Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Mario Guzman is trying out for the swim team, his ticket to paying his way through college. When he meets Jordan Lewis, an outspoken writer for the school's paper, he considers coming out even though he's been very private about his sexuality all his life.

Violence intended for Jordan takes Mario out of consideration for the team and threatens his best hope for an education. He lashes when Jordan tries to help him in his time of need. Eventually Mario regrets driving Jordan away, and his need to apologize takes him to the scene of the attack, where he confronts his pain and terror. This time Jordan is there to help him face the biggest obstacle in his path.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2014 Daily Dose package "Mended".

 

Book Review

For such a short piece, this story has quite a bit of depth. Interestingly, the focus is not as much on the romance between Jordan and Mario, but more on the way Mario overcomes fear. And he has a lot to deal with, from his early fear of water to dealing with gay bashing after he met Jordan. This resulted in the romance almost dying before it had a chance to take off, so there was plenty of suspense as well. Quite an alluring mix!

Mario is a tough guy, even though he doesn’t see himself that way at all. But in my book, anyone who can overcome childhood trauma of the severity Mario has suffered to the point where he conquers his residual fear on a daily basis is amazing. He trains hard as a swimmer, and may look like a jock, but deep-down he is shy and not self-confident at all about his sexuality.

Jordan has been out as long as he can remember, and has trouble understanding why Mario is so reluctant to be open about his feelings. He does fall for the guy very quickly, and once he sees what the violence does to Mario, right after Mario took a big step and decides to be open about how he feels about Jordan, he finally understands the situation, he is ready to do anything if he can just keep Mario in his life and is devastated when Marion rejects him after the gay bashing. Thankfully that doesn’t last long!

If you like stories about young men who are just beginning to come to terms with who they are an what that may mean for them, if you like reading about the way different people handle fear, and if you’re looking for a sweet read with an underlying message of “never give up”, then you will probably like this short story.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Short Story, 45 pags/10171 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-June-2014
Price
Buy Link