Reviewed by Sid
TITLE: Last First Kiss
AUTHOR: Piper Vaughn
LENGTH: 53 pages
BLURB: After the death of his aunt, Phillip Wynne is left adrift. He isn’t sure how to mourn the woman who raised him with so little affection. His only solace is his childhood friend, Ryan.
Ryan has always been the one bright thing in Phillip’s life, but while Ryan lives out and proud, Phillip is terrified by the feelings Ryan inspires in him. For years he’s kept them locked away, but when Ryan suddenly confesses his love, Phillip discovers that denying his own feelings might be the only thing scarier than finally owning up to them.
REVIEW:
Piper Vaughn’s entry for the Love has no boundaries event on M/M Romance Group (GR) is a sweet, gay-for-you tale which bring waves of emotions on.
The book starts out with Phillip mourning his aunt’s death – the only person who he’s had as family for years after his parents died and as he reminisces, we get the picture that their relationship hadn’t been that well. Phillip was well aware that his aunt had only been with him for all the money his parents had left. But he still feels that he owes it to her, no matter what, for taking his responsibility.
Ryan is the best friend who has loved Phillip for years; for whom Phillip has had feelings too. But Phillip is scared and afraid of letting himself loose, especially after the one horrific incident – the time his aunt had caught him kissing Ryan in the past. That ghost of a memory haunts him till this day. But is it love, if it would keep the lovers apart for long?
The affection and the yearning seeps into their relationship once again when Ryan comes back to soothe Phillip’s pain. And after years of holding back, the dam bursts at the confession he makes to Phillip.
Ryan is the character I loved throughout this story. His patience with Phillip and the gentle way in which he proceeds in their relationship was wonderful in my opinion. He deserved the happy ending to his love story. Phillip, on the other hand, was a bit too complicated of a personality. This is the point where I should tell you that I never usually read a GFY story because I don’t really relate to them. So Phillip being the one who keeps repeating the “you-are-the-only-guy-that-does-it-for-me-and-no-one-else” mantra, it was hard to connect with him. His closeted issues didn’t help either. That is the reason it was so hard for me to see how the story ends. I wouldn’t dare to say a closeted guy can’t get married to a guy one day. But it is simply impossible to believe it when you don’t get the story building up to that point.
Nonetheless, the writing of Piper Vaughn makes up for every flaw the storyline carries. Some beautiful moments are captured in form of powerful dialogues. The author exploits the words in every way to portray the love between the two characters. It is very romantic, yes, when they finally take their relationship ahead and Phillip decides to give his true feelings a chance. That is why, I am sure this isn’t going to be the only time I am going to read this book.
Last First Kiss is a quick read and heck, it’s available free for download on Piper Vaughn’s website, so grab it while you can.
Sid’s Rating: 
BOOK LINK: Piper Vaughn’s Website