Book:Cal is going home for Christmas. He’s part of a huge family and though his parents are very liberal, he worries about coming out to them, but this is the year he plans to finally come clean. He’s invited his “roommate” (his boyfriend) to share the holiday as well.Philip is the perfect boyfriend. Supportive. Loving. Understanding. Loyal. He wants to be part of Cal’s family, yet he doesn’t pressure him into telling them, but he’s hopeful.Most of this short Christmas story is about Cal facing his family and their surprise announcement that his parents are selling his childhood home. He has to face what “home” really means and determine just who he is and what “family” means to him. He has to finally grow up.Philip is nothing but supportive, and when he shows up he’s embraced with open arms. He’s shown the crazy life Cal had, being one of seven children, and falls in love with the madness.When push comes to shove, it turns out Cal needn’t have worried, the family accepted his announcement with grace and Philip rewards Cal’s courage with an important question of his own.**Though this had romantic elements, it wasn’t your typical romance. Cal and Philip are a solid couple and there really isn’t any issue there. Mostly, Cal just needs to face the final hurdle and claim his adult-self, free from his family, free from his childhood home, and embrace who he is, as a man and as an artist.I really enjoyed this story. It was almost a “coming of age” in that, at 26, Cal still needed to cut the apron strings of parental expectations. Though he had lived on his own for years, he still pictured himself as the boy who lived in the house where he grew up.When he learned that childhood home was going to be sold, he had to face the fact that he was no longer that child. He needed to make the leap and “confess” his sexuality and face the fact that the art he wanted to do wasn’t the typical portraiture his family thought, but instead more body forms and creative, less “reliable”. He wants to travel the world with Philip and take photos. This does not lend itself well to becoming a father.His biggest hang-up was that he worried his mother would bemoan the loss of grandkids, because though adoption, surrogacy, etc. is an option, he and Philip really didn’t want kids. This is ridiculous, given that he has 6 other siblings, some of who already have kids, to provide the needed grandchildren.In the end, it was touching and sweet. Sort of a melancholy look at growing up and letting go, but hopeful and exciting, too.I give the book 4 of 5 hearts, I really liked it.Audio:Paul Morey, a favorite in this genre, did another really nice job with the narration. My only problem was Philip. He was supposed to be British, but the accent was definitely more Scottish or vaguely Irish. It’s a small thing, but it sort of bugged me.The rest of the voices were nice, nothing too dramatic or exciting, but easy to understand and it was easy to lose yourself in the story.I give the narration a 3.5 of 5 hearts.Overall, I’ll round it back up to 4 of 5 hearts because it really was a nice listening experience and I enjoyed the story. This was a heartwarming little holiday treat (as promised by the series name) featuring an established couple for a change. Established couples aren't usually my favourite thing - simply because I just like the getting-together part so much in the romance books I read. But here it's good - it makes all the things happening that much more believable and I generally liked both Philip and Cal. The family setting was cozy as well, all the different family members traipsing in and out of the story were fun. The J-C name thingy (and then the boy named Jaycee) were awesome, that idea really cracked me up.However, despite all these objectively positive things I couldn't really get into the story. I think my main issue was the writing. It just seemed repetitive at times - word repetitions, action repetitions - and that disrupted my reading flow. Moreover, somehow the story didn't feel real to me, the characters fell all a bit flat, and the chemistry between Cal and Philip was more descriptive than something I could actually sense. And everyone was just a little bit too nice and everything a little bit too harmonic and sweet. At the end of the story I was rather glad it was over, to be honest - I enjoyed it enough while reading, but I don't feel the need to know more about these guys and their life together. That's not exactly a good sign for me!
What do You think about Feathers From The Sky (2013)?
It was a nice story, but I couldn't really connect to any of the characters.
—lindayyl
3.5 stars - Sweet coming out to family at Christmas story. Enjoyed it.
—crissyb999
