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Crush #5
A Crush for Christmas
alternate cover edition of ASIN B08P5F966S
A transatlantic MM romance with low angst, major decision-making needed and a love of family.
Will the width of the Atlantic wash away the potential for love?
Colton is striving to make his business flourish. With no family left in New York to support him, he has to rely on himself and his best friends to live a full life. It doesn’t stop him from saving every dime to visit his mother in the UK at Christmas. What he doesn’t expect is to find a man who lights up his life like a Christmas tree.
Ioan loves Christmas and spending the holiday helping the residents of the nursing home to enjoy themselves is amazing. But he feels like he’s missing something. When a resident’s son arrives for his annual visit, Ioan can’t help but notice. Looking is all he’ll do, though. He’s learned his lesson about long-distance relationships, and he won’t go there again.
Are they willing to give a transatlantic relationship a try, or is it doomed to fail?
A transatlantic MM romance with low angst, major decision-making needed and a love of family.
Will the width of the Atlantic wash away the potential for love?
Colton is striving to make his business flourish. With no family left in New York to support him, he has to rely on himself and his best friends to live a full life. It doesn’t stop him from saving every dime to visit his mother in the UK at Christmas. What he doesn’t expect is to find a man who lights up his life like a Christmas tree.
Ioan loves Christmas and spending the holiday helping the residents of the nursing home to enjoy themselves is amazing. But he feels like he’s missing something. When a resident’s son arrives for his annual visit, Ioan can’t help but notice. Looking is all he’ll do, though. He’s learned his lesson about long-distance relationships, and he won’t go there again.
Are they willing to give a transatlantic relationship a try, or is it doomed to fail?
186 pages, ebook
First published December 3, 2020
13 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Elouise East
77 books281 followersElouise East writes sweet and steamy connections in gay romance. She also touches on taboo stories under the name Elouise R East.
Books that tell the stories where friendship and family are the focal point - be it blood family or chosen - are very important to her. That’s why she includes a variety of personalities, talents, ages, situations and abilities as she believes a story or character needs. She wants her characters to be real, to be relatable, to be free to have whatever views they tell her they have. And trust her, most of the time, she does not have any say in the matter!
Her characters come to life on the page for her as well as her readers. Their stories unfold in front of her as she writes, and she has very little input into how they want to be shown. Just like real life, the lives of her characters change with every choice, every interaction and every conversation. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She writes books that are emotionally realistic, even if liberties are taken with other aspects of the stories. She doesn’t know any other way to write. It comes from deep inside.
Who is she? A single parent to two children living in the UK. An avid reader who still tries to devour every book she can get her hands on. A student of learning about any subject that takes her fancy. An author of books she would read herself. And a romantic at heart who loves anything cheesy.
Who’s joining her on her journey?
Join my newsletter for regular updates, exclusive content and a free story being told chapter by chapter: https://elouiseeast.com/newsletter
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Books that tell the stories where friendship and family are the focal point - be it blood family or chosen - are very important to her. That’s why she includes a variety of personalities, talents, ages, situations and abilities as she believes a story or character needs. She wants her characters to be real, to be relatable, to be free to have whatever views they tell her they have. And trust her, most of the time, she does not have any say in the matter!
Her characters come to life on the page for her as well as her readers. Their stories unfold in front of her as she writes, and she has very little input into how they want to be shown. Just like real life, the lives of her characters change with every choice, every interaction and every conversation. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She writes books that are emotionally realistic, even if liberties are taken with other aspects of the stories. She doesn’t know any other way to write. It comes from deep inside.
Who is she? A single parent to two children living in the UK. An avid reader who still tries to devour every book she can get her hands on. A student of learning about any subject that takes her fancy. An author of books she would read herself. And a romantic at heart who loves anything cheesy.
Who’s joining her on her journey?
Join my newsletter for regular updates, exclusive content and a free story being told chapter by chapter: https://elouiseeast.com/newsletter
She loves stalkers... ;-)
VISIT MY WEBSITE
https://elouiseeast.com
SIGN UP TO MY NEWSLETTER
https://elouiseeast.com/newsletter
VISIT MY FACEBOOK PAGE
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251537
VISIT MY ELOUISE R EAST FACEBOOK PAGE
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251539
VISIT MY FACEBOOK READER GROUP
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251538
FOLLOW ME ON BOOKBUB
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251535
VIEW ME ON AMAZON
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251543
VIEW ME ON SMASHWORDS
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251544
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251540
FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251541
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
https://readerlinks.com/l/2251536
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 28, 2020
Long distance love without the lulls
I loved how Elouise East wrote this long distance love story. The majority of the book focused on the time Colton and Ioan spent together. That was hugely important to me.
There was steam, longing, love and laughter. A Crush for Christmas is the perfect to book to immerse yourself in while relaxing in a post holiday haze.
I loved how Elouise East wrote this long distance love story. The majority of the book focused on the time Colton and Ioan spent together. That was hugely important to me.
There was steam, longing, love and laughter. A Crush for Christmas is the perfect to book to immerse yourself in while relaxing in a post holiday haze.
December 8, 2020
A Crush for Christmas is the 5th book in the Crush series by Elouise East. This is the story of Colton and Ioan. Their story is sweet and fun Christmas story and I really liked it.
June 28, 2023
This was short and mostly sweet, but with some unnecessary angst. It was told across several years, starting in 2017 and then the final chapter was in 2021. Most of the book was across 3 years (2017-2019). Colton (Colt) didn’t have very much family but he visited his mom in Cambridge every year. She was staying in a nursing home due to health/memory issues (lupus), and that was how Ioan was involved. He was a carer there and had developed a crush on Colton.
After a couple years, they finally got together kind of, but then they didn’t discuss things. If they’d just sat down and talked, some issues probably could have been avoided. Chapter 13-14 weren’t great to me. I was annoyed by how things took place like it mentioning Colton sleeping around and Ioan dated some. I also really didn’t understand Colton’s desire to stay in New York. He hated leaving his mom, he really liked Ioan, and yeah he had his friends in NYC but he also had friends in the UK. He consistently went to Crush, and developed new friends with characters from previous books like Zak, Sean, Max, Ethan, etc.
I haven’t seen the name Ioan before, and I kept mistakingly thinking the book was saying loan (with an L) half the time. I liked the ending although it would have been nice to get an epilogue since they talked about wanting kids and everything. We didn’t see Ioan’s dad at all but he was mentioned a few times. I liked all the moments with Colton’s mom, and the fact that she was rooting for these two to get together and told Ioan to call her mum was adorable. Both characters were in their mid-30s (35 for Colton and I think 37 for Ioan), but it felt like they were younger with how they dealt with issues at times. Probably 3.5 out of 5 stars, but I’ll round up.
After a couple years, they finally got together kind of, but then they didn’t discuss things. If they’d just sat down and talked, some issues probably could have been avoided. Chapter 13-14 weren’t great to me. I was annoyed by how things took place like it mentioning Colton sleeping around and Ioan dated some. I also really didn’t understand Colton’s desire to stay in New York. He hated leaving his mom, he really liked Ioan, and yeah he had his friends in NYC but he also had friends in the UK. He consistently went to Crush, and developed new friends with characters from previous books like Zak, Sean, Max, Ethan, etc.
I haven’t seen the name Ioan before, and I kept mistakingly thinking the book was saying loan (with an L) half the time. I liked the ending although it would have been nice to get an epilogue since they talked about wanting kids and everything. We didn’t see Ioan’s dad at all but he was mentioned a few times. I liked all the moments with Colton’s mom, and the fact that she was rooting for these two to get together and told Ioan to call her mum was adorable. Both characters were in their mid-30s (35 for Colton and I think 37 for Ioan), but it felt like they were younger with how they dealt with issues at times. Probably 3.5 out of 5 stars, but I’ll round up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2022
When Colton's father died his Mum returned to Cambridge in the UK leaving him to carry on with his life in New York. He has a happy life except for the fact that he only sees his Mum once a year at Christmas. During one visit he meets one of her carers Ioan who lights him up like a Christmas tree and makes the visit more special as he understands how Colton feels when his Mum doesn't recognise him. Ioan loves his job but his heart breaks every time he sees pain flare across Colton's eyes especially as he knows his time to visit in the UK is so short. When he gets the time to visit New York he miraculously bumps into Colton and tries to hide how happy he is to see him, The more time they steal together the closer they become but nothing can happen as there are 3000 miles between them and Ioan has a bad experience of a long-distance relationship. Will their decisions set them on a path of heartache or happiness?
I enjoyed this story of the attraction between them, the frustration with the distance apart, Ioan's inability to see past what happened to him before and the way that it was finally resolved. They were destined to be together and I was thrilled when they found a way to stay together. Easy to read and understand it was also easy to pick up some of their thoughts and emotions. Contains mature MM content.
I enjoyed this story of the attraction between them, the frustration with the distance apart, Ioan's inability to see past what happened to him before and the way that it was finally resolved. They were destined to be together and I was thrilled when they found a way to stay together. Easy to read and understand it was also easy to pick up some of their thoughts and emotions. Contains mature MM content.
January 10, 2021
I adore heartwarming, low angst, steamy Christmas romances with cinnamon roll MCs, and this story is definitely that. Taking place during the holidays spanning several years and an ocean, Ioan and Colton try navigating a long-distance relationship with mixed success. But distance and time can't diminish their connection and undeniable feelings, and their HEA is quite lovely for several reasons. I would've liked to have seen Ioan's past failed relationship explored a bit more, though, since it resulted in his trust issues and directly impacted his relationship with Colton.
In addition to the sweet love story, I really enjoyed the importance of family and friends - new and old - in Ioan and Colton's lives. I haven't yet read the previous Crush series books and "A Christmas Crush" totally works as a standalone, and if anything the strong secondary characters make me want to go back and read their stories. (Read in KU.)
In addition to the sweet love story, I really enjoyed the importance of family and friends - new and old - in Ioan and Colton's lives. I haven't yet read the previous Crush series books and "A Christmas Crush" totally works as a standalone, and if anything the strong secondary characters make me want to go back and read their stories. (Read in KU.)
December 10, 2020
4.5 stars!
Long-distance relationships are hard, but the pining during their time apart made for an amazing slow burn in this holiday novel. In A Crush for Christmas, we saw snippets into the lives of Colton and Ioan around the holidays each year. I was totally invested in their HEA from their very first meeting. The two came together every holiday season and shared an undeniable connection that only grew over the years. But living an ocean away, it was over before it began, no matter how intense their attraction. It was a seemingly impossible situation that gutted me each time they had to say goodbye.
These two were so sweet together. This was a lovely holiday romance with no angst, a moderate amount of steam, and a great cast of supportive friends to get you in the holiday spirit.
Long-distance relationships are hard, but the pining during their time apart made for an amazing slow burn in this holiday novel. In A Crush for Christmas, we saw snippets into the lives of Colton and Ioan around the holidays each year. I was totally invested in their HEA from their very first meeting. The two came together every holiday season and shared an undeniable connection that only grew over the years. But living an ocean away, it was over before it began, no matter how intense their attraction. It was a seemingly impossible situation that gutted me each time they had to say goodbye.
These two were so sweet together. This was a lovely holiday romance with no angst, a moderate amount of steam, and a great cast of supportive friends to get you in the holiday spirit.
December 10, 2020
Despite The Distance
Every year Colton Jenkins travelled to the UK to visit his Mum, she'd emigrated there after his father's death and lived near his father's family. She had made the decision when she was sixty-five to move to a nursing home due to her declining health.
Ioan Thomas started to find himself looking forward to Rose's son visiting from New York every Christmas, he didn't know if he was gay but he was gorgeous, but even when they both seemed interested in each other Ioan was wary of the extreme distance between them..if a relationship with his ex couldn't survive a three hundred mile distance, how could one spanning thousands of miles?
They have to make decisions for their future can they make a relationship work?
This book spans several years and visits to and from New York, and keeps you guessing. I 100% enjoyed reading their story.
Every year Colton Jenkins travelled to the UK to visit his Mum, she'd emigrated there after his father's death and lived near his father's family. She had made the decision when she was sixty-five to move to a nursing home due to her declining health.
Ioan Thomas started to find himself looking forward to Rose's son visiting from New York every Christmas, he didn't know if he was gay but he was gorgeous, but even when they both seemed interested in each other Ioan was wary of the extreme distance between them..if a relationship with his ex couldn't survive a three hundred mile distance, how could one spanning thousands of miles?
They have to make decisions for their future can they make a relationship work?
This book spans several years and visits to and from New York, and keeps you guessing. I 100% enjoyed reading their story.
December 4, 2020
#mm #shortstory #Christmas #LongDistance
I was given a free arc copy from the author for review.
4.5 stars
This is a quick, wonderful, sweet read. It had all the feels. It is a slow burn. The couple is long distance for the most part and that for me just made the chemisty so much more intense. You can just feel the intense love as they are pining for each other. Total swoon. They truly have an all enduring, meant to be love. Then the chemisty when they are together is 🔥. Beautiful love story. The 2 MCs are well developed and are both loveable. All the side characters too are great. This story is also about the mother/son bond which is so sweet also touches on lupus/dementia. Handled very respectfully and sweet. Great writing. I absolutely recommend this.
I was given a free arc copy from the author for review.
4.5 stars
This is a quick, wonderful, sweet read. It had all the feels. It is a slow burn. The couple is long distance for the most part and that for me just made the chemisty so much more intense. You can just feel the intense love as they are pining for each other. Total swoon. They truly have an all enduring, meant to be love. Then the chemisty when they are together is 🔥. Beautiful love story. The 2 MCs are well developed and are both loveable. All the side characters too are great. This story is also about the mother/son bond which is so sweet also touches on lupus/dementia. Handled very respectfully and sweet. Great writing. I absolutely recommend this.
December 3, 2020
This is a wonderfully sweet and fun Christmas read, with loveable characters who have you rooting for them as soon as you meet them. I I was fully invested in Colton and Ioan and I thought they had excellent chemistry and such a beautiful romance. I loved the transatlantic element of the story as well because the heartache when they're apart just makes their love all the more soul-fulfilling. Their connection is very well drawn out and developed, and I didn't just wanted - but needed - them to work out how they could be together with such distance between them. Overall, this is a fairly low angst story with endearing family feels, and a love that is meant to be.
March 11, 2021
This was such a sweet love story spanning multiple Christmases. Colton lives is New York but visits England once a year at Christmas to visit his mom. He met Ioan at the nursing home his mom lives in. For the first couple Christmases, Colton and Ioan are just friends but are secretly crushing on each other. As their feelings develop further, we learn about both characters and what is stopping them from being together. This story takes them on a journey towards love and figuring out what they are willing to do for that love.
December 3, 2020
Wow I was so invested in Colton and Ioan relationship.
Colton's mum moved to the Uk when his dad died to be closer to family.
Colton stayed in New York where he had lived his whole life.
Colton worked the markets selling his wooden ornaments he made, but went to the Uk every Christmas to see his mum.
Ioan worked in the nursing home Coltons mum was in.
Ioan could not do a long distant relationship but Colton wanted one. The distance a major problem.
I spend the book rooting for them, couldn't put it down.
Hot and steamy, when their together, a mess when their apart.
Thoroughly enjoyed.
Colton's mum moved to the Uk when his dad died to be closer to family.
Colton stayed in New York where he had lived his whole life.
Colton worked the markets selling his wooden ornaments he made, but went to the Uk every Christmas to see his mum.
Ioan worked in the nursing home Coltons mum was in.
Ioan could not do a long distant relationship but Colton wanted one. The distance a major problem.
I spend the book rooting for them, couldn't put it down.
Hot and steamy, when their together, a mess when their apart.
Thoroughly enjoyed.
December 4, 2020
This is a wonderful love story about Colton and Ioan (You-un) and their undeniable attraction to each other, there is only one problem, Colton lives in New York, USA and Ioan lives in Cambridge, England. The ups and downs here are at times tender and then its gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking, their struggle to get by, seeing each other only at Christmas for three days. It's a lovely read, a sweet novella that spans five years.
February 21, 2021
Ok read
Few consistency errors and where did the cakes go!! They just got forgotten?
And to be honest I knew it was Ian but I kept reading loan in my head so personal issue for that was kinda annoying even after I changed font settings on my kindle.
It also felt a little long and if Colton and Ioan had actually talked more issues would have been resolved sooner as the last little time apart seemed unnecessary.
Few consistency errors and where did the cakes go!! They just got forgotten?
And to be honest I knew it was Ian but I kept reading loan in my head so personal issue for that was kinda annoying even after I changed font settings on my kindle.
It also felt a little long and if Colton and Ioan had actually talked more issues would have been resolved sooner as the last little time apart seemed unnecessary.
August 1, 2022
Just okay
This book had too many ups and downs, self doubt and indecision for me. You also never really get a feel for who the characters are as they are not very well fleshed out.
The plot is a good one, original in my opinion, but again, needed to be more fleshed out. It was a decent enough read for one time, but I doubt the I will read it again .
This book had too many ups and downs, self doubt and indecision for me. You also never really get a feel for who the characters are as they are not very well fleshed out.
The plot is a good one, original in my opinion, but again, needed to be more fleshed out. It was a decent enough read for one time, but I doubt the I will read it again .
August 29, 2024
Colton and Ioan
A transatlantic romance is about the longest distance I've read with this trope. Christmas brings the New York woodworker to Cambridge to visit his widowed mother. Caregiver Ioan has her as a patient. Annual visits are angsty, the MCs swinging from peak to pit. When it's hot, it's scalding; when troubled, heart-rending.
A transatlantic romance is about the longest distance I've read with this trope. Christmas brings the New York woodworker to Cambridge to visit his widowed mother. Caregiver Ioan has her as a patient. Annual visits are angsty, the MCs swinging from peak to pit. When it's hot, it's scalding; when troubled, heart-rending.
December 4, 2020
Long distance is hard, but worth it
This story shows two souls colliding and then bouncing off each other back in opposite directions for a bit before recolliding each time leaving a bit of each other with the other.
This story shows two souls colliding and then bouncing off each other back in opposite directions for a bit before recolliding each time leaving a bit of each other with the other.
December 5, 2020
Ioan and Colton
These two men had a few years of back and forth before figuring out that all they wanted was each other. Their once a year meetings at Christmas were brief but intense and their chemistry was undeniable. A short holiday novella in this series.
These two men had a few years of back and forth before figuring out that all they wanted was each other. Their once a year meetings at Christmas were brief but intense and their chemistry was undeniable. A short holiday novella in this series.
December 7, 2020
Colton and loan have a long distance friendship that changes over time. Can they make it work or will they just let it go. This is a feel good, low angst story for Christmas. It has family, fantastic friends on both sides of the Atlantic. It was a very good read. I enjoyed it very much.
January 13, 2021
2.5/5
My first by this author. This one didn't exactly stick with me. Takes place over several years between NYC and Cambridge, UK. Could have been slow burn, but lacked the burn. I'll probably give the author another shot though. Always looking for more Britishy stuff.
My first by this author. This one didn't exactly stick with me. Takes place over several years between NYC and Cambridge, UK. Could have been slow burn, but lacked the burn. I'll probably give the author another shot though. Always looking for more Britishy stuff.
April 23, 2021
Relaxed love story
This book in the series has a relaxed feel to it, with a little bit of angst. Enough to make me breeze through it. I read books to relax and be pulled in and this one, like the others, did the job just fine. ❤️
This book in the series has a relaxed feel to it, with a little bit of angst. Enough to make me breeze through it. I read books to relax and be pulled in and this one, like the others, did the job just fine. ❤️
December 10, 2020
Great book. Love this series. Highly recommend.
I received an arc and this is my honest review.
I received an arc and this is my honest review.
December 30, 2020
Another great book
Really enjoyed reading this. A great series and sad that it’s come to an end. Happy ever after for a couple who realised that they love each other more than the distance they lived apart. Really good
Really enjoyed reading this. A great series and sad that it’s come to an end. Happy ever after for a couple who realised that they love each other more than the distance they lived apart. Really good
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January 1, 2021I liked it until what happened after their last break up, what Colton did ruined the whole story for me. That asshole didn’t even fight for Ioan, he didn’t give a fuck about him.
Ioan should’ve never felt guilty, he did nothing wrong, he just needed time. He should’ve moved on and found someone who really cares about him and deserves him.
I’ve been there , it was a long time ago, know exactly what he felt and I cried, he broke my heart. Distance relationships sucks, it nearly ended me. But I didn’t get back with my ex when he showed up after a year like nothing happened, I told him to fuck off more than once. If he really loved me he wouldn’t have disappeared that long and dated/hooked up with other people. He knew it was really hard for me and it was killing me but he just didn’t care.
Same for Colton, If that asshole really loved Ioan or at least cared about him he would’ve never left the way he did without saying a thing and instead of trying to understand Ioan, give him time and waiting for him to make up his mind like HE ASKED HIM TO, he went back home in manwhore mode and fucked all the town while Ioan couldn’t even kiss a man.
And then one day after 1 year he showed up at Ioan’s work and things were fixed just like that, no questions, no talking, no nothing.. Like they broke up only a few days go, it wasn’t believable for me.
“ - Ioan I can’t live without you, I’m here to stay.
- Okay Colton you’re moving in with me. Fuck me please. “
I don’t recommend!!
Ioan should’ve never felt guilty, he did nothing wrong, he just needed time. He should’ve moved on and found someone who really cares about him and deserves him.
I’ve been there , it was a long time ago, know exactly what he felt and I cried, he broke my heart. Distance relationships sucks, it nearly ended me. But I didn’t get back with my ex when he showed up after a year like nothing happened, I told him to fuck off more than once. If he really loved me he wouldn’t have disappeared that long and dated/hooked up with other people. He knew it was really hard for me and it was killing me but he just didn’t care.
Same for Colton, If that asshole really loved Ioan or at least cared about him he would’ve never left the way he did without saying a thing and instead of trying to understand Ioan, give him time and waiting for him to make up his mind like HE ASKED HIM TO, he went back home in manwhore mode and fucked all the town while Ioan couldn’t even kiss a man.
And then one day after 1 year he showed up at Ioan’s work and things were fixed just like that, no questions, no talking, no nothing.. Like they broke up only a few days go, it wasn’t believable for me.
“ - Ioan I can’t live without you, I’m here to stay.
- Okay Colton you’re moving in with me. Fuck me please. “
I don’t recommend!!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews