This is a story with, as you might guess, a core of kindness, challenged by indifference and greed. As is typical in Easton's work, every character she introduced engaged me. After reading some romances in which most people outside the pairing were cursory, finding this was refreshing, a three-dimensional world in which love can find its way despite serious obstacles. For me, it is the humor of our main character that pushes this to five stars. And, that cover. That's Toby. It's perfect.

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Librarians, a mysteriously troubled or maybe tragic past, an addiction to Christmas, and even Christmas miracles sound like pretty perfect ingredients for a story to me. And when it is also written by Eli Easton, one of my favorite authors, I was pretty sure I’d love it before even opening the e-book file. I am happy to report that ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles’ is sweet, made me smile and cry in equal measure, contained quite a bit of suspense, and is going straight onto my “reread when cheering up is required” list. Adorable!

Toby, a junior librarian, tells the story, and he does an excellent job. He is twenty-three, likes working at the library in his hometown, has a lot of respect for the “older” Mr. Miggles who is in his midthirties, and has a flashy boyfriend called Justin. I didn’t like the way Justin treats Toby – what with always borrowing money he doesn’t repay and not spending a lot of time with Toby – but it takes Toby a lot longer to figure out he has a choice. Toby’s past emerges slowly as Mr. Miggles celebrates the pre-Christmas season, and while they are employer and employee, there is a definite undercurrent of potential for more. Not that either of them would have acted on it without Mr. Miggles being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and Toby realizing he is the only one who can help.

The blatant unfairness of what happens and the suspense of how Toby is going to fix it almost killed me. Seriously! And all along Toby keeps discovering more nice things that Mr. Miggles did for practically everyone who visits the library… I got so upset about the injustice of it all that I almost stopped reading a few times. But I couldn’t do that either - I HAD to know how this was going to end. I was hanging on by the skin of my teeth, I tell you. There has rarely been a more oh-my-God-how-are they-going-to-make-it happy ending in the history of Christmas stories. Nail-biting!

If you like sweet Christmas stories that go from nicely harmless to shocking you with a suspenseful bite, if you have a thing for librarians and all the good they do, and if you’re looking for a read that is as intense as a thriller but manages a miraculously beautiful happy ending, then go buy and read this novel. It’s one of Eli Easton’s best books ever. Seriously!


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )

Story: 8
First MC: 9
Second MC: 8
Secondary characters: 7
Mystery: 4
Sexual tension: 6
Humor: 5
Hotness: 5
Product placement: 5
Ridiculousness: 3
Annoying: 1
Audio: 10 (4h 45min)
To re-read: 7

heartwarming story, cute and made me smile. There is romance but not the main focus. The townies are adorable and made day dream of a trip for next xmas.
small town charm, hot librarians, leeches, mint chocolate, and christmas cheer. ( )