anyway. Home for Christmas, Casey wants a second chance to reconnect. Joel is not receptive and Casey gets a very ‘frosty’ reception, at first. But this is Christmas, second chance Christmas miracles are possible, and you will not regret a single moment you have spent with Casey and Joel. You will care about these characters and if you have any frosty corners in your heart or anywhere else, they will be melted! Ho ho ho… read this book!
11/25/19 Edited to add my comments about the audiobook.
I loved it!
John Solo’s performance made a great book even better.
I loved this story when I first read it last year and now I loved it even more as an audio book. John Solo has become one of my top 5 favorite audio book performers. I think he has really outdone himself with this one. The various character voices he does are really fantastic and he got my emotions involved even more than they were when I read the book. I can’t say enough good things about this audio book.
Below is a copy of the review I did when I read the book last year.
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Friends to lovers is one of my most favorite romance tropes. Casey and Joel were close as kids even though they came from different social worlds. Casey knew that he was gay by the time he was a teen and that he was in love with his straight best friend Joel.
Joel would never admit that he wasn’t as straight as everyone thought; it was impossible because of his homophobic father. After Casey left for college he didn’t keep in touch with Joel and that left Joel feeling hurt and alone.
Parts of Mr. Frosty Pants were really sad – Joel’s father was absolutely horrible and Casey’s is not a whole lot better – and yet it was a very satisfying and heartwarming story. Casey had to learn to deal with his father’s disdain for anyone he deemed beneath him and Joel had to learn to trust that Casey really loved him.
The path to their HEA wasn’t easy for Casey and Joel but I trusted Leta Blake to get them there and she certainly did.
An advanced copy of this audio book was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author or narrator.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
Joel’s father inflicts pain born from hatred. Casey’s father inflicts pain because of his own driving need to overcome a childhood of poverty. With love guiding them, Joel and Casey will break free to live and love on their own terms.
Joel is prickly on his best days. With his father’s physical and emotional abuse, it is surprising he isn’t a serial killer. Instead he works hard to keep a failing garden center going, self publish horror books, and visit a bitter verbally abusive father. He is also so very lonely. He is in dire need of the simple act of human touch and kindness.
After four years at college, Casey is home for the holidays and finally has the courage to approach Joel with more than friendship. Everything in Joel’s life is about to change. Casey “gets” Joel and sees beyond the surface. Like dealing with a snarling hurt animal, he is gentle, patient, and slowly gains Joel’s trust. The epilogue is the fix romance readers’ crave – heart melting.
The most striking thing about this book is the way Blake has brought Joel’s loneliness and vulnerability to life. You can feel his pain and want so much just to hug him.
I am hoping for Walker’s story somewhere along the line in the Home for the Holidays series.
Joel and Casey
This is an easy, enjoyable Christmas read. It’s a second chance book (they were never actually together, just unlikely friends) with a poor boy/rich boy dynamic. It’s a well developed plot with lots of steaminess thrown in. Definitely add this to your holiday reading list.
I really enjoyed this book…….Great characters & story
A perfectly sweet and wonderful holiday story about two friends who were meant to be. I wanted to hug them both, but especially Joel. Loved it.