Mr. Frosty Pants: A Gay Christmas Romance

By: Leta Blake

Narrated by: John Solo

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Frosty former friends get a steamy second chance in this Christmas gay romance!

Can true love warm his frozen heart?

When Casey Stevens went away to college four years ago, he ghosted on his straight best friend, Joel Vreeland. He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool façade again. 

Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog - and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling - Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw. 

Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart? Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and steamy mm first times.

©2018 Leta Blake (P)2019 Leta Blake

Really great =D

So, this might be a holiday's story, but it's NOT a fluffy one. And it's fantastic :D

I love the slow building of trust in this story, I love how the characters change and grow during it. How they work to accept themselves and get over their family expectations and disappointments in order to be who they really want to be.

It's not an easy road, but it's one they walk fuelled by love... and isn't that wonderful? =D

The writing is great, which comes as not surprise at all, and yes, there are lots of angst, homophobia and self-esteem issues but we got to see the MCs rise above all of them, so yes, I really enjoyed the ride :P

John Solo does a great job with the narration.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

What a beautiful, wonderful Christmas story!

If you're expecting a fluffy, slightly silly Christmas novella, this won't be it! This is a beautifully written love story, with well-designed MCs, with all their faults, insecurities and scars. The trope is one of my absolute favorites, second chances, and it's lovely to read how these two soulmates get to finally claim their love for each other overcoming all obstacles (including horrible families).
And, let's just talk about the steam in this book! It almost made my kindle melt, just as much as Joel and Casey (and Bruno) made my heart melt!
A well-deserved five stars for Ms. Blake, who can deliver magic with her stories like few others can.
John Solo is an incredible narrator and made listening to this audiobook an amazing experience!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved this audio more then the ebook last year!

I read this book last year, but only gave it 4star back then. But now that I read the second book and LOVED it, I thought I need to give it a second chance but now with audible. And how good that thought was!

I loved this audio! The voices were perfect, the story was awesome and I liked both character. I love when the voices in my head are similar to those when I listen to the audio. Casey and Joel were lovely together and their love story was really good, I liked listening to it. It was hot and cute at the same time. I think I blushed 1-2 times, the sex scenes were super erotic and hot! And John Solo's voice, damn! Amazing! I totally would re-listen to this. I did listened some scenes more then once!

Really liked this book and I'm glad I gave it a second chance, the audiobook is super good! Recommend it!

I enjoyed it this time more then last year!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Mr Cranky Pants

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! I could not turn this off. It is so so good. Mr. Frosty pants totally describes Joel! I love Casey’s dedication and love for Joel even though he is super cranky. Definitely check out this book! Heat level is high and low angst.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Reminded me of a Hallmark Christmas movie

This was a fun holiday read. The characters had depth and a strong connection. I enjoyed the romance and the narration worked. The title had me expecting comedy, but what I got was a heartwarming Christmas romance that tugged on my heartstrings. Thoroughly enjoyed listening.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great performance!

This story was very cute, at times it got a little repetitive. Seemed like trying to draw the angst out quite a bit. Sometimes I felt like I could skip 2 chapters and I’d still be in the same spot. Performance was great and I liked the story, just could’ve cut a little out.

Fantastic Story!

This is my first book by Leta Blake and I was blown away. I really enjoyed Joel and Casey's love story. It wasn't completely smooth, there was definitely angst along the way, but I really liked the dialogue between Joel and Casey; they talked about issues, they didn't avoid them. Casey was open, honest and direct; I adored him! Joel was less open, as he had a ton of buried insecurities, but boy did he allow Casey in and Casey was able to slowly chip away to get to Joel's heart. The sexy times were smoking hot and done so well. They both had to navigate some pretty awful parents and they each stood up for themselves and supported each other along the way.
John Solo was fantastic as always! I really felt Joel's grumpiness and Casey's optimism shine through in their voices. The pace was smooth and consistent and the sexy times were steamy!!!

Super Hot!

This is a 5 out of 5 on the hotness scale. This story was such a great read. A second chance romance (kinda), a misunderstanding that was resolved naturally, no forced conflicts between the leads. It was everything I expect from an awesome romance without the cliche.

Warm and fuzzies

Perfect audiobook for the holidays. Sweet and sappy- Casey and Joel get their happily ever after. Smoking hot when they’re together. Narration was great. Highly recommend!

Contrived

One of the two main characters spends the first several hours — maybe more, I couldn’t finish this piece of trash — treating every situation with an irrational hostility. This hostility is a poor substitute for central conflict. There’s no story here, just hour after hour of griping by one character. Conflict is not the only thing missing. Good dialog is nowhere to be found. The supporting characters seem to be cutouts, as if the author hurried through her writing project in a single weekend.

This was a great read, so REAL!

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.5 stars!!! A wonderful Christmas story
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Heat Rating: 4 (for the realness and tenderness I felt for the characters)
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration: 5 (Love John Solo!)

This was a great read, not fluffy or sappy, just REAL! I loved it, even more, the second time around!

I loved going back to Joel and Casey and loved the audio version! I highly recommend it!!

I was drawn in from the start by the depth of the characters. I could feel the hurt and confusion as Joel and Casey found each other again after years apart and a lot of miscommunication. I must say I hated Casey’s parents at many stages and it saddened me to read such bigotry and classism that sadly exists in real life. It’s a slow-burn romance with great heat that complements the story wonderfully and doesn’t detract from the story; it just fits!

Leta has created great characters that are on the verge of ‘finding themselves’ as well as each other. Although the book title is a little “gimmicky” I’ve got to say I love Mr. Frosty Pants and felt that he was very relatable and real. This is a perfect friends-to-lovers, hurt/comfort read and a highly recommended Christmas listen with a heartfelt happily ever after!

Thanks for reading!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

We're all ready for a thaw!

We all know a Mr Frosty Pants but Joel Vreeland takes the biscuit. Ever since Casey Stevens went off to college and never looked back he turned into a grumpy old man before his time. So when Casey comes into his store he freaks out.

Casey was in love with Joel right through high school and never kept in touch with Joel just for self preservation.

They were both secretly fighting family predjudices and Casey wanted to shield Joel from that.

They both can't keep away from each other though, much to their parents horror. Joel's Dad is very ill after a stroke but can't keep his mouth shut, even for Joel who has done his best to look after him. Meanwhile Casey's parents are snobs who want better for him.

I loved Joels' snark with underlaying softness and Casey's upbeat "nothing you can say or do" will put me off attitude.

This was narrated by John Solo and I always enjoy his narration.

Leta Blake however is a new to me author and I must say I really enjoyed this story. Yay another author to look forward to reading more from.

Great

This was a great audiobook.
I really enjoyed this holiday story.
I can’t wait to listen to more audiobooks from Leta.

Second chance festive romance

Leta Blake has done a wonderful job in giving readers a heartwarming romance for a truly frosty character. Joel lost his love when Casey left for college New York and had to cope with his homophobic father, who's now living in a nursing home, as well as the family business that has gone quiet in recent years. Casey is back home for the holidays and upon seeking out Joel, all of his feelings resurface and he's determined to make amends.
This is a really enjoyable story to listen to. Casey is earnest and lovable in how much he obviously cares for Joel despite the mistake he made as a teenager. Joel is definitely Mr Frost Pants and he is entitled after the upbringing he's had and the life he currently leads. Together memories are made and their relationship is reforged into something even bigger as they fight against parents and their own feelings of inferiority. There are are couple of friends who are fun and supportive but mostly we focus on Joel and Casey.
The narration from Joel Solo is good, gives a lot of emotion for the MC's and those around them. I did feel it fell a little short in the difference in voices for the two MC's. They were very similar to me and so kinda hard to separate out when listening to them. Overall though, I enjoyed the story through John's narration and fell into the festive romance.

Just lovely

I adore a grumpy MC and Joel really didn't have much to be jolly about. But Casey defrosted his heart. There were assumptions and misunderstandings that could have been solved by them just talking but they were still quite young guys (they are only 22).
All the parents are either horrible or overbearing, no wonder the lads have trouble communicating.
John Solo did a great job with the performance.

Mr Frosty Gets Thawed

Fab Christmas romance, this is a friends to lovers kind of story although not that simple in that the MCs have seen each other for 4 years and didn’t exactly part on good terms.

I really enjoyed this book, the story was very believable and I just loved how the romance blossomed. The narration was excellent as is the usual with John Solo, he really performed this book.

A Great Christmas Romance

Leta Blake has always been a ‘One Click’ author for me and this book did not disappoint.
I loved both the main characters, Casey the man from a family of privilege, who returns home from college in New York for Christmas to stay with his parents. Joel was his friend before he left for college and his parents have never approved of the relationship.
Joel has struggled to cope financially and emotionally since his abusive father had to go into a home and this has made him become lonely and grumpy gaining him the nickname Mr Frosty Pants.
This book has all the ingredients of a warm Christmas story and it has my favourite genre of second chances and first time. It’s a slow burn romance but keeps you engaged.
A lovely sexy love story.

Cold hearted lover...

Casey and Joel come from totally different worlds but once they were neighbors. Joel had the straight pounded in him by his father. So the friendship he had with Casey had to be strictly that. When Casey comes back, still wealthy and handsome, Joel is hanging by a thread. He really was Mr Frosty Pants, freezing every time feelings got intense. But Casey’s love would overwhelm and balm him all at the same time. I really loved Casey, he was sweet and caring, and most of all true to his feelings and himself. John Solo has a great voice that brought characters to life.