REVIEW: Felix Navidad by Nathan Burgoine
Felix doesn’t do impulsive anymore. But attending a friend’s wedding reminds Felix he’s the only one of his friends attending solo, and recent losses have him thinking he’s swung too far in the not-impulsive direction.
So, impulse decision number one? Cutting in on a dance with handsome farmer Kevin, the ex of one of the grooms, for a spin at the reception. Impulse decision number two? Planning his first holiday vacation off work. Christmas in Hawai’i will be a gift to himself.
When dancing doesn’t work out, Felix keeps high hopes for his vacation right up until the first flight cancellation. After bumping into a stranded Kevin, who lost his flight home, Felix gives impulse a third try: Why not drive to Toronto together? But after ice rain strands them halfway, it looks like Felix isn’t going to get to give himself his gift after all. Instead, this Christmas is a small cabin—and Kevin.
Then again, sometimes unexpected gifts turn out to be the best.
Dear Mr. Burgoine,
I’m jumping all over the place reading this Little Village novellas series but having a blast doing it. I love the found family, the rep, the care with which the characters are treated and how they treat each other. If I were willing to brave a Canadian winter and live in Ottawa, I would enjoy calling these people friends.
Felix is happy for his friends who are coupling up and getting married but he’s really having to work on being enthused for the actual ceremony and reception. Luckily he gets a good bunch of people at the “onlies” table though the guy sitting one table over is mighty fine. Urged on by the friendly bisexual sitting next to him, he asks the man to dance but an obnoxious guy cuts in with intent. The next day he heads to the airport to catch his Toronto flight to Vancouver and then on to Hawai’i! But when he watches the flight status boards flip all the flights from delayed to more delayed to canceled, he decides to hit the road to Toronto to attempt to salvage his warm vacation.
Felix is a nurse practitioner and one of his clients urged him, over the course of a few months, to be a little more selfish, to think of himself and to take a damn vacation instead of working all of them so his co-workers with families could have them off. The guy also tried to set Felix up for the wedding but “things fell through.”
When he sees the hot guy at the airport car rental counter, Felix impulsively offers the guy a lift since Kevin is going his way. When icy, snowy weather traps them at a darling rustic cabin retreat, what are the men going to discover about each other?
Unlike “Faux Ho Ho,” there are no homophobic scenes in this story. Mention is made about a character who helps victims of gay bashing and in one scene Felix briefly thinks about the slurs and insults he endured as a nurse before finding his calling of being a home health NP who concentrates on LGBTQIA+ patients. His growing relationship with former drag queen and now aging widower Danya is delightful. Most of the characters from previous novellas are included or mentioned but no one hogs this spotlight.
Felix’s POV is the only one in the book but he’s fun to spend time with. Kevin is hot and seems like a nice guy at the wedding but the two days he and Felix are together actually shows us this. Yes, it’s a short amount of time but day three is spent with Kevin’s family who welcome Felix with open arms then a one year epilogue puts the star on the top of this Christmas tree novella. I definitely want to go back and read the other two novellas and hope that there will be additional ones to come. B+
~Jayne
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