REVIEWS ON 3 SHORT BOOKS ~ The Last Train, Fawn & A Holiday by Gaslight

TITLE: The Last Train
AUTHOR: Jamie Brindle

RELEASED: November 18, 2018
PUBLISHER:
FORMAT: eBook

GENRE: Adult fiction
GOODREADS RATING: 4.33

TRIGGERS: Abortion, death

SYNOPSIS
Stevie has just died, but that’s not the problem.

The problem is, where is she? And what is she doing here? And what is the mysterious Last Train, anyway?

I didn’t think a short story like this would impact me the way it did. With barely 41 pages, it still touched me, made me wonder what’s waiting for us after this life we’re living. I enjoyed reading this short story and.. if you feel like discovering another view on the “afterlife”, I’d say you should pick this one up. Especially since it barely takes you any time to read!

Because there always needs to be at least one quote, okay?!

TITLE: Fawn
AUTHOR: Nash Summers

RELEASED: June 3, 2015
PUBLISHER: M/M Romance Group on Goodreads
FORMAT: eBook

GENRE: Romance, LGBTQIA+
GOODREADS RATING: 4.20

TRIGGERS: Abuse (descriptions of physical and mental consequences), homophobia, bullying

SYNOPSIS AS ON GOODREADS
Dear Author,
The guy on the left finds everything beautiful. Creepily so. He makes art out of road kill, writes love letters to people he’s never met, and stares incessantly at pretty men without them ever noticing. He spotted the guy on the right walking his dog through fields, and made him his newest object of affection. Only problem was, when he started staring at this guy, he stared back.

Photo Description:
The backs of two teenage boys holding hands, one slightly leaning in toward the other. They’re walking through a field, illuminated by the sunlight in front of them. Around them are tall grasses and yellow stalks of wheat.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

I really, really loved this story. Told mostly from Rust’s POV, you get dragged into his little world and the way he experiences thing. Let me tell you, it’s so unique! He’s more interested in nature and his surroundings than he is in people which made him all the more precious to me.

There is insta-love going on since lightning strikes for him when he sees Ancel for the first time, but their relationship itself takes a long time to develop. Or at least, as long as it can with only 70+ pages but at least it doesn’t feel rushed.

Loved Ancel’s bad boy vibe; the way he struggled with himself. I do wish I could’ve gotten inside his head a bit more though. He’s had a rough youth with an alcoholic, homophobic father and.. I feel sorry for him. But he’s so lovable still!

There’s one pretty graphic sex scene present- just so you know before going into this story.

Because there always needs to be at least one quote, okay?!

TITLE: A Holiday by Gaslight
AUTHOR: Mimi Matthews

RELEASED: November 13, 2018
PUBLISHER: Perfectly Proper Press
FORMAT: eBook

GENRE: Historical fiction, romance
GOODREADS RATING: 4.16

SYNOPSIS
A Courtship of Convenience

Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He’s grim and silent. A man of little emotion—or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months of courtship, she’s ready to put an end to things.

A Last Chance for Love

But severing ties with her taciturn suitor isn’t as straightforward as Sophie envisioned. Her parents are outraged. And then there’s Charles Darwin, Prince Albert, and that dratted gaslight. What’s a girl to do except invite Mr. Sharpe to Appersett House for Christmas and give him one last chance to win her? Only this time there’ll be no false formality. This time they’ll get to know each other for who they really are.

I picked this one up after Destiny recommended it to me. It was the first time ever I bought a book [doesn’t even matter it’s a Kindle one] immediately after someone telling me to read it and.. I was kind of scared it would disappoint me but it didn’t?! Goes to show why I trust Destiny’s opinion on books, ha!

Historical fiction usually is really something I rarely pick up and am, at the very least, very picky about. Since I am a sucker for Christmas / holiday romances, I was happy to give this one a shot anyway!
The atmosphere is truly amazing. It oozes the romance I do love about historical fiction and the settings connected with it. Not to mention the snow, mistletoe and holiday spirit!

As for our main characters.. I truly liked reading and crawling inside their minds. Sophie is headstrong, knows what she wants and tries combining that with her loyalty towards her family. She’s ready to take on whatever so her family can have an easier life, but she doesn’t back off when things aren’t going her way either. Truly an interesting character since that isn’t all that usual in that era.
As for Edward.. I couldn’t help but find him too funny! Trying to follow etiquette by using a kind of handbook for it.. Well.. You can see how that wouldn’t really work out all that well. I couldn’t help but pity him while thinking him funny at the same time.

All in all this definitely is a cute, atmospheric read with loads of fluff!

What do you think? Do any of these short reads look interesting to you?
Which one are you most keen to pick up yourself?
Which one would you definitely pass upon?

Advertisement