Tag: GLBT Young Adult Contemporary Romance

A Christmas Caroler by John Amory

19204694Title: A Christmas Caroler

Author: John Amory

Genre: Young Adult / Holiday

ISBN: 978-1-61040-620-8

Length: Novelette (42 pages)

Publisher: Prizm Press, Torquere Press (December 4th, 2013)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5~4 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: Jeremy Walsh is a high school senior who’s got big plans for his future — namely, to perform at Carnegie Hall. But before he can get there, he needs to secure the solo in his renowned high school choir’s Christmas concert and get into college. Everything seems to be on track until a cute new student, Zach Brooks, shows up, and ruins all of Jeremy’s plans by snatching the solo out from under him. With his college auditions looming and the Christmas concert fast approaching, Jeremy has more on his plate than he can handle. Can the magic of the Christmas season bring Jeremy and Zach together?

Product Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4082

Review: Ah, a Young Adult title from Prizm Press and one I enjoyed a lot I must say. In a slightly short space, as this story rounds up just forty-two pages, the author manages to give us a nice Christmas themed little drama. Yes, of course, there is some drama, the characters are teenagers in their senior year at high school, and there is a little bit of fighting over a solo there. But I’m rushing ahead; let me introduce you to these lovely characters first.

Jeremy; he has a dream and it starts with winning his solo for his High School’s Christmas concert, it follows by winning the audition for his college of preference, wooing everybody in his way, and ends with him performing at Carnegie Hall. If only Zach didn’t existed.

Zach; new kid in school, joins the coir to earn some new friends but ends up with people hating him. Yes, he’s talented and has a voice to blow your mind, but he ends up getting the solo and stealing the beginning of Jeremy’s dreams.

Amber, Jeremy’s best friend, a member of the choir, and also tried for the solo. She has a mouth that has no boundaries and a mind to tell things as they are, so you can imagine her role here.

Hunty, also known as Mr. Hunt; he’s the choirs director and a big influence for young students, especially gay students.

So what happens when you’ve been eyeing your target for three years and a newbie snatches it up right out of your hand? What happens when said newbie is a lonely kid in a new place and very fun to hang out with? What happens when despite you wanting to hate said newbie you just can’t and end up being good friends? Serious questions all of them, but the biggest of them all is: What happens when he gives you your first kiss and then vanishes on you?

Teenage drama at its prime, yet somehow I loved every single line. I thought it would be angsty and overbearing, thankfully I was wrong because in this short story you have a good growth of characters that are fairly depicted and manage to transport you a bit back in the times you were their age too. There also is a subtle romance brewing here that runs a bit on the background and even as things end in a happy note and with Christmassy feelings of generosity and wonders, you’re left to wonder how things will pan out for this duo in the future.

I enjoyed this read. It was a bit different from the others I’ve read that are holiday-themed and I must say it was quite invigorating. And it also made me hit YouTube and listen to some nice songs. Just the same I wish to read more of this couple in the future, so there dear author, make it happen.

Heh, I’m not too demanding am I? Recommended!

A Life for Nicholas by Matt Zachary

81+qr0+FA0L._SL1500_Title: A Life for Nicholas

Series: The Nicholas Chronicles #1

Author: Matt Zachary

Genre: Young Adult

Length: Novella (72 pages)

Publisher: Porterlance Books (April 6th, 2013)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥2 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: “A Life for Nicholas” details the life of a thirteen-year-old boy who is an orphan and living in the foster care system. He has to deal with adolescence, his sexuality, the loss of friends and abuse as he figures out his place in the world. This book is a novella of about 13,000 words and the prequel to “A Home for Christmas” by Matt Zachary.

Product Link: http://porterlancebooks.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/new-releases-by-matt-zachary/

Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Life-For-Nicholas-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00B5L14O4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1381237720&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Life+for+Nicholas

Review: This short story follows Nickolas, a thirteen-year boy, as he journeys from foster home to foster home. Abuse physical and emotional follows him with little small parts of happiness so short Nick wonders if they are real at all. Facing down horrible after horrible event and trying to still stand strong Nickolas is almost the stereotypical kid you see on these young adult books.

Smart, good grades and a nice shy temperament Nicholas can’t seem to avoid people getting in his way trying to harm him for no apparent reason. His schools peers, his foster siblings, even his foster parent go a long way to make him miserable, and just as he thought he found some peace and normalcy his life gets shaken once again… I’d like to like this character but I didn’t have the chance to actually meet him, get a feel for him. Every event in this story was hastily narrated and lacking.

As much as this book had good premise, it failed to make me like it as it skimmed through hard and heavy subjects with a sense of irresponsibility and insensitivity. Everything Nick felt when experiencing abuse was systematically simply stated and the story moved along without allowing for the feel of them to make a full impact. I was shocked to see Nick narrating his abuses in a nonchalant way, detached, almost as if telling a tale and not events that had him scarred for life. The entire read was set in a very fast pace that allowed no time for thoughts or for feelings to settle, ending with a most superficial describing of a suicide as if it was a walk in the park.

In the end, this was a story that while it worked up your expectations it failed to meet them and left you wondering, “What was the point.” 

 

 

Reviewer:   Tams

Heart Rating:  ♥♥ 2 Hearts

Review: Nicholas could be the poster child for foster care. Ignored and abused both physically and mentally by his peers and foster parents throughout the book. He makes a couple of solid friends along the way, but both are ripped from his life in one way or another before the end. He’s actually slightly more normal than he has any right to be considering what he’s been through.

There was potential for a better story here than the one that is on the pages. Completely rushed, unmatched timelines and several inconsistencies left something to be desired here. Nicholas gets into a fight at school, okay wait… Nicholas is ganged up on at school by homophobic classmates and defends himself, only to be kicked out of his current foster home almost immediately due to his ‘bad’ behavior. Huh? Then he refers to the last home he’s in at the end of this book as ‘no different than any of the others’, when in fact it’s completely different. For once he is actually wanted and treated appropriately. Again, Huh?

I really wanted to like this book, Nicholas was such a diverse type of character. But sadly the inconsistencies in the story coupled with the urgency to get to the ending were off-putting and ruined it for me.

 

The Boxer Rebellion by Genta Sebastian

14742791Title: The Boxer Rebellion

Author: Genta Sebastian

Genre: Coming of Age

Length: Novel (334 pages)

Publisher: Genta Sebastian (April 24th 2012)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Reviewer: Cat

Blurb:  DISCLAIMER – WARNING:

* People who have experienced teenage bullying first hand report being triggered by this book.

Although The Boxer Rebellion is about teenagers, the subject matter is frankly mature and the language used by the bullies utilizes crude colloquialisms.

Sixteen-year-old Nick is relentlessly pursued and bullied. No one cares until one of his bullies becomes a psychotic killer, sucking everyone around into the nightmare.

The bullies of Tranquility High dominate a school of sheeple where cyber bullying and physical attacks are resulting in one gut wrenching suicide after another. When the violence turns to murder Nick and his only friend, Penny, begin The Boxer Rebellion in a bold attempt to save
other young lives, and just maybe their own.

Teenage cruelty puts a lie to Minnesota Nice in this dark coming of age novel set in suburban Minneapolis. Both viciously brutal and poignantly wistful, The Boxer Rebellion is a merciless account of teen suicide and murder, told in multiple points of view by troubling characters who give voice to those affected by the thousands of students bullied to death in America
every year.

The Boxer Rebellion evokes the works of Carson McCullers and S.E. Hinton, a thrilling novel of teen bullying that will keep you turning pages long into the night. If you’ve ever been bullied, or
stood by helplessly watching it happen, this novel is your next must read. If you were once a bully, or helped someone else to bully, this book offers redemption. If you’ve ever wondered if you could make a difference, The Boxer Rebellion offers inspiration.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Boxer-Rebellion-ebook/dp/B007WZHCH0/ref=la_B00821NJM0_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381177465&sr=1-1

Review: I want to start out saying this is some very tough subject matter to write and read.  Kudos to the author for having the gumption to tell this story. This subject is like a bad accident. You know what you see is going to be frightening, hard to take and perhaps life changing, but you have to look anyhow. Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. I literally read last night until the Kindle said battery was too low to charge and saw it was 3:30 am. I was devastated to not be able to finish.

A quick rundown. Nick moves to a new school. He is so happy. He is going to get to start new, no one knowing him here. He has new designer clothes, new gear and the first thing happens he sets off the weapons check with his new boots and a second time with his necklace.  He gets over that, then at his locker, he hears the voice of his tormentor from the old school and gets beat up. To make it worse, he fights back and the teacher sees him, not the bully and he gets suspended and labelled troublemaker on the first day. To make matters worse for him, Julian, his tormentor from the old school is living with his cousin, Brent who has his own demons. Brent finds himself looking too hard at boys, not really finding girls attractive and keeps telling himself he isn’t gay. When he sees Julian bullying the new boy, he steps in and eggs it on spreading it all over school and most of the school joins in.

There are lots of characters in this story, though it’s mostly about Nick. Penny, his one true friend, Julian the bully, Brent the in denial gay boy who bully’s to deflect the attention, and Angela the other new girl with a past of her own, that is overweight and trying to start new and gets in with Brent and Julian. All are featured and we get into their minds as well as Nick’s.

In addition, we get into the thoughts of Nick’s parents, a couple of teachers and the principle.

The story is dark and at times sad and tragic. I think we can all relate to each of these characters at one time or the other and the message is clear… we should join in or sit back and do nothing. My heart went out to both Nick and Penny and I’d love to strangle that principle.

I highly recommend this to everyone, both teens and adults. It should be a mandatory read in high school, for both students and teachers. If you like dark tragic stories with great messages this is a must.

Familiar Path by A.M. Burns

c36812bc64624025b43cf7548c7d67f9.image.300x450Title: Familiar Path

Series:  Familiar Ways, 01

Author: A M Burns

Genre: Contemporary/Coming of Age

Length: Novel (231 pages)

Publisher: Silver Stream Press (August 17th 2013)

Heat Level: Low (none)

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts

Reviewer: Cat

Blurb:Lugh’s mother packed up and moved them from sunny Florida to tiny Steamboat Springs, Colorado after his father’s accidental drowning. Resigned to his mom having to work a lot, and only just beginning to deal with his dad’s death, Lugh is disappointed when she is called in to work on his fifteenth birthday. After an unnerving dream, he decides to head to the nearby river where he ends up following a strange, urgent, internal pull. When another boy helps him rescue a young cat from the river, Lugh discovers a family secret he never suspected. Now, with his new cousin Abby and their friend Wyn, Lugh must figure out the rules of his new life before the forces that seek to destroy them can get the upper hand. CONTENT ADVISORY: As part of a series, this book contains a HFN ending. Stand by for book two, where the action continues!

Purchase Link: https://silverstreampress.com/familiar-path-ebook-p-1514.html

Review: Lugh moves to a new town and finds out he is Magus (warlock). Had a cat for a familiar and learns more of his powers.

This is a sweet story about coming out and growing up. The familiars are cute and I like how they talk to the magus, I loved the introduction to the characters, there was a bit of mystery.  But, for me the book was very long-winded for a predictable story. The description is beautiful, we do learn a lot about Lugh, and the bond between him and his familiar is adorable. This a great young adult story, sweet, charming with a little mystery.

If you like witches, magic, mystery, cats or animals in general with a touch of romance this is for you.