NORTH'S POLE, a Camp Bay Christmas shared universe gay romance

NORTH'S POLE (Camp Bay Christmas #1)
LETA BLAKE
Leta Blake Books (non-affiliate Amazon link
$5.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Located on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille in beautiful Northern Idaho, Camp Bay Chalet is a discrete and cozy B&B, popular with both locals and minor celebrities for its fabulous holiday weekends.

The pic seen around the world….

The son of Hollywood royalty, North Astor-Ford has lived his entire life in the public’s eye. He knows better than anyone that someone is always watching.

So when one not-so-innocent picture meant for a hook-up accidentally ends up crossposted across all his social media, North is left humiliated and scared. With no one to turn to, he flees to Camp Bay Chalet to be close to the one person he used to count on to protect him from the world.

Liam’s life has been in a holding pattern since the moment North fired him three years ago, even if it was for the best. A romance between a bodyguard and his client would’ve caused exactly the sort of scandal Liam was hired to prevent.

Now that North is back in his orbit, Liam’s going to do what he does best, protect North from the world. And maybe, just maybe, the charm of a Camp Bay Chalet Christmas will be enough to both heal North and bring about the romance they’ve both always wanted.

North’s Pole takes place in the Camp Bay shared universe, but can be read as a stand-alone. Look for more of the Camp Bay universe in Stolen Christmas by Marie Sexton.

I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FROM THE GOODREADS M/M GIFT EXCHANGE. THANKS!

My Review: Savior-complex havin' Liam is a big, tough bodyguard-cum-fixer who's fixated on North for a while, despite North doing a smart thing and firing him because an affair with your bodyguard-cum-fixer is what you hire a fixer to fix. North's famous, his family...bunch of narcissists they are, too...is famous and North is not very good at the mechanics of living. As this story opens, North made a simple mistake and hit send on a dick pic he took for his new crush...posted to all his socials.

Shades of Chris Evans, only without the witty one-liner ("Now that I've got your attention, VOTE!"). North runs away. He lands up at Camp Bay Chalet, where Liam once worked; needing his big protector's energy since he can't have Liam in the flesh.

Only who comes to find him? Liam! They reunite and do the things they wanted to do three years earlier but, quite appropriately, did not. Liam is mad for North still, and eagerly sets about containing the damage to North's reputation that's been done.

That's it. We're done here. No more story.

This is a vibes-of-Yuletide read. I'm okay with reading slight stories when the *point* is to be slight. I enjoyed the uncomplicated way these lads accepted their mutual need for each other. I was less enthusiastic about literally everyone calling North an idiot openly. Liam doesn't say the words, but we hear him think it. This is my stick-in-the-craw moment: "I had enough right about the time Deacon called North an idiot. Which, bless his beautiful face and angelic heart, he absolutely was—but he was my idiot."

Hmmm. That doesn't sit right with me. I agree with Liam, North's been psychologically abused to believe he's an idiot. Naturally he would act like one under those conditions. Liam sounds like another abuser when he says this to himself.

Then I realized he said it to himself. It's not ideal he thinks it, but he isn't continuing the pattern of abuse verbally. That counts for a lot. Not hearing it from the one you're in love with is very important to a starved-for-respect victim.

So, while I had my issues with the story, I was very entertained and invested in the HEA the men were seeking together. It was not a high-angst read, as they each knew they wanted the other and communicated as much openly. As that's the case it makes this a holiday-vibes read to its core.

A solidly executed read by an author renowned for making them.