Title: Glass Tidings
Author: Amy Jo Cousins
Date of publication: 5 Dec 2016
Genre/Themes: Romance, queer, holidays

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My rating: 5 Stars

Eddie Rodrigues doesn’t stay in one place long enough to get attached. The only time he broke that rule, things went south fast. Now he’s on the road again, with barely enough cash in his pocket to hop a bus south after his (sort-of-stolen) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Midwest, USA.

He’s fine. He’ll manage. Until he watches that girl get hit by a car and left to die.

Local shop owner Grayson Croft isn’t in the habit of doing people any favors. But even a recluse can’t avoid everyone in a town as small as Clear Lake. And when the cop who played Juliet to your Romeo in the high school play asks you to put up her key witness for the night, you say yes.

Now Gray’s got a grouchy glass artist stomping around his big, empty house, and it turns out that he . . . maybe . . . kind of . . . likes the company.

But Eddie Rodrigues never sticks around.

Review

I'm a big fan of Amy Jo Cousins and I have read and enjoyed most of her books. Glass Tidings is no exception, I can honestly say it's one of the best books I read this year. 

Glass Tidings is a moving romantic tale where the reclusive, a bit jaded and a lot lonely owner Christmas ornaments shop Gray falls for the always-on-the-road glass artist working at Renaissance fairs Eddie. They meet under very unlikely circumstances and are put in a situation of forced proximity where they become roommates, friends, confidants, partners, lovers. 

What I love about Amy Jo's writing is how real, almost tangible she makes her characters. Gary and Eddie could be any of us - ordinary people with real problems who become something special and truly precious for the other. They are full-fledged, complex characters, each with his history and set of issues. And the romance that blooms between them is my own favourite kind of romance - slow burn, based on friendship and true partnership. I loved the way the author presents the domesticity of their relationship, the process of sharing our life with someone - the little things that bring two people together and the big issues that can tear them apart. 

The sexual tension is right there from the start but it's not central in the story, rather the focus is on the inner struggle both Eddie and Gary experience with their growing attraction. For different reasons both of them find it difficult to give themselves permission to let go and follow their heart's desire, to risk a comfortable routine (which admittedly was not working for either of them any more) for the chance at happiness and more fulfilling, richer life.

This is a Christmas story, but the holiday spirit is not overdone and I really appreciate that. Yes, they are selling Christmas ornaments but what the author focuses on is buy no means the commercial aspect of the holidays but their relation to following/creating tradition, setting roots, building a home, creating a family and on a larger scale a circle/community of friends.

I loved following Eddie and Gary falling in love with each other, sharing a common living space and gradually making it their own. Their romance was all about establishing something in the always transient life of Eddie and simultaneously, bringing new possibilities and change in the too quiet and lonely life of Gray.

There is some crime/mystery plot that I liked and it helped move the story along rather nicely. I found Adrian intriguing and I'm curious what happened with him before and after. I felt like this plotline was left unfinished and wish we got more closure on him (perhaps an YA story about him?).

Overall, Amy Jo Cousins has written yet another deeply engaging and real story, heart-warming and just perfect Holiday romance with two strong, complex characters for find love and get their HFN.