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Lighthouse Bay
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday
Mal's first priority is giving his six-year-old son the best Christmas ever, a goal made trickier by a recent move to New England after losing his job. As a single dad, he's not looking for romance—especially not with a blond California boy ten years his junior.
After being ridiculed at the family business, Luca sets out to prove himself by opening an eco-friendly gift-wrapping store in a small town with a hard-on for Christmas that’s about as far from LA as he can get. Out of his comfort zone in snowy Maine, love is the last thing on his mind.
But the magic of the season has other ideas. As Mal and Luca collide on wintery streets, will they let their first Christmas in Lighthouse Bay lead to happily ever after?
Length: 7hrs 23 mins
After being ridiculed at the family business, Luca sets out to prove himself by opening an eco-friendly gift-wrapping store in a small town with a hard-on for Christmas that’s about as far from LA as he can get. Out of his comfort zone in snowy Maine, love is the last thing on his mind.
But the magic of the season has other ideas. As Mal and Luca collide on wintery streets, will they let their first Christmas in Lighthouse Bay lead to happily ever after?
Length: 7hrs 23 mins
8 pages, Audiobook
First published November 22, 2022
30 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Amy Aislin
38 books913 followersAmy's lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she's read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she's been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn't at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada's largest environmental non-profit.
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for her infrequent newsletter here: http://bit.ly/AmyAislinNewsletter
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for her infrequent newsletter here: http://bit.ly/AmyAislinNewsletter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
December 21, 2024
This is a perfect read for Christmas time. It's sweet, warm and cozy – the type of story that makes you smile and feel good. It's very slow paced, but I preferred it that way.
I really enjoyed the small town setting of Lighthouse Bay with the Christmas Lane and Luca's shop and the winter/holiday activities. The characters are all wonderful – Mal and Luca, Mal's son Otis and his whole family and all their friends.
I loved Mal and Luca as characters, we definitely feel the same way about certain things, and I loved the way their relationship developed. It was very romantic.
I only wish
*****
Re-read 12/2023: 4.5 stars
Re-read 12/2024
I really enjoyed the small town setting of Lighthouse Bay with the Christmas Lane and Luca's shop and the winter/holiday activities. The characters are all wonderful – Mal and Luca, Mal's son Otis and his whole family and all their friends.
I loved Mal and Luca as characters, we definitely feel the same way about certain things, and I loved the way their relationship developed. It was very romantic.
I only wish
*****
Re-read 12/2023: 4.5 stars
Re-read 12/2024
December 28, 2023
Too slow paced for me. And I didn’t like the kid.
I know many of you loved it, but some books just don’t work for everyone. This one is a good example for it: no idea if it’s been the audio that made it so… unremarkable… that I dnf-ed. The narrator’s (Adam Lawrence) voice wasn’t bad, but I struggled a lot to keep the voices apart and had to skip back to remember who’s talking. Maybe I’m spoiled when it comes to narrators, but this one wasn’t doing it for me. I thought about switching to reading, but this book isn’t on KU and I wasn’t ready to pay 5€ for a story I wasn’t invested in.
I liked the small town setting, and I liked the idea of a single (bi) dad and the “new guy” in town.
Luca is from LA, and he’s the odd duck in his very rich family, who opened a gift-wrapping shop that only has environmental-friendly products, designed either by him or local artists.
I really liked the idea, and I’m sure that if there’s ONE thing I’ll remember from this book, it’s to try and be more careful when buying wrapping paper - for example, I wasn’t aware that you can’t recycle properly gold or silver printed paper.
But this is supposed to be a romance, and tbh, for me, it was a bit too bland when it comes to that.
Mal, the single dad, is insta attracted to Luca, and vice versa. They take it slow, and we do have a very romantic first date. But there’s slow, and there’s TOO slow. And on top of that, there’s THE KID, Otis, a 6yo going on 50 who lives with his mum (who Mal is still very good friends with) and with Mal in a weekly changing routine. You know those kids in books and movies who are supposed to be cute, but act like they’re SO much older? Pointing out the best place for a date, and being so very considerate when one of their parents isn’t feeling well? Yeah. That’s Otis 🙄
And yes, I usually do like kids in romances. But not this one.
It’s all so… bland. It’s not even too sweet and cheesy, it’s just… bland. I fell asleep listening to it and when I woke up, I didn’t feel the urge to jump back because I didn’t feel like I’ve missed anything important.
And I think that was the point where I decided to dnf. A shame 😕
I know many of you loved it, but some books just don’t work for everyone. This one is a good example for it: no idea if it’s been the audio that made it so… unremarkable… that I dnf-ed. The narrator’s (Adam Lawrence) voice wasn’t bad, but I struggled a lot to keep the voices apart and had to skip back to remember who’s talking. Maybe I’m spoiled when it comes to narrators, but this one wasn’t doing it for me. I thought about switching to reading, but this book isn’t on KU and I wasn’t ready to pay 5€ for a story I wasn’t invested in.
I liked the small town setting, and I liked the idea of a single (bi) dad and the “new guy” in town.
Luca is from LA, and he’s the odd duck in his very rich family, who opened a gift-wrapping shop that only has environmental-friendly products, designed either by him or local artists.
I really liked the idea, and I’m sure that if there’s ONE thing I’ll remember from this book, it’s to try and be more careful when buying wrapping paper - for example, I wasn’t aware that you can’t recycle properly gold or silver printed paper.
But this is supposed to be a romance, and tbh, for me, it was a bit too bland when it comes to that.
Mal, the single dad, is insta attracted to Luca, and vice versa. They take it slow, and we do have a very romantic first date. But there’s slow, and there’s TOO slow. And on top of that, there’s THE KID, Otis, a 6yo going on 50 who lives with his mum (who Mal is still very good friends with) and with Mal in a weekly changing routine. You know those kids in books and movies who are supposed to be cute, but act like they’re SO much older? Pointing out the best place for a date, and being so very considerate when one of their parents isn’t feeling well? Yeah. That’s Otis 🙄
And yes, I usually do like kids in romances. But not this one.
It’s all so… bland. It’s not even too sweet and cheesy, it’s just… bland. I fell asleep listening to it and when I woke up, I didn’t feel the urge to jump back because I didn’t feel like I’ve missed anything important.
And I think that was the point where I decided to dnf. A shame 😕
Want to read
December 10, 2022Thank you for the gift, A Grateful Little Elf!
April 19, 2023
This was a warm hug and a breath of fresh air. I really enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. This is a low-angst romance without being boring. It was very refreshing to me to have 2 MCs who meet at the beginning of the book, get to know each other relatively slowly, on page, with no OTT insta anything. Yes they are interested in each other almost right away but they don't think about each other all the time and they are not thinking in circles "does he like me?" "is he gay?". They talk about things, do small things for each other, have normal dates. They are cute, the UST was nice, they don't jump into bed (it is low steam as well). The whole relationship development felt organic to them. The timeline is short (about a month) but it didn't feel rushed. There is a kid in the story, he is 6, but he is not overly present, just a reminder that Mal is a dad and that he is not about to abandon his son to date which made sense. Luca comes from a very neglectful family and I like the way this was handled. He grew in this book and found his family in this new place, that was very nice to see. I liked the whole cast of characters. It really felt like those characters inhabited a fully formed world. This hasn't been my experience recently.
Why 4 stars instead of 5? We get to know both characters from info-dumps in the first 2 chapters. It didn't bother me that much but I would have preferred to get to know them as they got to know each other. I felt that Mal did more little things for Luca than the other way around. The character could have been more fleshed out. . I would still highly recommend this nice, wholesome story. This is exactly what I needed right now. It can definitely be read as a standalone. There are other couples mentioned but they don't overtake the story at all.
Why 4 stars instead of 5? We get to know both characters from info-dumps in the first 2 chapters. It didn't bother me that much but I would have preferred to get to know them as they got to know each other. I felt that Mal did more little things for Luca than the other way around. The character could have been more fleshed out. . I would still highly recommend this nice, wholesome story. This is exactly what I needed right now. It can definitely be read as a standalone. There are other couples mentioned but they don't overtake the story at all.
December 4, 2022
Brief summary
Mal and Lucas both aren’t really aren’t in a place in their lives where they want to date but they meet each other and they cannot stop the pull they have towards each other and they fall in love.
I have been in a mood to read all of the super cute Christmas stories lately and this one really did it for me. This had a really good amount of Christmas cheer and it kept me very satisfied. I love my Christmas stories with a lot of talks about Christmas and a lot of cheer and this one just really did it for me. There was so much talk about the Holidays and everything surrounding it and that just really worked for me.
I really liked the setting of this book too. I’m also from a small town, so I always find it super heart whelming when books set in small towns remind me of my own every day life and this one really did a good job of that. I just really loved the setting in this book, it was wonderful.
Also, I really enjoyed the romance in this one. It was super cute and had just the eight amount of very romantic and cute scenes that I just adore reading about in books. It was really adorable and it ended up really working for me.
Overall, I had a very good time reading this one and I really enjoyed it.
I received an arc of this book and this is my honest opinion
Mal and Lucas both aren’t really aren’t in a place in their lives where they want to date but they meet each other and they cannot stop the pull they have towards each other and they fall in love.
I have been in a mood to read all of the super cute Christmas stories lately and this one really did it for me. This had a really good amount of Christmas cheer and it kept me very satisfied. I love my Christmas stories with a lot of talks about Christmas and a lot of cheer and this one just really did it for me. There was so much talk about the Holidays and everything surrounding it and that just really worked for me.
I really liked the setting of this book too. I’m also from a small town, so I always find it super heart whelming when books set in small towns remind me of my own every day life and this one really did a good job of that. I just really loved the setting in this book, it was wonderful.
Also, I really enjoyed the romance in this one. It was super cute and had just the eight amount of very romantic and cute scenes that I just adore reading about in books. It was really adorable and it ended up really working for me.
Overall, I had a very good time reading this one and I really enjoyed it.
I received an arc of this book and this is my honest opinion
November 16, 2022
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday
Amy Aislin
I made it to 34% of this book before deciding on a DNF.
I certainly appear to be in the minority, but I found this sweet book just dragged, with far, far too many detailed descriptions of surroundings, chatter about things not relevant to moving to plot forward, and it was becoming a Hallmarky snooze-fest for me.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the story. It's well written, with no typos that I could see in the portion that I read, but it simply struggled to hold my attention or interest. I'm sorry.
Recommended for readers who like slow-paced family oriented tales with much less focus on the romance and relationship development.
Disclaimer :
I received an advance copy of the book via Neon Rainbow Arcs.
This is my personal experience with the work and my review is voluntary.
Amy Aislin
I made it to 34% of this book before deciding on a DNF.
I certainly appear to be in the minority, but I found this sweet book just dragged, with far, far too many detailed descriptions of surroundings, chatter about things not relevant to moving to plot forward, and it was becoming a Hallmarky snooze-fest for me.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the story. It's well written, with no typos that I could see in the portion that I read, but it simply struggled to hold my attention or interest. I'm sorry.
Recommended for readers who like slow-paced family oriented tales with much less focus on the romance and relationship development.
Disclaimer :
I received an advance copy of the book via Neon Rainbow Arcs.
This is my personal experience with the work and my review is voluntary.
December 4, 2022
This one was so cute. The lighthouse bay is a lovely place to be this time of the year, and I lived to meet Luca and Mal. Is it wrong ti say I want Donovan to be next in finding his match? Because he surely deserves it
November 4, 2022
[I received a digital arc for an honest review]
If you're looking for a marshmallow of a holiday romance, then A Gift-Wrapped Holiday by Amy Aislin might be what you're looking for.
Mal is determined to give his six-year-old the perfect Christmas. They recently moved back to Lighthouse Bay, and he only gets him every other week. The other time he spends with his ex-wife. Luca recently moved to Lighthouse Bay to open an eco-friendly gift-wrap store after being turned down by his parents and older siblings. They have an instant connection and spend the holiday season getting to know one each other. Luca has always wanted a big family and to feel accepted for who he is, and it looks like with Mal his wishes will finally come true.
Luca had never dated anyone who made his head spin with just one kiss.
Mal gives us some quality Bi representation and a drama free relationship with his ex-wife. His backstory is a little unique and one I don't think I have come across in a queer romance before. He and his wife had a still born when they were young, and he never fully healed from it. This makes him a planner and an overly cautious parent because he knows what It's like to lose a child and can't handle anything happening to Otis. Then we have Luca, who is a sweetheart and who deserves all the love. Their romance is sweet and relatively low steam, with one open door intimate scene.
Cocooned in the safety of Mal's arms, there was no place for doubts and what-ifs. Just joy and lazy kisses and dancing, while Otis was asleep upstairs, and the rest of the world was quiet and snowy.
Overall A Gift-Wrapped Holiday by Amy Aislin is a low angst, low drama, small town, holiday romance with fresh starts, found family , repairing relationships, accepting you're good enough, sledding, ice cream, trivia night , and falling in love.
If you're looking for a marshmallow of a holiday romance, then A Gift-Wrapped Holiday by Amy Aislin might be what you're looking for.
Mal is determined to give his six-year-old the perfect Christmas. They recently moved back to Lighthouse Bay, and he only gets him every other week. The other time he spends with his ex-wife. Luca recently moved to Lighthouse Bay to open an eco-friendly gift-wrap store after being turned down by his parents and older siblings. They have an instant connection and spend the holiday season getting to know one each other. Luca has always wanted a big family and to feel accepted for who he is, and it looks like with Mal his wishes will finally come true.
Luca had never dated anyone who made his head spin with just one kiss.
Mal gives us some quality Bi representation and a drama free relationship with his ex-wife. His backstory is a little unique and one I don't think I have come across in a queer romance before. He and his wife had a still born when they were young, and he never fully healed from it. This makes him a planner and an overly cautious parent because he knows what It's like to lose a child and can't handle anything happening to Otis. Then we have Luca, who is a sweetheart and who deserves all the love. Their romance is sweet and relatively low steam, with one open door intimate scene.
Cocooned in the safety of Mal's arms, there was no place for doubts and what-ifs. Just joy and lazy kisses and dancing, while Otis was asleep upstairs, and the rest of the world was quiet and snowy.
Overall A Gift-Wrapped Holiday by Amy Aislin is a low angst, low drama, small town, holiday romance with fresh starts, found family , repairing relationships, accepting you're good enough, sledding, ice cream, trivia night , and falling in love.
March 20, 2023
Who approved this recording? Why does a professional have such an appalling microphone, and refuse to mount a pop-filter for every shh, zshh, and thh? The ambient sound is bad but no deal-breaker.
November 13, 2022
4,5 stars for A Gift-Wrapped Holiday by Amy Aislin. It's the story of Luca and Mal. Luca just moved to Lighthouse Bay and Mal just moved back. When Mal's son Otis runs off to get his gift wrapped at Luca's store the two meet.....
I loved their story. It was sweet, sexy, full of feels and very well written.
I loved their story. It was sweet, sexy, full of feels and very well written.
November 26, 2022
Cute and enjoyable.
November 22, 2022
This was such a sweet and mostly light-hearted read, with just a dash of heat thrown in. I loved this small town setting, and the story had a full set of well-rounded characters - both main and supporting. It was one of those holiday reads that puts a smile on your face while you’re reading it :-)
There is a theme of starting over, and it applies to both Mal and Luca. Both have started fresh in Lighthouse Bay after moving there from the west coast, and while there is about a ten year age gap between them, that never really gets in the way of their developing relationship. Their family situations are opposites - Mal has his son, plus his ex-wife (with whom he is still friends) and her family as well as his own very large family, all living in the same area. Luca though has left all of his family behind to start again on his own.
I liked the way that most chapters were set up as a Christmas countdown, it was sort of like an advent calendar built into the story. I was thankful that there wasn’t any angst between the characters, and that their relationship built at a slow and natural pace. Mal and Luca were wonderful together, and while I’m not usually a fan of kids in books I thought Mal’s son Otis was present in the story enough without taking over from the main characters.
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday was what I consider a perfect holiday romance, and was a 4.5-star read for me. I also liked that some of the supporting characters - most prominently Luca’s best friend and his brother (and not necessarily together) - left a door open for some possible stories down the road. I’m looking forward to reading more about the Lighthouse Bay couples and hopefully more stories set there in the future. If you love M/M holiday romances, be sure to check this one out, it’s meant for readers 18+ for some adult language a sexual content.
There is a theme of starting over, and it applies to both Mal and Luca. Both have started fresh in Lighthouse Bay after moving there from the west coast, and while there is about a ten year age gap between them, that never really gets in the way of their developing relationship. Their family situations are opposites - Mal has his son, plus his ex-wife (with whom he is still friends) and her family as well as his own very large family, all living in the same area. Luca though has left all of his family behind to start again on his own.
I liked the way that most chapters were set up as a Christmas countdown, it was sort of like an advent calendar built into the story. I was thankful that there wasn’t any angst between the characters, and that their relationship built at a slow and natural pace. Mal and Luca were wonderful together, and while I’m not usually a fan of kids in books I thought Mal’s son Otis was present in the story enough without taking over from the main characters.
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday was what I consider a perfect holiday romance, and was a 4.5-star read for me. I also liked that some of the supporting characters - most prominently Luca’s best friend and his brother (and not necessarily together) - left a door open for some possible stories down the road. I’m looking forward to reading more about the Lighthouse Bay couples and hopefully more stories set there in the future. If you love M/M holiday romances, be sure to check this one out, it’s meant for readers 18+ for some adult language a sexual content.
November 24, 2022
This is such a lovely holiday story! I adored Mal and Luca and the way their relationship developed. They both had some previous issues and hurts to get over but it was lovely how they opened up to each other and worked through them. This book really does give you such a great holiday feeling. I loved it
November 28, 2023
This was absolutely delightful!! Two wonderfully sweet cinnamon rolls in one lovely read!! ❤️
November 25, 2022
4.5*
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday was such a lovely, heartwarming, at times heart-tugging, holiday romance. Luca and Mal are both pretty darn precious, I adored them. And little Otis was the marshmallow on top of the hot chocolate!
Luca was so deserving of finding someone who would love and care for him, moving to Lighthouse Bay was the best decision he could have made, as it led him to Mal. He needed someone to see him, and Mal did just that. Their romance may have been a bit on the insta side, but the connection between them was undeniable and I just loved watching these two fall.
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday was such a lovely, heartwarming, at times heart-tugging, holiday romance. Luca and Mal are both pretty darn precious, I adored them. And little Otis was the marshmallow on top of the hot chocolate!
Luca was so deserving of finding someone who would love and care for him, moving to Lighthouse Bay was the best decision he could have made, as it led him to Mal. He needed someone to see him, and Mal did just that. Their romance may have been a bit on the insta side, but the connection between them was undeniable and I just loved watching these two fall.
November 11, 2022
I loved this. Such a lovely holiday romance. Mal is a good dad, a good friend, and ends up being a great boyfriend to Luca. And Luca is such a sweetie, and so good with Mal's son and his big family. I love all the Christmassy things, I love this town. And I like the found family aspect- Luca finally figures out who is important and where he belongs. If you're looking for a feel good, smile while reading, low angst love story, I recommend this one.
October 21, 2022
Awww, what a lovely warm, cozy start to Christmas. This book was lovely... Donovan next, right? LOL. X
December 21, 2022
3.5 stars
Lighthouse Bay latest transplant, California Boy Luca Dolke, is the owner of That's A Wrap, an eco-friendly gift-wrap store. Mal O'Toole is a father of a nine-year old Otis, moving back to Lighthouse Bay to co-parenting his son with his ex-wife. They first met when Otis came to That's A Wrap and asks Luca to help wrapping his gift for his dad....
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday is set in the same location of Aislin's Lighthouse Bay series. I adore the previous books (the third book is one of my most favorites this year). But I have a slight difficulty to fully embrace Luca and Mal. I don't know, I feel like Luca thinks too much about his family (who dismisses him anyway) and Mal still has slight issue after a personal tragedy that happens 15 years earlier.
And there's sudden appearance of Luca's older brother at Lighthouse Bay, after a scandal (is the author setting up Donovan as main character for the next book?) - which somehow becomes the reason for the climax of the book (the chapter before the ending)
But I adore Otis... and Luca and Mal's relationship is lovely. I may not love it as much as the previous three Lighthouse Bay's books, but still it's a nice read.
Lighthouse Bay latest transplant, California Boy Luca Dolke, is the owner of That's A Wrap, an eco-friendly gift-wrap store. Mal O'Toole is a father of a nine-year old Otis, moving back to Lighthouse Bay to co-parenting his son with his ex-wife. They first met when Otis came to That's A Wrap and asks Luca to help wrapping his gift for his dad....
A Gift-Wrapped Holiday is set in the same location of Aislin's Lighthouse Bay series. I adore the previous books (the third book is one of my most favorites this year). But I have a slight difficulty to fully embrace Luca and Mal. I don't know, I feel like Luca thinks too much about his family (who dismisses him anyway) and Mal still has slight issue after a personal tragedy that happens 15 years earlier.
And there's sudden appearance of Luca's older brother at Lighthouse Bay, after a scandal (is the author setting up Donovan as main character for the next book?) - which somehow becomes the reason for the climax of the book (the chapter before the ending)
But I adore Otis... and Luca and Mal's relationship is lovely. I may not love it as much as the previous three Lighthouse Bay's books, but still it's a nice read.
January 2, 2023
DNF 40% - While the story is well written und cute, the plot dragged too much and couldn't hold my attention.
November 23, 2022
This is not a bad story. It just took me some time to get through it since it wasn't holding my interest completely.
I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion
I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion
November 24, 2022
4 stars from me. This story is part of the Lighthouse Bay series even though it doesn't say so and for me, wasn't as good as Sweet to the Core which absolutely deserved a place on my Best of 2022 bookshelf, and was a delight to read.
This one [although I liked Mal and Luca] just didn't hit the spot quite as much. I honestly didn't see the point of Luca's brother Donovan 'hiding out' with Luca and bringing all that drama with him from California. He hadn't seemed to bother very much about Luca when Luca himself had moved from Cali to Lighthouse Bay without any contact from his snobby and distant family [and who he later discovered were more than happy to 'pinch' ideas he'd proposed at their board meeting]. They just didn't care that much about him or listen to him 😕.
Not sure whether there'll be any more stories in the series, although I would like to know what happens to Luca's bestie Elijah.
This one [although I liked Mal and Luca] just didn't hit the spot quite as much. I honestly didn't see the point of Luca's brother Donovan 'hiding out' with Luca and bringing all that drama with him from California. He hadn't seemed to bother very much about Luca when Luca himself had moved from Cali to Lighthouse Bay without any contact from his snobby and distant family [and who he later discovered were more than happy to 'pinch' ideas he'd proposed at their board meeting]. They just didn't care that much about him or listen to him 😕.
Not sure whether there'll be any more stories in the series, although I would like to know what happens to Luca's bestie Elijah.
November 13, 2022
4 - Stars
Amy Aislin’s A Gift-Wrapped Holiday is a delightful read. It’s low angst, chuckle inducing, and just pure fun.
The tone of Aislin’s novel is set by her very first sentence, “When Luca had first envisioned opening a retail store, he hadn’t expect his clientele to be so…tiny.”
Luca Dolke’s “tiny client” in his newly opened eco friendly gift and gift-warping store, ‘That’s A Wrap’, turned out to be Otis O’Toole, the funny - and very wise - six year old son of Malcolm (Mal) O’Toole, a web design and digital advertising entrepreneur who recently moved back to his home town after loosing his corporate job.
Mal was amicably divorced from his high school sweetheart, Emily, when Otis was two. As the story beings Mal and Emily are sharing custody of Otis in their home town of Lighthouse Bay, Maine, a community truly obsessed with Christmas. So obsessed that the town officially renames its Main St as Christmas Lane every year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
From their first meeting it’s clear that 37-year old Mal and 27-year old Luca (whose birth surname was Koenig and was changed for reasons best discovered for yourself by reading this book) were destined to be together.
Aislin has filled her novel with wonderful characters - particularly everyone in Mal’s family; all the merchants and residents of Lighthouse Bay; Luca’s best friend from LA, and the one sibling Luca had, Donovan Koenig, co-star of TV’s reality show, Living It Up With Leon Lish, who hand’t ridiculed and shunned Luca for his ideas.
Mal, of course, saw Luca for the truly wonderful and accomplished man was, and the only man Mal wanted to spend his life with. The question was how would Otis accept his father loving another man. As Aislin wrote, “God bless kids who hadn’t been corrupted by societal norms yet. Honestly, people didn’t give kids enough credit.”
I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review.
If you’re looking for a heart-warming, feel-good holiday read - at any time of year - A Gift-Wrapped Holiday is definitely for you.
Amy Aislin’s A Gift-Wrapped Holiday is a delightful read. It’s low angst, chuckle inducing, and just pure fun.
The tone of Aislin’s novel is set by her very first sentence, “When Luca had first envisioned opening a retail store, he hadn’t expect his clientele to be so…tiny.”
Luca Dolke’s “tiny client” in his newly opened eco friendly gift and gift-warping store, ‘That’s A Wrap’, turned out to be Otis O’Toole, the funny - and very wise - six year old son of Malcolm (Mal) O’Toole, a web design and digital advertising entrepreneur who recently moved back to his home town after loosing his corporate job.
Mal was amicably divorced from his high school sweetheart, Emily, when Otis was two. As the story beings Mal and Emily are sharing custody of Otis in their home town of Lighthouse Bay, Maine, a community truly obsessed with Christmas. So obsessed that the town officially renames its Main St as Christmas Lane every year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
From their first meeting it’s clear that 37-year old Mal and 27-year old Luca (whose birth surname was Koenig and was changed for reasons best discovered for yourself by reading this book) were destined to be together.
Aislin has filled her novel with wonderful characters - particularly everyone in Mal’s family; all the merchants and residents of Lighthouse Bay; Luca’s best friend from LA, and the one sibling Luca had, Donovan Koenig, co-star of TV’s reality show, Living It Up With Leon Lish, who hand’t ridiculed and shunned Luca for his ideas.
Mal, of course, saw Luca for the truly wonderful and accomplished man was, and the only man Mal wanted to spend his life with. The question was how would Otis accept his father loving another man. As Aislin wrote, “God bless kids who hadn’t been corrupted by societal norms yet. Honestly, people didn’t give kids enough credit.”
I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review.
If you’re looking for a heart-warming, feel-good holiday read - at any time of year - A Gift-Wrapped Holiday is definitely for you.
November 22, 2022
A lovely and sweet Christmas story.
A Gift Wrapped Holiday is another sweet story by Amy Aislin. I love her books no matter what the heat level is and this one is no exception. Set in the world of her Lighthouse Bay series it is a standalone story with no cliffhanger.
Mal has returned to his home town in Light House Bay, Maine after living in Seattle for several years. He has a great relationship with his ex-wife and they share custody of their six-year-old son, Otis. Luca left his home and family business back in L.A. to start his own eco-friendly store.
These two are just so sweet together. Both of them have things in their past that continue to affect them. Luca’s family has always pretty much ignored him and he needs to quit trying so hard to win their love and approval. Mal was let go from his job after his company was bought out and now he’s working with his sister providing web-design and digital marketing to business owners.
I loved the way that Mal and Luca met – Otis was involved 😊 – and that their relationship developed slowly during the month of December. Luca is not used to winter and snow and ice. I loved Amy’s descriptive writing; it made me shiver just like Luca did whenever he was out in the cold.
I really can’t say enough good things about this book – actually about any of Amy Aislin’s books. If you like heartwarming stories, I can highly recommend A Gift Wrapped Holiday. If you’ve never read a male/male romance before, and you want to try one with low heat and lots of sweet, this book would be an excellent one to start with.
A copy of this book was provided to me at my request; my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
A Gift Wrapped Holiday is another sweet story by Amy Aislin. I love her books no matter what the heat level is and this one is no exception. Set in the world of her Lighthouse Bay series it is a standalone story with no cliffhanger.
Mal has returned to his home town in Light House Bay, Maine after living in Seattle for several years. He has a great relationship with his ex-wife and they share custody of their six-year-old son, Otis. Luca left his home and family business back in L.A. to start his own eco-friendly store.
These two are just so sweet together. Both of them have things in their past that continue to affect them. Luca’s family has always pretty much ignored him and he needs to quit trying so hard to win their love and approval. Mal was let go from his job after his company was bought out and now he’s working with his sister providing web-design and digital marketing to business owners.
I loved the way that Mal and Luca met – Otis was involved 😊 – and that their relationship developed slowly during the month of December. Luca is not used to winter and snow and ice. I loved Amy’s descriptive writing; it made me shiver just like Luca did whenever he was out in the cold.
I really can’t say enough good things about this book – actually about any of Amy Aislin’s books. If you like heartwarming stories, I can highly recommend A Gift Wrapped Holiday. If you’ve never read a male/male romance before, and you want to try one with low heat and lots of sweet, this book would be an excellent one to start with.
A copy of this book was provided to me at my request; my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
November 25, 2022
*4.5*
I love the Christmas Lane series of books, looking forward to a new one every year. This year it's Mal and Luca who get the festive romance treatment.
Luca is new to town with his eco-friendly gift wrapping business and Mal has moved back after twenty years away, along with his six year old son, Otis. Their first meeting isn't exactly one to remember, at least not for Mal after Otis wandered off, but second time is the charm with attraction clear on both sides.
It's a wonderful low angst romance in a small town that really goes all out for Christmas. Luca does have negative feelings towards pretty much all of his family back home on the other side of the country but Mal and Otis welcome him into theirs without a second thought. Mal has heartbreak shared with his ex wife that is talked about in the content warning at the beginning of the book but it doesn't go into detail, more focus on how it affects life now and the help that therapy has given him. It's great getting to interact with all of the people in town, especially those met in previous books. I'm hoping that Donovan and Elijah, Luca's brother and best friend respectively, have their own stories coming in the future, separately or together. I can see Donovan's, especially, have a nice arc to his with what he's had going on.
Definitely another recommended Christmas read from Amy Aislin!
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
I love the Christmas Lane series of books, looking forward to a new one every year. This year it's Mal and Luca who get the festive romance treatment.
Luca is new to town with his eco-friendly gift wrapping business and Mal has moved back after twenty years away, along with his six year old son, Otis. Their first meeting isn't exactly one to remember, at least not for Mal after Otis wandered off, but second time is the charm with attraction clear on both sides.
It's a wonderful low angst romance in a small town that really goes all out for Christmas. Luca does have negative feelings towards pretty much all of his family back home on the other side of the country but Mal and Otis welcome him into theirs without a second thought. Mal has heartbreak shared with his ex wife that is talked about in the content warning at the beginning of the book but it doesn't go into detail, more focus on how it affects life now and the help that therapy has given him. It's great getting to interact with all of the people in town, especially those met in previous books. I'm hoping that Donovan and Elijah, Luca's brother and best friend respectively, have their own stories coming in the future, separately or together. I can see Donovan's, especially, have a nice arc to his with what he's had going on.
Definitely another recommended Christmas read from Amy Aislin!
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
November 22, 2022
"Actually it was --
That light as air feeling again. --
pretty great."
All the feels topped with a touch of holiday magic
I laughed at little Otis and his antics
Smiled when Luca grumbled about the cold
Humph'd at Mal's insistent schedules
"it feels stupid to hold onto the words when it's what I feel. "
Luca wanted a new start and maybe, possibly, to prove to his family his ideas had merit.
Though he wouldn't admit to it if you asked.
Mal had forgotten what it was like to just let go. To live in the moment.
"That's why I'm here. Because it's been a long time since I've been warm."
It's when you're not looking that you will most likely find it 🙂
Sweetest holiday romance
A little back story angst - both main characters
Lots of family and small-town feels
Single dad - Age Gap
If you haven't visited yet, there is no better time than now
The decorations are up -
The festivities are underway and...
There is always room for one more here at Lighthouse Bay.
(I couldn't resist still riding the sweet high and the happily ever after)
That light as air feeling again. --
pretty great."
All the feels topped with a touch of holiday magic
I laughed at little Otis and his antics
Smiled when Luca grumbled about the cold
Humph'd at Mal's insistent schedules
"it feels stupid to hold onto the words when it's what I feel. "
Luca wanted a new start and maybe, possibly, to prove to his family his ideas had merit.
Though he wouldn't admit to it if you asked.
Mal had forgotten what it was like to just let go. To live in the moment.
"That's why I'm here. Because it's been a long time since I've been warm."
It's when you're not looking that you will most likely find it 🙂
Sweetest holiday romance
A little back story angst - both main characters
Lots of family and small-town feels
Single dad - Age Gap
If you haven't visited yet, there is no better time than now
The decorations are up -
The festivities are underway and...
There is always room for one more here at Lighthouse Bay.
(I couldn't resist still riding the sweet high and the happily ever after)
December 16, 2024
I just adore Luca & Mal together! I love that they get together right away and have a sweet start to their relationship. Otis is also a truly adorable six year old! I really enjoyed how Luca grew to truly accept his past and how Mal continued to fight against his instincts built from the tragedy of his first child’s death. It’s so well done and Lighthouse Bay continued to be the best small town!
November 26, 2022
I love holiday reads. This one was just what I wanted. Realistic characters set in a small town with all the feels I crave in a good book. This was the first time I’ve read a story with the dad’s POV on what Mal and his ex went through. This author knows how to deliver a powerful read every time.
December 31, 2024
3.5 Very sweet stars 🌟 I liked it a lot, it was a nice, feel-good, uncomplicated romance. I didn't rate it with 4 stars because I felt that the characters were not well developed IMO.
November 16, 2022
I’ve read this author before. This is a mm contemporary story set at Christmas time in the USA. Main characters are Luca and Mal. Each have background issues but fall in love anyway. A great story that I enjoyed reading.
November 23, 2022
This was a lovely story, low angst despite a particularly heavy topic from Mal’s past. Luca and Amal found just what they needed in each other and the addition of Otis only made the story cuter and sweeter. There were plenty of secondary characters who added a lot to the novel and the setting, a quirky town which goes all out for Christmas only made everything brighter and better.
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