BLURB: Codie “Swan” Kerr lost her family when she came out. But Trigger took her under his wings and helped her get through the ERU program to become the first female on the elite squad. But the secret she carries soon becomes an issue.
To make matters worse, all her family’s lies are about to descend on her head all at once.
Ex-JTF2 soldier Jacob Desjardins has been having come to Jesus moments over the past few months. He has been nothing but a jerk to those around him and karma has finally gotten tired of his crap.
After being rescued by Trigger and his crew, he believes his life can get back on track. But the fates have a sick sense of humor. Not only is his life spiraling out of control, he sees something in Swan that takes his breath away.
But what will Jacob do when he finds out Swan has a little more to her than meets the eyes?
And will he survive the storm heading their way?
REVIEW: This is the 2ndinstallment to the Mercs series and I must say that it turned out quite nice. The first book in the series transitioned seamlessly into this one. Here we have Swan, a beautiful assassin with the elite squad.
Jacob’s character was just as well written and as vivid as Swan’s in the sense of how their personalities are presented to the readers and how well they play off of each other.
As with the previous story, this one has suspense and action with a huge dose of romance and intrigue tossed in for good measure. All elements which the author successfully manages to strike a perfect balance of.
Swan’s character is special in that the author has used her talents and platform to represent everyone within the LGBTQ community. This is just another step towards true representation and they did a great job of bringing diversity to an industry that has consistently centered white cisgender gay men.
I enjoyed reading this story as much as the first one. Swan is—so far—my favorite character.
Title: Love Spell Author: Mia Kerick Re-Release Date: August 27th 2018 Published by: Ninestar Press Genre: Young Adult, LGBT
BLURB
Having come to terms with being gay, Chance César is still uneasy with his gender identity, or, as he phrases it, “being stuck in the gray area between girl and boy.” This concern, however, doesn’t stop him from strutting his fabulous stuff on the catwalk in black patent leather pumps and a snug-in-all-the-right (wrong)-places orange tuxedo as the winner of this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon Festival at the local Beans and Greens Farm’s annual fall celebration, serenaded by the enthusiastic catcalls of his BFF, Emily Benson. Although he refuses to visually fade into the background of his rural New Hampshire town, Chance is socially invisible—except when being tormented or beat up by familiar bullies. But when Chance, the Harvest Moon Festival’s mockingly-elected Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue (Jazz), the legitimate winner of the Pumpkin Carving King contest, sparks fly. Chance wants to be noticed and admired and romantically embraced by Jazz, in all of his neon orange-haired glory.
And so at a sleepover, Chance and Emily conduct intense research on their laptop computers, and come up with an article in an online women’s magazine called “Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love with You.” Along with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure, it becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart.
Quirky, comical, definitely “sickening” (this is a good thing), and with an inner core of poignancy, Love Spell celebrates the diversity of a gender-fluid teen.
What reviewers are saying about LOVE SPELL ~
“Kerick devotes most of the book to sassy fun and first-love desire, but her depiction of the loneliness caused by apathetic parents, the insecurity of extra pounds, the stress of college applications, the meanness of bullies, the importance of forgiveness, and especially the uneasiness of being “stuck in the gray area between girl and boy” make this novel thoroughly enjoyable. The book not only hits upon all manner of teenage angst, but also on the significance of true family values and on the joys of such simple pleasures as high–thread-count sheets, sharing homemade pizza, and playing card games instead of “head games” on a Friday night. The characters are memorable and the dialogue is consistently bright and believable, featuring authentic-sounding teenspeak. The author even defines Chance’s invented vocabulary words (such as “Randatorbs” and “Dooza-palooza”) in a back-of-the-book glossary for readers who can’t keep up.
A comical, thought-provoking YA novel for those who believe in the magic of love without all the hocus-pocus.” – Kirkus Reviews (2015)
Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—a daughter in law school, another in dance school, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-four years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on emotional growth in turbulent relationships. As she has a great affinity for the tortured hero, there is, at minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press and Harmony Ink Press for providing alternate places to stash her stories.
Her books have won a Best YA Lesbian Rainbow Award, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.
Mia is a Progressive, a little bit too obsessed by politics, and cheers for each and every victory in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.
Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com. Visit her website for updates on what is going on in Mia’s world, rants, music, parties, and pictures, and maybe even a little bit of inspiration.
Gay teenager Hart could finish his fairy tale for class if his horrible stepsiblings would stop harassing him. Talia’s depression is like a sleeping curse and may kill her if she doesn’t ask for help. Independent, overweight bisexual Sienna deals with her “nice guy” neighbor while visiting her grandmother. When a mysterious girl climbs up Rachael’s fire escape, Rachael might finally break free from her overprotective mother. Transgender Amelia is bullied regularly for her identity, but she’ll show everyone exactly who she is. Princess Rellyn must face down a dragon since she’s seventh in line and battle her father since she’s not a boy, and she’s not sure which one is scarier. An adventurous knight whisks away genderfluid Noll when all they want is a quiet life on their farm. Mermaid Astrid wants revenge on the man who betrayed her, but is confused by her attraction to the one sailor immune to her song. Asexual Myka might love Princess Lysandria, but Myka must learn to control her inner werewolf before the king marries her off to “cure” her. With the help of a witch, blacksmith’s apprentice Malcolm must find his missing prince.
You’ve never heard stories like these at bedtime
Review
These are short – sometimes way too short – little LGBTQ takes on the old fairly tales. In each there is a character or character that falls into that community who takes on a more modern/unique role. Each story is a different set of people, using an old fairy tale as a template for a modern story.
The writing is good. The idea is magnificent. I really think that for the YA audience these will really ring true and find a home in the heart of the LGBTQ YA community.
However, for me, it felt like just as I was invested in the story – it ended. So it was a little off-putting and frustrating. I’d like to see these stories more fleshed out, I definitely think there is more that they have to offer.
I really liked that it wasn’t just gay or trans but a variety of gender roles/sexual orientations. There really is something for everyone in this anthology.
Overall, I give it high points for the attempt with a little bit taken off for brevity.
If you are a YA fan I’d give this a try, it really is remarkable.
