Title: The Last Snow of Winter
Author: Ian Muise
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel (190 pages)
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
A Guest Review by Aunt Lynn
One Sentence Review: Headhopping, insta-love and a bit of odd behavior got in the way of making this a perfect read for me.
***This review contains what could be considered spoilers***
THE BLURB
As spring break arrives, Mark Poole is focused on his goal of becoming a veterinarian, set on pleasing his proud parents even though he really wants to be an artist. He also carefully keeps his desires frozen—for their sake. But he can’t help the attraction he feels for the burly, unapproachable lineman who shares two of his classes.
Cliff Stevens is equally set on achieving his adopted dream of becoming a professional football player to the exclusion of almost everything else. Cliff drifts through the days alone, but he can guess what Mark has in mind when he catches him watching one day.
After an accidental encounter, Cliff proposes a bargain: for one week during the break, they will set aside their reservations and play at being together, exploring each other, and perhaps even learning a little about themselves as well.
THE REVIEW
The Last Snow of Winter seems to be the first effort for new author Ian Muise. This will be a mixed-feelings review; while there were parts that I liked about this sweet, gentle, relatively conflict-free, generally well-written romance, there were several things that bothered me.
Covering about two weeks in March 1989 in eastern Canada, before the days of the Internet (as we know it) and students having their own laptops to type up their papers, tLSoW opens with us meeting Mark, a pre-vet senior making his way home one evening from the Library during the university’s spring break. Though his course of study is set to science, he is also a promising artist and would prefer to do that if it weren’t for trying to live up to what his parents would want. It’s a bit icy, but also very quiet around with the rest of the students gone, so when he gets knocked to the ground accidentally, he is unprepared and breaks his elbow. Psych major and pro football hopeful Cliff wasn’t watching where he was going and didn’t mean to knock down Mark, especially since he’s had his eye on Mark for a while now. It’s immediately clear that they are attracted to one another, so Cliff takes the opportunity to take care of Mark during the week-long break they both have, which gives them plenty of time to get to know one another. But Cliff isn’t out and his fears over being even thought of as gay — a no-no in the pro football world — present challenges if they want to take their relationship further.
What worked for me:
I liked both protags very much, and especially Cliff. His unlikely gentleness drew me in and charmed me much of the time. I bought his insecurities, his concern about appearances and how people see both him and the fear of being seen as gay. I also could see how painful it must be for someone to want something so badly, but coming to terms to that probably not being realistic. I think it was helpful for him to be a psych major as he is more open to exploring issues and confronting fears.
I liked that they awoke in each other new ways of looking at themselves, each other and their world, challenging each other to grow and face themselves. I understood their needs to please their families, even by looking at futures that aren’t what they really want or can live up to.
Strong themes of fear, facing those fears and being true to oneself run strong here. I liked that they talked through many of the concerns and feelings they had — until Cliff didn’t, that is. 🙂
What didn’t:
I am not a fan of insta-love, and the author has our heroes exchanging the Three Little Words very quickly, within 48 hours for one and a day or two later for the other. I realize that they knew about each other before, but they weren’t even acquaintances previous to the accident.
We get Mark’s third-person POV for the first 10 or so pages, then suddenly we get Cliff’s thrown in, and thus starts a pretty intense head-hopping, causing me to re-read sentences at times to make sure I know who was talking. Anyone who knows me from this site knows that this style of narration is a pet peeve of mine.
I am unsure of part of Cliff’s motivation for doing what he did in fear of being outed, and the suddenness threw me a bit. Mark is only out to a few people on campus and apparently does not radiate “gay,” unless being an artist in eastern Canada means one is gay, I don’t know. I guess I am wondering why being friendly and being seen with Mark was a problem. Plus, Cliff and Mark had been very open with one another up to this point, and Cliff’s behavior seems out of character for him to do what he did without really talking it through with Mark. It seemed that they were on the same page for so much of the story, then they weren’t.
The author overused, in my opinion, certain words. There are an awful lot of “the other man,” “the smaller man,” “the bigger man” in the beginning, then the pet names they give each other (Bobcat and Teddy Bear) in the second part. I know that when there are two male protags, it gets a little dicey around making sure the reader knows who is who, but there has to be a better way for this.
Lastly, I did some research on the feasibility of someone having Mark’s injury (a radial head fracture, or breaking one’s elbow) and indulging in the…activities Mark and Cliff partake in. After what I read from first-hand accounts, I admit that I have some trouble believing he could be so…athletic, at least not without pretty significant pain, within the first week. He says, earlier in day two, that His right arm ached too. The Tylenol he had taken before coming didn’t seem to be making any difference, then later that night he and the big guy were smexxin it up, but good. And at some point the next night, he was holding both of Cliff’s legs in the air, which I don’t see as being possible if one arm was in a sling.
OVERALL
Several things prevented me from loving this book, though it is possible lovers of contemporary romances will not have those same issues. Despite that, I think it was generally well-written and would be open to reading another offering by this author.
I wondered about the injury and the physical activities as well. But as you say all in all a nice story but not one that makes a lasting impression.
This review is spot on. I liked this book well enough, but never quite got into it and never ended up finishing it. All the little annoyances you mention bugged me too, and I also would probably try another book by this author another time.
As for the radial head fracture? That was more than a little annoyance. As someone who had one, I assure you Mark’s later activity levels and minimal pain were HIGHLY unrealistic.
Slow onset, yes. It took long enough to start really hurting that I actually drove myself to the hospital, and then home. With a stick shift. And the injury on my right elbow. However, I quickly discovered I could do 1st and 3rd gears but not 2nd and 4th (or vice versa, I forget). By the time I drove home, I shifted with my left arm (as an aside, did you know how linked the left foot and right arm are? And how NOT linked the left foot and left arm? 😉 ).
Once the pain had really set in Tylenol with codeine was my bestest friend for the next week or so. And even so I would yelp when something caused me to unexpectedly tighten the muscles in my arm. I have a fairly high pain tolerance, and can usually manage to suffer silently, so that tells you something. And omg, I just realized that was 20 years ago! So I suppose even the fact that I remember the pain so vividly after so long says something, too.
So, yeah, nice story with potential that it never quite achieved. I think this is a great example of where a really good editor could have made all the difference in the world.