Holiday Bonus Episode: New Book Recs + Classic Movie Discussions

Coming up on this episode, we're  talking about holiday books and movies.

Welcome to a special holiday bonus  episode of the Big Gay Fiction Podcast, the show for avid readers and passionate  fans of queer romance fiction. I'm Jeff, and here with me, as always, is  my co-host and husband, Will.

Hello, Rainbow Romance Reader. It's  great to have you back for another episode.

So, Will, as we get started, you've  got an exciting announcement for everyone.

Yeah, so the last time I  released a book was way back in 2018, a story I co-wrote with Jeff. Now, after  all this time, I am thrilled to share some exciting news. In 2025, I will be releasing  brand-new stories under a brand-new pen name. When we published "The Hockey Player's  Heart," I used my real name. And honestly, it was because I was too lazy to come up  with anything else. But let's face it, my real last name is hard to spell, tricky to  pronounce, and it doesn't exactly pop on a book

My husband, the Care Bear.

I know, it just makes me  happy every time I think about it. So that is the story behind William Gayheart. Of  course, you can still call me Will. The official launch isn't until January, but I wanted to give  you a sneak peek of what's to come. To celebrate, I have written a sweet holiday novella  called "Cookies for Christmas." This story isn't going to be for sale anywhere.  It is going to be my gift to you, and you can grab it for free by signing up  for my newsletter at WilliamGayheart.com.

So I got to beta read "Cookies for  Christmas." I have to tell you, it is the sweetest thing. I read it so fast. It was a page-turner.  It's short anyway because it's a cute holiday novella, but oh my gosh, these characters.  Let me tell you what this book's about. James Chen's plan is simple: breeze into  Pine Ridge, sell his grandmother's bakery,

Honestly, I'm really excited about this new  direction, and I can't wait to share these stories with you in the coming year. Thanks for being part  of this journey. I want to say I could not do it without you. And once more, if you're interested  in checking out "Cookies for Christmas," you can find the newsletter signup at WilliamGayheart.com.  That's Gayheart, H-E-A-R-T .com.

And not to steal from Will's thunder,  but I also want to remind everyone that I have a Christmas story out this season about two  professional hockey players who are the best of friends who discover that it is, in fact,  time to move their relationship to another level. You can get the friends-to-lovers holiday  romance "Taking a Shot at Love," written by me, anywhere you pick up your eBooks.  It's available everywhere right now.

So I wanna discuss a book that you and  I both fell in love with. It's called "Deck the Hulls" by Kat Cassidy. In this one, Eli, on  Christmas Eve, finds himself with a really awful head cold, and he's at the pharmacy where he  runs into his ex and his perfect new boyfriend. Honestly, all Eli wants to do is get back to  his boat in the harbor and get through the holiday. Alex is miserable living his new life  in witness protection in this tiny New England

This is such a good book. It's funny, it's  got some adventure as they navigate through the storm, and the fact that they have to navigate  through the storm is how they start talking and getting to know each other. I loved it so much.  In fact, I had to keep going because there was a nice little link in the back of the book, and  I clicked that to get an additional bonus short story from Kat called "New Year, Same Buoy." This  picks up right after the main story ends, so it

Yeah, "Deck the Hulls" is a really fun  spin on the forced proximity and grumpy-sunshine trope. It's a Christmas story with plenty of  charm and super sweet chemistry. Obviously, as you can tell, both Jeff and I really loved it. So I hope you'll consider adding  "Deck the Hulls" to your holiday TBR.

Another seasonal read I wanna tell  you about is "A Handyman for the Holidays" by Valerie Gomez. I love this cozy Christmas  romance so much. This is part of the 10-book, multi-author collection called "Home for the  Holidays," which actually started releasing back in November. In "A Handyman for the Holidays,"  we meet Frank Garza, who's a handyman in the small town of Cherry Tree, Michigan. Frank fixes  everything and helps everyone. Shoot him a text,

Now, since we love Christmas movies  almost as much as we love Christmas books, we wanted to take a moment to revisit two of  our very favorite movies, "The Christmas Setup" and "Dashing in December." Both of these movies  premiered in 2020 and are historic in that they were the very first time gay couples were at the  forefront of a holiday movie on a cable network.

So let's get started with this flashback  to our discussions on these holiday classics. You know, it's a shame that Lifetime never took you up on your idea for the  sequel for "The Christmas Setup."

So Jeff and I decided that now would be  the perfect time to take a closer look at one of our personal holiday favorites, “The Christmas  Setup,” which was the first made for TV Christmas movie to air on an American cable network that  featured a same sex couple as its main characters. Hooray for representation. Am I right?

Absolutely. It was so amazing to  see two guys front and center in a movie. It had been teased in some other movies. We’d  see some side characters that had boyfriends, but they were way off in the background.  And here it was front and center. Thank you, Lifetime for bringing this  to everybody’s TV screens.

So we loved “The Christmas Setup” and it’s  safe to say we loved it even more as we rewatched it for this special recap. So what do you say,  should we dive into “The Christmas Setup?”

Let’s do it.

Now it first aired in December of 2020  on the Lifetime network. It was directed by Pat Mills and was written by Michael J.  Murray who has penned several other feel good Christmas favorites, like “Christmas Tree  Lane” and “Christmas Around the Corner,” and that one takes place in a bookstore so, you  know, that’s a personal favorite of mine.

Mine too. I could watch  that every Christmas season.

And if “The Christmas Setup” could be called  2020’s gay Christmas movie, Michael J. Murray also wrote 2021’s lesbian Christmas movie, “Under the  Christmas Tree,” which also premiered on Lifetime.

“Under the Christmas Tree” was  an absolute delight. If you missed it, it definitely needs to be on  your holiday to watch list.

So the main character of our story  is Hugo. And he is played by Ben Lewis, an actor who has had a lot of TV credits,  “Degrassi Next Generation” and “Arrow” among them. Hugo’s main love interest in the movie, Patrick,  is played by Blake Lee, who just so happens to be Ben’s husband in real life. And like his hubby,  Blake has a lot of TV credits, appearances that include the most recent season of “Cruel Summer,”  which is currently airing on Freeform and Hulu.

I don’t even remember that.

It’s really hilarious because it’s like,  what’s The Nanny doing there. But, actually the timeline makes perfect sense. Of course, of  course, The Nanny was dancing the night away.

Well, absolutely. She would have been.

So funny.

Now I need to go back and watch that  movie cause I don’t remember that scene at all.

Now there were numerous other film and  TV credits that followed, but her big breakout role came in 1993 with the TV show “The Nanny,”  where her big personality and distinctive voice, not to mention that laugh, left a lasting  impression on audiences for six seasons and 145 episodes.It was amazing to see  her on screen again in this movie. But enough talk about behind the  scenes, let’s take a deep dive into why “The Christmas Setup” might become  our new holiday must watch tradition.

You got your Empire State  Building and the red and the green.

Of course you do.

You can’t have a Christmas  movie that opens in New York, without that. I will say this particular movie  kept it a little light. We didn’t see Radio City. You got a fly over of Rockefeller Center  and the skating rink and stuff. But this one left the establishing shots very quickly to  get us right into the action of the movie.

Hugo, our main character. He is at work, at his office. It is late and he is chatting  with his best friend, Madeline, on FaceTime. So I know we’ve just dived in, but I got to take a second to talk about why is everyone  in these movies always on FaceTime?

Because it’s a movie and we  want you to see the other actor.

I mean realistically, I sure  as hell never talked to anybody on the phone and I sure as hell am not  randomly FaceTiming people I know.

I know, I’m the same way. The  only time I FaceTime anybody is if I’m on a business trip and I’m calling you  because it’s nice to see you when I’m away. But like random friends and other things I  don’t know. It’s a nice movie device though, because they even have parents FaceTiming  in a lot of these movies to see their kids.

So not only are Hugo and Madeline  FaceTiming, he’s doing it on his laptop, which is like, I don’t even  know what to say to that.

Hands-free.

Granted, I completely understand  texting is not very cinematic and I know why they’re doing it. They just need  to establish some story and plot and character real quick and FaceTiming  with someone is a great way to do it. So Hugo is worried about an upcoming  performance review. She says not to worry. He’s got this in the bag and she’ll  see him afterwards. They plan to go skating. So at the meeting, his boss thinks he’s swell.  But when Hugo asks about the partnership position,

It’s very interesting to watch Hugo  here and it sets him up in an interesting way because what you just said makes it  sound like that Hugo is this go get ’em, forthright, I want this and you’re  going to give it to me. But yet he’s scared to do this. And you can kind  of tell that he is scared to do this. He’s putting himself forward.  He’s speaking for what he wants, but yet he’s terrified to do it. And it’s  really an interesting dichotomy here that

Yeah exactly. An ultimatum wasn’t exactly  part of the plan, but Hugo is freaking out just a little bit. But Madeline is very proud of him  and is glad that he understands his own worth.

Uh-huh. I am sad that we didn’t get  to go skating. I understand why we didn’t because it’s not relevant, but like, did they  go to Bryant Park or did they go to Rockefeller Center? I wanted these details as a former  person who skated in the city of New York.

Madeline is played by actress, Ellen  Wong. I think she’s adorable and she’s funny and she’s got real chemistry with Ben Lewis. It  just feels like they’ve been friends forever.

It really does. Yeah.  The chemistry in this movie, I’ll just say, now I will dig more into it.  The chemistry across all these characters is really superior they cast the right people.  It was a really, really well cast movie.

The two of them talk about their  upcoming Christmas plans. And this year, Madeline is foregoing her family’s  traditional vacation in The Bahamas.

As one does.

It’s like sure, Madeline, you do you. And she decides that she’s going to be  staying in the city, but Hugo suggests that she come with him, back to Milwaukee  for a real old fashioned Christmas.

Milwaukee in the winter.  Bahamas. I don’t know. I guess The Bahamas would get old  if you did it all the time.

They call his mom, Kate, who is  of course thrilled. And in Milwaukee, upon Hugo and Maddie’s arrival, Kate immediately  feeds them. And while making them pancakes, we get the low down on Hugo’s brother, Aiden. He  is in the service and will be home in a few days. Hugo’s dad is no longer with us, but Kate keeps  busy with various neighborhood projects chief among them. This will be her last year  as chairwoman of the Christmas festival,

Their names are on the calendar in the  kitchen. One of the biggest kitchen calendars I’ve ever seen. You could practically read it  from across the room on camera. It’s impressive.

While Kate and Maddie go shopping, Hugo  stays at home, working on a to do list his mother has given him. But he’s also waiting for  the Christmas tree delivery. And when it arrives, Hugo is quite flustered to see the delivery man  is Patrick, obviously someone from his past. They wrangle the enormous fir tree into  the house. And Patrick is all like, I’m not sure if you remember me  and Hugo’s all trying to play it cool. It’s not really working,  but he’s like, yeah, I think so.

It didn’t work at all. Hugo doesn’t do  flustered well, so it didn’t play like he wanted it to at all. It didn’t play into his favor  that he also was flustered before he was ever at the door, because on the way to the door he  managed to fall down the stairs a little bit too, which was obviously, you know, something that  Patrick could hear on the other side of the door. I feel like Patrick does his best to make him  feel at ease. There’s a sparkle in Patrick’s

We learned that Patrick was a few years  ahead of Hugo in school, and he’s always had a little bit of a thing for him. He says he  likes Hugo’s tool belt. And then he takes off. When Maddie gets back from shopping, Hugo gets out  his high school yearbook and tells her all about his tree delivery encounter with dream boat  Patrick, a guy he has always had a crush on. Good thing he just happened to have left his work gloves behind because now they  have a reason to go see him again.

It was very interesting things  that we learned about Patrick here. We know he was an athlete. We know that  he was out in high school and popular, and that was something that Hugo admired at the  time. But it also sets up for, like, some of that, I think, what has translated into Patrick’s  kind of quiet confidence that he’s got now, which I think lends itself to that kind  of energy that I spoke about when he came

That night as our two friends walk through  town, they pass the old train station and Hugo explains how Edgar Carroll, a town founder,  and the guy who built the station long ago, created the tradition of townsfolk coming to  the train station on Christmas Eve and writing out their Christmas wish list. They then gather  them all in a mailbag for the last train to the North Pole. But there is a posted sign. The train  station is going to be demolished in the new year.

And here’s our big plot point for  the movie. We must save the train station. I’m fascinated by this movie and how it treats  its location. We know we’re in Milwaukee, which is not a small town. And it’s not a big  town. We’re not, it’s not like Chicago or New York or something, but Milwaukee, I would  say is probably at least a mid-sized town. But here it’s treated very much as a small  town because we’re in this neighborhood.

At the tree lot, Hugo and Maddie give  Patrick back his gloves and he is a little bit perplexed at how chummy and couple-y Hugo  and Maddie are. And the lot is very busy, which is good because all of the proceeds go to Patrick’s charitable organization.  Huh? That’s an unexpected development. It seems before moving back to town, Patrick  made it big in the tech industry. He created a very popular app, sold it, and now has  a foundation that helps local businesses

Our sweet tech mogul. He’s very cute  about his app too. I believe it’s called Cassandra. He described it as like a magic  eight ball. It takes in all this data and then it helps you figure out stuff. But  the idea of this magic eight ball app, I was intrigued by, and he’s so cute about  his app as the movie proceeds in some ways. It’s just adorable. Even though it’s not  his anymore, he’s still like very into it.

The next morning, Kate is busy setting  up the Santa’s breakfast. They’ll be hosting at the house this year. There’ll be wreath  classes and tons of stuff to do. Hugo asks about the train station, and she explains  they protested, done just about everything, but to no avail, Patrick and his dad  drop off an order from the flower market. And Patrick introduces Hugo and  Maddie to his dad as husband and wife. Everyone has a good laugh over  this. They correct Patrick’s

I was surprised that Patrick took that  big leap. Yes. When they met at the tree lot, the previous day, Maddie was a  little just hanging on to Hugo. Which I thought was a little bit weird,  but whatever, they’re very close friends. But, you know, look for a ring or at least go  to this is, you know, his girlfriend. But to leap right to wife, that was a big assumption,  which was totally wrong of course, but still.

Patrick invites him to the tree  lot after it closes so they can have what he guarantees will be the best  cup of hot cocoa Hugo has ever tasted. And this is where we hit the 20 minute mark, the  first commercial break in “The Christmas Setup.” And so far, I think they’ve done an excellent job  setting up everything that we need to know about

Yeah, they really set up all of the  stuff here, so very well. It’s exactly what I want to see in those first 20 minutes that pre  commercial break. I want it all set up. I want to see everything that’s about to happen. I mean, the  only missing piece at this point is getting Hugo’s brother home. And I think that happens right after  the commercial break, practically. Aiden shows up for his holiday time. But they’ve really done  an extraordinary job. We even have all kinds of

Hugo arrives at the appointed time  for their date. But Patrick is off on a Christmas tree delivery. Hugo grabs a  beverage from the hot cocoa cart and it is indeed damn tasty. But by the time  Patrick gets back, Hugo is no longer feeling it. It seems that they are destined  to just be two ships passing in the night. The next day, while going through some Christmas  light strands in the garage, Kate asked Hugo how

I really like Kate and I don’t  often like the meddling mom character, because sometimes it can be a bit  much. And even Fran Drescher, who tends to go over the top occasionally and  does so in appropriate ways in this movie, really plays the mom trying to set up her  son. I think really to the best way possible. She wants Hugo happy. She wants him with  the right person. She recognizes that can be Patrick. No doubt, because of  the amount that her and Patrick

Kate, seeing an opening, asked  Patrick to assist Hugo with adding a few more strands of lights to the  roof line. That is if he doesn’t mind.

Meddle, meddle, meddle, meddle, meddle.

Right? So up on the rooftop they go. And  since the date that they didn’t have was a bust, this is a perfect moment in the getting to know  you phase of our hero’s journey towards love. They’re able to joke about Hugo growing up to be a  lawyer, ugh, a lawyer. Insert joke here. Before he accidentally knocks over the ladder, stranding  them. Though not for too long because it is time for the Christmas crafting montage. Along  with kids and a bunch of neighborhood families,

Every good Christmas movie has a montage.  This one played its montage perfectly. Poor Hugo, he gets drug up in front of people so many  times in this movie and he doesn’t really like the spotlight in that way at all. But he  always comes through perfectly when it comes time to read or to do some of the things  that he has to do later in the movie.

While helping Hugo get ready for date  night round two, Maddie offers some advice to the lovelorn, meaning Hugo. In a Christmas  buffet analogy, she explains that some guys are just side dishes or desserts with empty calories.  Patrick is a main dish, a total Turkey dinner. At the tree lot, Patrick has gone all out.  Underneath the twinkle lights he set up a

This scene illustrates one of my favorite  things about my favorite trope of second chance romance, because they’ve got this bit of shared  history. In this case, they’re talking about these favorite sandwiches that they’ve got and  yes, Hugo remembers working at the sandwich shop where Patrick always used to come in and yes,  he remembers Patrick’s favorite sandwich and Patrick remembers his. And it’s this really sweet  reconnection sharing of their history, and then

Talk of the past and future, sends Hugo  out to his dad’s old woodshop where he repairs a chair that was part of a dining set that they  made once a long time ago. Kate is thrilled to see the set returned to its former glory and  asks how the date went. Hugo reminds her that he’s not 16 and doesn’t need her meddling in his  love life. That’s not going to stop her, but.

Like I said, this is not an annoying  trait like it can be in some movies. Somehow, Fran Drescher skates a fine line. Her performance  here is that it’s more loving than anything else.

Hugo’s older brother, Aiden, arrives home from the Air Force  and Maddie notices that he is fine. Aiden is played by actor Chad Connell, and  he is tall and handsome and Canadian. And if you’ve watched any Christmas movie  ever, you know exactly the type of guy I’m talking about. But there is no rest for  the weary. There are enough Christmas themed activities for the whole family, including  caroling to which Kate has invited Patrick.

Yeah, they all do.

In the middle of fa la la-ing, Hugo receives  a phone call. It’s his boss with the news that they will indeed be making him partner and that  means he’ll be spearheading the new London office, While decorating the train station  for the big Christmas Eve party, Hugo pulls Maddie aside and tells her about the  promotion. Patrick drops off Kate’s Christmas tree order and she keeps finding projects  for her children to do Hugo with Patrick,

So here’s one of the areas I think that  the script of this movie does an amazing job of keeping everything together so you’re not  going. “Hmm. Why would he do that?” Way back in the first scene when Hugo is hanging out  with his boss, finding out that maybe he’s not going to get the partnership initially,  one of the things that comes out right there, almost a throwaway line, is that he was the only  attorney who found a certain tax loophole that

Hugo and Patrick share an almost kiss.  Which is a reliable Christmas movie cliche, but what’s better than an almost kiss. How  about a date to see the Northern Lights? In the back of Patrick’s pickup truck they nerd  out on various topics; Encyclopedia Brown among them. And when the glow of the lights appear in  the night sky, they share their first real kiss.

It’s so cute, and I love the nerd out and  I love even how Hugo picks on Patrick because Cassandra called Patrick to tell him that the  Northern Lights were going to happen cause he had it programmed to sort out when everything  was going to be just right atmospherically to do that. Because you know what? The Northern  Lights really don’t show up in Milwaukee all that often because of how far south they are.  So they set it up really well to give them that

So if all this weren’t enough to keep  him busy. Hugo is now working on a project for his mom in his dad’s workshop, and is busy  researching the deed to the train station. He mentioned Edgar Carroll’s traveling companion to  his mom, who once met him long ago. She thinks the Christmas Eve tradition was started  because Carroll just wanted to make the world a better place. And what better time  to manifest your wishes, then at Christmas.

Which of course connects to what Patrick  wants to do about making the world a better place.

During a rambunctious Christmas family  game night, a final question pits brother against brother. And Aiden is the one who knows  that Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” while living in London and Maddie mistakenly  lets slip that that’s where Hugo was moving.

Never tell anybody, even your best friend, the information that you  don’t want to have slip out.

Kate handles news of this new job  opportunity in stride. And Patrick says, he’s happy for Hugo, though he’s not particularly  convincing. Hugo explains that he’s kind of scared and not quite sure about the job. Patrick  reassures him that it’s okay not knowing what’s exactly around the corner and that they should  just enjoy what time together that they have left.

We would expect nothing less  because we must save the train station.

So I have a question, what’s more festive than a holiday drag performance at  an underground lounge in Milwaukee?

Well, not very much, cause that was  a pretty spectacular thing. I think it was the most festive thing ever.  An underground drag performance.

The gang gets together for a fun night  out. Hugo delivers the progress that he’s made on the train station. And Patrick knew he  would come through and he likes having him around and wishes that he didn’t have to  go. There is work that he could do here. Gladys Claus, the hostess of the evening,  opens up the mic and Hugo reluctantly steps on stage for a shaky rendition of  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

It wasn’t that bad! Sure, there were  some notes that he had issues with. Frankly, I think I would have had to give Patrick a stern  talking to since it was already established back at the caroling that Hugo really just kind of  likes to mouth along and not sing. But it turns out Hugo’s not that bad of a singer for open mic  night at the drag club. I questioned his choice of song in that it was, you know, it’s one of the  more sadder Christmas songs that one could pick.

At first Patrick seems taken  by Hugo’s attempt at Christmas cheer, but clearly the lyrics of the song, about  wanting something that you can’t exactly have, have him rethinking a few things. He gets  up to leave and Hugo follows him. Outside, Patrick says there really is no way  that the two of them are going to work. He wishes him the best of luck in London  and hopes that he has a Merry Christmas.

Patrick’s just wrong. He says  he’s making this choice because he’s a numbers guy and he’s run the  numbers and it’s not gonna work. He’s wrong. His algorithm’s messed  up. He just doesn’t know it yet.

And not to rub salt in any wounds,  but Maddie decides to stay in Milwaukee with Aiden through the new year. At  least one love matches worked out. While returning some paperwork to the train  station office, Hugo gets a closer look at a photo of Edgar Carroll and Ashby, handwritten  and signed by Carroll himself. That night at

It’s so cute. I don’t know how he had  the time to do all that, frankly. I mean, you mentioned everything that he would take it  on here on top of the stuff that Kate already had them doing for Christmas, he’s made a ton  of stuff. Now, granted, his father had started this project, but from what we’ve seen, that  looks like Hugo really undertook a lot of the work to finish it off and create some more of  the buildings. But it’s so sweet and so cute.

As MC for the evening, Kate calls Hugo up  to the microphone and he speaks to the tradition, started by Edgar Carroll a hundred years  ago, and how they should all be proud of the community that they’re all a part of. And  how he himself is proud to call this place home. Patrick walks in during his speech and  hears this last part and he’s all like home, huh? Hugo shows Patrick the picture of Edgar  and Ashby and says anything worth having is

And that kiss is captured by Kate in a  picture, which is a nice kind of throwback to the picture that they had of Carroll and Ashby  at the train station. Although those two men were not kissing, but still they were kind of  holding hands sorta kind of in those pictures. One of the things I love about this movie, among  so many things that I love about this movie, is the tie back to this kind of history thing.

Yeah. Like Jeff, I’ve loved everything  about this movie. It’s sweet. It’s funny. It cranks the Christmas schmaltz up to 11, which  I absolutely love . But I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up something that many would consider  a flaw. Can we guess what those two things are?

Oh, dear. I don’t know  that I’m going to guess that.

Well, number one, Hugo never  actually said no to the London job. And number two, he never technically,  definitively saved the train station.

That’s a good point about the train  station. I knew that he didn’t say no to London, which I was just like, eh, that’ll  happen. But you’re right about the train station. He never definitively  solved that with the city. We have to make a couple of assumptions there. So  much for my idea of the perfect script .

Like I said, I love this movie. You  know, I think “The Christmas Setup” has done a wonderful job of giving our  two heroes a happy for now ending. In regards to the train station when  Hugo was going through those papers, Hugo found that Edgar Carroll left the deed to the  station to the neighborhood association. Therefore the city can’t demolish a building that it doesn’t  actually own. So that does give us some hope.

That’s a good point. I just assume,  much like our heroes, that that will turn out fine because it must. It’s a Christmas  movie. Or we could just have a sequel.

Which is an interesting point,  especially when it comes to this job opportunity for Hugo. In the love story  of Aiden and Maddie, Hugo briefly chats with his brother about making a long distance  relationship work because Aiden and Maddie do not live in the same city. And Aiden is  like, well, when you know, you know, and they’ve decided to take a chance on love. Which  is an interesting parallel for Hugo and Patrick.

Of course.

So my idea for the logical continuation  of “The Christmas Setup” would be “The Christmas Proposal” and then after that, we’d get  a third movie, “The Christmas Wedding.” Now, originally I thought that Hugo  of course, would make his home in Milwaukee because that’s what you do in a  Christmas movie. But I think in a sequel,

Get your establishing  B roll shots of London.

Exactly.

Big Ben, the Eye, Buckingham Palace.

Hugo has had some success in the  past year; opening up the new London office. He’s been very successful, but now  it is Christmas time and it is time for him to come home to the states and we would then  have to come up with a legitimate reason for Hugo to bring one of his London coworkers  back home to the U.S. for the holidays. The details for that particular  reason are not important because

Awww.

So Charles Shaughnessy would come  back to Milwaukee with Hugo and he would realize that Kate was a long ago lost  love. Giving him and Fran Drescher an adorable second chance romance story line,  while Hugo and Patrick are finding ways to make their long distance relationship  work. Ditto for Aiden and Maddie. And, as a backdrop for all this romance, they  finally definitively save the train station.

For park-and-ride into the city.

There are plenty of possibilities.  All the while our two heroes struggle to find the perfect opportunity  to propose to one another.

Do we get a double proposal in this?

Why the hell not?

Patrick and Hugo need  to have their proposal, but also Maddie and Aiden need to have their  proposal. We won’t quite get Kate there yet with her new second chance, but those two need to make  their proposals. Preferably at the train station.

And this would all of course,  eventually lead to a third movie, “The Christmas Wedding,” where Hugo and  Patrick tried to get hitched against the backdrop of all of the mad cap festivities  that are planned by Kate during the holidays.

I would watch all of those movies. And this is not unheard of. There have  been numerous times that we’ve seen these movies spread themselves out over several  installments. From Christmas movies to other seasonal thematic movies on the Hallmark Channel.  This is not something that’s groundbreaking here. So yes, this should definitely happen  to this particular series. And well, it’s not a series yet, but to this particular  couple, they need a series of films.

Lifetime, if you’re  listening, give me a call. Ugh, I know. Four years later,  I'm still thinking about that.

You should just write that book.

I should, exactly.

Now, if you're looking for "The  Christmas Setup" in the 2024 holiday season, it's already had a couple of airings on Lifetime, so check the listings to see if there  are more coming before the end of the year. And you can also find it anytime on  Amazon Prime Video for rent or purchase. Now let's get onto the next movie.

So we would really like to continue  to share our love of Christmas movies by talking about one that we particularly enjoyed  last year. It’s called “Dashing in December.” And it originally aired in December,  imagine that, of 2020 on the paramount network. And it features to out and proud  actors as our romantic leading characters. The first of which is Peter Porte as Wyatt.  Now Porte is a Christmas TV movie veteran

And it fits so perfect with the winter, Colorado scenery too. You’re right. It  could have all been a catalog shoot.

She’s so amazing. So enough about  wardrobe and screen credits. Let’s get down to what “Dashing in December” is all about. So the movie opens with B roll of New York  City at Christmas time. And those of you who are familiar with this kind of movie,  it’s all stuff that we’ve seen before.

But, you know, it always makes  me homesick a little bit for New York, because I was always enchanted  by the city at Christmas time.

And just to make extra sure you know,  where we are and what time of year it is, we are introduced to our hero Wyatt  and he is standing at a window, and the Empire State Building is illuminated  in festive red and green in the background. Wyatt is at a holiday office party and  he’s busy chatting with an older couple, one of whom is his boss, and they’re making  standard office party small talk while at the

Yeah. Because you don’t get that news  when he’s talking about the relationship that he just got out of, because it’s  an ambiguous name. Could be a guy, could be a girl. And so it’s those clues that  set up right there that he is if not gay, at least bi because it hasn’t  been spelled out completely yet. Poor Wyatt. He is every put upon person  we’ve ever seen in a movie like this.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch,  we are introduced to Deb ,Wyatt’s mom, and Heath. He is the all around ranch hand.  And, Blake. She’s the local veterinarian who once upon a time also dated Wyatt. Now  Deb is all thrilled and she’s super excited that Wyatt is finally coming home for the  holidays for the first time in many years. And since this particular establishing  scene takes place in the stables, we also get to meet Dasher, Wyatt’s horse.

I love this scene. I love the establishing  of Deb and Blake and Heath. The dynamic you could tell that these three have honed over several  years, especially since Wyatt has been away from the ranch. They banter, you can tell  they enjoy the work that they do. And sure Blake’s not hanging out at the ranch all the  time, but there’s veterinary work to do. And she’s a family friend and she’s a friend  of Heath. She is around and helping out.

Well, I, of course, 100% agree  with you. Andie is an absolute delight. I think everyone does a wonderful job,  especially in these opening sequences. If you’re as familiar with these kinds of  movies, as we are, the first few scenes, essentially, the first 20 minutes of a TV  movie, have got a lot of heavy lifting to do. You don’t have a lot of time to introduce  the characters, establish the relationships, and give us an inkling about what  the story is going to be all about.

And you’re so right about those first 20  minutes. That’s the make or break point for you and I. Typically it’s like, if that first 20  minutes sings, then we’re going to keep going with the movie. But if that first 20 minute fails,  it could turn into a do not finish moment because we will not suffer through a movie that doesn’t  set itself up well. We often look at each other

So Wyatt arrives in Colorado and after  I drive through the mildly snowy landscape. He arrives home at the ranch. Deb actually has  a quick throw away line here that they haven’t had much snow this year. And the reason,  of course, why there isn’t much snow is because they shot the movie in September.  And in the case of this particular movie, I think they do a respectable job  of simulating the Christmas season.

Yeah. I wouldn’t mind  hanging out on that ranch, even during September in the fall. And they  do a really nice job of making it feel like Christmas. I think one of the ways that they  do that too is that this movie really doesn’t take place in a lot of locations so that you  didn’t have to decorate a downtown very much, or some small town locale. They’re pretty much on  the ranch. I’d say 90, 95% of this movie is on the

So Wyatt arrives and he  promptly steps in some horse poop.

In his fancy shoes.

And Deb is happy to see him  despite the fact that he’s kind of acting like an uptight douche. I think  it’s obvious from the get go that part of Wyatt’s character arc is going  to be finding his Christmas spirit.

Well, not just as Christmas spirit,  but coming out of the funk that he’s clearly been in for a few years, that we kind of  dig into more here. It’s more than just Christmas spirit and finding a romance. He  needs to find a better version of himself.

Heath and Blake join them for dinner up  at the main house. And things are immediately kind of crunchy between our two heroes.  Wyatt keeps calling Heath, Hank. And, he insults the wine that Heath brought for  dinner. Dinner conversation covers Wyatt’s career trajectory as a venture capitalist,  and also how Heath lives and works on the ranch, really keeping it running, and  operating the Christmas carriage rides.

It’s why that snow is so important, those  Christmas carriage rides. I think that’s why Andie had that throwaway line too. Cause that’s part of,  potentially why the ranch isn’t surviving as well, because they haven’t had as much snow yet as  they might have in a typical Christmas season.

The Christmas carriage rides are  essentially the ranch’s seasonal side hustle, similar in the way that maybe an apple  farm would have apple picking in the fall.

Maybe a hay ride. Other do dads.

Or corn maze during Halloween. The  ranch has the Christmas carriage ride, which is actually a ride on a carriage.

With a pony.

With a, with adorable ponies, through a  landscape that has been festooned with lights and has little Christmas scenes. Speaking  of ponies, we also learned during this conversation that Wyatt’s horse Dash and Heath’s  horse Snowbell have a little romance going on.

Awww. A little extra romance for the movie.

And proving that Wyatt has no sense  of timing, it’s now that he proposes to Deb that they sell the ranch because it is losing so  much money. He actually pulls out a prospectus, which has details of area comps. And  it’s just like, Ugh, dude, read the room.

Yeah. As many business deals as  he’s ever done to get to where he is, you would think he would know, maybe not to pull  that out in the middle of dinner, especially, come on, with your family and among guests.  That’s something that you should maybe keep between you and your mom and not the family  friend and the staff. It’s like, oh, dude.

Yeah, that brings dinner to  a swift end. And in the morning, Wyatt visits Dash in the stables.  Mr. Horse is not impressed.

It’s been a running conversation  till now that Wyatt kind of needs to apologize to Dash because of the length  of time he’s been gone. And sure enough, the horse is really like, you’re here, great.

Deb tells Wyatt that she has looked  over the proposal and if he wants to sell, she will consider it. And it’s here that we  learned that he’s the one who’s been paying the property taxes for some time, essentially  keeping everything afloat. He wants to know if she’s truly happy and what exactly is  she holding on to by staying at the ranch? I think it’s here at this, you know, mother, son moment that we learn that Wyatt’s  motives aren’t completely mercenary.

Yeah. He was just  going about them all wrong.

Granted he has his own issues with  the ranch and wanting to sell it personally, but his mom isn’t quite herself. And I think he’s making a genuine attempt to try and  solve the situation that they’re in.

I would agree. And it’s an interesting  pivot on the normal situation we find in these kind of movies, because it’s usually the  parents are selling the childhood home, and the child’s like, wait, no, don’t do that. I  grew up here. I have memories. And in this case, it’s a little bit of a pivot that the it’s the  child who’s suggesting to sell the family property for different reasons and at least partially  because his mom may not be happy there anymore.

At the hot chocolate  stand by the carriage rides, Wyatt and Heath get into a bit of a tiff  about selling. Heath has lots of great ideas, but Wyatt rejects all of them out of hand.  The ranch has always been a money pit and it always will be. Wyatt is quite honestly being  a bit of a dick right here, but he’s not wrong. Later while he is going about his chores, Heath  spots Wyatt covering his mother’s hydrangeas

Yeah. He cares about his mom. He cares  about what his mom cares about and he does care at least a little bit for some things on the  ranch, such as these hydrangeas on the porch.

And to continue driving that point  home, that night at the local Christmas fair, Heath is commiserating with Blake  about what a jerk Wyatt is. And, she breaks the news to him that Wyatt’s  the one who’s been keeping the ranch running and essentially paying  Heath’s salary and her vet fees.

Yeah, Blake knows what’s up.

Yeah. He might seem like  a Scrooge, but he does care. Heath is dropping off a poinsettia arrangement for  Deb at the main house, and he’s making some tea in the kitchen when he is surprised by Wyatt and he  scalds his hand. And while running his hand under the cold tap, the two of them share a moment, a  kind of momentary cease fire by the kitchen sink.

Yeah. This is a nice turning  point moment, because until now they’ve just been sniping at each other  in a very cute way. I have to say, in this viewing that we did to prepare to record  this, I found so much more entertainment and humor coming from their kind of sniping at each  other, just because of the way that they do it. Particularly Heath. He is charming while he’s  sniping at the same time. It’s very interesting.

Yeah. Wyatt shares that the holidays make  him think about the things that are missing from his life. And he also surreptitiously mentions  being gay. Info that is heretofore been unknown to Heath, and it adorably flabbergasts  him. But now at least they’ve got some shared experience. Growing up gay in small town  Colorado comes with its own set of challenges. And like you said earlier, I think this getting to know you segment is really  charming and a lot of fun.

It’s a very nice tone shift for these two.

So really briefly, I want to take a second  to talk about the guy whose been making all of this happen behind the scenes. Jake Helgren wrote,  produced, and directed “Dashing in December.” He has a lot of experience with Christmas movies,  just like this. And he’s done a ton of Lifetime movies, like “Psycho Stripper,” and “Killer  Dream Home.” And if you’re familiar with

It’s like a perfect category romance. He  hits all of these beats as a writer and then he just puts the story up on the screen with  all the good directorial bits that he throws into his own script. I mean, it’s really  ideal the way that the story is crafted.

While sitting in front of the tree with  a cup of tea, Wyatt asked Heath why the ranch and specifically working there means so much to  him. And he shares a story of when he was a kid and his dad had left him and his mom. His mom  was so sad until one holiday they came to the ranch for the carriage ride. It was the lights  and the people, and it just all made things a little bit better. And for Heath, the ranch is  important because it represents joy and hope.

And if that doesn’t give you a reason  why Heath now wants to fight for the ranch, I don’t know what would. It’s as much, in a sense, home for him, going even further back  than the years that he’s worked there, because of what it represents to him as a kid.  So he’s got all the more investment in the ranch, and even in the family that runs the ranch  now because of what it meant to him as a kid. And I just love that extra little something that  the ranch is more than a recent thing for him,

The next morning, Dasher is in a much  more forgiving mood and Wyatt and Heath go for a ride together, showcasing the beautiful  landscape of the location that they’re in, while also extending the getting  to know you phase of the romance. And after that Blake gets the whole gang together cause they’re going to go  out drinking and dancing.

Because you have to, in a cowboy  romance movie, you got to go to the honkytonk.

I really enjoyed this whole scene. Not only  because it’s a lot of fun for the characters, but I also think is another really good example  of the movie doing a really respectable job when presented with such limitations.  “Dashing in December” came out in 2020, which means that it was shot on  location under strict COVID protocols.

Yeah. I was thinking the same thing as  we watched it, that they did a really nice job with camera angles, and background noise, and  other things to make us feel like that this was a hoppin’ place. Maybe not on a weekend, but it  might’ve been a week night. We don’t know when

Hats off also to the choreographer. The  fact that there even was obviously someone who worked with the actors and the extras on a few  dance moves is a big plus in my opinion. Because generally in Christmas movies like this, there  is at least, you know, one crowd scene where they go to a large gathering, whether it  be something fancy like at Christmas ball, or some sort of holiday fun fair where there’s  music and dancing, giving our main characters a

Yeah. Everybody was doing the  same line dance, which was nice. And Heath and Wyatt certainly had some, if not  smoldering looks, at least some like I see you over there dancing, you know, near me,  and I like what I see, kind of moments.

At the club, Deb runs into  Carlos, her retired ranch foreman, and shares that she’s thinking of selling, before  the two of them take a slow spin across the dance floor. Blake suggests that Wyatt dance with Heath.  But, he says, no, certainly not in a country bar.

Yeah, that was a big backfire. I was  like, oh no. This was a beautiful scene between these two, not only establishing  more of Heath’s relationship with the ranch and that he even was part of what  is such a hard time for Wyatt, you know, missing his dad and missing what they had  with the carriage rides back in the day. And, then looking at a little bit of their individual  pasts and that horrible moment for Heath.

Yeah. It’s after this conversation,  and later at Christmas services, that Wyatt can’t help but look down  the pew at Heath with new eyes.

Hearts in his eyes this time.

Exactly. And after the service, Carlos asks Deb out,  but she’s hesitant. There has been something there and, you know, a little bit of a spark  between them for quite a while. And he quite rightly points out that them staying lonely isn’t  really honoring the memories of her husband or his wife. They both deserve a chance at something  new, a new happiness might be just what they need.

Listen to Carlos. He speaks wise words.

The next day Heath leads  the Christmas carriage rides while mother and son have a heart  to heart at the hot cocoa station.

As one does.

Deb is all like you and Heath, huh? But Wyatt is all like, w  what’s the deal with you and Carlos? They put a pin in that discussion so  that Wyatt can work on a potential investor in the ranch. His plan  is to turn it into a race track.

Who knows?

I it’s sort of, I don’t know.

It seems a little off the beaten path  to stick a racetrack. I dunno. I’m sure it made sense to somebody at some point to stick a  racetrack or way up on a mountain in Colorado.

Well, to me it doesn’t compute, but as it’s presented in this story,  it’s like their best worst option.

Sure. At least it was different than what you  usually get in these scenarios where it’s like, we’re just going to slap a resort over there. In  this case, we’re going to put a horse track. I don’t know. It was weird. Maybe the horse track  came with a resort at some point. Who can say.

So, Heath is happy for  Deb where Carlos is concerned, if that’s what she wants. But he is still  of the mind that they don’t have to sell the ranch. They just need one good  idea. And she is of the same mind, but concedes that Wyatt is right, things  simply won’t last going the way that they are.

Which interestingly is not only true for  the ranch, but for all of our characters as well.

That night after dinner, Heath  takes Wyatt to a surprise that he is prepared. He has decked out the pavilion  in twinkle lights. It’s all sparkly and romantic. Now previously Wyatt said that  he had never danced with a guy before and now with a sweet country song playing in  the background. He can dance with Heath.

Swoony goodness.

Swoony. It’s so swoony.

It’s a beautiful gesture. And how shy  Wyatt becomes around it is also just adorable.

And after they dance, they take a ride  through the festively lit carriage route. They talk about the past and they think about  the future and they share their first kiss. Now Wyatt wants to make a gesture of his  own. And while Deb helps him set that up, she asked why he has stayed away for so long.  The thing is there are so many memories of his dad wrapped up in the ranch that when  he died, it was painful for Wyatt to

No, it did not. This  was really supposed to be Wyatt’s big gesture back to Heath and  it just dissolved so badly. Once again, Wyatt doesn’t know how to read a room, let’s  start there. Starting with the Mercedes was a mistake and then even thinking for a hot minute  that Heath would want to go to New York. Maybe use his graphic design degree might’ve been fine,  but Heath is not a city boy by any stretch.

So we’re at the point in the movie  where we get an everybody is sad, montage, Wyatt is packing and he also visits his  father’s grave. Heath watches “It’s A Wonderful Life” on the screen that, Wyatt set  up in the stable as part of his previous grant gesture. And as Wyatt prepares to go, his mom  makes one last attempt to convince him to stay, and that he and Heath are good together. Despite  their differences, they make each other stronger.

It’s a much better plan than a horse track.

Wyatt apologizes for what he said. And  it’s all thanks to Heath that he’s finally woken up and aware of all the possibilities for  the ranch and for the two of them. He explains some further details of the business venture  he’s managed to whip up in the last 24 hours.

Twenty-four hours? How about 10  minutes? It was just one phone call.

And he would like to know if  Heath is interested in a partnership, both professional because he’s sure going  to need some help running this place, and romantic because Heath is definitely the guy  for him. They seal their happy ending with a kiss, and take one last carriage ride into the  sunset at their own personal winter wonderland.

It was such a satisfying movie and I liked  it better the second time than the first. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that while we’ve been doing  this. I certainly got, more of the nuances in the second viewing, but also liked it more too. I  liked it well enough last year when it premiered, but on the second viewing, I just got so many  warm and fuzzies all the way through it. Even as Wyatt and Heath were kind of doing this push  and pull with each other, which like you said,

Yeah, I loved revisiting this movie. Like I  really, really loved it. It satisfies everything I could ever want in a Christmas movie and as a  romance reader. I was really into the love story, like great classic tropes brought to  life on screen in a fun, feel good way. Now, if you haven’t seen “Dashing in December”  and want to add it to your holiday watch list, you can purchase or rent it on Amazon Prime. You could also try checking your local  cable listings for seasonal replays.

Yeah, like you, I loved  revisiting that movie. It was, oh, so sweet. And just a nice little addition to  all of the holiday movies premiering this year.

This episode's transcript has  been brought to you by our community on Patreon. If you'd like to read  the conversation for yourself, head on over to the show notes page for  this episode at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. We've got links to everything that  we've talked about in this episode.

Let's check in with ChatGPT  to see what it has to say. Hey, ChatGPT, what did you think of  our discussion about the movies?

I really enjoyed your discussion about  "The Christmas Setup" and "Dashing in December." What stood out to me most was how  you highlighted the depth and charm of both movies while balancing thoughtful  critiques with your genuine enthusiasm. It’s clear how much you both appreciate the  meaningful representation in these films, and I loved how you tied that into their  broader impact on LGBTQ+ holiday storytelling.

I love how we made it want  to go watch those movies. It just totally made me laugh when it  gave that as part of its response.

All right, that'll do it for now. I want  to mention that on Monday, December 16th, Cale Dietrich is going to be joining us to talk about  his latest YA romance, "The Rules of Royalty."

Yes, we'll be talking  to Cale about his queering of "The Princess Diaries," plus I'll  be sharing my favorite reads of 2024.

On behalf of Jeff and myself, we want to  thank you so much for listening, and we hope that you'll join us again soon for more discussions  about the kinds of stories we all love—the big gay fiction kind. Until then, keep  turning those pages and keep reading. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the  Frolic Podcast Network. Find more shows you’ll love at frolic.media/podcasts.  Original theme music by Daryl Banner.