Little Match Girl

by Dianne Hartsock

Christian can’t help himself. He’s falling in love with the sweet guy who’s been coming into the sandwich shop for the past several months. But Christian’s been avoiding the candle-seller all year, going so far as to cross the street to avoid walking by him. Ashamed, he wonders if Dani can ever forgive him.

Losing his mother to cancer, Dani has spent the last year in a haze of grief and loneliness. His life is selling candles, giving himself to any man who can pay, and saving himself from having to go home to his father’s brutality.

Desperate for a place to belong, Dani sets out, with Christian’s help, to find his mother’s family. Christian wants Dani to be happy, though the cost might be losing Dani forever.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Abuse

ebook

Published December 14, 2020

About the author

After growing up in California and spending the first ten years of marriage in Colorado, I now live in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon with my incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the endless hours I spend hunched over the keyboard letting my characters play.
I have to say, Oregon’s raindrops are the perfect setting in which to write. There’s something about being cooped up in the house while it pours rain outside, a fire crackles on the hearth inside, and a cup of hot coffee warms my hands, which kindles my imagination.
The intricate and fragile nature of the mind is always fascinating. Having worked with the public through various careers I’ve come to respect the resilience and strength of the human spirit. I’m always trying to capture that spirit in my writing.
Currently, I work as a floral designer in a locally-owned gift shop. Which is the perfect job for me. When not writing, I can express myself through the rich colors and textures of flowers and foliage.

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book! It made me cry buckets of tears! My only issue is that it's too short! Why?????

Yes, I got too involved, I know.

This is just the perfect romance read I was craving for and yes, for such books there's nothing like not a particular time to pick it up but you know it makes a perfect choice for all the LGBTQIAP romance lovers out there which involves the warmth and kindness if absolute strangers (the world needs more of this!).

Dani. One of the main characters. He has lost all his confidence growing up in an abusive household (warnings for physical and sexual abuse; death and grief).

Christian. The other main character. I am telling you we all deserve a Christian in our lives.

The writing got me right from the very first page. The story is good! The ending so damn satisfying.

But I still want proper justice for all the harm done to the characters.

I am still wishing for a second part. I do feel the book ended too soon.

Worth it!

Thank you, author and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

[Trio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice hurt/comfort holiday tale, loosely based on The Little Match Girl but freshened up with a non-binary main character and some interesting family drama. I honestly wish the author had taken the extra hundred pages they needed to really flesh this story into what it should have been. It's an excellent premise, but we're missing scenes and details which would have been terrific here.

Nicely written over all, there are a few continuity errors which could be easily sorted. I'll definitely look for this author again.

thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the ARC of Little Match Girl, my opinions are my own

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dani has no one. His mother died and his brutal father uses him to sell the candles Dani and his mom made. He isn’t safe living with the man so he spends as much time as he can on the streets. Christian met Dani in a coffee shop and was immediately smitten. Can two men from different worlds make a better life together?

Nice story with a Christmas theme. The characters were either good or very bad, seemed to be no in between. Dani was gender fluid (I think that the right description). Both main characters were sweethearts wo deserved the love they found

Good writing. Book was to short to really develop a backstory but that’s okay. It felt complete even though it was short.

This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review. Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.

[Doseofromance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
A very quick, somehow magical holiday read. There are a lot of dark themes and I recommend reading the author's note beforehand. There really isn't much to say because the book is really very short (I was done in about an hour) but I really appreciate the level of fluidity on gender(expression) and sexuality.

[Micaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, I really liked the plot about a guy who leaves an abusive home and finds love and comfort and truth. Also, the Romance was mostly really cute and believable. And the author's style was very engaging, I couldn't stop reading until I finished.
On the other hand, I was uncomfortable and bothered by some word choices which I found offensive, like referring often to one of the main characters as "effeminate", "feminine", or describing him as a "girl" or a "fairy" and talking about how it was better than a feminine woman because he was "less clingy". I'm sorry, what? How is this OK? If someone has an explanation, I really want to know. Because it feels weird to me. I value that it tries to show some fluidity in gender expression and all that, because it's necessary and quite cool, but the way in which it was done seemed unfortunate and shallow.
Anyway, it has the right Holiday spirit and cuteness and sexyness, with some very heavy topics and some action even to spice it up.

[Chelsey]

Oof. Nope. DNF after 1 chapter. First of all, the phrase (I’m paraphrasing) ‘If he didn’t know for certain he was a man, he would think Dani was a girl, despite the rough clothes. There was something sweet about him.’ includes at least 2 gender stereotypes. The writing was incredibly cheesy. The impoverished customer thinks the barista wants him to pay for his meal with sex, and the barista cups his face “with care” and says “when we have sex it will be because you want me to.” WTF! I can’t.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, first let me unpack this sort novel. There is a 17 year old man, Dani, who has never gone to school, who is being abused by his father, whose mother died last year, and who makes his living selling candles on the street. He is called the Little Match Girl because he is considered to be effeminate, and like the little match girl of the stories, sits out in the cold. Oh, and he wants to go to college some how, rather than continue to live with his drunken father who abuses him.

Christian has seen him in his coffee shop and thinks he is cute, and wants to give him head, although this is said much more graphically than that. [note, this is the first adult gay romance I have read in a long time, and I'm not used to quite so much talk about the male member, all the time. Bring out the smelling salts.] Christian is well to do, and only works because he wants to earn spending money. His apartment and college is paid for by his parents. He lacks for nothing, other than Dani, who he moons over.

They do end up in bed, no surprise.

It is a quick read. Dani is very, very damaged, and doesn't think like a 17 year old, so I had trouble getting into his thoughts. Christian is just lustful, and we don't get much more than that out of him.

So, all and all, a quick love story, with a lot of sex, which I skipped over, because I found that part boring.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Marion · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was provided to me for free by IndiGo Marketing in exchange for an honest review.

After the death of his mother Dani has no one left except his abusive, constantly drunk father and the last couple of candles his mother used to make and they used to sell together. But before he’d ever sleep under the same roof as his father he’d sleep on the street. That’s where Chris, the cute guy from the sandwich shop finds him and their finding one another – losing – finding one another again… story starts.
It’s actually a story with a lot of stuff happening and a lot of side topics that are just touched upon which leaves the impression of stereotyping and additionally reading through a summary and not a proper story. Neither do the characters get a chance to really get to know each other nor does the reader get really attached to them since it all seems kind of superficial. So although Dani’s fate is really heartbreaking it didn’t really get to me. I mean, please don’t get me wrong, thinking of a guy like him of course makes me sad but just reading about him in that story didn’t get to me.
But all in all, it’s actually a cute and quick and easy to read Christmas story, that doesn't go into any depth, although the content would certainly give it away, or even demand it in my opinion.

reviewed by link: kuschelbooks.com

[Terra Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super short read that can be finished in a day and that's coming from someone who's a very slow reader.

I wanted to thank NetGalley, NineStar Press, and Dianne Hartsock for giving me a chance to read and give my honest review of Little Match Girl.

Just as I stated above, this story is very short and honestly my only complaint about this wonderful story, I wanted so much more, though you get a lot of information on one of the characters in particular, I just couldn't get enough of it.

I should mention that this story deals with some really dark and intense themes so please look into the author's notes if you wish to pick up this story beforehand.

All in all, I was very pleased with this story. It was romantic, angsty, and to see the LGBTQ+ community along with gender expression being represented, it's definitely a story I could see myself picking by up in the future.

[Susan Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I‌ ‌received‌ ‌a‌ ‌copy‌ ‌of‌ ‌Little Match Girl by‌ ‌Dianne Hartsock via‌ ‌IndiGo‌ ‌Marketing‌ ‌&‌ ‌Design‌ ‌in‌ ‌exchange‌ ‌for‌ ‌an‌ ‌honest‌ ‌review.‌ A number of authors have taken traditional holiday fairy tales and given them a MM twist this winter. I liked how the author took selling matches, which is no longer a thing in the twenty-first century, and turned it into selling handmade candles. Dani is an appealing waif whose luck starts to turn, helped along by college boy Christian (perhaps an homage to the original author Hans Christian Andersen). The two have issues to resolve, mostly revolving around trust, before they can find their HEA but since this is a modern fairy tale, of course they do. Hartsock has become almost an autobuy author for me, as I enjoy her take on fantasy.

[Iz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Little Match Girl" is a very sweet and very short novella about Dani, a poor homeless candle-seller and Christian, a barista in a local shop, and how their lives change once they decide to give their relationship a try. I liked it quite a bit and I liked both of the MCs too, especially Dani: my heart broke for him so much.
The ending was heartwarming and hopeful, the perfect novella for this time of year, even though I wished it had been longer (I would have loved to read a bit more about Christian's life and past and I would have loved it if his personality were a slightly more shaped).
I totally recommend it if you're looking for a quick, soft read about second chances and hope.

[RACHEL REED · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and emotional read

I do wish it was a little longer, since I was just getting into the characters and the storyline when it was cut short.

I didn't expect the author's writing style to be so intense.
I expected a cute fluffy read, but this was angsty and emotional.

The tone of the storyline was unexpected but I absolutely loved it overall.

[Rona Nimmo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little Match Girl by Dianne Hartsock

An easy read story based very loosely on the story of the little match girl. Dani is being abused by his father and now homeless is selling candles to escape his situation. He then mets Christian from the coffee shop.

Ok read though not what I was expecting books content a bit lacking. 2.5/5

[Annarella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but not my cup of tea as it was too cheesy for my taste.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine