Review: Elves with Benefits by Jana Aston

About the Book

My name is Ryan Sheppard and I don’t care about Christmas. I’m only returning to my over-the-top Christmas-themed hometown to sell the house I inherited from my late uncle so I can get back to the city and the promotion I’m chasing at work.

Unfortunately, there’s a flaw in my plan.

Because according to the town Christmas cop, there’s a moratorium on selling houses during December. She says it’s bad for the aesthetic. She’s also slapping an alarming number of tickets on my front door. For being in violation of holiday décor. And I swear on Rudolph himself, one is for ‘unsportsmanlike Christmassing.’

To top it all off, this Christmas cop looks like a red-headed elf.

A sexy red-headed elf…

Warning: Christmas in Reindeer Falls is more naughty than nice. These stories are over-the-top festive with merrily-ever-afters guaranteed. Novella length for quick holiday binge reading. Enjoy!

Review

I finished this book and let out a deep sigh. This book was deeply frustrating. Firstly, the main character Maggie was a bit annoying. At times she felt like a parody with her over excitement for Christmas and her serious dedication to her job. I could not buy into her ridiculousness. Everything about Reindeer Falls was so magical and poetic to her. However, it didn’t feel magical at all. There were so many long descriptions of the town, and it felt like an infographic without any feeling.

I think the book needed a break from her POV because it was a lot at times. I would have preferred to get into the head of Ryan because I think if he had been fleshed out more, his character would have been a nice contrast to Maggie. However, in her POV his personality is lacking a bit except for him being anti- Christmas and needing a promotion. And it would have been nice to read his thoughts on why he did a complete 180 towards the end.\

Final Thoughts

Elves with Benefits is a disappointing holiday novella that rushed through the story without taking time to breath. The main characters had little to no chemistry, and I didn’t believe their attraction at all. They had one interaction and he’s already popping up randomly in her thoughts?

The characters either felt like a parody or were lackluster. Even the support characters felt a little bit off. There was a scene with Maggie and her friends, and their friendship didn’t seem supportive at all. As for the ending, it felt unsatisfying. I almost prefer it if the two characters never had gotten together.

Buy on Amazon