Dylan the Bad Boy Reindeer & His Virtuous Mate is the fifth book in the ‘Willy the Kinky Elf’ series. This story is told in first person through the eyes of Dylan, a tough reindeer from Mistletoe Hill, and Cole Crawford, a respected jewelry designer at the North Pole.

3.5 Stars



The blurb does a good job explaining the plot so I won’t go into it much further. The book picks up at the Christmas party from Book 4 and is a more serious story. There’s more mystery added to the overall arching series plot and this book sort of ends on a cliff-hanger with what happens to Mrs. Claus and who really is Dylan’s biological father?. I hope the author answers the Dylan question before the series ends. I’m sure some readers will like the mystery to remain a mystery, but I’m not one of them. I prefer mysteries are solved.

Speaking of mysteries, that’s one of the things the author does well in these stories. Each book has its own little mystery that’s usually tied up at the end, but larger mysteries are carried from story to story. The biggest mystery is Santa. How did he come into existence, what will happen between him and Mrs. Claus? Personally, I hope he dumps her and finds someone who will make him happy. And what really was his relationship to Dylan and Dylan’s mother? If you read this book, you’ll learn Santa isn’t on the up and up when it comes to Dylan.

The characters Dylan and Cole worked well together. Dylan dreamed of a stable, loving home and family, and he found it in Cole. Cole considered himself boring, but the author did a good job of conveying Cole’s down to earth personality, his steadiness, and his lack of judgment when it came to Dylan’s past. I believed in these two as a couple.

I didn’t quite enjoy this book as much as the others because of some issues that popped up. I thought Willy didn’t sound like Willy. His jokes and personality seemed more forced than in previous books. Like he was trying too hard. Also, most of the time the author’s writing style flows easily from one scene to the next in all the books, but sometimes in this one, it didn’t feel like that. The last thing I noticed started in Book 4, but I thought it was a one-book thing, the author’s use of the word, ‘lean’. For example, “The reindeer leaned on the post,” “The elf leaned on the desk, lamppost, door…” etc. It’s probably just me, but I notice when actions or words are overused, especially something like ‘leaned,’ which is more unusual than ‘smiled’ or ‘grinned’, making the word stick out when it’s used.

Dylan the Bad Boy Reindeer is an enjoyable read despite the few issues I had with it. I believed in Dylan and Cole as a couple and I liked the mystery. I put my request in to the author and hope that she reveals the final mystery I mentioned earlier. I know I’ll be very disappointed if the series ends without the answer to Dylan’s question. Anyway, this is a fun addition to the series and I give this book 4 Stars.

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