Salvaging Claus Day

I love romantic Christmas novellas, as they bring all the magic and excitement of Christmas to life with plenty of heartwarming passion.

This is a very unusual story for the season – but it is excellent. We learn more about Filo as the story develops, and it makes his solitude, and lack of festive spirit, understandable, but rather sad. Luz is a fun character, and the perfect foil for the lone station technician. There are plenty of sci fi movies that make the scenario very clear for the reader, and to add a touch of romance between these two men is heartwarming.

Thank you, Mr. Veerkamp, for a most enjoyable space version of Claus Day.

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Stocking Stuffers: Salvaging Claus Day by J. Alan Veerkamp to read and review.

This is a sci-fi look at the holiday season. I like how love is found and Filo isn't about to question it.

Reviewed by Morningstar for Diverse Reader

This is a short holiday read for the sci-fi romance lover. Filo has been stuck alone on the space station as the repair tech after the other crew left years before. The story starts out with mostly him out spacewalking to repair things but once he goes back in we find out he isn’t alone.



Filo is a big guy so sharing the small space and bed with a Luz, the guy whose life pod made a surprise landing on Filo space station is difficult. Luz is fun and flirty where Filo is quiet and serious. He’s been burned before and is weary of Luz’s constant flirting and tendency to be naked.



Claus Day was made super special for Filo by Luz who had never celebrated the holiday before. It was a cute sexy story, and I honestly did like Filo.



I do however have an issue with the question left open at the end for the pure and simple fact that this was supposed to be a cheerful Christmas type story with love and twinkling lights and in the end, I came away upset that it may not be real. The twist was truly unnecessary and only took away from what could’ve been a great ending. If this had been a full-length book where the story was a bit more fleshed out beyond just finding love, the twist wouldn’t make sense so to me it shouldn't even have been added. Was it done well? Yes. But it took away all my happy feelings and just ended me being irked.

Sci-fi typically isn’t my bag, so admittedly I was a little worried when I began Salvaging Claus Day. From the top, there were a lot of details. The writing was clean and flowing, but with me not loving this particular trope, the specifics left me a little disinterested. However, as the story progressed and the reader encountered Filo’s unexpected guest, Luz, I was intrigued. And once the focus shifted from descriptions of the space station and Filo’s responsibilities to the uncertainty and loneliness plaguing Filo and the flirty interactions between Filo and Luz, I was all in.

The second half of Salvaging Claus Day had everything I want in a holiday short- emotions, good dialogue, warmth, and sexiness. But the ending is what I absolutely loved because the author’s approach was unexpected. All through the latter part of the book I found myself guessing and reading between the lines trying to determine if there would be a surprise revelation. There were hints at it, but nothing definitive. While some readers may be disappointed in the open-ending, I liked it. I hadn’t read anything by Mr. Veerkamp before, and though I probably still wouldn’t seek out a sci-fi romance, I’d definitely be interested in reading more titles by him.

*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*