Review: Grateful by Kim Fielding

Title: Grateful (Sleigh Ride: Advent Calendar 2015)

Author: Kim Fielding

Pages/Word Count: 40 Pages

At a Glance: I definitely recommend this fun little read!

Reviewed By: Jules

Blurb: Nate Roth’s latest dumb stunt has left him with a broken arm, black eye, and stitched chin—and extra trepidation about visiting his family for Hanukkah. He fears his relatives will put him through another round of criticism for his foolish choices and his nonexistent love life. Several mishaps during his short journey to his parents’ house don’t bode well. But along the way he meets impossibly gorgeous Gio DiPietro—and maybe it’s time for Nate’s risk-taking impulses to turn out well for a change.

Review: Grateful, Kim Fielding’s offering for this year’s Dreamspinner Advent collection, had me smiling and giggling from page one. I immediately adored Nate, and, where usually first-person narratives are not my favorite to read, this one totally worked for me. The tone is funny and light – the opening is hilarious – and while Nate is self-deprecating and clearly has a handful of self-esteem issues, he still comes off as bright and endearing.

Nate meets Gio while melting down at a truck stop, but luckily, instead of thinking he’s a head case, Gio finds him charming. I enjoyed Gio’s character a lot as well. He’s super sweet and refined, and I love how tickled he is by Nate’s quirks and foibles. He’s clearly a bit lonely, though, a fact that Nate tunes in to right away. Gio’s idea to help Nate out of his Hanukkah gift jam is fantastic and so creative. And, the way it’s set up in the story, not finding out what the two of them picked out until Nate is with his family is perfect.

Aside from just loving Nate in general, the scenes with his family are my favorite parts of the story. They are all really lovely, and their love for Nate just shines through – though Gio has to clear the fog of his perceived inadequacy away for him a bit to help him see it. My one complaint about the book, however, would be that there simply wasn’t enough with Nate and Gio together. I dug them both individually, and there was enough to establish an attraction and a fondness, but more of them being together – and I’m not talking about on page sex – would have been nice. These darn short stories! Ha!

The writing and flow of the story were fantastic. Aside from wanting a bit more backstory, for Gio especially, and some more ‘screen time’ for the guys as a couple, I have nothing but praise for Grateful. I definitely recommend this fun little read!