Review of ‘Santa’s Favorite’ by Madeleine Taylor

In this Christmas lesbian erotic romance, Lucy doesn’t have the luxury to be spontaneous. After Christmas, she’ll focus on the exams and internships that will complete her law studies but for the moment, she’s taking advantage of winter break to put money in the bank by working full time as a personal shopper at an exclusive department store in Manhattan. She doesn’t have time to worry about Santa ogling her every time she walks past Santaland on the ground floor. When she finds out that this particular Santa is, actually, a woman, Lucy’s reaction to the ogling changes entirely. There’s something about Santa, an energy, she can’t resist. So when the woman – whose real name is Zelda – invites her over for sex, Lucy shocks herself by agreeing.

Madeleine Taylor‘s lesbian erotic romances are all about women discovering themselves and their true desires. With Zelda, who is a lot less pushy than she pretends to be at first, Lucy realises that she can be, in fact, spontaneous and a whole lot more adventurous than she ever imagined. And as usual with Taylor (who has recently been revealed to be a pen name for Lise Gold), what begins as “just” – albeit fantastic – sex grows into romance. That’s definitely Taylor’s forte, the way she turns scorching sex into convincing feelings.

I’ve come to expect a lot of Madeleine Taylor and with each book, she both confirms my expectations and surprises me. In this instance, neither character was who I expected her to be. Lucy is introduced as the innocent one whereas Zelda is older, freer and more experienced. Yet beneath her brazen demeanour, Zelda is the romantic one, the one who hopes for more, who believes in everlasting love. Lucy is the Grinch. A sexy and warmhearted Grinch, a Grinch with good reasons to her Grinchness, but a Grinch nonetheless. With the same easy and thrilling manner she introduces her to kinky sex, Zelda shows Lucy all that’s delightful in Christmas and in doing so, makes a real relationship worth considering.

Santa’s Favorite is both naughty and romantic, sometimes at the same time. If you’re looking to add some spice to your Christmas spirit, you’ve found it.