All by My Elf

Under the Mistletoe Collection

By: Olivia Dade

Narrated by: Andi Arndt

Length: 1 hr and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Secret crushes, spicy Christmas treats, heinous holiday traffic, and a fateful snowstorm bring good friends together in a funny, heartfelt short story by bestselling author Olivia Dade.

Nina and William are underpaid adjunct professors at the same university, where winter break is no break at all: ’tis the season to make extra money. When their holiday side hustle has them stranded by a blinding blizzard in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing to do but cuddle up for warmth and play a game of Never Have I Ever to pass the time. But in the game of love, secrets never stay secret for long…

Olivia Dade’s All by My Elf is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.

©2024 by Olivia Dade. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Kinda boring

Sorry. I like Olivia Dade, this just wasn’t it. Not interested in this couple of professors, and the whole hot dog truck thing is weird. Could have been funny I guess.

the giant mince meat filled phyllo dough vehicle

If you enjoy grown adult people having crushes on each other and being too nervous to tell each other and miscommunication trope, then you might enjoy this read/listen. For me they were both a little overly bashful and went full throttle once the feelings were out there and it felt a little false to the characters written in the first few chapters, but I do think others will enjoy this story. It was just ok for me although the narrators did a great job.

Academic coworkers in a hot dog advertising truck…no really…

This was just…odd. I have read a lot of books from this author and I just didn’t enjoy this one. It starts off following academic coworkers who are in a hot dog advertising truck together. 🤷🏼‍♀️ They’ve both been crushing on one another, but she thinks he’s dating her best friend and he is an introvert who hasn’t made a move (at least not obvious to her). This just didn’t give any holiday vibes and like why were they in the hot dog truck? Why didn’t she already know her best friend was actually NOT seeing him? Anyways, we get some “never have I ever” games and a lot of academic type convos.

A holiday novella part of the Under the Mistletoe collection, I binged all 5 of these holiday novellas since they’re all available on KU with read and listen and so so short!

Entertaining

All By My Elf is about 2 coworkers who are stuck in repurposed wiener-mobile. They have a crush on each other, but neither took a chance for their own reasons. It was good, but the words used to describe body parts was…academic.

Too silly for me

I typically like her books, but this fell short. it was just a bit silly for my taste

It was a cute one.

✨Thoughts✨
𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐚 and William two university professors who get stuck in a blizzard in the middle of nowhere. They play the game "Never Have I Ever," which finally leads them to acknowledge their mutual crush. It was a fun Christmas novella.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑.𝟓⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟐/𝟓🔥

a cute short story.

this was a cute short story, Would rate it a 2.5 stars if I could. Thought the sexy time was not necessary, thought the development of the relationship could have been highlighted more.

cute story

cute story but seemed a bit rushed and not much back story. very descriptive which helps you visualize the scenery

All By My Elf - Olivia Dade

⭐️⭐️🌶️ This one didn’t call to me at all. I found myself easily distracted &not caring about the storyline or characters. The chemistry between Nina &William felt forced. The narration was well done.

Themes:
* Friends to lovers
* Workplace romance

A cool, considerate romance

“Please know that I’d never take advantage of the
situation or make you feel uncomfortable in anyway.”
Who talks like that? William, that’s who … the gentlest professor ever.
Whether assuring her of his noble intentions or singing her praises, I kept thinking no one talks like that.

The whole novella is them trapped in a vehicle, playing Never Have I Ever, and tiptoeing around their respective crushes because she’s got no self confidence and he’s too timid to make the first move.

And maybe it was because they’re adjunct professors but the sex was very, um, clinical.
Sadly, this was a bland Christmas cookie.