Make The Yuletide Gay 2: The Novel

by Rob Williams

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson and Nathan Stanford!In this long-awaited sequel to Make The Yuletide Gay, years have passed since the fateful Christmas dinner when Gunn came out to his wacky yet loving parents, Sven and Anya Gunnunderson, and a lot has changed. Gunn and Nathan have maintained a long-term, long-distance relationship due to Nathan's career choices and Gunn's graduate education. Now that they’re living in the same city and both teaching at the same college where Sven works – and with marriage equality finally legalized in the United States – Gunn and Nathan are planning a Christmas wedding!Unfortunately, not everything is going as planned. Anya isn't speaking to Sven; Nathan's father isn't coming to the ceremony; Abby shows up at the last minute with a big secret; and all of that complicates Heather's role as the wedding planner. But the biggest surprise comes courtesy of Nathan's mother, who shows up with her new assistant - Nathan's high-school crush, Tony Sambuco. As the wedding date draws near, everyone’s secrets will be revealed. Will they keep Gunn and Nathan from reaching the altar, or will the men live happily ever after?

Genres: Holiday, Romance, Queer

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

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Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me be upfront and say that I am giving this book 4 stars in the category of queer romantic comedy novella-length sequels to beloved films. It is admittedly a narrow category.

If you enjoyed the film Make the Yuletide Gay (and you would have to have a heart of coal to not), then you will enjoy this saccharine schmaltzy, heavy handed mess of a book.

[Todd Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel picks up a handful of years after the original as Gunn and Nathan are planning a Christmas wedding don'tcha know! All of the expected (and some unexpected) Rom-Com calamaties occur in the week leading up to the big day. A great follow-up to the original and I HOPE this will be made into another movie as well. If any of you actually know Rob Williams PLEASE put in my request to him personally for a film version of this novel!

[Michael Carroll · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel was written as a sequel to a movie.

I genuinely wanted to like this because the movie is a campy Christmas tradition, but GOD. Typos galore. Tense changes. Characters that absolutely do not match their on-screen counterparts and are wholly unlikeable and unfunny. You can tell this was written as a screenplay that couldn't get funded.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stronger written than the first book, which might have to do with it being an original story instead of a film retrofitted into a novel. This book is a strong case for the “beleaguered wedding officiant just wants to do his job” trope.

[Lauren Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun, especially if you read it like the silly romantic comedy movie it was meant to be. A lovely way to spend a few hours!

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but read more like a screenplay than a novel.

[Mike Strong · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the novelization of what I presume was the intended script for the sequel to Make the Yuletide Gay, a movie directed by Rob Williams and starring Keith Jordan and Adam Ruggiero. (If you haven't watched this movie, do yourself a favor and get on it! It's perfect any time of year but works best at the holidays, obviously.)

I have reserved a special place for the movie in my heart. It never fails to cheer me up and is one of the few queer films that I find absolutely delightful without critique. While the sequel never materialized, I was happy to be able to read's its novelization. I laughed out loud a few times during the book, but that didn't make up for the fact that Rob Williams is a director, not an author. The joy I felt watching the film didn't translate into the book. I was able to visualize the actors from the movie saying the lines delivered in the book, and that honestly is the only reason I finished it. The ending is over the top and somewhat unbelievable. It would work as a visual scene, but in literary format it needed more.

Don't get me wrong. I had fun. If you loved the film, you'll most likely love this version of what would have been its sequel. Just be forewarned that the transition from screenplay to novel isn't complete. Some of the paragraphs read as if they were the lead-in to a scene rather than always intended as a novel. Point-of-view shifts abruptly and characters/settings are sometimes described in very impersonal ways.

[Kyle Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I held off reading this book for years because I kept hoping it would get made into a movie. Make the Yuletide Gay is one of my favorites Christmas movies of all time and I held out hope… but finally accepted reality that the movie’s never going to happen and decided to read the book.

I’m giving the book 5 stars because I love the characters and it was so fun to see them again 10 years later, and the plot was just as zany and fun as the original. And there were a lot more dicks (as in nudity). Considering I watch the original 2-3x per holiday season, it was very easy to imagine the movie that will never be, and I very much enjoyed seeing their happily ever after.

With that being said, the author is very much a screenwriter and director. Novels are not his forte. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Theodore Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequel reminds me of the old screwball romcoms. The characters are believable and have chemistry. The situations are fun filled with smiles, giggles and belly laughs. Rob Williams builds the suspense with the many story lines happening in a backdrop of Nathan's and Gunn's wedding. They all come together at their wedding in a screwball scene at the end. And of coarse, love wins out! A great read that should touch the reader. I recommend for the greatest experience that you read or view the video that started this sequel, Make the Yuletide Gay. Reading both creates a world of fantasy that leaves you wanting more. Maybe a third would be good?