I already loved this story as an e-book (original review below), so I jumped at revisiting it in audio. Narrator Piers Ryman has a smooth delivery that makes for easy listening. He offers up a delightful variety of British accents here, though my ears had some trouble distinguishing the voices of Jayden and his best friend Troy.
This Daddy/little love story is quite precious, just like Jayden himself. It’s got loads of hurt/comfort and sweet, snuggly and steamy moments, a dash of Christmassy/wintery goodness, and is largely angst-free.
The story opens with stuffie-collecting boy Jayden (24) and military veteran Ben (36) experiencing the holidays as lonely singles when friends prompt them to give the Cuffd dating app’s “Letters to Santa” feature a go. Soon, the boy who doesn’t believe himself worthy of a Daddy, and the Dom who’s questioning if he’s more Daddy than Dom, connect, and Cuffd couldn’t have paired up a sweeter couple.
Ben gets a crash course in Daddying a little (there’s some ABDL), and proves to be every bit the loving, patient, praising, cuddling, and caretaking Daddy that Jayden needs. They slip into their Daddy/little relationship easily and there are no real bumps in their HEA journey, with the biggest angst coming from Jayden’s backstory and building up his diminished sense of self-worth.
Ben being an amputee, having lost part of an arm while serving, is an aspect of the character but never made a focal point in the story, and I think it’s portrayed with great respect and sensitivity. Fingers crossed that Ben’s old army buddy Jude get his own HEA story too. I received free review copies of this e-book (also read in KU) and audio book and have left this honest review voluntarily.