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The Santa Problem

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When Kendall is let down by the Santa and photographer he’s booked for his garden centre, he frantically tries to find replacements. But no one is available to step in at the last minute and he’s running out of time and options.

Then Alfie arrives, with his electric-blue hair, piercings, megawatt smile, and three cute reindeer. And, he just happens to be a photographer. Finally, Kendall sees a glimmer of hope. So what if he hates Christmas, kids, beards and missing Santas? Kendall can play Santa himself, if he just learns how to smile.

As Kendall thaws and gets into the role, Alfie has renewed hope that he’ll manage what he came all the way here to do. It all depends on Kendall believing him, and that suddenly becomes a mountain Kendall won’t even try to climb. But Alfie won’t give up. It’s not over yet. This is Christmas and there’s magic in the air!

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2022

32 people are currently reading
189 people want to read

About the author

Barbara Elsborg

100 books1,677 followers
Barbara Elsborg lives in Kent in the south of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Volcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.

After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.

Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.

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5 stars
223 (46%)
4 stars
171 (35%)
3 stars
70 (14%)
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18 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
Profile Image for Trio.
3,614 reviews207 followers
October 23, 2022
Barbara Elsborg weaves magic and romance into the Christmas season with her charming holiday tale The Santa Problem.

Why shouldn’t an elf have a happily ever after? Even a naughty elf like Alfie, who made off with a few of Santa’s reindeer, and is MIA during the busiest time of the year? Well, Alfie has his sights set on a lonely garden center manager, who needs a whopping huge infusion of Holiday Cheer!

As the story evolves, Barbara Elsborg drops in a few clues that neither man is exactly who they appear, (turns out Kendall has one heck of a backstory!), and gradually these polar opposites discover they have more in common than initally meets the eye.

an arc of The Santa Problem was generously provided by the author for the purpose of my honest review, all opinions are my own
Profile Image for NicoleR.M.M..
674 reviews168 followers
October 19, 2022
I never read a Christmas story as early as October. I always fear that I won't be in the right mood for it and that the book won't have that magical feeling it has as when I sit on the couch with the Christmastree in sight and the lights on and candles burning.
But then Barbara asked me if I would like an advanced copy of her upcoming seasonal book and since I love her writing, how could I resist? Honestly?
So I found myself reading about the magic of Santa in October and well...
I loved it!
I think that's totally due to Barbara's writing. Somehow she spread magic and sparkles over her words and turned this beautiful story into something special. There's a really shiny and sparkly atmosphere in this book and it drew me in completely. I was sold from the beginning and it warmed me as if I had a hot chocolate and a warm, fuzzy blanket to surround me.

There are some heavy, sad topics, but somehow they have a hopeful feeling to it. And that's all Alfie's doing. He shines brightly through the sadness. All he wants to do is make people happy, specially the children.
And specially Kendall. He wants to make him smile. It's the reason he ended up at Kendall's garden center in the first place.
Kendall has his reasons for not believing in Christmas. He doesn't celebrate. He doesn't put up a tree, he doesn't do gifts or decorate at all. And then he meets Alfie. And Alfie tries his best to put that smile on Kendall's grumpy face, how reluctant Kendall might be. And Alfie tries his best to make Kendall believe again.

This story was magical and sweet, just as a Christmas story should be. And within the sweetness of this story there's Alfie, a blue haired guy with tattoos and piercings and he fits perfectly!!
I will certainly put this book on my yearly Christmas re-reads. I love how it gave me Christmassy feelings in October - think of what it will do when reading it in December!

Highly recommended!


Profile Image for Misty.
266 reviews19 followers
December 2, 2023
A blue haired, multiple pierced elf who is pure sunshine and rainbows... How could I say no.
I loved this. Absolutely adorable ❤️❤️❤️
Profile Image for Gabi.
215 reviews
November 24, 2023
Funny & cute!
A heartwarming holiday read with a dash of magic.

A question formed in his head. It was stupid, a waste of a question when he could already guess the answer was no, but he still asked it. “Do you think I could make you happy?”
“Yes.”
Alfie hadn’t hesitated. Not a fraction of a second. Oh God.
🥰🥰

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What’s your greatest fear?” Alfie asked.
Kendall wasn’t sure how to answer that. That he’d slide back when Alfie had gone? That he’d die alone, never having loved anyone? With no one ever having loved him?
“Depression.” That covered it all didn’t it? “Being alone for the rest of my life. Not being able to pull myself out of the hole I’ve let myself fall into.”
🥹😢
Profile Image for Sheri.
1,418 reviews196 followers
February 5, 2023
I always look forward to Elsborg's holiday stories.
They are FUN and full of magic.
Alfie is precisely that. His sunny personality is sure to brighten your day.
Kendall is not exactly fun but perhaps he has some hiding beneath his strict and stern exterior.
Alfie slips past his defenses and they are the perfect pair.
But! Can Kendall believe Aflie's secrets?
You should find out!
And give my love to the reindeer when you see them!!

*Bonus alert, you might recognize some "up north" friends!!
Profile Image for True Loveislovereview.
2,855 reviews1 follower
October 28, 2022
Kendall is a grumpy man, he hates Christmas. He has many shields to protect his heart, underneath is a sweet, vulnerable, hurt man.
When the hired Santa and photographer canceled their coming to the garden center, there was a big problem.
Alfie, the new photographer with real reindeer has many suggestions for Christmas, one where Kendall should be the Santa. Oh well, there’s no other solution.
Magical things are happening if only Kendall could see them for what they are.
Alfie is on a mission, make Kendall laugh, make him happy. Easier said than done.

What a wonderful story. The Christmas spirit was palpable, we can witness the hurt and ugliness of life, and we can feel what makes people big, love, care, kindness, and happiness. All you have to do is believe, and thank goodness Kendall did!
Leave it to this author to give impressive dimensions to Christmas. Wonderfully written!
Profile Image for Marthea.
1,008 reviews16 followers
November 28, 2022
Jeden zrzędliwy, ponury, samotny, nieznoszący Bożego Narodzenia 34-latek.
Jeden radosny, stający okoniem do wszelkich zasad, chodzący własnymi drogami, wytatuowany, niebieskowłosy, pełen piercingu elf - kto by mu tam liczył lata, wygląda młodo, to może i rzeczywiście jest młody 😁
Trzy renifery, w tym jeden mały, wzięte ze stada Świętego Mikołaja na misję przez niesfornego elfa - hmmm... raczej bez niczyjej zgody.
Trochę magii - no bo w końcu skoro jest prawdziwy elf, to i prawdziwa magia być musi.
Cała masa radosnych i podekscytowanych dzieciaków, kilka smutnych, z których jeden nieszczęśliwy chłopiec dostanie również szczęśliwe zakończenie.

Kolejna udana świąteczna historia Barbary Elsborg 🙂
Profile Image for Edga.
2,241 reviews23 followers
October 28, 2022
Wonderfully Magical ☺️

Always an absolute highlight of the build up to the festive season is reading Christmas stories, new and well loved. In this well written story by Ms Elsborg, Kendall and Alfie's build up to Christmas is a seamless combination of bah humbug, surprises, cosy, magic and eventually sumptuous.

There are such beautiful themes here. Kendall just needs to connect with someone (even though he doesn't know it), friendship and the chance to follow his heart. Alfie is just magic, I love how he never gave up on Kendall. A lovely story, full of magic, family and love.
Profile Image for Sandra .
1,984 reviews348 followers
January 2, 2023
After a slow start, this story became super engrossing and I could hardly put it down until its end. Adorable characters, some sadness but lots of Christmas spirit and magic, including a lovely HEA.

Thank you to the kind elf who gifted this to me!
Profile Image for J.
1,561 reviews37 followers
December 21, 2022
This was a cute story that was totally predictable and dragged a good bit throughout. It took me over a week to finish this because I just wasn't invested enough in the story, almost DNF at around the 40% mark. I pushed through and it was exactly what I thought it would be. There was little passion from either MC and virtually no steamy bits, which is ok, nothing wrong with that. It's just there wasn't much that showed these two guys were really into each other all that much.

I will say the cover model is cute af, though. :-)
Profile Image for Karen.
1,638 reviews135 followers
October 9, 2022
Please can someone make this into a film? It’s got that perfect feel good factor that you need in a Christmas File. Happy, joyful moments. Sad, chin wobble moments. Drama. Laughs. Romance. Love. Surprises.

I just loved it.

Kendall Blackstone hasn’t had a great life. He’s grumpy and lonely. The last thing he needs is for the man he booked to be Santa at his garden centre, to decide to take a trip to Australia. He could disappoint hundreds of children and his boss or he could be Santa. The problem is Kendall doesn’t smile and doesn’t like children. His own childhood was unhappy and he’s never known the joy of Christmas.

But then a little bit of magic happens, because the photographer who comes to take photos of the children with Santa starts to bring back Kendall’s smile with a little help from his reindeers. Alfie West with his blue hair and piercings (I had to google one of them) is the perfect breath of fresh air that Kendall needs to get rid of his grinchyness.

Honestly, this is everything that a Christmas book should be with glitter, sparkle and snow. It’s marvellously magic.
Profile Image for Jennifer Reilley.
1,143 reviews29 followers
October 27, 2022
This book was exactly what I needed. Barbara knows how to make me smile, tear up, and fall in love with all of her stories and characters.

Kendall is lonely, sad, grumpy, and never smiles. He is out to be the top employee for his boss. Profit is his bottom line. His day couldn’t get any worse when he find out he no longer has his Santa and photographer for the big season.

Alfie shows up at the perfect time. While he’s there, he helps Kendall smile again, love again, and see life could be good.

This book brought me lots of smiles and some tears. But put a big old bow are my heart. I fell in love with the guys, a secondary character, and the reindeer. Thank you Barbara for sharing their love.
Profile Image for Sophia Soames.
Author 36 books229 followers
October 12, 2022
It's Christmas and all we need to do is believe. Which we do, because this is a super cute Christmassy fairytale with sprinkles on top. I really enjoyed this lighthearted romp with all the ingredients a good holiday story should have. Grumpy dude. Tick. Blue haired cute guy manning Santa's grotto as a Christmas elf? Tick. The Elf has pet reindeer. Of course. And where on earth is Santa? It's Christmas after all! Loved it! I know it's October, but come on! Get the gingerbread biscuits out and snuggle up with a mulled wine. Nobody will know!
Profile Image for Andreas.
163 reviews43 followers
December 8, 2023
Grumpy meets sunshine. Hurt and comfort. Christmas. Reindeer. Magic. Happy ending. Everything you'll expect from an Christmas comfort read.

I loved the story of grumpy Kendall and sunshine Alfie. It's a lot of telling instead of showing which I find a bit exhausting to read. It's also written in third person narrative although it has very subjective POVs that basically scream for first person narrative. The POVs are changing constantly even within the chapters, so I guess that's why the author went for third person. I usually like alternating POVs. But in this case, well, Alfie has some secrets he's hiding from Kendall but not so much from the reader. It's giving away a bit too much and maybe it'd be more charming it was entirely from clueless Kendall's POV.

It's a solid Chrismas read with romance and magic. I liked it.
Profile Image for Evelyn220.
651 reviews40 followers
November 24, 2023
4⭐️ Cute grumpy/sunshine romance with a fairytale twist. This was mostly light and sweet but there were some very sad moments as Kendall is posing as Santa for the season and meets several abused, neglected, or dying children. It made me tear up a few times.

It didn’t really wow me, but overall, a nice holiday read. The reindeer were my favorite part.
Profile Image for Ami.
6,241 reviews489 followers
January 16, 2023
3.5 stars

Magical romance story that involves and a grumpy man (who is "forced" to act as Santa during the holiday). It was sweet and I loved that Alfie tried to make Kendall happy (Kendall needed to SMILE more!!). There were reindeers too!

I may need more convincing about their FEELINGS though, because while I could see Kendall loving Alfie for Alfie's personality, I might need more to be convinced of the other way around. And that surprise of felt a little out there for me 😄
Profile Image for Vfields Don't touch my happy! .
3,498 reviews
December 20, 2022
I promised myself this season I was just going to read books that were set during the holiday season not books with a magical, mystical vibe. I plainly haven’t been in the mood, it happens. It turns out I’d already added The Santa Problem in my queue, so I read it.
It was sweet but not saccharine-like.
I liked the reindeer.
I can deal with the magic because it wasn’t over done or silly.
I was intrigued by the protagonists.
The ending was acceptable for this curmudgeon wannabe.
It worked.
Profile Image for Jax.
1,110 reviews36 followers
December 26, 2022
This didn’t hold my interest and took me a long time to get through. Also, the full-on sex scenes were a bit jarring here. Staying more PG would’ve suited the story better.
Profile Image for Sanna.
581 reviews21 followers
November 14, 2022
I enjoyed this Christmas story

The Santa Problem is an standalone MM Contemporary Romance. HEA. Holiday Romance. Christmas. Fantasy. Sweet and Cute. Comfort reads.

No reindeers were harmed in the making of this story.

2POV, 3rd person, past tense. This kindle edition 166pages, 27th October 3022.

Oh this was just the thing that I was wanting to read for a holiday read ❤️
Kendall and Alfie were good together. Kendall the classically grumpy party, Alfie unlocking him ever so nice and the ending completed the circle. Wolfie a nice add! Suitably just not too long, not too short, not too heavy or complicated. Well done.

Thank you for another great holiday read also this year!
Profile Image for Nese's reads.
340 reviews14 followers
October 10, 2022
It's Christmas time again, damn it!

Mr I hate everything Christmas, Kendall, is a right misery guts again...
When you are the manager of a local garden centre that exploits Christmas to the max it can be a real hard time. Everywhere Kendall looks there are twinkling lights, an explosion of seasonal decorations and non stop Christmas tunes on repeat all day everyday. An ice rink, hot drinks, even food huts are installed for the season, but the cherry on top of this ordeal is Santa for the screaming children...

So when a sweet young man and 3 reindeers appear in his store Kendall is in no position to ask why/how/who?
Like he sprinkled fairy dust everywhere Alfie made everything negative change.

Like magic, Alfie turned an ordeal into something life changing for Kendall. The lonely unpleasant man, with 3 curious reindeers and a persistently positive guy started to change...he become more caring and fun and even shared about his sad childhood.
The longer he played Santa and the more he listened to the children the more he opened his eyes to the harshness of the world. Christmas is not always happy for everyone as Kendall is forced to acknowledge.
But Alfie is always there with the answers to everything, how can that be?
As the children left with a gift and a smile so did Kendall, but for how much longer?

I was expecting this Christmas story to make me smile and feel nostalgic, but what I didn't see coming was the added heartbreaking stories of the children. This is not just a sentimental read, this is an honest look at the realities of life during this supposedly happy time.

Of course this is a Christmas tale, so there is lots to celebrate with family and food and goodwill for all...



Profile Image for Tj.
1,704 reviews20 followers
October 31, 2022
An AWOL elf, three adorable matchmaking “borrowed” reindeer, a grump, and Christmas magic combine to make cute and warm Christmas read.

All you need to partake in the magic of the season is to believe in Santa and have a comfy reading chair. This little book will do the rest.
Profile Image for Pjm12.
2,040 reviews41 followers
December 5, 2022
#xmas22 Such a fun idea but with strong messages about family and belonging.

Alfie is a darling and Kendall deserves his happy forever Christmas.

Great story. (great reindeer).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews

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