If you’ve read KJ’s books, you’ll recognize her everywhere in these five short stories (and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?). Each story can be read as a standalone, but together they paint the picture of the few days up to Christmas in a small beach town in the Melbourne area.
They tell of new love, fresh and exciting, of lingering lust materialising, of blue-eyed women and bravery, of homophobic parents and racism, of supportive families and friends, of loving memories and new beginnings, of young and old.
There’s pure tenderness and promises of steam. There’s some heartbreak too, yet the overall feeling is of warmth, and not just because of the December heat in the southern hemisphere.
KJ writes nice and sweet characters I want to be friends but doesn’t shy away from sexy stuff. Nice and sexy, sweet and hot, there’s all that in this Unexpected Gift, as well as the sea, the sun and Santa hats.
Jude in the Stars 