Cold has never been so hot. College sophomore Derek is busy working over his holiday break—but his shifts at the toy store are no hardship if they mean more opportunity to dream about the sexy new guy working as an elf in Santa’s Workshop. When his mother gifts him a bag of cookies, Derek regifts them to Flynn as an excuse to get to know him. Flynn has presents to offer as well, and soon they’re … soon they’re dating, with Derek finding out his comfort zone is bigger than he imagined.
But Flynn is hiding a secret—he’s really a winter fairy whose magic is bound to the season. He can’t stay in the mortal realm, and Derek doesn’t want to lose contact with his family. Can they find a way to hold on to each other when the snow and sugar plums melt away?
more
I really enjoyed this story, it adds just the right amount of holiday magic to a fairytale romance story. It was a lot of fun watching Flynn try to get used to how the human world works, a supernatural out of their element is definitely a favorite story element of mine and this book executes it perfectly. The world may be very different from the author’s first story, but it’s wonderful in its own right and I hope we can revisit it sometime!
If you love enough, there is always a solution. Derek recently got his heart broken by his cheating ex, Gregory. Sadly they work near each other, so avoiding him is not realiztic. Then Derrick spots a cute guy he has to gather his courage to approach. Flynn is a winter fairie exploring the mortal world. They are immediately drawn together. The guys are complimentary drawing the best from each other. What happens after the holidays? Does Flynn’s stay being temporary cause a problem? Can Flynn stay? Can Derek go to Flynn’s world? Will he get to travel back? Will Derek stay mortal? Fun story. Lots of humorous situations that keep a smile on your face. Nicely done. I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Just turned my air conditioning on for the first time and here came a wonderful Christmas romance. Perfect timing to help with chilling. I loved the set up here with Derek and Flynn working in the toy store and Santa’s workshop and shooting heart eyes at each other. The sweetness continued with Derek’s cookies and Flynn’s reciprocal gifts. I couldn’t wait to see how the author would get the HEA considering Flynn’s real identity, but it was perfect.
I enjoyed this sweet cute story about a winter fairy and a shy boy working at the mall. These two were adorable and I loved the gift-giving. They meet, date, and fall in love, but what will happen when winter is over? As a winter fairy, Flynn will lose his magic if he stays in the human world. Will these two find a way to be together always? Warm, fell-good story.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
This author was new to me! I enjoyed reading all three books in this series! Derek and Flynn were adorable together. There were some very interesting parts and things didn’t happen quickly for them. There were some twist and turns and some unpredictable parts which is always great to have in any book. I enjoyed getting to know Derrek and Flynn and I was excited to read book two. I read an advanced copy of this book and this is my unbiased review!
This is a sweet story! I really liked this book about Derek and Flynn.
Derek is working in a toy store during the Christmas season while going to college. He recently had a bad break-up with his ex who he caught cheating. His ex made everything seem to be Derek’s fault even though he is the one who cheated. Working in the toy store near the Winter Wonderland display is both good and bad. His ex works there but so does Flynn the hottie “elf” that Derek is trying to find the courage to approach. When Derek finally gathers the courage to speak to Flynn it is the start of a beautifully sweet relationship. Derek really like Flynn even though he often acts like he is clueless about life today.
Flynn is a winter fairy who sneaked to the human world to learn more about humans. Queen Mab doesn’t want her fairies to get close to humans because they are deceitful and can hurt the fairy. Flynn feels like fairies should keep informed of the human world just as a matter of self-protection. Flynn goes to Wisconson and works in the Winter Wonderland there to learn more. He brings Lulu a little fairy who has experience in the human world. Flynn loves lots off things about the human world especially anything with sugar. He is attracted to the shy man in the toy store and agrees to go out on a date with him especially after he is given a bag of cookies. The more time Flynn spends with Derek, the more he falls in love. He is having a hard time keeping his secrets when he just wants to tell Derek the truth.
This is a sweet and fun book. I voluntarily received a copy of this story in return for an honest review.
Derek is working in a toy store for Christmas. While it would be a tough to work and go to college, watching the sexy elf in Santa’s Workshop makes it all worthwhile. To get to know him, he gives his sexy elf, Flynn, the cookies his mother gave him. Flynn give him some gifts as well and soon the two are dating. Flynn is, in reality, a fairy – a winter fairy whose wellbeing is tied to the season. He cannot stay in the mortal realm for long but Derek and Flynn know they have something special and do not want to give up on finding a way to be together.
Derek was an amazing hero. When he found out what Flynn was, he had no problems (except to find a way to be together). Flynn was perfect for him. The love the two have shone from the pages and that is what helped them work to find a way to be together. J.S. Harker has created a wonderful version of this world, populated with it with incredible heroes, and allowed us the pleasure of visiting. I look forward to more delicious stories set in this world.
The blurb says it all just know had loveable characters and an ex who wasn’t pleasant, sweet fuzzy moments and heartwarming it was easy to like Derek and Flynn.
I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book for my honest opinions of which I’m under no obligation to do so. I definitely recommend this book.
Tit for Tat (Tit for Tat #1) by J.S. Harker
242 Pages
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Themes: Holiday, Contemporary, College, First Time, Age gap, Magic, Fantasy: Fae
I really enjoyed this one! I was lucky enough to have some extra money for books about a month ago, needed to round up the cost and discovered this, in paperback, for a few quid. Since J.S. Harker was a new-to-me author, I decided it was the perfect time to give them a shot.
I am not disappointed.
I love heartwarming Christmas stories, especially with a little fantasy thrown in. This one will be added to my list of favourites, to read every holiday. It is sweetness and spice, a little bit flirty and hot, and a whole lot adorable. There’s an opposites attracts vibe, and a hint of age gap, due to Flynn being immortal and Derek being just nineteen. Add in lots of magic and romance, and it’s a winner.
At first, I was intrigued by the title and how it would fit into the blurb provided. Once I realised that Flynn was Fae and anything given to him had to be reciprocated, I absolutely understood the concept and loved the idea. Because, as humans, we are constantly and inadvertently giving things to people, like a cup of coffee or a sweet or something – in this book – the Fae consider a gift. It was so adorable to see Flynn trying to figure out the cost of gifts and how to repay them to prevent a debt.
Derek was an utterly adorable character. Young, jaded from his past relationship, haunted by his ex hanging around every corner, and with some body self-confidence issues. He was quite strong when he didn’t feel judged, and that was really nice to see. He had this inner strength that emerged whenever Flynn was around, and they truly did make each other better people. Not by changing each other, but by the subtle yet remarkable influence of being around each other. Flynn was sweet, loving and kind to Derek and that kind of positive attention boosted his self-confidence until he could really blossom and be himself. And, in turn, Derek’s attention and the time he spent being patient with Flynn and his ignorance of the human world, helped him feel more capable of being himself, helped him open up and ask more questions. Flynn was always hungry to learn (and for sugar!) and Derek needed someone to love him honestly, without settling or adding conditions. They found that with each other, and that was beautiful to see.
So, why didn’t I give it 5*? Well, the blurb makes it sound like Flynn’s time in the human world is compromised, and that trying to figure out a way for them to remain together is a huge part of the plot. But it’s really not. Derek doesn’t find out about Flynn until 167 pages in. Even then, he didn’t discover that Flynn would have to leave until about 200 pages. Which means they only had a short amount of pages to handle the problem, panic over it, and worry about losing each other. There was so little conflict that I almost wonder if it was necessary at all. I would have been just as happy with a fluffy romance as with this tagged on conflict at the end. I also didn’t really understand the dynamics, because everyone in the world was an ass except Derek and Flynn. But, for being the asshole ex, Gregory wasn’t as big a conflict as he could have been, either.
So, although I loved it, there was a bit of an imbalance. Seeing that the next book in the series is about Gregory makes me twitchy. There was so much emphasis in this book about him being a total twat that it’s hard to imagine rooting for him to have his own romance. There was an attempt at redemption at the end, but not enough to convince me I’ll ever like him as a main character. Hopefully I’m wrong, because I would love to enjoy both books equally.
~
Favourite Quotes
“I’m not sure anything has ever taken my breath away.” Flynn nipped at Derek’s lips as he rolled on his side to face him. “We should keep trying.”
“Derek was beginning to believe Flynn was either a time-travelling foreigner or an alien sent to investigate the human race.”