REVIEWED BY PAUL
TITLE: Last Leap of the First Foot
AUTHOR: Ari McKay
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 43 Pages
BLURB: Iain Donaldson and Bran MacRae have been best friends since childhood, despite Iain being part of the gentry and Bran a mere crofter’s son. Iain’s feelings of friendship have deepened over time, and he suspects Bran might share his inclinations—and Hogmanay may be the time to confess feelings. As the old year becomes the new, Iain keeps his promise to first-foot at the MacRae cottage, and Bran takes the opportunity to bare his heart—will it be enough to overcome the challenges to their budding relationship?
A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2013 Advent Calendar package “Heartwarming”.
REVIEW:
A co-lab that captures the ol’times in the 1890’s Scotland brilliantly. A high-class Lord is long-time friends with a lower-class farmer. Between the two there has always been close friendship, but as the New-year approaches they are both willing to tell the other about their feelings.
But the tension that that brings, the anguish that comes with that, the risks they might be taking, holds them back to really confess. But when Iain decides to take the step into the unknown, Bran (a mere crofter’s son) runs off. Scared to tell his family to be into lads instead of lasses. But his mother confronts him and tells him that Love is Love and is very accepting.
After that Bran can finally follow his heart and tell Iain that he’s willing to love him back, and they have a brilliantly written sensual love scene, that tells the reader of a Happy End.
As I am not a standard fan of Historical stories, this story surprised me in a good way. The Scottish accent that was more readable than I expected. The characters were well build and the anguish was described in a way that made it truly believable. The anxiety that comes with coming-out to a good friend sends ones brain on a rollercoaster-ride. And telling him that it’s not just boys you like, but it’s actually him, makes you scared that your whole world will fall apart, if he’d tell you he’s not into you. This anxiety is very well captured by the authors. The fact that after finding out their true friendship they quickly have sex together is rather quick, too quick for some, but for me is no more than logical as their passion has been smothering for far too long. It does take an educated reader to get used to the use of the Scottish accent though. Therefor I rate this novella with 3.75 stars, because it’s very “heart warming” and lovely written.
RATING : 
[3.75 stars]
BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press
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ADVENT CALENDER EVENT
Dreamspinner Press and The Blog of Sid Love bring to you an opportunity where you get to win a free set of DSP’s “Heartwarming” Advent Calender 2013. Yes! The full set with 31 stories including contributions from authors like Andrew Grey, Cardeno C., Grace R. Duncan, and many more…
If you wish to enter yourself into this contest, all you have to do is comment on every advent event post we make each day till the end of this month. Look out for titles with “Advent Calender Event” mentioned in them (such as this one) and the posts will be reviews on each and every story from this anthology.
The contest will end on 1st January, 2014 and the winners will be announced on the 2nd of January.
So, good luck to you all and Happy Holidays!
Sounds good. I have a soft spot for a Scottish accent. 🙂
Getting used to an accent takes a bit of time but this sounds like it’ll be worth it!
The title is quite unusual to me and caught my attention right away.
I lvoe heart warming tales. Sometimes that is just what I need.
Sounds like a good one…. I like a good Laird story
When I was younger, I sought out books that taught me about other cultures and languages. Many books I’ve read lately don’t do that as much, so I really look forward to reading this one. And the cover? Such a warm, inviting scene. I can almost smell the homey scent of the firewood burning.