Title: Until September
Series: N/A
Author: Chris Scully
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (298 pages)
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (February 8th, 2016)
Heat Level: Low/Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Blurb: As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.
Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.
To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.
ISBN: 9781626493551
Product Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/until-september
Reviewer: Aerin
Review: Usually I review a book immediately after reading it, so that my thought and feelings are fresh in my mind. Unfortunately, work and life got in the way, and it’s been 2 weeks since I finished his book, but I’ll try my best to review it.
First of all, even though it’s been a while, I definitely remember I loved this book, every beautifully written, emotional, gorgeous, heartbreaking page. It’s never easy dealing with the loss of loved ones, but it’s even more excruciating when young children lose their mothers and have to rely on the goodness of others to survive. I’m not gonna lie, this book made me tear up a lot, and usually I’m not a crier. But I just couldn’t help it; if this story won’t pull at your heartstrings, then you’re an insensitive bastard.
Archie and Marguerite are brother and sister, have grown up in the poverty ridden reservation in Canada, and had to rely mostly on each other to survive and love. Archie is a few years older than his sister, and when his drug addict mother refused to care for Marguerite, Archie had to resort to stealing and other minor infractions in order to care for his sister.
After their mother disappeared, Archie and Marguerite were sent to live with their grandmother and her family; Archie suffered tremendous amounts of abuse while in their care, and the only escape and chance for Marguerite to have a normal future was for Archie to run away at the tender age of 15 and fend for himself in the hopes that he’d be able to build a life.
There’s no wonder that Archie grew up to be insensitive, never affectionate, unable and unwilling to believe in love, and emotionally unavailable to those around him, including his sister. It’s sad that his niece and nephew didn’t really know who their uncle was, but they had to rely on him to give them a family after losing their mother in a tragic car accident.
Marguerite wanted both Ryan (her best friend and teacher at the kids’ school) and Archer to temporarily care for the children until Archer would hopefully step up and apply for permanent guardianship; Archer hasn’t been around children since his sister was little, and he has no clue how to deal with the kids, never mind that he doesn’t plan on sticking around and hopes Ryan would take the children off his hands.
They reach a compromise when Archer agrees to give it his best shot, and if he decides not to keep the kids at the end of the summer, then Ryan would keep them for himself.
Ryan is a lovely character, a beloved teacher and friend, whom everyone adores, and has always dreamed of having a family of his own. Basically Ryan believes/dreams of everything Archer despises most about homosexuality. Ryan is not normally Archie’s type either, but when Archie starts noticing Ryan, he can’t seem to stop. There’s chemistry between them, even though it takes longer for Archer to acknowledge it, and the sexual tension is delicious at times.
One thing I didn’t like about this book was the constant back and forth between Archer and Ryan. The constant denial when it came to their feelings and whether they were (or even wanted to be) in a relationship was fine and dandy at the beginning, but got tiresome after the book reached its midway mark. I wanted them to stop denying it so that they could get on with the sex and everything else.
But you know what? That’s about the ONLY thing I didn’t like! Those two amazing children broke my heart, made me cry and made me smile as well, I really loved them to pieces and they made this book amazing instead of just OK.
Chris Scully is a new author to me, but I’ll read his/her work again, definitely!
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *