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    The Magic of Weihnachten
    The Magic of Weihnachten
    The Magic of Weihnachten
    Ebook70 pages48 minutes

    The Magic of Weihnachten

    By Bru Baker

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    About this ebook

    American Walsh Brandt is happy when a promotion lands him his dream job and a quiet new life in Germany. Until December rolls around, when he realizes it’s almost impossible to hide from the holiday season in Germany.

    Dierck Reiniger is fascinated by Walsh’s hatred of Christmas and makes it his personal mission to help Walsh enjoy Weihnachten and the German traditions he grew up with. Walsh has a great time getting to know Dierck—but he still isn’t sold on Christmas, despite Dierck's efforts. Dierck's on the rebound, and he's determined to develop their physical relationship slowly, much to Walsh's frustration. It isn’t until they’re alone in a secluded cabin—hiding from the traditional trappings—that Walsh finally recognizes what the magic of the season can bring when spent with someone special.

    A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2014 Advent Calendar package "Celebrate!".

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamspinner Press
    Release dateDec 1, 2014
    ISBN9781632167460
    The Magic of Weihnachten
    Author

    Bru Baker

    Bru Baker a eu un avant-goût de la vie comme écrivain à l’âge de quatre ans, quand elle a commencé à publier un journal hebdomadaire pour sa famille. Ce qu’ils appelaient de la curiosité, elle l’appelait avoir du nez pour les informations, et personne n’a été surpris quand elle s’est retrouvée avec des diplômes en journalisme et en science politique, et a commencé une carrière dans le journalisme. Bru a passé plus d’une décennie à écrire pour les journaux avant de sauter le pas vers la fiction. Elle travaille désormais comme référence et conseillère des lecteurs dans une bibliothèque du Midwest, bien qu’elle trouve toujours ça difficile de croire que quelqu’un soit prêt à la payer pour parler de livres toute la journée. Souvent, le soir, on peut la trouver pelotonnée avec un livre ou son ordinateur portable. Que ce soit pour créer ses propres personnages ou immergée avec ceux de quelqu’un d’autre, on ne peut nier que Bru est plus heureuse quand elle est captivée par une histoire. Son mari et elle ont deux enfants, ce qui signifie que nombre de ses livres sont écrits sur la touche de différents entraînements sportifs.

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    • 3/5
      Christmas Scrooge meets Christmas Fanatic (yes, with a capital F) in this cute holiday story about Walsh, an American in Germany exploring his first Christmas season with Dierck, a German whom Walsh runs into at the beginning of December. The fact Walsh detests Christmas and keeps trying to hide from it was almost funny, but I never quite understood why he hates the season so much. Some of the Christmas traditions were more accurate for the region than others, but despite that and the fact some of the German words were incorrect, I enjoyed reading this story with its slowly progressing romance.

      If you're looking for a taste of what Christmas can feel like in Germany, and if you like men who take things slowly, then you might like this short novella.


      NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.
    • 5/5
      The Magic of Weihnachten is an enjoyable novella by Bru Baker. Six months before the story begins, Walsh Brandt accepted a position as a clinical research director for a pharmaceutical research firm. That meant he had to relocate from the United States to Mannheim, Germany. As a result, he’s had to put his social life on hold.Walsh meets Dierck at the beginning of the Weihnachten (Christmas) season. They seem attracted to one another, and they date. They spend their dates, though, mostly attending the Weihnachten festivities. Dierck, while not overly religious, loves the “magic” of the season. Walsh, on the other hand, has no interest in the holidays.Walsh chafes at Dierck’s refusal to take their relationship beyond hand-holding and kissing. Dierck had a boyfriend for six years, but their breakup a year ago has left him fearful and wary. Walsh hopes Dierck will eventually reward his respectful patience with some of the magic of the season. Bru Baker’s deft telling of her story guarantees the reader will be just as hopeful these two guys won’t throw away the gift life has handed them.

    Book preview

    The Magic of Weihnachten - Bru Baker

    The Magic of Weihnachten

    WALSH BRANDT wasn’t homesick, not exactly. That would imply he missed positive things about his homeland, which he definitely didn’t.

    He’d made the move from the United States to Germany six months ago and never looked back. He hadn’t moved there on a whim. He’d thought long and hard about the promotion to clinical research director for a major pharmaceutical company that had sent him overseas. It was everything he wanted, and he had jumped at the chance, despite the fact that it required him to move.

    He hadn’t even thought about the States for months, since he was happy where he was. Except seemingly overnight, everything here had changed. One day it was a normal place, and the next it was like Father Christmas had exploded all over the normally quiet city square. Weihnachten, the German word for Christmas, was suddenly everywhere.

    So no, he wasn’t homesick. But he did miss how much easier it was to ignore Christmas there than it seemed to be here in Germany.

    Despite his frequent trips to the region over the last few years for work, he’d never visited Germany during the holiday season. He’d assumed it would be just like it was at home in the States.

    He’d never understood why people loved Christmas so much. It was a solid month of horrible music, overindulging in food and drink, and being incessantly peppered with reminders that he ought to be cheerful. He wasn’t religious, and he hated the forced cheer of holiday parties, so he’d never found a reason to like the holiday. Even as a kid, he and his mother hadn’t celebrated much. She’d viewed the hectic shopping season as an opportunity to make some extra money, picking up shifts that helped her supplement her income over the rest of the year. And that had left Walsh home alone more often than not, which had served him well. He’d used it to do chemistry experiments and read. He’d been nineteen when she died, leaving him alone in the world, aside from a few estranged relatives.

    Hiding from Christmas wasn’t entirely possible in the States, but he could avoid the worst of it by not going out in December. He ordered anything he needed from online stores, including groceries, and spent the month growling at the extra traffic on the way home from work and catching up on his journal reading, much like he had as a kid. He supposed it was his Christmas tradition.

    Working for a pharmaceutical giant had taken him all over the world, so he’d never really had time to put down roots. He’d moved four times in his twelve years with the company, all in the name of better positions and career advancement. And now he was settling into one that should keep him stationary for quite some time here in Mannheim.

    The cultural differences between the United States and Germany weren’t too hard to swallow. And Walsh had made a nice little group of friends at work. He’d finally reached a comfortable fluency with the language, which helped. He’d even settled into a nice, domestic routine, walking down to the square to do his weekly shopping on Saturday mornings. He’d load up at the farmers’ market and stop by his favorite butcher’s to stock up on meat and his favorite local cheeses, usually popping by the bakery for a treat and some bread for the week.

    It already felt more like home than Indianapolis had, and he’d been there for three years. That is, it had felt like home until he rounded the familiar corner to the square and came up short, faced with a very unfamiliar sight.

    The normally tidy square was overrun with tents and booths. The weekend market always drew a fairly good-sized crowd, but today it was absolutely teeming with people. Children darted in and out of booths, and adults who normally were all business were stopping to chat, their baskets overflowing with both the normal farmers’ market fare and new additions, like baked goods and tinsel.

    It was the last Saturday in November, and it looked like Christmas had thrown up on the square. Every inch of the place was decked out in festive decor, and roving bands of singers were belting out carols everywhere.

    Walsh blew out a disgusted breath and dove into the melee, intent on getting what he’d come for and getting the hell out. It looked like there wouldn’t be any leisurely coffee or danish for him today. He just wanted to get away from the insanity in the square.

    A lot of the vendors were unfamiliar, so Walsh was able to pretend he didn’t speak German as they offered him samples of stollen, a traditional German sweet bread,

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