Have a Hygge Holiday

Niall believes his boyfriend Josh is too weak and a pushover to continue having a relationship with him.
So, Niall has decided to end his relationship with Josh if he doesn’t pass the tests he’s concocted for him whilst he’s staying over for the Christmas holidays. As Niall discovers Josh doesn’t celebrate Christmas as he’s Jewish but he does celebrate Hygge, “Hyoo-gah”. Niall is racked by guilt but he can’t help himself when he continually puts Josh through his little “test’s”. Niall isn’t even sure exactly what it is his thinks Josh should be doing but he does know that Josh hasn’t done “it” yet!
Niall’s parents decide to show up at Josh’s for the holidays as well since Niall’s cousin has decided to use their house to make a movie in. Niall try’s his best to get rid of his parents but, no luck they’re here to stay! The next day things go from bad to worse, Niall’s parents completely disregard the fact that Josh is Jewish and doesn’t celebrate Christmas and they take down all of his decorations and put up a tree and decorate until the place looks like Christmas threw up!! To make things worse Josh’s father arrives declaring he has nowhere else to go so he’s staying at Josh’s as well. Josh is mortified with his father’s behavior, not only has he hit on his boyfriend, he is constantly fighting with Niall’s parents. When they return to his place after a taking a walk to escape the constant fighting they discover all three of their parents in bed together!
This is when Josh makes Niall sit up and take notice. Josh very firmly directs their respective parents to get dressed and leave as he has organized a hotel room down the road for them. When Niall finally reveals why he’s been acting so erratic the last two days Josh sits him down to explain that just because he’s been agreeable with everything Niall has suggested so far in their relationship it didn’t mean he was always going agree.
I’m a bit on the fence with this book. On the one hand the storyline is a good one but the way the author has written the story is very disconcerting. There’s more interaction between Niall and his conscience “guilt” than there is between him and Josh!

This book wasn’t at all what I thought it would be… especially for a Christmas-focused book in July. That being said, I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I would, especially after the beginning was a bit not my style (ahem, ongoing internal conversation filled with guilt).

I couldn’t see where the book was going to go - which I loved, as it did NOT go where I thought it would. I thought the internal guilt conversations Niall had, which at times led him to being a complete jerk, got old pretty quickly. But as soon as the holiday surprise occurs, my thoughts towards Niall changed as well - and Josh finally came into his own.

This was a really cute read, and a crazy ick-factor in the middle that brought everything together. Seeing the main characters come together and grow as a couple, overcoming guilt and jerk-ness, worked out well and definitely worth the read.

Review Copy provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review. Reviewed by Mel from Alpha Book Club.