This book was sweet, but it didn't grab me by the heart and feel emotions in the way I wanted it to. It felt a little lackluster to me.

This was a fun Christmas rom-com that also discussed and dealt with prejudices. Jason June is great at writing male and male romance. I love that the characters are relatable and they have real issues that they are dealing with, like being dumped, prejudices, and parent abandonment. I love the ending.

Jason June and Shawn Jain did a great job narrating this story and I look forward to listening to more of their work in the future.

OK so I didn’t need to know much about this to grab it up. All I knew was that it was written by Jason June and it was a holiday book. And Lordt,it was all that I needed.

The main characters were my favorite part. I LOVED Aaron. He at some point felt like the only one that had some sense. Because his brother?! Lordt. But I can’t lie, I did relate to him in some way. Like the Christmas thing? Yeah that’s basically what I did after the election. I ran to holiday stories and haven’t really looked back since. So I understand that feeling of trying to chase the happiness this season gives you. Aaron was headstrong, but sometimes TOO headstrong. He didn’t see the gray in anything. As for Kris, I was mad at him for most of the book. Because why would you even make a game like that? That’s asking for someone (Including YOU) to get hurt. But as it went on, he annoyed me more but he finally got it together at the end. I let him slide tho because he had a whole other set of issues happening as he was going through all of this fake dating.

The romance itself was cute. Idk if it counts as fake dating? It was basically them saying they were flirting for the benefit of the brother and then it was fake for the benefit of the Christmas Island people. But for the most part, they were flirting by basically trying to sabotage Kris, Racquel, and the other person. It was a bit much. And that’s just bad all on it’s own. But I was happy that they got it together at the end.

The thing that I liked about this the most tho was the fact that it was hilarious. I laughed so much out loud unexpectedly. That reindeer scene? My gawd, I woke my child up from laughing so loud. I also laughed at the brother a fair amount of times because he was dumb. I don’t understand how the scene at the restaurant happens and your mind immediately goes THERE?! I knew he needed help before he knew he needed help .

The plot was fine. A little slow if I’m being honest. But it was like your basic Hallmark movie. This is what made me worried tho. Because it was about teens. I was expecting them to get back to things when they left. But that ending rocked me. I was not ready. It was a lot. But in the end, it did wrap up all nicely. I was satisfied with it.

This book had A LOT going on. So much so that I don’t think I even covered it all. But I can say I liked it and I hope June does another holiday book. This was so much fun. I hope more of you read and enjoy this like I did.

Cute Hallmark vibes. A little long. But very cute!
Tropes:
For main characters:
Fake- ish dating
Don’t believe in love

For the side character:
I’m gonna get her back

For everyone:
so much character growth!

Book Title: Flopping in a Winter Wonderland
Author: Jason June
Format: 🎧
Narrators: Jason June and Shawn K. Jain
Publisher: Harper Audio Children’s/Harper Collins
Genre: Teen YA
Pub Date: November 12, 2024
My Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages 368

Aaron wants to help his brother get over his ex and Kris wants his uncle to become the first gay Santa at the Winter Wonderland theme island.
When these two physically flop together on some ice, they agree to help each other.

Although I am not the target audience for this story, I do like YA/Teen stories and this one is humorous. Plus Jason June is a GREAT narrator.

About the Author: In addition to writing, Jason June is a SAG-AFTRA actor, looking for voice over and on-camera work.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio for granting me this audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 12, 2024.

This was a fun New Adult M/M holiday romance set in the year-round Winter Wonderland theme park located north of Alaska and has young Kris, trying to get his uncle to return so he can be the first gay Santa and Aaron trying to help his brother get over his toxic ex.

Neither was expecting to fall for anyone but they can't help resist the magic of the holidays as they compete in a race to prevent Aaron's brother from falling for his ex again and spend more time trying to resist each other than either expected.

Jason June does a great job mixing whimsy with more serious topics of homophobia in the story perfect for fans of books like The nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch or The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky. The romance is charming and the world is truly magical. Great on audio read by the author and Shawn K. Jain. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!