I'm happy to present a review of Hosted Author DomLuka's Under the Mistletoe. While many know of his longer stories, such as The Lo(n)g Way, Desert Dropping and The Ordinary Us, Dom has also done a number of short stories. Renee Stevens gives us a great review of Under the Mistletoe - and you should be sure to check out his The Spirit of James and my favorite, Valentines Day Goes to the Dog.

Reviewer: Renee Stevens
Status: Complete
Word Count: 7,592

I must really be in a Christmas story mood as I’ve been searching out Christmas stories that I have enjoyed in the past. This time I decided to re-read “Under the Mistletoe” by DomLuka. While I have read most of Dom’s longer works, I especially like reading shorter stories because I can read them without having to stop. I enjoyed this story just as much as I did the first time or two I’d read it.

The story starts with Matthew when he’s only about five years old. He witnessed a kiss between his parents under the mistletoe and proceeded to find himself obsessed with how great it would be to kiss someone under the mistletoe. He’s watched couple after couple share a brief moment and he wants that for himself. Even at the age of five, he knew that he wanted it to be a boy.

The story follows Matthew on his quest for a kiss under the mistletoe. It has everything that a reader might want. At times I found myself chuckling at the antics of boys and at other times I found myself wanting to cry for one or more of the characters and the situations that they find themselves in. There is a wonderful mixture of humor and drama that I found to be incredibly entertaining.

While this story certainly isn’t as long as the majority of Dom’s stories, it is no less great. Dom shows a lot of skill in this short story and I think during the whole thing I only noticed one small error, but even the best makes a mistake occasionally. After re-reading this, I think I’ll once more be going through some of Dom’s other works. If you haven’t already read this short story, I’d strongly suggest taking a look. If you haven’t read Dom at all, this short story will easily help you decide if you’ll like his other works, though I doubt you’ll have any complaints after finishing this one.