We all know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but never told quite like this. An updated and expanded version of their story Ascending Hearts, Rise details why Jack is so desperate to go up the beanstalk, and why the giant may not be so frightening after all.

Typically from authors like Andrews and Blake, Rise is a more adult story than your average fairy tale. Jack is a boy hated for his flaming red hair and “unnatural” desires, his only companion in the world being his cow. But with a tragic loss and a mounting debt hanging over him, Jack has nothing to lose by climbing the perilous beanstalk, from which no-one has survived with the giant’s riches. But what he doesn’t expect to find there is the handsome and lonely Rion, not a giant at all but the last in his family line. He’s sacrificed his own desires to protect his family’s riches and legacy, but Jack’s arrival is about to turn his whole life upside-down.

This novella is a short, engaging read, and never loses the fairy tale air of storytelling, even through scenes of slaughter houses, climactic battles, and sex. The real triumph of this story is that, in adapting the classic tale to their own ends, Andrews and Blake have not lost the essence of Jack and the Beanstalk. Rather, they have expanded on the source material to provide greater insight into character and consequence. We all know Jack was poor, but now we know why. We have a reason for the giant living alone, surrounded by riches he does not use. And we have a resolution that comes from the heart, deeply invested in romance and character, rather than a moral to scare children away from greed.

Using Jack and Rion’s sexuality as a reason for their isolation modernises the tale, but does not have it descend into lazy lessons of tolerance. Instead, it gives these two authors the opportunity to demonstrate what they do best: write excellent, erotically charged sex scenes that come from the souls of the characters.

With its short length, Rise does not require a great deal of investment, but that should not be a reflection of the quality contained in those short pages. Rise is an enjoyable, engaging, and sexy read, and a truly unique twist on a familiar tale.