This collection of short stories and essays was edited by Greg Herren with the hopes of providing an idea of what it is like to experience the holiday season as a gay man. The book starts off with a series of stories related to men who have not completely come out of the closet or are in the process. These stories generally deal with handling the family either with rough reactions or continuing to hide their homosexuality because it falls outside of parental situations.

There is one very funny story that centers around two college friends that participate in a "Christmas orphans," those with no where else to go for the holidays, celebration that goes terribly wrong when a co-worker of one of the attendees takes over the conversation with some very personal and less-than-appropriate questions.

There are also some romantic and touching stories, such as the last one, which tells the tale of middle-aged man who is recovering from breaking up with his partner of many years and learning to live with their now broken family with three adult children and an elderly dog. In the process of dealing with his dog's illness, he meets a really friend and nice vet.

Another piece is an essay about how the media has shifted the view of Christmas from the Peanuts and Rudolph to Pee-Wee Herman and the Star Wars Holiday Special. He is a bit harsh, I think, but his points are interesting all the same.

This was a quick read. As with most collections, there are some great ones, and others I found myself skimming through. Contrary to what you would think from looking at the title, this book would not be called porn, soft or otherwise. That is not to say that romance doesn't sometimes take front stage, but it is all part of the story. I was glad to read this one. I actually ran across it in my library and figured it might be an interesting holiday read.