Review: The Best Gift by Eli Easton


Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Gay Romance Reviews Tours and Promo.

I adore Eli Easton's romances in general, but her Christmas ones hold a special place in my heart. Maybe it's because Christmas and New Year's are my favorite holidays, or maybe it's that bit of magic that comes along once Christmas is in the air (which is once September 1st rolls in and then it just ramps up with each passing month). Whatever the reason may be, Easton has yet to disappoint my Christmas romance-loving heart, and her newest story made that very heart rather happy even if I did shed a couple of tears.

The Best Gift introduces readers to Greg Cabot, the forty-three-year-old, third generation owner of Cabot's Christmas Wonderland in Halifax, Vermont. It looks, though, that he could also be the last owner of the tree farm, what with him contemplating selling the business and property. The loss of his beloved son, Sam, while deployed in Afghanistan has Greg barely finding reason to hold on to the place, especially now with no one to pass it on to. When he comes across a twenty-eight-year-old soldier hitchhiking his way home, Greg has no idea how much of a gift Sergeant Robbie Sparks will be...

Ah, this was a truly lovely story about love, loss, family, home, and moving forward. Greg and Robbie were two men who thought the rest of their respective lives would be going one way, and then tragedy happened for both, and everything changed for them. There's one major secret that lingers for most of the book, and it's a pretty easy one to figure out, which I did with a singular clue early on. I've read reviews that have mentioned that the secret was unnecessary, but I beg to disagree. It's the main conflict of the book, and I think it gives you pause, wondering if maybe a bit of Christmas magic (and matchmaking!) was at play. I loved The Best Gift; it gets five stars.

Date Read: 21 November 2021

Learn more about Eli Easton.

Purchase The Best Gift on Amazon.

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