Review: Mistletango – Alexandra Caluen

Genre: Contemporary, Holiday

LGBTQ+ Category: Gay

Reviewer: Jay

Get It On Amazon

About The Book

A between-jobs vacation was all Angelo expected from Buenos Aires; when it turned into a holiday fling, he wasn’t about to say No.

Ramon’s impulsive trip to Argentina started off as a disaster. The cute dance teacher offering a room share? An early Christmas present. The night dancing tango? A revelation.

The next week turned into a series of great dates, the kind that would take months to set up in real life. By day two, they were both wishing they’d met long ago, in California, where they both grew up. Ramon’s heading back there; Angie’s bound for North Carolina. How could they possibly make it work? Could they try?

Angie leaves Argentina with a head full of plans and wishes, but no regrets. Ramon goes home with a plan of his own, determined to turn some wishes into reality.

A New Year’s Eve party was always going to be a challenging introduction to his new job. Left on their own by two key staffers, Angie and his junior instructors manage to pull it off. The next morning, he’s expecting a hard day of damage control. Instead he finds Ramon on his doorstep.

One way or another, they’ll dance into the future together.

The Review

A very sweet and beautifully written whirlwind romance.

Angelo is a dancer/dance teacher between jobs and has gifted himself with a holiday in Buenos Aries. He ends up accidentally sharing a room with Ramon, a recently jilted accountant. Both come from LA, but Angelo is moving to North Carolina.

There is no real drama apart from the angst the characters feel at the suddenness of their feelings and the need to be together. There is a great deal of interesting information about dance and quite a lot of explicit sex. And there are two lovely rescue cats.

Mistletango a contemporary story based around Christmas and New Year’s Eve. This is a feel-good mm holiday romance with assured writing, pleasant and interesting characters, and a HEA ending.

The Reviewer

I’ve been doing book reviews on my website, crossposted or linked to various social media, for a few years. I read a number of genres but I really enjoy all kinds of speculative fiction so thought I’d like to share my views with you. I love sci fi and other speculative fiction because of the way it can, at its best, make us see ourselves in a new light. Quite apart from the exciting stories, of course! I used to be an English teacher, and I’m a writer (fantasy) so I can be quite critical about style etc. but I hope I can also appreciate properly some books that don’t appeal to me personally but might be simply perfect for others. I have, obviously, read widely, and continue to do so.

U Might Have Missed

Word Count: Click here to reveal45000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Lesbian (Click here to hide)

Summary: These three tales tell the story of Tharassas before the Tharassas Cycle, including the origin of the hencha queens, the ce’faine, and the colonization of the Highlands, essential companions for the four novels that make up the cycle: The Fallen Angel Charlie Fah, Cha’Fah to most of the world, has never fit in with the other citizens of Gully Town, thanks to his darker skin that sets him apart. But one day, an Angel arrives on a supply run from Earth, and what happens next sets Charlie on a new path that will turn his life upside down. The Last Run Sera is the last runner from Earth, bringing badly needed supplies to the Tharassas Colony across a twenty-five year gulf between the planets. Jas works on a hencha farm to make ends meet, harvesting berries from the semi-sentient plants. Neither one that knows their lives—and worlds—are about to change forever. The Emp Test Jey awakens to find himself in the care of a handsome stranger—a cheff from one of the mountain tribes. Afraid for his life, Jey has no choice but to let the man take care of him and his broken leg. Avain is on his Aud'ling—the coming-of-age test that requires him to spend a couple months away from his own people. The two of them will have to come to an understanding if they're going to help one another. The Last Run and The Emp Test have been published before in previous stand-alone editions, but The Fallen Angel is a new story written exclusively for this collection.

Check This Out Too

Word Count: Click here to reveal84776 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: As Alpha Tobias Rogan and his mate Kyle Slidell prepare to travel to the regional Alpha gathering, Tobias receives a threatening phone call: If he brings his mate to the gathering, Kyle will not return to Boston. But stubborn Kyle, believing the threat is actually against Tobias, refuses to stay home. Tobias’s foreboding is proven correct when a visiting stranger challenges Zane Wolfskin, Arkhon of the Northeast Region, to a fight for rank–and wins. Tobias and his allies learn that the challenge was part of a larger plan to destroy their region, something Tobias will not allow. To prevent disaster, Tobias must challenge the new Arkhon himself. But can he survive the attempt? This book was originally published in 2013 by MLR Press. This version has been revised, re-edited, and updated from the original. It includes conflict between mates and reference to a past physical fight between those mates; mention of past murder, abduction, and child abduction; violence between werewolves; references to past abuse and sexual assault; and depictions of PTSD.