Reviewed by Sammy
TITLE: The Little Matchboy
SERIES: An MM Fairy Tale Romance
AUTHOR: Jackie North
PUBLISHER: Blue Rain Press
LENGTH: 201 pgs.
RELEASE DATE: November 10, 2020
BLURB:
One is a Chicago hoodlum. The other is a young man with an abusive father.
One is not looking for love. The other is lost in a swirl of snow and despair and needs to be found. Sean is in Harlin to visit a friend and is uncomfortable with the small town vibe. His plan is to head back to Chicago asap, but after he stops a father from beating his son, the young man catches his heart. Should Sean go or should he stay? Ever since his mom left them,
Roddy is overwhelmed by his Dad’s drinking and abuse as he struggles to keep the family shop afloat. When Dad is arrested, Roddy is left on his own. Will Sean return home? Will Roddy find his way in the snow?
A m/m fairy tale romance retelling of The Little Matchgirl. Includes cameos from Cory and Alex from Hot Chocolate Kisses
REVIEW:
While I can only vaguely recall reading the story A Little Matchgirl long ago I can assure you that author Jackie North’s retelling of it, entitled The Little Matchboy, is quite wonderful. When Sean, a rough and ready Chicago-born man drives to visit his best friend, Alex and his boyfriend Cory, he never intends remaining in the quaint little town they live in beyond a few days. But poor Princess, his vintage car, didn’t handle the trip cross-country very well and was stuck in the shop needing parts that would take the whole week to get. So he decides to take in the activities the town has to offer while waiting. When the trio of friends are out and about during the town’s winter festival, they notice a young man in a thin coat standing behind two tables full of mostly junk.
Roddy was responsible for doing the selling of the few items in the antique shop that had a chance of catching someone’s eye while his drunken father drank the day away inside. If it weren’t for the beatings his father seemed to dish out whenever Roddy made too much noise or asked too many questions, Roddy wouldn’t have minded being hungry and cold since the only family he had left when his mother split two years ago was his dad. But the shop had steadily been losing sales and the past due bills were racking up and not even the $500 bucks Roddy hid in his shoe box on the shelf hoping to attend college after winter break could come near to saving the business if his dad kept going the way he has been.
When a dish from Roddy’s sad little display accidentally breaks and Sean offers to pay for it, the idea of caring for the thin shivering Roddy begins to take root inside Sean’s mind. But Sean tries to talk himself out of it, reminding his stupid heart that he is a loner and must soon return to Chicago. Despite the fact that the kid pushes every one of his protective buttons, time and again Sean chides himself for getting involved. First it’s a sandwich, then a meal at the diner and lending the kid his coat and then spending New Year’s eve together with Alex and Cody. But everything snaps one night when the old man crosses a line. Sean steps in and the entire world upends sending Sean and Roddy to jail and Roddy’s dad to the hospital.
I hate to leave you hanging there but to tell you much more of this story would be to ruin what develops next between Roddy and Sean. It is no secret that I really enjoy Jackie North’s writing. She is not only an historically accurate novelist no matter the era but also one that takes the time to develop her characters with pain-staking detail so that a reader feels as though they have known them all their life. Roddy is just a gorgeous waif inside and out. He simply wants to be loved and not live in fear—something that hasn’t happened in way too long. Sean slowly realizes after getting to know Roddy and his circumstances that perhaps all his life has built to this moment where caring for someone—giving them a help up to a better life–is what his own life has been missing. The change in both men, which spans the entire novel, is really quite lovely to watch unfold. You can’t help but root for both of them especially as they each deal with pretty major loss during the story.
The Little Matchboy is that wonderful type of story that is not just made for the holidays but really easily read any time of the year. It provides a beautifully crafted happy ever after for two men who deserve it, in spades. I think it is a story that I can easily recommend to anyone who loves a slow burn romance featuring a slight age gap pair who surmount big odds to get the love they both desire and deserve.
RATING: 
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