Carly's Book Reviews: Love Spell by Mia Kerick: #GuestPost #Review #Giveaway @MiaKerick

Cover Artist: Louis C. Harris

Love Spell

by Mia Kerick

Release Date: June 1, 2015

Length: 44,300 words

Genres: Gay Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

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.

Hello to everybody here at Carly’s Book Reviews. Thank you for welcoming me on my Love Spell book tour.

Carly: What is the best book you ever read and why is it your favourite?

Mia: My all-time favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I loved the tortured soul Bronte created in Mr. Rochester. I adored the steadfastness of his love—and that he could be saved from his torment by no other than Jane. I loved that Jane was not beautiful or wealthy or charismatic, but that she was simply the right woman for Mr. Rochester, and he recognized how much he needed her. I actually dressed up like Jane Eyre when I was a middle school teacher, and told her story to each of my five classes. I wanted them to read and love Jane Eyre the way I did.

Carly: If you could choose to have any type of super power what would it be and why?

Mia: I’m gonna go with invisibility. Just think of all the places I could go and the secrets I could learn if I was invisible. But… I have a major guilt complex… and I’d end up suffering over having deceived people. And then there is the fact that I am the world’s biggest goody-two-shoes. I won’t break a rule if I can find a way around it. Maybe I’ll just go with being super strong. I could help my husband move the furniture around.

Carly: What is your favourite memory?

Mia: Sunday nights when I was a kid. Clean from my bath. Fresh-smelling pajamas my mother made. Fighting with my sister for the rocking chair in front of the TV. A bowl of buttery popcorn. The Wonderful World of Disney. My family in the den all around me. The world stands still until I get up for school on Monday morning.

Carly: Do you have a guilty pleasure?

Mia: Um…yeah. I have a few guilty pleasures. Want a list?

*white button-down collar oxford shirts (I must have a thousand)

*light blue bootleg jeans with LOTs of holes all over the thighs (huge stacks of jeans adorn every corner of my bedroom)

*rustic brown Frye Boots (cowboy style)

*sunbathing in my back yard (without sunscreen)

*mocha lattes, extra espresso (please don’t hold back on the chocolate syrup)

*crime TV shows (true crime is the best)

*cookies (all of them)

Carly: If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world where would you go?

Mia: I’m pretty sure that on one of the times I went to Disney World, a sneaky “Cast Member” implanted a homing device in my shoulder when I was sleeping. Because I continue to want to go back to the happiest place on earth. Over and over again. Yes, I’ve visited two or three (or fifteen) times in the past, but I have an un-ignorable calling to reunite with Mickey Mouse. This, however, presents me with a challenge because no one else in my family is equally driven to spend quality and quantity time with the mouse. In fact, my husband has expressed some strong (angry) sentiments about Mickey and his gang, each time we purchased a $7.00 bottle of water in one of the parks, in fact. But I yearn for the sunshine and the perfection and the I-dare-you-not-to-smile aura that envelops me each time I return to Disney World.

Not to say that I kept my phone basically right beneath my chin for the next four days, but I kept my phone basically right beneath my chin for the next four days. Yes, I was oh-so-pathetically waiting for his call, which I am aware fully explains the need for the phrase “get a life.” But Jazz hadn’t been at school on the Thursday or Friday after he had called and cancelled our playdate, and now it’s Sunday night, and I still haven’t heard from him. And although I’m frustrated that all of my elaborate plans to make him fall head over heels in love with moi have apparently tanked, I’m also growing genuinely concerned.

That’s when my cell phone, which I placed on my chest before I lay down on my now “love-spell-pink” wrapped mattress, starts singing Express Yourself.

“Yo.” I don’t check the number. It’s Emmy—who else would it be?

“Hi, Chance.” The deep voice is so not Emmy’s.

Yaaassss!!! This is what ninety-nine percent of my insides shout. One percent says quietly, “It’s about frigging time you called, asshole.”

But my voice is calm. “Jasper,” I say blandly. In my opinion, he hasn’t earned the right to be called Jazz any longer.

“Um, sorry, no. It’s Jazz.”

I try not to roll my eyes even though I know he won’t see, but it’s an epic fail. “Whatever.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch for a couple days. My mom’s been real sick. I was lookin’ after her, gettin’ her to the doctor, goin’ to the pharmacy, bringing JoJo back and forth to school, and stuff.”

Oh.

“Mom caught JoJo’s strep throat and had to go to the ER because she couldn’t even swallow.” He stops talking for a second and then clears his voice. “Alls she could do was spit into a rag whenever she needed to swallow.”

Well, that’s definitely TMI, but I get the fucker-nelly revolting picture. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault, dude.”

And then there’s silence.

“Gonna take JoJo to the library after school tomorrow. But first I gotta stop by the cable company and pay up or we’re gonna lose our TV and internet at home. They already warned us like twice.”

“Want me to pick up Yolo at school and take her to the library?” I’m so freaking pissed off at him. Why am I offering to save his ass again?

“That’s cool of you to offer, but there’s a bus she can take to the library from her school. Could ya be waiting for her at the library, in case I get held up?”

“Of course.” I’m a Class A sucker.

“You’re such a cool pal.” Ugh—so not what I’m going for.

“Thanks.”

“I’m not gonna be at lunch tomorrow seein’ as I’ll probably be collecting my makeup work. So, I’ll see ya at the library. ‘Kay?”

I don’t say kkkk cuz it’s not even slightly cool. “Sure. The libes after school, it is.”

“Thank you, bro,” Jazz offers.

One more silence, and then I say, “Later.”

I have research to do.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved Chance's outgoing personality and Jasper's quiet strength. The two balanced themselves out nicely with their complementary personalities. The initial games that Chance played with Jasper's heart felt shallow and immature; it hurt and confused Jasper and I didn't care for how shallow it made Chance seem. I DID like that Chance seemed to grow into a young man who valued his partner. They both had a lot of learning to do in this story, and it was heartwarming to watch their journey. I thought that Chance's struggles with finding how to fit his bright personality into a monochromatic world were especially well written, and touched my heart. The secondary characters, especially Chance's best friend and Jasper's sister add a fun dynamic into this already entertaining story. Love Spell captured my heart!

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, Twitter, Pinterest and Amazon.

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