Overture

Christmas Dreams

by D.G. Parker

While on tour, Eric is treated like a spun-glass ornament. His lover Dave didn’t. But without him around, Eric is considered too fragile to be on his own. So when his reserved car doesn’t show before rehearsal for his Christmas Eve concert, he’s entrusted to a cabbie given strict instructions of where to take him. Eric doesn’t expect it to be a new road … but hope is a hallmark of Christmas.

Genres: Christmas, M M Romance, Holiday, Romance, Contemporary, Gay

46 pages, ebook

First published December 1, 2008

About the author

D.G. Parker spends her days posing as a mild-mannered hospital administrator in upstate New York. Her alter ego has been reading and writing voraciously since childhood and dreams of one day publishing the “Great American Novel.” She’s taken her pen name from the very quotable Dorothy Parker, who reminds us all that “You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”

Reviews

[Deeze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly I think I just expect too much from these short reads.

This one started out interesting but quickly went for the easy quick fix method turn the cheated on boyfriend into an Ass so that the cheating bit seems OK

This never even felt like much of a Christmas story.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Daystrom is a highly talented piano player getting ready for a concert at Carnegie Hall. He travels the world to different performances, living in different suites and eating in high class restaurants. His lover Dave used to accompany him everywhere, but six months ago he moved back to DC to take care of his sister and niece when his brother-in-law died. Eric can't fault Dave for wanting to help his family but he misses having Dave with him. Eric is blind and with Dave gone there is no one to treat him as a normal person, everyone treats him like delicate china, including his personal assistant Phil. As Eric's mood deteriorates the night before his performance, he insists Phil go spend the night with his mother and Eric is left alone to get to his sound check. When the car that was supposedly arranged doesn't show up, the hotel hails a cab. And Eric meets cab driver Dante. And things really start to get interesting.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. While I was reading it I swear I started to hear piano music in my head, and I would give anything to hear Eric's rendition of Ave Maria. It's a song that has moved me to tears in the past so I can easily embrace Dante's reaction to the music. I was pulled into the story from the beginning and wanted things to work out for Eric. There is quite a contrast between the treatment Eric receives from those around him, even how Dave used to treat him, and the way that Dante is with him. Dante sees the man Eric really is, not his blindness, and Dante is open with Eric from the very beginning. There is also an arc to how Eric interacts with his assistant, making Phil a character that I liked more than I thought I would. In musical terms, an overture is an instrumental introduction to a composition and that analogy relates perfectly to what happens to Eric over the course of the story. The characters are well developed and extremely engaging, making for a wonderful story about finding the right person to stand by your side and provide both support and love.

http://emily83176.livejournal.com/433...

[Elisa Rolle]

Eric is a famous blind piano concert artist; putting together the art and the blindness, and the man is treated as a china doll from all the people around him. But Eric is not a doll, he has feelings and he likes simple things; he likes how his lover Dave treats him, like a play partner and not like a icon to idolize. But Dave is far and he is since 6 long months, so long that Eric is beginning to suspect that he will no more can back. And then Eric meets Dante, a New York cab driver, funny and easy, and Eric is facing an hard decision: he is ready to move on on his relationship with Dave?

The story is short, 50 pages, but I like it: it's very Christmastime, all glittering and sparks, even more since it's setting in a posh New York hotel. Eric's disability is maybe a bit too much underlight, since he was blind all his life and I was expecting him to be more independent, but you have also to consider that he has no steady point in his life, always living in hotel rooms around the country, and so not having reference point to build his world.

Dante is a nice character, but we only "sees" him through Eric's eyes (pun intended...) and so I don't know his reason, I have the feeling that he is young and very much fascinated by the public person that is Eric, but not in a bad way. He can be good for Eric, and being at the beginning of his adult life, he can build it around Eric.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/45...

[melek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eric an blind pianist having a bad time his long time boyfriend hasn't come back and his been gone for 6 months, so not really sure if they just drifted apart or still together, but you can get the drift he meets a cab driver who is funny who just sees Eric for who he is. So you can figure what happens next read and find out dont be to upset because i didn't i loved it.

[OkayKim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, but sweet story.

[Bookbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars