A Box of Wishes
Author and Publisher: Jackie Keswick
Cover Artist: Covers by Jo
Release Date: October 20, 2022/November 10, 2022 on Amazon
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance with a touch of magic, small town romance, holiday romance, coffeeshop romance
Tropes: slow burn, characters with cats, characters with special gifts, home-made family, a touch of hurt / comfort, coffee fixes everything, love and baked goods, you’re never lonely with a cat
Themes: saving each other, we’re all special, finding the courage to start over
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 64 000 words/244 pages
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
Does Fate Grant Wishes?
Ryan O’Shaughnessy, owner of the Top o’ the Morning Coffeehouse, is convinced of it. Besides brewing the best coffee in Rothcote and baking delicious pastries and cakes, he helps Fate with her errands, never minding that it's always someone else’s turn to catch a bit of happiness. Not until he meets a man who takes his breath away.
Detective Sergeant Ben Hobart has made a career of helping others. He never asks help for himself. Not even when a bad breakup leaves him lonely and with only his cat for company. Until he sets foot into Ryan’s coffeehouse to investigate a break-in and finds what’s missing from his life.
Fate may grant wishes, but she doesn't hand them out for free. Can Ben let go of the past? And will Ryan find the courage to make a wish of his own?
A sexy, slow-burn, mm coffeeshop romance with a touch of magic and a cat.
Excerpt
When the party thinned out, Ben found Ryan, and they escaped from the cheerful uproar into the dark courtyard where the white tree with its single red bauble glowed and glittered.
Ben poked the bauble with a fingertip and watched it swing back and forth. “The first time I saw this, I wondered if it was a signal.”
“I knew you were a clever man.”
“You mean it is a signal?”
“Of course. It’s our way to say that everyone is welcome, whether you’re like everyone else or one of a kind, whether you’re in a crowd or on your own. That’s what hospitality is all about. We always make room for one more. Or two.”
Ben swallowed past the lump in his throat. He reached for Ryan and smiled when Ryan leaned against him with a deep sigh. “Tired?”
“You said it. I could happily sleep standing here.”
“Recovering from exposure isn’t pleasant. And if you fall asleep right now, you’d miss… this.” He didn’t give Ryan a chance to ask. He wrapped his arm around Ryan’s shoulders, drew him close, and kissed him.
Ryan’s lips were dry, and a little rough, but he leaned into Ben’s hold and kissed him back, sharing the taste of cinnamon and custard, and the elusive flavour of Earl Grey tea.
It was the most perfect end to a perfect day.
Ben hadn’t forgotten that they stood in front of a lit Christmas tree, that anyone who cared to peer out into the courtyard could see them, wrapped around each other.
He didn’t mind.
Carra's Review
I was drawn to the concept for this story right away. There’s that touch of supernatural to it, plus a bit of a holiday element too. I liked that the relationship development between the main characters happens at a normal pace without rushing, and that the two of them fit together so well.
Ryan and Ben each help others in their own way; Ryan through his gift and Ben as a detective. Both are single and I would classify them as lonely, though they might push back at that moniker. They’re good for each other, and easily slip into being friends and eventually more. How Ryan’s gift works is not fully clear; he can tell when others need help, but the mechanism of exactly how that help comes to be is not really explained. It’s left as being attributed to “fate”, which for me felt slightly unfinished.
The story itself isn’t rushed, and I did feel at times it felt a little calm and slow. Some uncertainty is added with strange accusations against Ryan by anonymous sources, though to me this aspect of the story just felt like a mechanism to add drama.
There were some strong supporting characters, in particular Ryan’s cousin Alastair whose own story has me on the hook for more in this series thanks to his intriguing character. Just from what we learn about him here I’m already invested in whatever his story will be.
Overall, A Box of Wishes was a 4-star read for me, and I think any M/M romance fan would enjoy reading this. While there is a tiny bit of steaminess, the story concentrates more on relationship and character development, but I’d still say it’s meant for readers 18+.
About the Author
Jackie Keswick was born behind the Iron Curtain with itchy feet, a bent for rocks and a recurring dream of stepping off a bus in the middle of nowhere to go home. She's worked in a hospital and as the only girl with 52 men on an oil rig, spent a winter in Moscow and a summer in Iceland and finally settled in the country of her dreams with her dream team: a husband, a cat, a tandem, a hammer and a laptop.
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