Flopping in a Winter Wonderland

by Jason June, Jason June (Read by), Shawn K Jain (Read by)

Overview

Sparks are flying in Winter Wonderland this Christmas in this LGBTQ+ young adult rom-com from Jason June, New York Times bestselling author of Out of the Blue, Jay’s Gay Agenda, and Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball!

All Aaron wants for Christmas is for his brother, Casey, to get over his ex, Raquel. He’d prefer not to be at Winter Wonderland, the island north of Alaska that’s home to a year-round Christmas theme park. But Casey loves Christmas, so here they are. Unfortunately for Aaron, Casey’s determined to do anything to win Raquel back.

All Kris wants for Christmas is for his uncle to move back to Winter Wonderland to be the first gay Santa. To make that happen Kris needs to win the Race, his grade’s annual competition to see who can get a guest to fall in love with them first. Winning means a trip to New York, where Kris would be able to plead his uncle’s case to the founder of Winter Wonderland himself.

After some slippery ice sends Aaron and Kris literally flopping into each other, Kris agrees to help Aaron with his plan to keep Casey single. But in all their scheming, both can’t stop thinking about kissing the other, and it’s not just because of the mistletoe around every corner. Too bad true love isn’t on either of their Christmas lists. . . .

This adorable rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Jason June unwraps the healing power of love and the magic of the Christmas season. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798874803360
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/12/2024
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 5.51(h) x 1.02(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jason June writes young adult works full of queer joy and love and lust and magic. He is the author of Jay’s Gay Agenda and Out of the Blue can be found on social media@heyjasonjune and on his website atwww.heyjasonjune.com.

Shawn K. Jain is a Harvard University/Moscow Art Theater School/A.R.T. Institute graduate. Shawn has TV credits for shows on Apple TV+, CBS, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Showtime, and Peacock, and he has narrated audiobooks for Penguin Random House, Hachette, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Epic!, Blackstone, GraphicAudio, and HQN. Shawn can be heard on many episodes of the romcom podcast Meet Cute and on Atypical Artists' audio dramas Life with LEO(h) and Maxine Miles. He also voiced a migrant worker for UCLA Labor Center's Re:Work Radio podcast. Sean Daniels, artistic director of Arizona Theatre Company, said he finds "few actors funnier in the world than Shawn."

Prior to saying yes to his calling to be an actor, Shawn was a communications and marketing professional who did important work with organizations like the ACLU and the International AIDS Society. Born and raised in Northern California, Shawn received his BA from UC Berkeley. In addition to acting, Shawn has several pilots in development. Shawn writes stories that deal with the brokenness of people and society (even when things seem glittering and beautiful on the outside). Shawn is queer and of South Asian descent. A native English speaker who is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Hindi, Shawn can do British, Farsi, Hindi, Indian, Urdu, and Arabic accents.

Editorial Reviews

Full of big feelings, quirky characters, and the perfect amount of warm fuzzies, June’s latest queer YA romcom is sure to thaw even the coldest of hearts and will leave readers craving more romance in life and fiction. — Booklist

Winter heats up quickly when two gay teens find themselves falling in love. Steamier than a cup of hot cocoa—and just as sweet. — Kirkus Reviews

"Jason June delivers an effervescent young adult contemporary romcom that feels like a Christmas fantasy, teeming with all the laugh-out-loud, misty-eyed and blush-inducing moments and snow a quintessential holiday romance can hold. FLOPPING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND is delightful." — Kelis Rowe, author of FINDING JUPITER

"Leave it to Jason June to make the Yuletide even gayer. FLOPPING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND is a blissful holiday romp with enough heart, soul, and Christmas cheer to make it onto Santa's own bookshelf. Kris and Aaron's story is an absolute delight—so much so, I bet even the Grinch couldn't put this book down." —  Robbie Couch, New York Times bestselling author 

"Flopping in a Winter Wonderland is an instant holiday classic. A very merry delight that is sure to get you in the spirit!" — Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

"The earnest explorations of what true happiness really means and whether Christmas can be radically inclusive make for an undoubtable gift for readers in the holiday spirit." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

From the Publisher

2024-09-28
Winter heats up quickly when two gay teens find themselves falling in love.

Aaron Merry is a SoCal native whose mom’s sudden abandonment of the family left him cynical about love. When his Christmas-obsessed older brother, Casey, suffers a brutal breakup with his longtime girlfriend, Aaron agrees to accompany him on a last-minute, 12-day trip to Winter Wonderland, an island off Alaska with a year-round Christmas theme. Meanwhile, Kris Bright has lived in Winter Wonderland his entire life. His beloved uncle left the island when the theme park refused to feature an openly gay Santa. Now Kris is determined to win the Race, his friend group’s annual competition: Whoever can make a tourist profess their love first gets to accompany Anjelica, daughter of Wonderland’s founder, on her annual trip to the family’s Manhattan penthouse. If he can just speak to Anjelica’s dad in person, Kris is sure he can persuade him to bring Uncle Toby back. When Aaron’s and Kris’ paths literally collide, sparks fly. As they team up to sabotage Casey’s plans to win back his ex, they start falling hard for each other. But can a relationship that began as a game survive? June’s characters, both major and minor, have distinct voices and backstories, and they’re easy to root for. The hijinks throughout add hilarity to the central love story, and the beautifully depicted setting immerses readers in Christmas cheer. Main characters present white.

Steamier than a cup of hot cocoa—and just as sweet. (map)(Romance. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews