Elaine White's Life in Books
The Author
Elaine White is the author of multi-genre MM romance, celebrating 'love is love' and offering diversity in both genre and character within her stories.
Growing up in a small town and fighting cancer in her early teens taught her that life is short and dreams should be pursued. She lives vicariously through her independent, and often hellion characters, exploring all possibilities within the romantic universe.
The Winner of two Watty Awards – Collector's Dream (An Unpredictable Life) and Hidden Gem (Faithfully) – and an Honourable Mention in 2016's Rainbow Awards (A Royal Craving) Elaine is a self-professed geek, reading addict, and a romantic at heart.
The Reviewer
I’m an author and reader, who just can’t get away from books. I discovered the MM genre a few years ago and became addicted.
Top #50 UK reviewer on Goodreads
#1 reviewer on Divine Magazine
How the Supervillain Stole Christmas
Book – How the Supervillain Stole ChristmasAuthor – Charles Payseur
Star rating - ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
No. of Pages – 30
Cover – Nice
POV – 3rd person, 1 character POV
Would I read it again – Yes.
Genre – Christmas, Holiday, Superhero/Supervillain, Science Fiction, Romance
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
WARNING: There may be SPOILERS ahead!
This was a cute little Christmas short, but I felt like something were missing, that meant I couldn't give it a higher rating. Rex was an intriguing supervillain and I liked that we got to see him acting out some supervillain tricks, while also talking about previous victories and failures. Even though there were a few glimpses of Superheros, they didn't have a disproportionate amount of time given to them which was refreshing.
I did feel that the title was a little misleading, since *SPOILER* Rex never manages to actually steal Christmas. In fact, by the end of the story he's done a Grinch-esque 180º twist from hating Christmas to celebrating it with those he loves.
The romance between Sanjay was cute, but tame. I didn't see much chemistry, outside of a few stolen kisses and the final sex scene. Which, in a similar was, didn't quite fit with the story. I found that the romance was given less attention than it could have had, since the whole story was about Rex and Sanjay's relationship; some memories or a few more meetings would have been nice, just to equal out the emphasis on the budding relationship. The sex, however, felt a little too clinical and well set up. I think the story didn't really need it in detail; just the suggestion of them going into the bedroom would have been enough, since there was nothing else that could have been interpreted as 18+ in the rest of the story.
~
The story was cute, Christmassy and sweet. I just felt that a few things were missing.
~
Favourite Quote
“It felt odd to say it aloud, like it was some plea to the universe to just...let this one work. Yes, occasionally he tried to blackmail world governments or blot out the sun itself, but didn't he deserve love too? Didn't he deserve to actually have a relationships last to the New Year?”
