Label This!: Love Spell by Mia Kerick

 Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

 

So, how are you today?  Good I hope.  You've made it to the dead center of the week; hold on tight, the weekend, she's a coming...or is that he?  The title in today's spotlight poses much the same question but on a more personal level for our leading man.  It's a Young Adult selection that while right at home in the LGBT subcategory, begs to be read by a larger audience.  Ladies and gents, readers far and near, allow me to introduce today's ebook of choice...

 

 

 

 

Love Spell

by

Mia Kerick

1511831855

CoolDudes Publishing

 

About the book...

 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.

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

This is definitely one flamboyant tale but beneath all the witty comebacks, creative language, and sashaying, beats a heart of gold...someone worthy of giving and receiving love. 

 

 Admittedly, at first, I wasn't really feeling our lead.  He was as loud as his hair and twice as foul in the mouth.  (WARNING:  Language can be an issue here.)  I just couldn't really understand why he felt the need to "go there" as often as possible.  Was it for posturing sake?  Was it just him being him?  Was it a reaction to all that's been dished at him over the years and simply his natural self at this point?  That last one, I refused to believe.  So, I kept reading.  Turns out, it's a combination of defense mechanism from years of torment, and a bit of a tendency to over dramatizing things from his own psyche.  Once that was cleared up, it was smoother sailing...well, for me anyway.

 

In its most basic sense, this is a story about acceptance and loving others for who they are not what they are or we want them to be.  That sort of "labeling" is what got Chance's mind in a knot and almost lost him the one person he wanted to know most...himself.  Surprised you, didn't I?  You thought I was going to say Jazz, right?  While it's true he does risk losing the man of his dreams (who he may or may not score a sweet moment with somewhere in the latter portion of the story...) despite his best attempts at following the list of "Ten Scientifically Proven Ways..." and a love spell (or two), the real ah-ha moment is when Chance finally sees himself for everything he can be.  All the labels we throw about are just that, labels.  They only have the power we give them and without them, people and things don't cease to exist....they just find a new way of being. 

 

 

 

To conclude, a story that might seem targeted at a particular audience but that truly should be read by all (older teens and beyond).  Chance's plight is understandable and well represented.  The challenges in his path, the good times and bad, the adversity faced both from haters and within, even the tiffs he has with his best gal pal Emma (love her word generating tendencies!), all lend a hand in creating the emotional, fashion forward, feisty, young diva-when-he-wants-to-be that we know by book's end.  You'll laugh (really...the "ten" list is laugh worthy), you'll cry (his inner struggle is pretty deep), you'll cringe at the injustice of it all, but you come to love Chance just as he comes to love himself.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

About the author...

 

 

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 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 men and their relationships, and she believes that sex 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 for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.


Mia is proud of her involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of 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.

 

 

SITE   |   TWITTER

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to author Mia Kerick for the eBook for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, her other works or those forthcoming, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now, so be on the lookout for it at a virtual retailer of your choosing.

 

Until next time...happy reading!