Sleigh Ride by Heidi Cullinan (Minnesota Christmas #2)
M/M Romance
November 11, 2014
Samhain

Reviewed by Helyce

Favorite Quote:  “The geek was strong in this one.”

From Goodreads:  Arthur Anderson doesn’t want anything to do with love and romance, and he certainly doesn’t want to play Santa in his mother’s library fundraising scheme. He knows full well what she really wants is to hook him up with the town’s lanky, prissy librarian.

It’s clear Gabriel Higgins doesn’t want him, either—as a Santa, as a boyfriend, as anyone at all. But when Arthur’s efforts to wiggle out of the fundraiser lead to getting to know the man behind the storytime idol, he can’t help but be charmed. The least he can do is be neighborly and help Gabriel find a few local friends.

As their fiery arguments strike hotter sparks, two men who insist they don’t date wind up doing an awful lot of dating. And it looks like the sleigh they both tried not to board could send them jingling all the way to happily ever after.I have to admit, I was not a big fan of Arthur in book one, Let It Snow.  He seemed gruff, and kind of mean and selfish and I really didn’t like the friends with benefits relationship he seemed to have with his best friend and roommate Paul.  Their ‘relationship’ had seemed a bit one-sided where Paul really wanted to make a go of it, but Arthur really was just in it for the convenience of it all and didn’t see that he was doing anything wrong.  So when this story starts out with the fact that Paul has given Arthur an ultimatum and subsequently follows through with his threat to move out and on–well, I was happy for Paul and more than curious how Ms Cullinan was going to pull off Arthur and the nerdy town librarian.

But she does it, and she does it spectacularly.

Along with enemies to lovers and opposites attract trope, comes the definite feel of “don’t judge a book by it cover” where our librarian, Gabriel, is concerned.  Tall, and slim, with a head full of blonde curls and glasses he really had his nerd persona down pat.  But underneath that rather hoity toity uptight facade is the heart of a man who wants to be wild and needs someone to make him give up control of that tightly wrapped coil he keeps himself in 24/7.  Cullinan does a wonderful job showing the differences between short, stocky, carrot-topped Arthur and the long lean lines of Gabriel.

“Yes, Gabriel’s height made Arthur feel like a squat little gnome, but when they lay down, none of it mattered, and those goddamn legs were the sexiest things Arthur had ever seen.  Tall geeks at the library.  Take a fucking note.”

What moved me most as I read this story was how I had Arthur pictured so wrong, and in each scene where I learned something new and then saw him in a different light I began to want everything to go right for him with Gabriel. There was so much about Arthur I came to like.  His relationship with his family; his support of his sister, a single mother, and how he steps in as a father figure for his six year old nephew. His mother was an adorable, meddling piece of work with her heart in absolutely the right place and her love for her son out there for everyone to see.

While giving us an unlikely love story, Cullinan focuses on the necessities of libraries and the importance of the librarian, especially in a small town. She tackles the important issue of gender stereotypes in children in a beautifully emotional scene that was heartbreaking and equally uplifting in its content. But ultimately, she gives us a couple who seem utterly incompatible, but who we come to love as the story progresses and we see that some of their differences are exactly the thing that makes them work so well together.

There is a bit of a bdsm element in this story, though not at all to the extent of Ms. Cullinan’s other works.  As I am not a huge fan of bdsm–I would call what occurs in this story “bdsm-lite”.  The sex scenes are well done and very hot.

We are gifted with a few scenes with our previous couple, Marcus and Frankie and it was lovely to see them settled and happy in the small town of Logan.  I thought it was an interesting twist that while Paul was the man looking for a long-term commitment, it was Arthur who actually found love. I have total trust in this author where Paul is concerned though, and  I can’t wait to see what Ms. Cullinan has in mind for him!

Rating:  B+

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