• Merry Cherry Christmas

  • By: Keira Andrews
  • Narrated by: Kirt Graves
  • Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (167 ratings)

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Merry Cherry Christmas  By  cover art

Merry Cherry Christmas

By: Keira Andrews
Narrated by: Kirt Graves
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Publisher's summary

A nice boy gets naughty...

Redheaded freshman Jeremy "Cherry" Rourke is certainly living up to his childhood nickname, although still being inexperienced is the least of his concerns. After coming out, his parents barely talk to him. He hasn't made any friends at university. Worst of all, he's about to spend Christmas completely alone in an empty dorm.

Jeremy clearly needs a fairy godfather, so football captain Max Pimenta takes him under his wing to help him find his dating groove. But Jeremy's wound way too tight. He's too vulnerable. Max can't trust some random guy with him. He needs to take care of Jeremy himself and introduce him to no-pressure exploration. It's not about romance or feelings - he's just doing the kid a favor.

Max is definitely not falling for this lonely, beautiful boy. No way.

And it's not like he can leave Jeremy all alone for the holidays. He'll bring him home to his family's maple syrup farm - strictly as friends since his parents have rules. No more fooling around. No more eager, breathless fun. No more making Jeremy shiver and blush with suggestive whispers in his ear. No more sweeter-than-sugar kisses. All nice. No more naughty.

But Jeremy's sleeping right across the hall, and Max wants him for himself. The 12 days of Christmas will last an eternity if they don't break the rules.

Shhh. No one has to know...

Merry Cherry Christmas is a feel-good holiday MM romance from Keira Andrews featuring a nervous nerd and protective jock, forced proximity, first times, and of course a happy ending.

©2020 Keira Andrews (P)2021 Keira Andrews
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

What listeners say about Merry Cherry Christmas

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Clumsy politics get in the way of a decent story

Keira Andrews is one of the most frustrating M/M writers out there. She's generally a really good writer, her plots and characters are engaging, but she has NO idea how to be subtle about inserting her politics into her work. Time after time it's like the action comes crashing to a halt, the curtain closes, someone comes out to the center of the stage and the music begins for a PSA about queer politics. After they've delivered the message, the plot resumes.

Here are a couple examples: the two main characters are talking, and one of them mentions the show "Queer as Folk." He then follows it up with: "Super white, and not great on trans rep." That's... not the character talking, that's the author talking, to the reader, awkwardly. It doesn't flow into the conversation at all. A bit later, Max (who is Goan) is talking about his family and mentions that they're Catholic and utters the phrase "Those Europeans sure like to colonize." The other character shakes his head. "They sure do." Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy. Also sort of racist. Goa has been passed from empire to empire for two thousand years like a basket of dinner rolls. It has NEVER been its own thing. Why does history only matter when white people are involved?

This just happens over and over in the book until I gave up. Don't even get me started on the overuse of the word "queer" which has been foisted on gay men (over their objections) by other members of the "community" and by well-meaning straight women who think they're crusaders for justice, like Andrews. Get me off this train, please. Underneath the blundering attempts at political messaging is a sweet book about two likable characters, but I doubt I'll finish it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

enjoyed it

Would I listen to it again: yes
Did the story keep me engaged: yes
Was I invested in the characters: yes

📖 Story comment: Good pace, likeable characters, nice flow.
A cute college age feel-good story. A little predictable, but that's what I look for in a holiday romance, made all the better with an awkward nerd and an overprotective jock with a loving family.

🎧 Narrator comment: Kirt Graves has done a good job bringing Merry Cherry Christmas to life. He suited the characters, each character has his own voice, the rhythm, changes in pitch and intonation and the cadence of voice all work to bring the story to life. Overall an enjoyable performance.

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator [4⭐] • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in multiple formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Yikes!

Some genre fiction try to be a bit more literary. Not this one.

This story is vacuous and packed with every cliched trope that can be found in poorly written gay male genre fiction.

In this one, a nerdy, insecure, closeted freshman connects with a burley, he-man, yet sensitive, football playing, out senior.

Not only is there a distressingly simplistic portrayal of the psychology of gay men, but the characters in this book have no inner lives. They pass through scene to scene saying and doing whatever is necessary to move the story along to get to its rather forgettable ending.



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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

I really enjoyed this story, and definitely left me wanting more. Highly recommended for good holiday cheer.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • CR
  • 10-24-21

Cute story, great audio

I got this story in Kindle a while ago, it seemed like a cute, fun, low angst Christmas story and I actually liked it enough to read a couple of times. The audio just enhanced the simple love story. Kirt Graves gives it such life and I found myself tearing up while listening. It was surprising how much more emotional the story was when listening to it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

I’m a sucker for the nerd/jock trope and this story definitely delivers. It’s in turn sweet and spicy. Jeremy is socially awkward and that’s so relatable to me. Max was a sweet, kind guy and not at all the stereotypical jock. His friends kind of were, at least at first. They laugh at Jeremy and make fun of him when Jeremy falls on an icy sidewalk, which is how Max and Jeremy meet. They never apologize for having done so either. Ultimately, the friends seem okay though. The story is good enough for re-reads and the audio is performed well enough for repeated listening.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

What a great story

I adore Keira Andrews. I adore Kirt Graves. I especially adore Kirt narrating Keira’s Christmas stories.

This one was extra fun for me. I did my graduate degree at the University of Toronto, so this story felt like home. I’ve also lived in rural Ontario and we used to go to the maple sugar farm each spring to see the sap running. The entire story made me nostalgic – in a good way.

And the plot was great as well. I’ve landed on my ass after slipping on ice. Most Canadians have. Now, I didn’t have a Max to help me up, like Jeremy did. Or a Max to walk me home to take care of me. Or a Max to decide to show me how much fun sex stuff can be.

But I need to step back. Jeremy’s just come out to his family – who are back in Victoria, on the other side of the country. It didn’t go well, and he’s feeling particularly lonely as Christmas approaches. He’s not going home, and is facing the season alone in his dorm.

Max sees naïve Jeremy and feels the need to be the younger man’s wingman. Soon, though, Max realizes he doesn’t want to release Jeremy into the wilds of dating (aka the gay men of Church Street and dating apps). Sure, Jeremy might meet a great guy who sees how wonderful he is. Or he might meet a man who’ll take advantage of his inexperience. So Max decides to, uh, give Jeremy a hand.

Then, in the middle of their friends-with-benefits growing relationship, Max decides to bring Jeremy home with him. But no hanky panky. His parents have strict rules about that. So everyone has to stay in their own bedrooms at night. No touching. Well, okay maybe a stolen moment. No getting naked. Well, okay… Yeah, you can fill in the blank. Suddenly, keeping their hands off each other is nearly impossible.
I loved this story because I got my happy ending and I got to see the kinky Santa and his elf from a previous book. Looking good there, guys. I’m hopeful Jeremy and Max might have cameos in a future book because I really loved them and was so happy for them.

Finally, I have to mention Kirt Graves. He’s just a fantastic narrator and always does such a great job with Keira’s books. This is a treat I hope is repeated every Christmas.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this

This story is like sitting next to a fire, sipping on something warm, and relaxing.

Having read this in ebook form, I was not surprised by anything but dang, did Kurt Graves do a fantastic job.

So here we have Cherry, a freshman in college that one day runs into Max, a senior football star who steps on his glasses, making this a meet-cute trope that I love

So Max decides that he will help Cherry make friends and not die a virgin.

Y'all know what happens, these two numbskulls fall in love (yes it's instalove) and everything works out.

When I first read this, I was not sure why going out with someone was featured so prominently but the second time was the charm. I get it now.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love the story, is fresh, joyful and very hot but.

Jeremy performance was actually good, full of insecurities and scary to be proudly gay, innocent and naive, his character get to you slowly and easy, not the same with Max, who was emotionless, maybe is because I read the book in advanced and I imagined his character more strong and hot, even the hot scenes were off.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So Adorable!

Great story! I always appreciate more realistic gay romance novels. I find I am able to relate more and picture it as a relatable thing.

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