A Swants Soiree by E.J. Russell

A Swants Soiree by E.J. Russell
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Short story (50 pages)
Other: M/M
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Introverted software engineer Brent Levine struggles with the life part of work-life balance, but to hold on to his new job, he’ll have to embrace his employer’s dreaded “staff enrichment” events. This year’s annual ugly holiday sweater party will strain his ambition to remain inconspicuous: everyone has to wear sweaters converted into pants—aka “swants.”
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Brent’s an ace at coding, but when it comes to handcrafts, he’s definitely at the far left end of the bell curve. Luckily he encounters seriously cute theater costumer Jonathan at the Goodwill Outlet. Jonathan offers Brent both an acceptably ugly sweater and his expertise in swants conversion. Attraction sparks on Brent’s side, but can Jonathan be interested in a guy like him?

After a nasty break up, Brent was thrilled to quickly be hired by HubPilot, the trendy, hip and oh-so-cool new graphics company that had exploded through every forecast possible. While nearly a decade older than most of his co-workers, Brent is exceptional at his job and quickly proves his chops from a work-perspective. The only problem is, Brent hates to stand out and usually avoids the more social aspect to work, and only now with the Ugly Sweater turned Swants Christmas party coming up is it dawning on Brent that if he’s going to make his career work, he’s going to have to at least partially get on board with the corporate attitude to having fun.

I actually really enjoyed this story. I was pleased that the term Swants (a sweater turned into pants) was explained early on, and at times I felt rather like Brent, battered from every angle with the new, hip and up-and-coming antics of a younger generation. I felt deep empathy at Brent, who simply wanted to enjoy a fairly relaxed and quiet social lead up to the holidays and meet his work milestones. I have to admit though, when Brent put his mind to the task of trying to mesh better with his co-workers he did an amazing job.

Brent met Jonathan over a charity bin in the desperate search for his ugly sweater and from the moment the two men started verbally tussling I loved every second of their interaction. At times I wondered if they were a little too sharp with each other, but just as I got to that edge of wondering, things would smooth out and so I found much of their interactions delightfully witty and interesting. This is not a placid or easy relationship that the two men embark upon and I have to say I adored every moment. The snark and off-beat sense of humour had me (very literally) snorting with laughter in a few places – the scene at Brent’s apartment when he and Jonathon go through the final three possibilities for the eventual Ugly Swants was something that will live on in my memory for ages to come. The author gets major, major kudos for their creative thinking with the three eventual options. They are hilarious.

With some steamy kisses but nothing else more intimate this might not reach the heat-level that most erotic readers are used to, but I personally found it a delightful, funny and interestingly modern short story. A great read and definitely a story I will enjoy again in the future. Recommended.