A Tah'Narian Christmas

The Harvest #3

by M.A. Church

So what’s an alien to do when his mate refuses to say what’s bothering him? Why, he sends a deep space message to his mate’s mother on earth, what else? Keyno not only learns the importance of Christmas to his chosen, he’s also shocked and confused as to why Dale hasn’t shared this with him. There is no such celebration on Tah’Nar, but that doesn’t stop Keyno from trying to bring happiness to Dale. He’s not only a starship captain, he’s also an excellent strategist. He gathers his closest friends—Doc and Gibor—and researchers the holiday. He finds three important things about First there is an older, heavyset male called the Santa Claus. The second is the holiday usually revolves around a tree laden with shiny baubles and lights with gifts under it. And finally they learn they’re supposed to eat way too much, then lie around and moan because they ate too much. Humans are so odd. These mighty warriors survived the birth of their young, surely an undertaking of this magnitude is not beyond their grasp. Hopefully Dale will be pleased with all the trouble Keyno went to. But just in case, Keyno has a very special surprise in store for his chosen for his first Tah’Narian Christmas.

Genres: M M Romance, Science Fiction, Romance, Aliens, Christmas, Holiday, M M Science Fiction

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!

When not writing, she’s on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two grown children.

Member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

My Facebook: MA churh http://www.facebook.com/pages/MA-Chur...

Reviews

[Leaundra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aww this was so sweet! I loved catching up with everyone. I love this series...

[Serena Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may not be Christmas right now, as I review this story, but I think this is a short book that can be read at any time. It may start out looking like a seasonal event, but by the time Dale, his “fearsome warrior” husband Keyno, and their circle of multi-species friends get done with it, it has turned into a rather unique human-alien mix of customs. As proven here, Christmas is one of the hardest human cultural events to understand for an alien. Even the idea of someone trying made me smile, but Keyno is so adorably intent on making it happen for Dale, it was bound to be good. Considering how many other human customs Dale has already introduced to Tah’Nar, I was pretty sure this one would be a success as well. I was so glad to see that it turned out to be even better than I expected.

This story is set five years after the events of ‘Journey’s End’, and features not just former human Dale, his Tah’Narian mate Keyno, and their adorable – and usually up to no good - five-year-old twins Szin and Raiden, but all my other favorite characters from the series. It all starts when Keyno has a situation on his hands – Dale seems depressed but won’t tell Keyno what’s wrong. Dale thinks there is nothing that can be done about his hankering for Christmas, his favorite Earth holiday, but Keyno has a different opinion.

I laughed so hard when Keyno decided to ask Dale’s mother for advice, then proceeded to research Christmas with a vengeance. His way of boiling everything down to “three key points” – just like the strategist he is – was hilarious, and his comment about “some religious aspect that he better ignore” had me in stitches. As for the way he, and later the Tah’Narian children, deal with Santa Claus and the fact this “older heavy-set male” is supposed to fit through a chimney – you have got to read it to see yourself. Hilarious doesn’t even come close.

Keyno’s planning pays off in a big way. There is more than one heartwarming surprise as he and Dale go through the first Christmas ever celebrated on Tah’Nar. Watching all the kids interact was great fun, and the entire story left me feeling warm and fuzzy.

If you liked Dale and Keyno in the two previous ‘Harvest’ books and want to see more of their lives, if you enjoy unconventional ways of celebrating Christmas, and if you’re looking for a feel-good read that is full of friendship, love, and lots of humor, you will probably like this free novella as much as I did. It has certainly left me anticipating the first book about the next generation of Tah’Narians (Bound by Fate) even more!

[Fairymysz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ez nagyon édes volt. Imádtam, ahogy Keyno nekiállt kideríteni, mi bántja Dale-t és, hogy mi is az a karácsony. Röviden összefoglalva:
1. Mikulás - öreg, ősz pasi, mindennek a mozgatórugója
2. Karácsonyfa - csillogó gömbökkel díszített fa, alatta sok felesleges ajándék, amiknek senki se örül
3. Karácsonyi vacsora - addig zabálnak, míg már rosszul lesznek, majd a kanapén fetrengenek és sóhajtoznak, hogy kipukkadnak :D

Ennek ellenére csodálatos karácsonyt hozott össze a párjának és a barátaiknak. Aranyos szösszenet volt. És jó volt látni a fiatalokat, hogy nőnek és okosodnak. Kíváncsi vagyok az ő sorozatukra is.

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Gerald Sessions · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family

Fantastic book A. Wonderful group that is fun to revisit I laughed and cried. A great surprise for the human mates. Hope more books follow

[Viki Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The harvest

Aww I loved it,all the characters from books 1 and 2 and a few more thrown in. A nice addition to the series x☺

[Hrtnsoul28 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with every character in these books.
I love how the Tah'Narian men research and figure out what Christmas is.

“I’ve researched what is needed for this holiday. It seems to revolve around three things: an older, heavy set male with white hair in a red suit who delivers presents to all—and I mean all the young on Earth—who are good. He is called the Santa Claus,” Keyno said. “The parents use this jolly fat male as a bribe to reinforce good behavior.”
“Why have an older male do that?” Gibor wondered.
“No idea. The second thing is a tree that’s laden with shiny baubles and lights. It’s supposed to have many gifts under it. It seems the humans who celebrate this holiday spend much money and then complain about it later. There was a small reference to some sort of religious matter, but I’m not going to try to explain that.”
“Why do they spend money they don’t… Never mind. I often don’t understand humans,” Doc said.

I loved that Dale was finally able to see his sister again.

[Hc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't take the time to read or skim #2 but more or less refreshed the memory banks with #1 in order to understand and read this one.

I guess you could say the is a Christmas catch up story on the gang. Kenyo arranges for Dale and Chad's families to come visit. The Tah Narians somewhat sketchy grasp of Christmas had its funny moments and I liked seeing the kids running around and playing with each other.

I feel ready to now start on the Next Generation. Although I really hope that the wait time between stories is not as long otherwise this may be in vain and I may forget the deets again.

Cute xmas story

[Geneieve Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas with Aliens

This is such a great little view into the lives of Dale, Kenyo, the kids, and the family. The joy of celebrating an Earth holiday with Dale's family on Tah'Naria is full of fun surprises that are so much fun to read. This is a quick little novella that gives you the peace of mind that everyone is growing up and melding their lives together with the combining of different cultures. If you loved the Harvest series you can't miss this little bit of Christmas spirit!

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really, cute short. I so enjoyed it. Yes, it is a bit shallow but it is a cute bonus story for those who liked the series. Watching Kenyo figure out Christmas and turn it into an op was very typical for a military mindset. He boils it down to three points and then puts those points out there with clear logic, which is what makes it funny. This short is great for letting us know how everyone is and what is happening for all.

[Lioness7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with this series of books. I love the characters. I love the worlds. I love that they are Mpreg. Beyond these things, the books are funny and heartwarming. They are also full of adventure and troubles. They are titles that I can't seem to put down once I start reading. Great job. Hope there are many more to come.

[GossamerMyst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keyno is determined to find out why Dale is so sad and when he does it brings everyone closer together to celebrate the first Tah'Narian Christmas that no one will ever forget. This was just as much fun as the first two books despite being shorter, I Loved It from start to finish and already Can't Wait to Read It Again!!

[Missy~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

a Tah'Narian Christmas

A short sweet Christmas story. Dale is missing earth christmas so his mate goes about to make christmas traditions to make it new with Tah Nar family and earth family.

[Cedestria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. It was just a wrap-up for the adults, resolving many issues left from the last book; like Dale's brother-in-law refusing to let Susan see him and stuff like that. Also was more in-depth with Dale's emotions having left his old life behind for good.

[Joshua]

A fun little story

This was a fun little story that M.A. Church wrote about Dale and his mate Keyno along with all the other mates. A fun short read.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. Great storyline. Love these characters.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book series that can make me wish to be with a cat-man- alien has my seal of approval. Great novella

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

So perfect!

I was so happy to see this! Perfect fit to a great story. I've really grown to live these couples and seeing a new tradition was amazing. Love this series so much!!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an adorable story. I loved seeing everyone five years later and since Christmas is soon to be here I’m going to make this wish:
I WANT A REDUPLICATOR. Badly!

[MM Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable short in the Harvest series

In this short, we get to see the kids at age 6 years old and having a good Christmas holiday with their extended family. It was so adorable!

[maqita:3 · Rating 2 out of 5]

periodo

[CANDICE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful

I adored this. This whole series was good and this book made me tear up. I'm gonna miss these guys.

[Sunshine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story on how aliens treat Christmas for the earth people. It would have been better if I read the 1st 2 books in the series before getting to this one. But, it was a quick read and entertaining.

[Ann Pratley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this as a freebie, not really knowing what it was about. This particular book I found to be a flowing, nice, Christmas day story. In itself, it did not grab me too much as a freestanding story. I kept hoping something would happen - perhaps some kind of conflict or drama. However when I reached the back pages of the book I realised that there is a series that the characters from this book are in (The Harvest: Taken (#1) The Harvest: Journey's End (#2)). Reading the blurbs of those, even though they are numbered 1 and 2, I wish I'd known about them and read them in advance of this one. This Christmas one seems to be set after the other two books (from what I interpret from the blurbs of #1 and #2), yet it isn't indicated anywhere that this one is part of a series (let alone #3).

It seems common practice now for the first books of a series to have the $0 price tag on them, to promote the purchase of following books. I am a bit bewildered by having the third book as the free one, and only at the end of that book finding out there are two others set before it ...

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story was exactly what I expected. A little "slice of life" where we get to revisit all the people in the first two books, several years later.

In this book, they are back on Keyno's home planet. I kind of wanted to see something a little different -- like what their lives are like when they move to the new settlement on the jointly-owned planet. Or if anyone found out more about the special connection between all their kids or the unique things Dale goes through and seems to inspire in his circle; just something so you get a little new perspective on their lives or the world. Instead, we don't really get any new information. It's truly just what you read in the book description. Which is not a bad thing! It was just kind of boring for me since I read it right after I finished Journey's End.

So, in conclusion, this one was just "okay" for me.

[Becky Condit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story was exactly what a Christmas short should be: sweet, full of traditions, old and new, and the gathering of family. Keyno arranges for Dale's family to visit them on Tah'Nar for Christmas, a holiday Keyno was unaware of and Dale missed in silence. It was fun watching the children enjoy a holiday that has come to mean so much for families on Earth, and especially to see the catlike Tah'Narians behaving like, well, like cats. This was an enjoyable little catch up for readers to see a slice of life on Keyno's home planet, mixed with the traditions and emotions of Dale's home planet.

[Princess Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Merry Christmas

This was everything a holiday should be! Love and laughter and joy, joy, joy! I know first hand how it feels to be torn between Christmas present and Christmases past. For Keyno to bring Dale's family in from another planet demonstrates the power of love. This could have just as easily been a holiday at my house with family and friends from near and far gathering to enjoy the day and each other. Despite not having read the previous two books I could feel the strong emotions driving the characters. I attribute that to the amazing writing.

[Mandy Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved reading this beautifully written book.

I really loved reading this wonderfully written book. I love the relationship between Keyno and Dale. I love the idea about most the people are different but still family and friends. This book really funny the writer of this book wrote a beautiful book. I will recommend this book to everybody I know and to all my friends too. I love the twists and turns of this book.

[Manuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but I am glad I did not read the first two books. All I needed to know was compiled in this one and even if I hadn't been introduced to all the secondary characters it was easy to follow who was who and how they were related to each other.
I am also impressed to learn how to throw a Christmas party short noticed and wish I had this replicator to sort out my present problems once and for all.

[kerryann williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

The small interlude after the second book was just a great read. It was a fun paced family get together ,even on another planet. Family is the focus in this issue, both born
With and made. Traditional values and new traditions to start are a great way to keep All families together and that is written well here. Well Worth the money spent to read this (free was great to ;) ) Awesome