2016 Advent Calendar - Bah Humbug

Carlos Mendez spends all year working hard at his Houston-based landscaping business, and he sends every spare penny he earns back to his family in Mexico. By the time the holidays roll around, he doesn't have much patience for the unadulterated greed and consumerism paraded past him. But a chance meeting with his neighbor, Ned Williams, and Ned's cancer-stricken daughter, might help to remind him of the real meaning of the season-something beyond the gaudy lights and extravagant displays-something he wants to be a part of. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."

Dumped by his ex on Christmas Eve two years ago, Oxford Street department store manager Richard Barratt now hates the holidays. Things go from bad to worse when the store's usual Santa is too ill to reprise his role and the firm sends cocky but handsome Blaine Ryder to take his place. The attraction between the two is clear, but Blaine is an incorrigible player who reminds Richard of his ex. His idea of a relationship is a quick roll in the hay, and his advances have Richard running for the hills. It might take some special intervention for both of them to realize they can change enough to have a chance at a holiday romance. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."

Cowboys Wyatt and Brady are competing in a team-roping event in Missoula, Montana's annual Christmas Eve rodeo. Christmas is Wyatt's favorite time of year and nothing is going to dampen his holiday spirit, not even his surly, no-nonsense roping partner. They've only been riding together for a week, but Wyatt has already secretly fallen head over bootheels for Brady, though it's painfully obvious Brady only has eyes for the rodeo's grand prize purse. When Brady is distracted during a crucial moment in the night's first roping run and nearly disqualifies them, Wyatt is almost certain he is going to be another of Brady's many rejected partners. Will Wyatt and Brady be able to sort out their differences and work together to win the grand prize? Maybe, if Wyatt can show Brady that Christmas really is a time for miracles. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."

Federal park ranger Carter Williams dislikes kids almost as much as he dislikes Christmas. He chose his career to escape human contact, not embrace it. And no matter how much his husband Owen tries to sway his opinion, Carter is a grump who would rather ignore the holiday. Owen's efforts are put on hold, however, when they get a call about six missing foster kids lost in the park. Christmas Eve takes a turn for the worse when Owen injures himself rescuing the children. Stranded in a snowstorm until dawn, Carter has to keep Owen awake and healthy while simultaneously watching six runaways. What he thinks is a nightmare come to life is actually a beautiful gift in disguise-the kids transform the ranger station into a Christmas wonderland. And before it's all said and done, they might transform Carter's heart as well-if he can keep his bah humbug attitude in check. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."

Keith Walker, a mall bookstore employee, is struggling to get through another miserable holiday season while trying to preserve a crumbling long-term relationship. One of his few comforts is his morning coffee made by a good-looking, younger barista. Austin Novak felt an attraction when Keith started frequenting the coffee shop, but he doesn't think the older man has any interest in him or his graphic novel collection. A Christmas week snowstorm buries the city and locks Keith's car into its parking spot. Keith decides to show Austin his gratitude for helping free the car from the ice with a dinner invitation. The meal becomes complicated when Austin meets Keith's boyfriend, Shawn, and things go downhill from there when Shawn announces he's heading to Cancún with his coworkers. Keith is caught between keeping his boyfriend happy and keeping his job. But Keith might not need a plane ticket to find the happiness that's been missing from his life.

Being rich has its advantages, but it is also rife with suffocating pressures and family telling Chandler Buckingham how to live his life. When his assistant offers to help him escape the mounting obligations of the holiday season by running away to Hawaii, Chandler jumps at the chance. Only to find nothing is quite as he'd expected. Micah Keolu has lived in Hawaii all his life. He has to work two jobs and has little time for a social life, but his loving family and the island beauty around him have given him a heart as big as the ocean. And then one day he rescues a man trapped in an elevator in the building where Micah lives and works maintenance. The unexpected happens as they find themselves drawn together, only to learn there is more to each other than meets the eye. Can two men from very different worlds find a way to enrich each other's lives? Maybe the magic of the holidays just might bring them lasting joy! A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug. "

Hill hates Christmas. The shoppers. The cheer. The drama. All of it. Each holiday season is a painful reminder that seven years before, his lover, Drew, walked out of his life and moved across the country, leaving Hill like a cup of rotten eggnog. Now Drew is back and wants Hill to put a little jingle in his bells. Well, not this Scrooge. Drew admits he moved to get away from Hill-but not for the reasons Drew gave him all those years ago. Some of his best memories are of Christmases he celebrated with Hill, and he wants nothing more than to spend a little holly jolly with the only man he's ever loved. However, getting Hill to agree to a reunion is going to take a Christmas miracle. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."