Born For Leaving by Jude Munro Book Blast, Guest Post, Review & Giveaway!

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Hi guys! We have Mia Kerick writing as Jude Munro popping in today with her newest release Born For Leaving, we have a great guest post from Jude, a brilliant $10 Amazon GC and Prime’s review so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~

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Born For Leaving

(New England State of Mind 01)
by

Jude Munro

When they say be careful what you wish for, do you pay attention?

Neither did Oliver Tunstead.

Oliver wishes for nothing more than to get his mind off his crappy bartending job, pile of debt big enough to swallow him whole, and playboy ex-boyfriend/boss who refuses to back off. Too bad distractions, like the hot little convertible he has his eye on, cost megabucks. And Oliver is flat broke. Renting the spare bedroom in his rundown beachfront cottage is his only option to pick up the cash he needs–a risky proposition, as Oliver is the polar opposite of a people-person. When he responds to a bizarre ad in the Waterfront Gazette seeking summer housing, he gets more than he bargained for. But Oliver can cope… After all, how much harm can a single quirky tenant do to his tightly guarded life in three short months?

Where Oliver is a loner by design, urban cowboy Bodie is a loner by necessity. A family dispute long ago dropkicked him onto the path of a lifelong wanderer. This changes when Bodie moves into the tiny beachfront cottage and starts working the door at Oliver’s bar.

Despite Oliver and Bodie’s nearly paralyzing instinct to avoid commitment, they fall into a wary romance. And to their surprise, life as a couple is sweetly satisfying; that is, until their jealous boss devises a cruel plan to destroy the tentative bond they’ve built. True to form, Bodie hits the road, leaving Oliver to lick his wounds alone.

Can these wounded souls defy their urge to flee and fight for love?

**Trigger Warning: discussion of childhood sexual molestation of adult character, graphic physical violence, off-page coerced sexual relationship

.•.•.**❣️ Amazon US | Amazon UK ❣️**.•.•.

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Mia Kerick / Jude Munro!!

Can a Coming of age novel be about an adult?

I’m thrilled to be here today at MM Good Book Reviews with my new release, Born for Leaving, and a guest post. Thank you, Pixie!

According to Merriam-Webster, the term coming of age is defined as the attainment of prominence, respectability, recognition, or maturity.” My question, as an ever-inquisitive author, is can a coming of age story be about an adult? Not an 18-year-old adult, or even a 21-year-old adult. I’m talking about a 28-year-old adult man. I think it can.

 “Coming of age” suggests the transition from being a child to an adult, and the corresponding understanding of deep truths that allows a person to make profound life choices. That was a mouthful, huh? Brace yourself, there’s more… Sexual maturity can be a component of coming of age, as well as increased wisdom in relationships with peers, family, money, and adaption to societal expectations, in general.

In conducting research on this topic, I came across a post about coming of age in literature by Joe Oliveto in Cake Blog. “Yes, typically, people have this experience during their teenage years. That’s when they finally shed their childhood self and start to become an adult. Additionally, many consider the onset of puberty to correspond with coming of age. However, some people face unique experiences that force them to come of age earlier than most. For instance, a child might mature at an early age if they grow up in a warzone or similar environment.”

FAIR WARNING: (Slight) spoiler alert: you will gain understanding of a Born for Leaving character’s backstory. I don’t think it will ruin the story; it may even enhance it.

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In Born for Leaving, one of the two main characters, Bodie, was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. Following the abuse, he was rejected by his mother so that she could maintain her relationship with Bodie’s abuser. These circumstances were so profoundly debilitating to Bodie, that he never fully came of age when he was a teenager or a young adult. He stifled his need for relationships because physical and emotional closeness represented the source of his most profound pain. He became a lifelong wanderer, always leaving his temporary homes before he was rejected. Bodie never transitioned into maturity. He denied his adult sexual and emotional needs, and even turned away from fulfilling societal expectations, like having a permanent job and home, until the circumstances of Born for Leaving occurred.

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When Bodie meets the other protagonist, Oliver Tunstead, the transition to the fullness of adulthood begins. With Oliver, Bodie finds acceptance of himself as an inexperienced and, at times, fearful lover, a roamer by necessity, and a loner with paralyzing trust issues. With Oliver, Bodie is able to relax enough to breathe. And with this new ease in his own skin, he is able to embrace a home, his sexual fears and desires, and he can envision and plan for his job future. He considers the concept of permanence and likes it. Bodie’s character transcends the realm of skittish youthfulness to that of settled maturity.

Keep in mind that this is a romance novel and this transition isn’t easy. Which is by design. Oliver and Bodie are plagued with challenges along the way. Some of these are rather tragic.

So, can a coming of age story be about a 28-year-old survivor of childhood sexual abuse and maternal neglect? I strongly believe the answer is yes. The maturity from childhood to adulthood that defines “coming of age” comes not when one has lived a certain number of years, but when one has attained maturity.

I’d love to know what you think of my conclusion. (And I love comments.)

<3 Mia Kerick (and her alter-ego, Jude Munro)

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About Jude!

Jude Munro Author picMia Kerick writing as Jude Munro

Jude Munro is merging with the writer’s original pen name, Mia Kerick.

Jude Munro (oh-so-very-briefly Mia Kerick’s Adult MM Romance pen name) writes of men who are drawn to the surf and sand. They’ve sunbathed on the sands of many alluring East Coast beaches, along with the fantastical beaches in Jude’s books. They’ll answer questions like “Who do you think you are, the sun god?” (they share a striking resemblance) if they can hear you over “Boys of Summer” cranking on their headphones. To Jude’s guys, no shoes and no shirt is really not a problem. And each character must earn his day at the beach. (Yes, there is always a HEA).

As Mia Kerick, largely a YA and New Adult writer of LGBTQ fiction focused on coming of age themes, this author’s books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine. They won a 2019 IPPY GOLD award, a 2018 YA GOLD MOONBEAM, a YA Readers’ Favorite Award, several first place Rainbow Awards, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, a YA Indie Fab Award, a First Place Royal Dragonfly Award, a First Place Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award, and a YA category finalist for the Eric Hoffer award, and more.

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Giveaway!

Win a $10 Amazon GC!

(Just comment on the post)

Let Mia know what you think!

(Ends 8th October 2020)

Review

Jude Munro - Born for Leaving Cover 834erh sTitle: Born for Leaving

Series: New England State of Mind 01

Author: Jude Munro (Mia Kerick)

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (283 pages)

ASIN: B08C6YBMGR

Publisher: Self Published

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 4.5 Hearts

Reviewer: Prime

Blurb: When they say be careful what you wish for, do you pay attention?
Neither did Oliver Tunstead.

Oliver wishes for nothing more than to get his mind off his crappy bartending job, pile of debt big enough to swallow him whole, and playboy ex-boyfriend/boss who refuses to back off. Too bad distractions, like the hot little convertible he has his eye on, cost megabucks. And Oliver is flat broke. Renting the spare bedroom in his rundown beachfront cottage is his only option to pick up the cash he needs–a risky proposition, as Oliver is the polar opposite of a people-person. When he responds to a bizarre ad in the Waterfront Gazette seeking summer housing, he gets more than he bargained for. But Oliver can cope… After all, how much harm can a single quirky tenant do to his tightly guarded life in three short months?

Where Oliver is a loner by design, urban cowboy Bodie is a loner by necessity. A family dispute long ago dropkicked him onto the path of a lifelong wanderer. This changes when Bodie moves into the tiny beachfront cottage and starts working the door at Oliver’s bar.

Despite Oliver and Bodie’s nearly paralyzing instinct to avoid commitment, they fall into a wary romance. And to their surprise, life as a couple is sweetly satisfying; that is, until their jealous boss devises a cruel plan to destroy the tentative bond they’ve built. True to form, Bodie hits the road, leaving Oliver to lick his wounds alone.

Can these wounded souls defy their urge to flee and fight for love?

**Trigger Warning: discussion of childhood sexual molestation of adult character, graphic physical violence, off-page coerced sexual relationship

Purchase Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Review: Born to Leave is the first book in the New England State of Mind series by Mia Kerick (as Jude Munro).

Kerick is a totally new author to me, so I went into reading this books with a fairly open mind – although the trigger warning had me concerned that it might be one of those books that get too bogged down in angst (totally not my thing).

So the short of it is: this is an amazing book, I can’t wait for more from this series, I’m curious about the author’s other works and the rest of this review will be just me gushing about how well written it is. Now you can’t say I didn’t warn you. Now, we can go into the guts of the book.

Oliver Tunstead and Nick Bowden (aka Bodie) are two lost souls. Both of them have had some significant hardships in their lives – both as children and as adults. In fact, I was listening to my Foo Fighters catalogue when I was reading this and one of their lyrics, from the song Statues, sums up these guys perfectly:

“You and I were two old and tortured souls
Repaired by a love of broken things
In a life, just some bodies growing old
No fear of the end, of anything”

When Oliver replies to Bodie’s ad looking for a cheap place to stay, Oliver is in dire financial straits and is trying to make it on his own, paying for his house and a car, without having to ask his father for money. Bodie is a drifter, he has never found a reason to stay in one place. And while he and Oliver’s friendship starts off rocky, the two men slowly open up to each other and they realise that there is a lot more going on in the emotions between them.

I don’t want to spoil things, but the trigger warning really does cover some of the hurdles these guys have to face together: physical violence, talk of childhood molestation and coerced sexual relations.

The only thing I was disappointed about this book was that I felt that the situation where one character is the coerced into sex off-page, while both are threatened sexually and emotionally wasn’t fully explored or dealt with by the MC’s. Nevertheless, it didn’t really take away much enjoyment for me, more it was a curiosity in me wanting to know more. But how things played out makes sense when you look at some of the other horrible things that have happened to both characters in the course of their lives.

I wouldn’t call it a slow burn, although the events in the book happen over a number of weeks. However, not only do Oliver and Bodie get time to truly get to know each other, something that I really appreciate the author doing for us, they both have a very rich character development. They are two very different men/personalities and there is great depth in their thinking – particularly Oliver, who I was most impressed with, and with how his story arc goes. I love how they learn to trust each other and learn to embrace the depth of their emotions for each other.

I recommend this to people that like a little bit of hurt-comfort in a book, but is also perfect for those that don’t like a lot of angst in stories (I get it, there’s enough angst in real life). There is also a sweetness to Oliver and Bodie’s romance that may also draw people in, which I also really enjoyed. I’m really looking forward reading more of Kerick’s work and seeing where this series goes.

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16 thoughts on “Born For Leaving by Jude Munro Book Blast, Guest Post, Review & Giveaway!

  1. Mia is a master! She builds plot that pull you into with emotions that tear you apart. I’m sure this book will be as excellent as the others she’s written.

    1. Oh, wow. My first time being called a master of anything!! LOL!! I hope you check out Born for Leaving. I think it will rip your heart out–that’s what I was going for. Hehe.

  2. Sounds really good. I love hurt-confort trope so this sounds right down my alley 😉

  3. First of all, THANK YOU PIXIE for hosting me today on your blog! I appreciate it more than you know. Without blogs like yours, authors would have no means to get the word out about their books. Second, thank you truly, Prime for an amazing review. And I look forward to reading comments about my book and/or my guest post.

  4. I’ve always enjoyed every book I’ve read by Mia and this one sounds terrific too. Thank you for the review.

    1. Hi Shirley Ann!! I’m so glad you stopped by to comment! And thanks for the compliment on my books- it means the world to me! Are you a fan of the hurt/comfort trope?

      1. YOU, my friend, are in the raffle now!! Yay for Kevin! All of these lovely names will go into a Red Sox cap and I will make Mr. Mia close his eyes and draw one out. Thanks for commenting!!

    1. Hi Lisa!! Everybody was a newbie at some point! LOL. Thanks for stopping by to comment on my book. I hope you check it out!

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