Xmas with My Best Friend's Dad (Mini-Review)

This review was written for an ARC of the book.

Xmas with My Best Friend's Dad by Devyn Cole follows Elle who is dragged by her best friend to visit a small mountain town during Christmas. She doesn't want to as Phoebe and her father do not get along with each other. But when they arrive at Phoebe's father's mansion, Elle realizes she was worried about the wrong thing.

A book like this rises and falls on the sex. There is really no other reason to pick up this book than to read about two people having sex. The premise of this book intrigued me as it hit all the right spots. There was an age gap which I just loved. There was also the fact both of the leads should not get together but something makes them unable to resist each other.

But the book failed on the sex scenes. Elle is revealed to be a virgin which opens up enticing scenarios for her first time having sex with someone. Yet the author doesn't use that to their advantage. Nothing super exciting on the virgin front happens when Elle and Ryan have sex for the first time. The author wasted Elle being a virgin to the point she shouldn't be one as it adds nothing to the story.

In books you need to word your sex scenes right or else they don't work. As this is erotica, the words during the sex scenes should evoke arousal in the readers. Instead the euphemisms the author uses makes me think that they are a fourteen year old trying to be cool. Such as the author uses the word "masculinity" to describe sperm and "clinny" to describe a certain area on a female body.

The odd word choices during sex scenes made me amused and not aroused in the least bit. Which is a shame because the sex scenes were good in principal.

So if the sex isn't good, how about the plot and characters?

The characters are bland and only exist to give background to the sex scenes. Elle is a virgin and her best friend is Phoebe. Though I honestly forgot that until I sat down to review the book. There is nothing about Phoebe that makes her appear like a friend. She complains a lot and doesn't show anyone an ounce of respect. Her being so unlikable made it hard to find anything titillating about a forbidden romance between her dad and Elle.

There is a little bit of intrigue when Ryan admits to doing something so horrible that Phoebe would never forgive him and Elle would see him as a monster. While what he did was cool, it was barely a plot point after it was discovered. Then it was just forgotten.

Now while this book is not good, it is still enjoyable for just how bad it is. It joins The Room (2003) in the so bad it's good category.

I would recommend Xmas with My Best Friend's Dad by Devyn Cole for those looking for a fun little read.