The 12 Kittens of Christmas Christmas, Holiday, Romance, Gay Romance
Dreamspinne Press
Nov 28, 2023
Kindle
238
Amazon
Killian Thornton likes his downtown life, tending bar, and enjoying time with his friends and community. He'd given up on passion long ago—he wasn't cut out for grand romance or dramatic gestures. Then one night, in a characteristic act of kindness, Killian offers his couch to help a friend's little brother find his feet in a new city, and everything Killian thought he knew about himself and his little life gets turned upside down.
Lewis Bernard, the funny, quirky guy happy to find a spot on Killian's couch, can’t believe his luck. After being forced to flee his parents’ house, he was afraid of what came next, but Sacramento seems to be treating him just fine. The stunningly handsome bartender who lives downstairs from his brother offers Lewis his couch and doesn’t even balk when Lewis discovers two abandoned kittens in a vacant lot as they walk home.
Vet bills, cat food bills, litter boxes—none of it was on Killian's Christmas agenda, but he jumps in gamely to help because all the shelters seem to be full, and that's just the kind of guy Killian is. But kittens can multiply faster than rabbits, and Killian and Lewis accidentally rescue more and more cats.
Lewis starts to panic. He really wants to know Killian better, but with each act of kindness, Lewis falls further in love while ruining Killian's life. How can Killian find time to fall in love with Lewis and ask him to stay if they’re inundated with destructive furry poop-machines who all seem to need a home before Christmas?
Review by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Killian Thornton had no idea that offering his couch to his upstairs neighbor’s brother would forever change his life. Killian offered a neighbor a simple favor that would pay him back three-fold.
Lewis Bernard left his home in Texas after he made a mistake of having sex with a man he has been with before, unfortunately, he had no idea that he was now married. Neighbors were lined up outside his parent’s home threateningly and he refused to put his family in danger due to his mistake. He left for Sacramento to room with his brother until he could find his own apartment and a job and when his brother forgot about him while on a date a wonderful man, Killian offered him safety.
On the way home Lewis heard meowing and found a little kitten, lifted it up and hoped that Killian would allow him to bring it home temporarily. Then another little one was found and now he was imposing on Killian, giving him a place to sleep and two kittens on top of that. Killian couldn’t resist the kittens and felt a bond with the one that held on to him for dear life.
With two kittens to care for it was now necessary for Lewis to stay with Killian since he worked nights and the little kittens needed attention. A visit to the vet for shots and neutering and spaying managed to cancel the vacation Killian was hoping for but the kittens came first. While leaving, kittens in hand, they witnesseda large truck throw a box out the window and upon examining it they discovered two older cats and one of them without eyes. The vet’s office was well acquainted with them but the woman who owned them had died and apparently her family found it easier to dump them then care for them.
Now they have two kittens and two older cats, one blind. Of course, it is heartbreaking to see what happened to them and even more heartbreaking was the fact that the female acted as the eyes of the male leading him to food and water. The only thing he couldn’t manage was the litter box, so Lewis and Killian walked him something he was used to.
Fate was on their side because a friend of Killian’s wanted the two older ones for a friend’s mom who just lost her husband, it was a match made in Heaven. Back to the original two kittens who Lewis and Killian had adopted and refused to let go, things were getting back to normal. Well, it appears that the two men are the pied pipers of cats and kittens because after getting a forever home for the older cats they found a box in front of their door holding a mommy and her four kittens. Two down and five to go.
While caring for the kittens and mother the two men become closer but not close enough for Lewis who has fallen in love with Killian only, he has built a wall around himself, a wall Lewis is desperate to break down. Cats go out and new cats come in, shelters are full but with luck they managed to find two men determined to give them a good life especially with Christmas just around the corner.
This is a wonderful Christmas story filled with joy and hope, but it also was sad. Anyone who loves animals will be saddened by the abuse inflicted on innocent creatures who just want love and give love unconditionally. Many of the cats and kittens in this story were from a kitten mill, deaf, deformed and unadoptable but they found forever homes thanks to two men dedicated to making sure they have good lives.