Tinsel and Dust

Title: Tinsel and Dust ( Sequel to Equilibrium )
Author: Meredith Shayne
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Buy Link: n/a
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Length: 47 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5 rating stars

A Guest Review by Raine

Summary Review: A successful holiday sequel which added much extra value- for me- to the original book.

Blurb: Michael Stone has returned to Burreela and has just started to settle back in and look forward to Christmas when his sister Jen rings him with a problem. His nephew Jack is convinced that Santa won’t find them if they’re staying in Burreela’s only motel. With Michael’s flat way too small to accommodate Jen and her family, he has no alternative but to take Ryan Mitchell up on an offer to let them stay at his house. After all, Ryan argues, they’re going to be there for Christmas Day anyway, so it’s not much extra trouble. Though Michael is still wrestling with internal demons, the holiday will prove to Ryan that there’s a core of strength and courage to Michael that few people ever see.

Review:

I felt that this was an almost seamless addition to the original book- reviewed here. In fact if Tinsel and Dust had simply been the last chapters of Equilibrium some of the problems I had with Michael’s character would have had been resolved.

Here he seems to have developed some maturity and is taking responsibility for his actions, being proactive in dealing with his problems and his relationship with Ryan. I began to understand what Ryan found attractive about him, something which had been rather a mystery before. Ryan continues to be a lovely character, his supportive, caring nature particularly shining at Christmas. His insightful and touching thoughts about Michael added further depth to the relationship,

Michael often waited until Ryan was almost asleep to tell him these things, as if it were easier to tell him when there was a chance that he couldn’t hear. Ryan often wondered what monumental things Michael told him when he was asleep. 

The warmth of the community in Burreela is engaging; a place that welcomes Michael home. This created a genuine feel good atmosphere. The ‘hoe down‘, where the guys could only dance with other people but not each other, grounded the family Christmas sentimentality with some reality. Though the descriptions of  holiday preparations when children are involved were quite fun. The detailed writing flowed easily and was again nicely atmospheric.

I enjoyed revisiting these characters and didn’t find the holiday setting contrived or superfluous, rather the general good spirits helped bring the two guys closer together after the trauma of the earlier book.