Timmy's Review of Mia Kerick's "The Weekend Bucket List"!

I want to thank everyone who reads this review. I pride myself on always giving an honest review no matter who the author is, even if s/he is my friend. It’s important to me that I give people my honest thoughts because, as a teen, other teens look to my reviews to see if it’s a book they might like to read; and parents look to see if it is a good book for their kids to read. I want there never to be any surprises. Also, I work hard on not giving spoilers away. But this review may have a few spoilers because I feel it’s necessary to explain my feelings on the book.

Mia is one of my favorite people, both as an author and as a person, so this was a hard review for me to write. As always, the writing was great! I love the many ways in which she pulls her readers in with the stories she creates. Mia has a way of telling a story so you feel you are in the book with the characters.

This book was not really for me, but that doesn’t mean others won’t love it. I will explain my concerns in this review and the things I liked, and then you can decide for yourself if you feel the book is for you.

First, let me say I love the concept behind the book. A book about deep friendship and not romance is new to me. I like that this book was about three older kids learning about themselves and what their friendship means to them. That is an important life skill that even I am still working on!

My concerns about this book has to do with recommending it to teens and preteens who are still in school. I feel like the bucket list that they follow would cause kids to believe they need to do these things to be “normal.” If they never did anything on the list, they would still be normal. If I was to follow the logic of the characters from this book, I would not be considered normal. That is hard for me because it has taken me YEARS to believe I am normal. I don’t want any kid who reads this book to believe they are abnormal because they haven’t done any of these things.

Next, I’m a good student. I spend all my time either in school, at track practice, or doing homework. I know there are things I’m missing out on by doing this, but it’s worth it to me for the future I hope to have. I want to be someone important in the future and help people in some way. Again, if I follow the logic in this book, I would not be a good student because I would be concentrating on doing other things—like things on this bucket list. You can still do all the things on this bucket list AND be a good student.

Finally, about half the list contains good things to do, but the other half worries me. I cannot recommend things like getting drunk, or getting naked in public. To me, those decisions not only should wait until I’m older, but they are things that could get me into trouble!

I understand that it is a work of fiction and not a life manual, but I read books to learn, gain knowledge, and hope. I read this hoping to identify with the kids in the story and for them to help me understand that I’m normal (even if it is fiction).

Here’s the bucket list with my comments in parentheses.

          1. Go skinny-dipping (Illegal).

          2. Stay out all night (Not safe and can really worry people if they don’t know where you are).

          3. Face a fear (This is a great goal!).

          4. Sleep under the stars (I would love to do this in a safe environment).

          5. Take a road trip (This sounds like fun!).

          6. Get drunk (Not only is this illegal but not a good idea. I grew up with a father who drank a lot and it was always hard to feel safe around him. Alcohol dependency comes with stress, and it is always stressful in school no matter who you are). 

          7. Have a first kiss (This is a great goal if you feel ready and safe with the person).

          8. Run naked on the beach (Illegal).

          9. Sneak into a movie (Illegal and can leave you with a record if caught and prosecuted). 

        10. Spend twenty-four hours with no electronics (Wow! This is a good one but would be hard to do if you are still in school—almost all homework requires internet in some way). 

        11. Get pierced and tattooed (Never get a piercing by someone who is not a professional. It can be dangerous. And being tattooed before 18 is not legal for the person doing the tattoo).

        12. Say thank you to someone (Well this is something everyone should always do, especially to people who have made a positive difference in our lives in any way). 

So, you can see why I have a few concerns. I do not want to recommend to any kid that they need to do these things to be normal. However, if that person can read this and KNOW it is fiction and not take it as a life guide to be normal in HS, then I think they will like the book.

The deep friendship angle of the book is really an awesome concept except in parts where it feels like a love triangle that isn’t complete. There is tension between the characters, which is normal when trying to figure out your feelings, but I felt like it was a lead up to a romance but then it just wasn’t. I understand what Mia was trying to show, but I’m not sure it worked so well on the written page.

Overall, I give this book 3 Marbles. I would not recommend it to kids who use books to learn about life, or who have trouble finding a balance between real life and fiction. Though I don’t feel this book was for me, the writing was great, and I feel that college-aged peeps and adults might like it!

Please understand that not every book is for every person and what I got from this book may not be what you get from it. Also, if this is not the book for you, don’t let that turn you off from a really great author! I can recommend many books from this author that you may really like!~Timmy

The Weekend Bucket List is available 

in eBook and Print at Duet Books, Amazon,

iTunes/iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble

About The Weekend Bucket List

High school seniors Cady LaBrie and Cooper Murphy have yet to set one toe out of line they've never stayed out all night or snuck into a movie, never gotten drunk or gone skinny-dipping. But they have each other, forty-eight hours before graduation, and a Weekend Bucket List.

There's a lot riding on this one weekend, especially since Cady and Cooper have yet to admit, much less resolve, their confounding feelings for one another feelings that prove even more difficult to discern when genial high school dropout Eli Stanley joins their epic adventure. But as the trio ticks through their bucket list, the questions they face shift toward something new: Must friendship play second fiddle to romance? Or can it be the ultimate prize?

The Weekend Bucket List is available 

in eBook and Print at Duet Books, Amazon,

iTunes/iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble

About Mia Kerick

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.

Find Mia on Goodreads, her website, 

on Facebook, on Twitter @MiaKerick, and on her Amazon page.

Timmy's Review of John Goode's "Dream of a Waking Man"!

I’m back with another review of a Goode book! Yay! Does it seem most of my reviews are on John Goode’s books these days? They are! All the Goode books are being passed my way and I am a very happy little fanboy! 

If you have a book you would like me to review please don’t hesitate to let me know. Request a review here!

It seems that my reviews are far and few between these days. Right? Well, there are a few reasons for that. First, I have been super busy with school, tutoring others, and running. It sucks because I enjoy writing these. Second, I haven’t been all that happy with the community on FB lately. I love my peeps (those on, and not on, my friends list), but there has been a lot of drama too. I worked really hard to leave the drama behind when I moved away from my old home, but there are people who still wanna drag me into stuff. Why? IDK. I can only guess that they either hate what I represent (they can’t hate me, they don’t know me), or they don’t really mean it when they say they are in this community to help people; or both. I decided to back away from the community a lot. But that doesn’t mean I’m not reading. That doesn’t mean there aren’t books that I love.

The reason I started out my review like this is because this book inspired me to speak up. It inspired a lot of things in me, but my right to be myself and to be happy was what really stuck with me. I am a gay teen kid in school. All of the Foster High books represent the life I live daily. They show what we go through in school, at home, and on-line. Being a kid really sucks. I hate when I hear someone say… “I wish I was a kid again!” They are stupid because I don’t know what world they came from, but it sure isn’t the same one I’m from. Mr. Goode is an adult, but he somehow captured exactly what it is to be a kid in school, especially a gay kid. 

Bullying, hate crimes, internet bullying, depression, suicide…. These are REAL to any kid in school. It doesn’t matter if they are popular or not. We live it, we breathe it, and we learn how to suck it up. But why do we have to accept it? Why do I have to be bullied not just by kids at school, but also adults I encounter both in real life and on-line? Why is it the very people who tell me it’s safe to ”spread my wings” and be who I want to be can then turn around and cut me down because I’m not the Timmy they want me to be? I’m too smart? I type too well? I can write a short story? I must not be a teen gay kid! Well, I’ma say this for all of you people who believe that: I am that because it is who I am!

That is the bare bones of this story! Be who you are. Fight those who say you can’t be that. Show others they are not alone. Be the changer not the follower. But most of all, you don’t have to be perfect in the eyes of others to deserve to be treated like a human being.

This story had me going through so much! I mean it, really! Tears, love, laughter, anger, and just plain scared. It scares me that this is written as fiction because it is NOT fiction to many teens like me. There are very important topics talked about in this book, and I am trying hard not to give anything away, but I want to say the way Mr. Goode added the topic of insecurities and self-worth to the stories in this series is a big thing. It is in the main story in this book, it is also in the subplots. I like how he shows not only how important self-worth is, but that you can still be a hero even if you need a few pep talks along the way.  

So, there were a few things I gotta point out. There were errors in the book, editing stuff. But nothing will pull you out of this story. Also, I’m not great at grammar when I am messaging or texting someone, but there is one thing I will say about this book: the word OK is used WAY too much. Please fix that, Mr. Goode.

I give this book 5 marbles and I hope you guys will not only read it, but think about what you want from your country. Because one small issue and blowup is the thing that changes lives. You can’t sit back and say I want a better life for Americans, but you expect someone else to be the stepping stone. You can’t sit back and say “I hate bullying!” but then tear others down because of your own insecurities. Because I got enough insecurities of my own, I don’t need ya’ll to put yours on me. Mr. Goode points out these things in a way that makes a huge impact. This book should become a classic. Read this book. Dream of a Waking Man is book ten in the Foster High Series.~Timmy

Dream of a Waking Man is available NOW

from Amazon and Kobo.

About Dream of a Waking Man

With high school long behind them, Kyle Stilleno and Brad Graymark are sharing a life, together, content, but happy?

Kyle seems to have given up that spark that made him who he was and Brad is worried it may never come back. When an email from a gay teen asks Kyle for help, he has to choose between his comfortable life of sleeping his life away, or waking up and doing something about it. 

Dream of a Waking Man is available NOW

from Amazon and Kobo.

Dream of a Waking Man is available NOW

from Amazon and Kobo

About John Goode

John Goode is a member of the class of '88 from Hogwarts school of wizardry, specializing in incantations and spoken spells. At the age of 14 he proudly represented District 13 in the 65th Panem games where he was disqualified for crying uncontrollably before the competition began. After that he moved to Forks, Washington where, against all odds, dated the hot, incredibly approachable werewolf instead of the stuck up jerk of a vampire but was crushed when he found out the werewolf was actually gayer than he was. After that he turned down the mandatory operation everyone must receive at 16 to become pretty citing that everyone pretty were just too stupid to live before moving away for greener pastures. After falling down an oddly large rabbit hole he became huge when his love for cakes combined with his inability to resist what sparsely worded notes commanded and was finally kicked out when he began playing solitaire with the Red Queen's 4th armored division. By 18 he had found the land in the back of his wardrobe but decided that thinly veiled religious allegories where not the neighbors he desired. When last seen he had become obsessed with growing a pair of wings after becoming obsessed with Fang's blog and hasn't been seen since.

Or he is this guy who lives in this place and writes stuff he hopes you read.

Find John on his Harmony Ink Author Page, Goodreads, his Goodreads blog, 

on Facebook, on Twitter @FosterHigh, and on Tumblr or email him at FosterHighSchool88@gmail.com

Timmy's 5★ Review of John Goode's "Edge of Glory," Bk 2 in the Fadeaway Series!

I’m back with another review of a Goode book! Yay! Does it seem most of my reviews are on John Goode’s books these days? They are! All the Goode books are being passed my way and I am a very happy little fanboy! I’d like to thank Michael Thompson for this awesome book! 

If you have a book you would like me to review please don’t hesitate to let me know. Request a review here!

Edge of Glory is book two in the Fadeaway Series. If you have not read Going the Distance, the first book in the series, please stop reading this and bookmark it to return to after you have read the first book! You can find my review of Going the Distance here. (Hint: I have never read a bad Goode book!)

I would like to thank John Goode for writing this book, but I would also want to thank all the people who helped with his GoFundMe so that this book could be published. I really wish I was able to help because I am a big fan, but I’m hoping that people will read my review and go buy the book! That will help John write more books!

When I read the first book in the series, I really liked it. This book I loved. I’ma try my best to explain this without giving away spoilers. LOL So Hard!

Timmy's Review of Lost Tales From Foster High by John Goode!

At first I was worried about reviewing this book because I thought it wasn’t going to be published. But have no worries! Mr. Goode assures me it will be published. Even better, maybe today! Yay! It’s always awesome to hear there is a new Goode book out! (Ha! See what I did there? It’s a gift!) Because this book is actually an anthology, it makes it harder to review. So here’s how I’ma do this. I will review the whole book as one, then I will go through and do a very small review for each story. By the end, you will be totally jealous that I have read it already, and you wait endless days until Mr. Goode has it for sale (which I hear is in a week or so. But it will feel endless to the hardcore Foster High fans!)

Lost Tales from Foster High overall review:

Lost Tales from Foster High is one of the best anthologies I have read. Some of that is because I love the whole Foster High cast, and some of that is due to the author. I have not met a character in this series who I didn’t want to know more about. Even the “bad guys” have a story to tell. So it was neat to hear a few stories or updates on characters you didn’t think you’d hear about again. I also really liked that each and every story had an introduction, because that helped me see where we were in the books and, in some cases, what we missed due to editing. Without those small intros, I would have been confused. So thanks for that, Mr. Goode!

The book I received is not the finished edited version, but I was informed that all the stories would remain the same. I also promised Mr. Goode that I would not pick on any proofing typos that would be caught in edits. So I will hold to that. But for those of you who got this version, I bet the small errors didn’t even matter. Right? I was able to enjoy every story, and any errors there were did not take away from the truly awesome writing in these stories. And because this was a complaint in my last Goode review, I would like to thank the author for not making me yell the first few words in a new chapter! (In the last book, the first few words of each chapter were all caps. Just threw me off a bit, but didn’t ruin the story in the least.) There is only one complaint I have in the book in general and I hope by saying something, Mr. Goode may try not to do this in future books (‘cause it really does throw me off). In the stories, it is not always clear who is talking. A question is asked and answered in the same paragraph by two different characters and is not always clear who is speaking. I’m going to give an example, and I found one that does not give away spoilers.

Timmy's Review of Wraith Queen's Veil, Book Two in the Sun Child Chronicles, by Lou Hoffmann!

Hey, y’all! Back again so soon! I think a trend is starting! :) So, as you know, I haven’t been doing many reviews lately. That’s for two reasons. One, I’m super busy this year at school and with school things. Second, I am reviewing and beta reading for people who have requested it of me. If you would like me to review or beta read a book, there are instructions and an email address on Cody’s blog to send me requests. Above all, I really want to thank the authors who have asked me to review and beta read their books. It’s an honor and a privilege that I don’t take lightly. I also want to thank this author, Ms. Hoffman, for being so patient with me. This review took awhile because I have been so busy. But it was well worth the wait for me to read and review for her because it was an awesome book!

I decided to reread the first book to get a good feel for the characters before reading this one. If you haven’t read Key of Behliseth yet, then you need to read it before reading this book. It is not a stand-alone book, and it will not make a lot of sense without reading the first. In the first book we learn a lot about the world that this book takes place in.

First, I want to say thank you to Ms. Hoffmann, because whether it was done on purpose or not, she took my advice from the first review. This book was a much easier read. It was still descriptive and I could close my eyes and picture what she had written, but I did not get lost in the descriptions. I did not have to reread parts. I was able to fully immerse myself in the world she created. (Wow, that sounded really professional! :D) So for those readers who are unsure whether they want to read the second book because of that happening in the first, let me say, it is not a problem here. Please don’t cheat yourself out of an awesome read.

Timmy's Review of John Goode's "What About Everything?", Book 9 in the Foster High Series!

Hi y’all! I’ve missed you guys! Ok! I’m back with a review that makes me happy to write! Do you know why? BECAUSE the book is from John Goode! Anyone who follows my reviews knows I love everything Goode! The Foster High Books are among my very fave books written, and John Goode is in my top 5 fave authors. So YAYAY!

This book has a few things that I want to talk about. First, as always Mr. Goode has written an awesome book, with awesome characters. None of the characters are new, so if you have been following the series you will know all the peeps! If not, go read the other books! One of the things I love best about Mr. Goode’s books is that the characters are so real! They are funny and full of heart, and a bit messed up! There is not a full-on HEA in this book, but there is REAL LIFE! I like that! That is not to say his characters don’t have HEA or HUNB (Happy Until Next Book), but they feel so real! They are messed up, they do stupid things, they say funny inappropriate things, and they cry! Most of all, they love. I truly love reading a love story about normal messed up people!

Timmy's Review of Ethan by Ryan Loveless

First, I want to thank everyone who is reading this. I haven’t done a review in a while because life as a teenager is way more busy then I thought it would be. So, it is an awesome special thing for me to get this request.

I loved the adult version of this book. I did not reread it or my review of it before reading the young adult version and writing this review because I wanted my review to be impartial to this book. Every book has its own qualities and I worried that I would see only what I wanted to see because I loved the adult version so much. Unfortunately, I have a great memory when it comes to books, so I may have remembered too much. I feel that may have hindered my impartial judgment. Please keep that in mind when reading this review. Because I’m a reviewer who wants you to form your own opinions, I will not give specifics about events in the story. No spoilers.

Ethan is the young adult version of Ethan, Who Loved Carter. I have a few Pros and Cons to go over with this book. But first, let me say I loved this story as much as I did the adult version.

I think one of the problems I have when an author converts a book from adult to Young Adult, or the other way around, is that they tend to leave too much of the original story in it. It’s almost like plagiarizing your own book. If you're going to do that, you want to be sure it fits the characters.

Timmy's 5★ Review of When I Grow Up, Book 8 in the Foster High Series

This is a hard book to review. I have had this trouble with all of Mr. Goode’s books and the same problem with Cody Kennedy’s books. You see, I don’t write spoilers, but these guys don’t write books that have down time in them. They are constantly moving at rapid pace, so everything in the book is a spoiler. Sigh… Way to make my job harder, guys. Thanks.

There are many different ideas on what a reviewer is, and what their goals should be, so let me tell you mine. My goal in every review is to be forthright in a way that is not hurtful, but will give readers and authors my honest opinions. I have heard it said that a reviewer doesn’t have the right to tell an author anything and the reviews are not supposed to be for the authors, but that’s bullcrap. I bought their book, or they have asked me to read their book, so I have not only the right, but the obligation to give them my honest opinion. If they are writing books for young gay kids, who is better to tell them if they have hit the mark but someone like me, a young gay kid? But I also write reviews to help promote books I like. Because word of mouth will sell just about anything. So, I take my job seriously. When I say a book is good, I don’t say that because I feel I have to, I don’t say that because someone asked me to, I say it because it is true. So with that in mind, here goes….

John Goode did it again. I don’t know how he keeps doing this to me. It’s like he reaches in and pulls out my heart and rips it to shreds, then uses tissue paper to wrap it up and put it back where he found it. I know, “drama much?,” but damn, I’m hurting right now. This book was like the worst and best rollercoaster in the world. You go up, up, up, up, and all the tension builds and builds, and when you think it can’t possibly go any higher, it does! Finally, we reach the top of the ride and start to speed down at full speed. You scream and cry and laugh, it’s like watching yourself go down and being unable to stop it. Then when you hit the bottom, he throws you into a loop and you see the ride is not over yet. God! I wish I was a great author, a god of words, because I can’t seem to explain in words how I feel about this book and that kills me. I will say, please don’t read this book before reading the others. The emotions, the story, these boys’ lives will not mean as much to you if you haven’t first read everything they have been through together. You will waste both Mr. Goode’s talent and your time. I wish the right person would read these books and make them into movies. That would be awesome.

We see everyone in this book! We hear from most of them, and a few new characters who add to the drama of the Foster High Series. I really liked how this story was told. It wasn’t in the usual way Mr. Goode tells the stories. I liked that. It changed things up a little. I loved how we heard from everyone. That really snagged me in this story. I have grown attached to every character he has written and in this series. I got to be inside each of their heads. It was great. So… Like always, some big shit goes down in this book, and like always, I can’t tell you what it is. LOL But please don’t let that stop you from reading it!

The way the story ended is not what I expected, and I’m on the fence on whether I’m feeling ok about it or not. But the ending is exactly the way it needed to happen given the reasons in the story. It takes a strong person to do what Mr. Goode did with these books. He wrote about real life. Real life is not a happy thing unless you really work at it. It can have happy moments, but it’s not generally a happy thing. Most of the happy things people find in life come with strings attached. They aren't obvious or clear strings, they are hard to see, and easy to pretend they don’t exist. Every time I think I have found a happy thing, someone or something always pulls on one of those strings and tells me it’s time to pay up. This is sometimes the way I feel real life is. This is just how it goes, but not many people are brave enough to actually write about that. Most authors want to give the readers what they want. They want to make money. But a real author, and good author writes what no one wants to face but is real. And, on top of that, they make us believe this is what we WANTED to read in the first place, when we all know we were looking for a fairytale! So, I would like to thank John Goode for being brave, and telling these guys’ stories without warping it to make it what readers think they want.

I do have to be honest and say, though I like how you ended the book, you didn’t give us enough of an ending. I was very disappointed in that because I have never had that problem with your books. I would like the next book please. I promise to be a good reader and not dismember you, if you promise to hurry with the next book!

I give this book 5 Marbles and the series 5 marbles. Please don’t let these books sit at the bottom of your TBR list. That would be a mistake, and when you finally got to them, you would kick yourself for waiting so long to read them.~Timmy

When I Grow Up is available 

in eBook at Dreamspinner Press and Amazon,

and in Nook & paperback from Barnes & Noble

About When I Grow Up

After graduation, Kyle Stilleno and Brad Graymark move to California to pursue their dreams. But high school sweethearts are called that for a reason, and their love rarely stands up to the test of time. As money, school, sex, and jealousy test their relationship to the breaking point, Kyle and Brad fight to hold on to the love that brought them together.

But when a frantic phone call sends them back to Texas, they discover love and understanding might not be enough this time.

To Wish for Impossible Things 

(a lost tale from The Tales from Foster High) 

Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press

Dear God 

(a lost chapter from The End of Innocence)

Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press

Find John Goode on Goodreads, his Goodreads blog, 

on Facebook, on Twitter @FosterHigh, and on Tumblr

Timmy's Review of A Way Back to Then by Robert Halliwell

I really like John Goode’s writing, and I LOVE the Foster High books, so I was a equal parts worried and excited to read Mr. Halliwell’s new book. The fact that he was writing the book to finally explain my fave character in the Foster High series was thrilling! I have been waiting for Robbie’s story for over a year now. However, the fact that his story was being written by someone else had me worried. Mr. Goode set a high bar to meet as far as writing this series, and I am happy to say that Mr. Halliwell met that bar with ease!

Mr. Halliwell said Robbie’s character was loosely based on him so, to me, it made sense that he would write Robbie’s story. I was not disappointed. I loved this book. It explained Robbie and his actions in such detail. The story had me both crying and laughing, but the seriousness of the story wasn’t lost on me. The loss of Robbie’s one true love was a part of his life he just couldn’t let go. I don’t think I could have been as strong as he was—which is ironic because he acted as though it was a weakness.

After staying in a town he hated after the death of his lover for years, he finally moves back home. He is ready to start living again, to move on. I really liked how the author wrote his story. I liked how he told a story within a story. I felt so close to Robbie already from reading about him from the other Foster High books, but this story was what I needed to get that closure that the other books didn’t offer.

While trying to overcome his depression and anxiety issues, he meets someone new through his sister. He gets his second chance at love, but this time he doesn’t hide who he is. He works on his problems with the help of Sebastian instead of trying to hide that part of himself. As for Sebastian, he has his own demons to fight. Together they make a great team and a great couple.

While this story is an adult story, all the sex is off page and not graphic or over the top. This is a great book for both young adults and adults. Thank you for giving me the gift of understanding Robbie. This book gives hope to those who have lost someone they don’t think they can live without. It teaches us that because one part of your heart has died, it doesn’t mean you can’t fill the rest of your heart with another person. And while you may never and should never forget the lost love, you didn’t die when they did, and you need to learn how to continue living. I give this book 5 marbles and hope to read more, either in Foster High books, or books written by Mr. Halliwell.~Timmy

A Way Back to Then is available 

in eBook and print at Dreamspinner and Amazon,

and in Nook & print from Barnes & Noble

About A Way Back to Then

A Tales from Foster High Story

Snarky yet good-hearted Robbie DeCaro made his first appearance in the pages of Tales from Foster High: End of the Innocence, years after the loss of his first and only love. A New York transplant, Robbie now decides that his work is done in the town of Foster, and the time has come for him to leave Texas.

Returning to his childhood home on Long Island, Robbie reunites with his family members. Each using their own unique methods, they try in vain to help Robbie reset to a life he knew before he left it all for the fairy-tale love he found, then tragically lost. 

As he remembers some of the darkest moments from his past, Robbie wonders if he’ll ever find the “after” in “happily ever after.”

About Robert Haliwell

Robert Halliwell hails from the mysterious land of Ronkonkoma in the Island of Long and grew up dreaming of the day the dark, handsome Mediterranean Prince of his dreams would whisk him away from the boring life he was accustomed to to a land far, far away...from his mother. A magical place full of roller skates and rainbows called Xanadu. Unfortunately, that never happened, but was instead whisked away to the dark kingdom of Westchester County and the "prince" turned out to be a very pale country bumpkin from Schenectady. Yes, it's a real place. When he's not spending the day writing, Robert can be found at home taking care of his four-legged children, Kira, Carter & Willow and viewing unhealthy amounts of QVC much to the dismay of his husband, Kevin. Robert is still waiting for Lynda Carter to sign the adoption papers he sent her in 1998.

Find Robert on Goodreads, his Goodreads blog,

on Facebook, and on Twitter @WonderRobbie

Timmy's Review of As The World Falls Down by Jennifer Lee

Jennifer Lee is a debut author with this short story being her first published book. I have beta read another of her stories that hopefully will be out soon! (Hint Hint!!)

I loved this short! The story is based in a world where the “norm” is LGBTQ+ as opposed to heterosexual. Not a new concept, but this story has an interesting angle. A new way for people to see how hard it is to come out. The thing is, though EVERYONE should read this story, I think it’s really aimed toward heterosexual people. It can teach how freaking stupid people sound when telling the LGBT community that we are not “normal.”

Follow Paul as he comes out to his moms and deals with the fallout of being forced out of a closet that he wasn’t ready to step out of yet. You’ll also get to follow the burgeoning relationship between him and Molly.

This book can only be found on Amazon and is roughly 10,000 words long. For $.99 it’s a great price for a quick read, but I warn you it’s not a smell the roses type of story. It deals with many issues we deal with in the gay community. There is the coming out, bullying, discrimination, and the loss of family and friends. I give this short story 4 Marbles, and I really hope to see more from Paul and Molly. I’d like to hope they have a happy ever after kind of ending, though I have a feeling it will be hard for Paul to get there. ~Timmy

As the World Falls Down is now available 

in eBook at Amazon

Independent Reviews Welcome

About As The World Falls Down

One day Paul is a typical, All-American teenager with an after school job, parents who love and support him and a secret brewing within. But all of that changes when he finds himself in a fight for acceptance for who he really is in a world that says he's an abomination, immoral, and diseased. When he is forcibly outed, his world is turned upside down. Can he really gain the acceptance he desires even when the current political and religious climate teaches that heterosexuality is wrong and seeks to deny him the basic rights that should be afforded everyone, heterosexual or not?

About Jennifer Lee

Jennifer Lee lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family. She enjoys reading, watching great horror and drama films, and spending time with her daughter when not writing. Jennifer has been writing since she was nine years old, where she started her first book with the table of contents (before anything else was written). Jennifer writes in a variety of genres, enjoying all facets of fiction.

The only thing better than writing a deep character full of angst and discovery, or writing a world of delight and danger, or a compelling scene that feels authentic and full of emotion, is knowing that my readers have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you laughed at my jokes or hung off my cliffs, let me know! You can find me on my blog. Have a Facebook? Follow me there! I'm on Twitter as well @JenniferLee_76. Thank you for reading!

Timmy's Review of Love Spell by Mia Kerick

Love Spell is a cute, sweet, and funny love story with serious undertones. The characters are all unique and full of personality. But Before I get into all of that, I would like to take a minute to say how much I love the cover. I think a cover is important to a book. It helps me decide to read a new book when I don’t know the author, and it helps me determine the mood of the book. The cover of Love Spell fits the book so well I fell in love with it before I read it. Simple, cute, and funny, it was the perfect cover to this story. Awesome job to the artist who created it!

Now, to the book itself. The characters in this book are wellwritten. They each have their own part to play and they play it well. Chance, or Channy, as Emily calls him, is funny and sweet. He starts out slightly self-centered, and I was gearing up to not like him, but as the story unfolds I found hidden depths to his character that made me fall in love with him. He’s a do it big or go home kinda guy, and he does it huge! He meets a guy who sparks his interest and he goes home to plot how to make Jazz his. When I say plot, that is exactly what I mean. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I will need to be careful here, but let’s just say he did some crazy things in the name of finding love. He and his BFF make a plan on how to get Jazz to fall in love with him, and it is a hilarious road to watch him go down. I laughed and sighed and wondered “is he for real?” through the whole book. There are times I wanted to slap him just to get him to stop and look at what he was doing! I could see the train wreck from miles away, but I had to just sit there and watch it happen. Sigh… Characters in books never listen to me when I try to warn them. But here’s the thing I loved most about Chance. Though he was outgoing and funny, he had a major problem with understanding who he was. This undertone in the book brought such depth to it that I couldn’t put it down. I read this book straight through, and again, because it was that good.

Quick run-through of the other characters. Emily, Chance’s BFF, reminded me so much of my sister that I just wanted to grab her up and give her the biggest hug! She is funny and quirky. She makes up new slang words constantly. Though I had some trouble following all her new words, it didn’t detract from the story, it just added layers to it. My sister loves to make up words. She has a dictionary that she writes them in just so she can prove they are real words. LOL! I could so see Em do that!

Jasper, or Jazz as Chance calls him, is a strong quiet guy. He is way more than what you would expect from the initial intro in the book. He is a great guy who loves his family dearly, and does all he can to help his mother raise JoJo, his little sister. However, because he has so much going on in his life, it’s hard for him to take the outgoing Chance seriously. Jazz, like Chance, has hidden depths that really made this book come alive for me.

Underneath all the funny and sweet lines in this book, is a serious issue. One that tells me this book is about way more than just a funny story. I don’t know if this was the purpose of the story or just something that was added as part of Chance’s character, but it is the reason this book is 5 marbles instead of 4. I reserve all my 5 Marble ratings for books that give hope. It’s so important to me that a YA book helps young adults learn to grow, teaches us something, or gives us hope. Chance has a gender issue. The ISSUE is he can’t or won’t label himself. He doesn’t know where he fits in. This part of the story was the most important. I love that Mia Kerick added it, because I know this is a problem for some kids, and it’s not often addressed in books they would enjoy reading. It adds character to the book without dragging it down to emo levels. You did an awesome job with this book, Mia, and I can’t wait to read more of your writing! I would LOVE (beg) you to write a sequel. Chance’s story is not over, there is so much more to his story that you could write.~Timmy

Pre-Order Love Spell now from Amazon

About Love Spell

Strutting his stuff on the catwalk in black patent leather pumps and a snug orange tuxedo as this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon feels so very right to Chance César, and yet he knows it should feel so very wrong. 

As far back as he can remember, Chance has been “caught between genders.” (It’s quite a touchy subject; so don’t ask him about it.) However, he does not question his sexual orientation. Chance has no doubt about his gayness—he is very much out of the closet at his rural New Hampshire high school, where the other students avoid the kid they refer to as “girl-boy.”

But at the local Harvest Moon Festival, when Chance, the Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue, the Pumpkin Carving King, sparks fly. So Chance sets out, with the help of his BFF, Emily, to make “Jazz” Donahue his man. 

An article in an online women’s magazine, Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love with You (with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure), becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart. 

Quirky, comical, definitely flamboyant, and with an inner core of poignancy, Love Spell celebrates the diversity of a gender-fluid teen.

About Mia Kerick

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty-two years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships, and she believes that physical intimacy has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of 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, Harmony Ink Press, CoolDudes Publishing, and CreateSpace for providing her with alternate places to stash her stories.

Mia is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights, especially marital equality. 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. 

Stop by Mia’s Blog with questions or comments, or simply share what’s on your mind. 

Find Mia on Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Timmy's 5★ Review of Slaying Isidore's Dragons!

Jean-Isidore de Sauvéterre and Declan David de Quirke II are both sons of ambassadors, and have a lot going on in their lives. Isidore is dealing with an abusive home life and the loss of his mother, while Declan is dealing with the loss of his father and assassination attempts on his mother. They meet at school, and Declan begins protecting Isidore almost immediately. As soon as Declan learns of Isidore’s troubled home life, he takes action. Isidore moves into Declan’s home and starts to recover. However, that’s not the end for them. There are Isidore’s four brothers and father to deal with, problems at school, the assassination attempts, and more! This book is one you won’t want to put down. When the action begins, it’s fast-paced and thrilling and there are mysteries to unravel. Through it all, you get to watch Declan and Isidore’s feelings evolve into a great love.

Cody’s books are the only ones that I know of on the market that are contemporary high-action. He isn’t kidding when he says Slaying Isidore’s Dragons is a teen Bourne Identity. Isidore is raw and terrified and has nothing to hold onto except Declan and his mother, Sorcha. They not only do everything in their power to protect him, they go above and beyond. While this is a story of fiction, it does represent a lot of what it takes to keep a kid safe after leaving an abusive environment, especially if the parents of the abused kid are wealthy and powerful. This isn’t only a story of hope, but a story about the extreme measures it can take to remove a kid from an abusive environment and protect him from his abusers trying to get him back—which happens in real life. Cody writes it in such a way that it isn’t based in fear, but in triumph. It’s a totally feel-good book.

I have read two books, one novella, and a free serial story by Cody Kennedy. I am in awe of his ability to tell a story in any form, and I was not disappointed when I read Slaying Isidore’s Dragons. It takes great talent to be able to tell a story based in negative events and situations in such a way that it gives hope to the reader. Cody has done that in every book I’ve read of his, but especially in Slaying Isidore’s Dragons. Coming from a troubled home myself, I really appreciate how Cody can tell stories of abused kids and still leave me feeling hope and triumph after reading it. This book, and others like it, not only help abused kids, it gives us the strength to survive and continue on. I don’t say that because Cody is a close friend, for I have said this about authors I don’t know, but hope is a very magical thing to a kid who has none. I have all these emotions that would explain it better, but it’s so hard to get it out in words.

Happiness is a hard thing for abused kids to see in their futures. It’s like that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We want it to be real, but can’t seem to actually find it. Books like Cody’s give us hope for our futures, and he does it by telling his stories without dwelling on all the negatives in our lives. It’s not that he skims over the negative aspects, because those are all there. But he shows how we can still have the elusive happiness by trusting people who are trustworthy and want to help us. So I would like to thank Cody for the time and effort he puts into his books for the kids who need it the most.

Cody has a true skill for pulling the reader into his stories. This is another way his books and others like it will save lives. They are a safe place. A place we can hide, even if only for a few hours, and imagine a world better than the one we live in. Slaying Isidore’s Dragons is so much more than a book about an abused boy. It’s an adventure.

After reading the final copy, I fell even more in love with Slaying Isidore’s Dragons. There is MUCH more of Isidore in the story now, and that made an excellent book a PERFECT book. I can now relate to Isidore and the story even more than before. It also gives the reader a little more insight into the mind of an abused kid. This is important because it will help readers understand a small part of the heartbreaking confusion that makes up our daily thoughts. I believe everyone has had hard times, but it almost seems harder to start over than it does to remain in an abusive home. It’s hard to find the real you under everything you were forced to be. It’s harder still to explain that to someone who never lived that type of hell. This book will give you some idea of how hard the “new life” can really be.

I give this book 5 marbles and would give it more if I could. It is a must read (as soon as it comes out. You can preorder it now.) Be sure to buy your own copy rather than borrowing someone else’s because you will want to read it more than once. ~Timmy

Now available for preorder in print and ebook at

Now available in print and ebook at Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press
Amazon   GooglePlay   Barnes & Noble   OmniLit/ARe   Beam-eBooks in Europe

Ingram Books for Libraries and Schools

A special note to the author:

I know your life hasn’t been easy, but the work you do to help save others, either through real life or your writing, is what makes you a true superhero. I can’t tell you the number of kids you will save, but I can say for sure, you have saved at least one. Here's a poem I wrote for you.

About Slaying Isidore's Dragons

5 Best friends
4 Vicious brothers
3 STD tests
2 Guys in love
1 Car bombing
&
Nowhere to run

Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.

5 Weeks of hell
4 Attempts on their lives

3 Law enforcement agencies
2 Dead high school seniors
1 Jealous friend
&
A love that won’t be denied

Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.

5 New family members

4 BFF’s
3 Countries
2 Extraordinary Psychologists
1 Courageous Mother

&
A new beginning for two young men in love

Read Chapter One of Slaying Isidore's Dragons

Stop by Cody’s Blog with questions or comments, or simply share what’s on your mind.

Find Cody on Facebook, Twitter @CodyKAuthor, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+,

Ello, Goodreads, & read Cody’s free serial story, Fairy

Timmy's Review of Heavyweight by MB Mulhall

This book deals with some very serious issues, and can be a very hard read. I was worried about some of the things that I would read about in this story, and I very nearly passed on reviewing Heavyweight. I am so happy I didn’t make that mistake! I would have missed not only a great read, but a learning experience. Such as, did you know bulimia is not a “girls problem” or a “woman's disease,” and that many athletes have this problem as well, both male and female? It is estimated that 10-15% of anorexic or bulimic patients are male. The stats on gay men are even scarier. Please take the time to read the links I have provided if you would like to learn more about this crippling disease.

Eating for Life

ANAD

Bulemia

There were other strong issues in this book. Racism, child abuse and bullying by both students and adults are just a few more of the things you will read. However, the sweet romance and great characters make up for the hard stuff. This is book was an awesome book. Though it had a happy ending, the author did not gloss over all the hard stuff that happened in Ian’s life. I would have liked to know more about the end. Did the boys go to college together? Did Ian get the help he needed? Please consider a second book. There are many questions to answer, but no worries guys! Our author did not leave us hanging. This book could end here and is a great book! I’m only hoping for more! I give this book 4 Marbles. ~Timmy

Heavyweight is available in eBook and print at 

Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press and Amazon,

in Nook & print from Barnes & Noble, and at OmniLit/ARe

About Heavyweight

Their weight can be crushing, but their release can change everything—and not necessarily for the better. Ian is no stranger to secrets. Being a gay teen in a backwater southern town, Ian must keep his orientation under wraps, especially since he spends a lot of time with his hands all over members of the same sex, pinning their sweaty, hard bodies to the wrestling mat. 

When he’s trying not to stare at teammates in the locker room, he’s busy hiding another secret—that he starves himself so he doesn’t get bumped to the next weight class.

Enter Julian Yang, an Adonis with mesmerizing looks and punk rocker style. Befriending the flirtatious artist not only raises suspicion among his classmates, but leaves Ian terrified he’ll give in to the desires he’s fought to ignore.

As secrets come to light, Ian’s world crumbles. Disowned, defriended, and deserted by nearly everyone, Ian’s one-way ticket out of town is revoked, leaving him trapped in a world he hates—and one that hates him back.

Find MB Mulhall on Goodreads, her blog, Amazon, Instagram

Facebook, on Twitter @MBMulhall, and on Tsu