Not My Little Drummer Boy by Caroline Corvin ARC Review

*Thank you to Caroline Corvin & Hayling Bookstorm Ltd. for sending me an ARC to read and review. This is my honest & unbiased review. This is the second book in the Stellar Riot Christmas series. I would recommend reading Twelve Days of Christian first, even though this is considered an interconnected series.

Image Credit/Cover Art: @Ollie_Creates, Caroline Corvin, Hayling Bookstorm Ltd.

Synopsis

Rachel is afraid to open her heart up again. Teddy is trying to shed his playboy image. When these two are paired up for Rachel’s best friend Hayley’s pre-wedding activities, neither of them expected that they would end up as more than partners. Not My Little Drummer Boy is a heartfelt Christmas romp through the English countryside, Christmas wedding activities, & a lesson in letting people in again after heartbreak & not judging a book by its cover.

Content Warnings

Open-Door Romance

Consensual Sexual Intimacy (on-page)

Strong Language

Partner Violence (off-page)

Emotional Abuse of Character as Child (off-page)

Tropes

Reformed Playboy

Rockstar

Forced Proximity

He Falls First

Just A Fling

Reverse Age Gap

Spice Level

🌶️🌶️🌶️

Review

This was the perfect ‘tis the season’ read to start my Christmas reading off the season. I loved the continued Stellar Riot story line, but just focusing on our next man Teddy. Rachel & Teddy’s slow burn relationship was just the sweetest. I love a good age gap storyline and when you flip it…yes please! Caroline has a way of not making the age gap weird and unrealistic. I honestly couldn’t tell that there even was an age gap because of how mature both the MCs act and are.

Caroline has also linked two of her series in this story. Not My Little Drummer Boy follows not only Teddy, but Rachel who we’ve met before. I didn’t even put two and two together until I saw the mention of Cluanie. I had read the first book in the Heartlands Rugby series, Blindsided by You, where we first meet Rachel. It took me until this one (I didn’t even make the connection while reading the first in the Stellar Riot Christmas series) to remember that I had met Rachel (she is the sister of the MMC in Blindsided by You) 😂. I really liked the connection aspect because I love reading books in the same universe even if they are only connected by that universe.

Another thing I loved…really everything about this story, but the way Teddy and Rachel connected through the Christmas activities and horse riding every morning together. Rachel went into this pairing having preconceived impressions of Teddy, but through their continued interactions she soon found out that there was more to Teddy than meets the eye. It just shows that you can’t judge a book by its cover.

 

Check out my other reviews of Caroline’s books here and here.