Virtual Tour: LGBT ~ Summer Love Anthology ~ (ARC Reviews, Author Interview, Excerpt + Giveaway)
Book Information:
Book Name: Summer Love
Release Date: June 23, 2015
Publisher: Duet, a Young Adult imprint form Interlude Press
Cover Artist: BuckeyeGrrl Designs
Buy The Anthology:
Blurbs:
Summer Love is the first collection of short stories published by Duet, the young adult imprint from Interlude Press. These short stories are about the emergence of young love of bonfires and beaches, of the magical in-between time when young lives step from one world to another, and about finding the courage to be who you really are, to follow your heart and live an authentic life. The contributing authors have written stories about both romantic and platonic love featuring characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, pansexual and queer/questioning. The authors also represent a spectrum of experience, identity and backgrounds.
Beautiful Monsters
A campaign volunteer is assigned to assist his high school’s Gay Straight Alliance for the Pride Parade, forcing him to face the students he had previously avoided, and the truth about himself.
Author: Rachel Davidson Leigh is a writer, educator, and small town native who tells stories she wishes she could have read as a teen. Beautiful Monsters is her first published work of fiction. She lives in Wisconsin with her family and two dogs who are spoiled out of their tiny minds.
The Willow Weeps for Us
Jack, the young son of a grocer, falls for a charming piano teacher at the dawn of World War II.
Author: Suzey Ingold is a writer, linguist and coffee addict, currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Brought up in a household where children's books are quoted over the dinner table, literature has always had a strong influence on her life. She enjoys travelling, scented candles and brunch.
The Fire Eater’s Daughter
When a traveling carnival comes back to town, Ruth must choose between caring for her mother and a life with the beautiful and mysterious Constance, the fire eater’s daughter.
Author: Amy Stilgenbauer is a writer and aspiring archivist currently based in southeast Michigan. She is the author of the novelette series, Season of the Witch, as well as the Young Adult novel, The Legend of League Park. When she isn’t writing, Amy enjoys all things bergamot and tries to keep her cats away from her knitting.
Surface Tension
Logan just wants a summer where he can be anonymous and fit in without labels, but that all changes when he meets out-and-proud Dave at summer camp.
Author: Ella J. Ash is a lawyer by day and an author by night. She has been a writer in online fan communities since 2006. She also enjoys dance parties with her family and cooking experimental vegetarian cuisine. She lives in Toronto with her partner, three daughters and four tropical fish.
My Best Friend
In a letter to his best friend, a young gay man reminisces about their relationship.
Author: H.J. Coulter lives in Winnepeg, Canada, where she works as a respite worker and studies music, in hopes of one day becoming a musical therapist. My Best Friend is her professional writing debut.
What the Heart Wants
A young student discovers attraction and desire through her experience drawing figures in her summer art class.
Author: Naomi Tajedler was born and raised in Paris, where art has always been a part of her life—including painting, restoring books, and working in auctions. She started writing in online fan communities in 2009.
The Most Handsome
Carter, a Cape Cod boy who recently came out as transgender, meets and falls in love with a college student visiting for the summer.
Author: S.J. Martin lives with his partner and their cranky, rotund cat in Washington D.C. He’s a barista by day and a writer by night. He makes a mean cappuccino and lives for good coffee, good books, and good company. The Most Handsome is his first published story.
Something Like Freedom
A boy finds a safe space from which to imagine a new future after leaving his conservative parents’ home, thanks in part to a new friend.
Author: Caroline Hanlin is a full time statistician, a part time stage manager, and an avid sports fan. She currently resides in Boston, where she enjoys writing during her commute. Something Like Freedom is her first published short story.
On the Shore
A young woman retreats to her parents’ beach house to nurse a broken heart, but instead meets a vivacious girl who helps her find joy again.
Author: Rachel Blackburn is a writer, musician and librarian based in central Ohio. When free from work, she enjoys cuddling with her cats, drinking tea, and baking more cupcakes than necessary. On the Shore is her professional writing debut.
Categories: Please keep in mind that as an anthology, not all stories contain all elements listed.
Bisexual, Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Lesbian Romance, M/M Romance, Romance, Trans*, Young Adult, Collection
Excerpt:
Beautiful Monsters
By Rachel Davidson Leigh
“Glad to see you could join the party,” Terrence deadpans, pressing a rainbow bandana into André’s hand. André grabs a second bandana out of the bag, stuffs one in each of his back pockets, and then goes in for a third.
“Cody was checking out the parade route,” André replies, in a smooth lie. “It turns out we’re still walking six blocks through absolutely nothing and then calling it a day.” Terrence laughs, and, as he turns away, André presses a handkerchief into Cody’s hand. “Use it wisely,” he whispers into Cody’s ear. “You’re one of us now.”
One of us. He’s never been part of an “us.” Cody stares down at the lines on the handkerchief and then at the two patches of color on the back of André’s jeans as he walks toward the arriving cars.
Cody expects panic, but it doesn’t come. Maybe he isn’t ready to be Gay with a capital G, but if “us” can mean being one of these idiots, then maybe he’s ready to have people of his own. As he watches the sharp sway of André’s hips, the heat rising up his neck doesn’t feel like fear. It feels like... clarity, as though the run put everything in perspective and now he can’t stop seeing André in crisp, dazzling color.
Someone presses a sign into his hand and guides him toward the parade staging area with the rest of the crew. Once again, he can’t hear himself think over the din, but it’s different now. At the meeting, and for years before that in the hallways, he felt like an invader locked out by a wall of sound, and now he’s somehow wandered inside.
Mari's Reviews:
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by authors/publisher via Pride Promotions in exchange for an honest review*
Beautiful Monsters
Cody volunteers at the Parker Campaign in St. Claire and being the only one that is relatively the right age, is assigned to help with his high school’s GSA for the Pride Parade, which is the last thing he’s ever wanted to do. He’s content with being invisible, and it’s only when he meets André, the GSA leader, and the rest of the alliance that he feels compelled to finally accept some truths about himself.
This story was sweet, and I loved the way Cody came into accepting himself and being so happy in finally belonging somewhere and forgetting about wanting to be invisible. He ended up being more assertive than he appeared at first, too, and I loved the way everything played out. I would’ve loved it if it had been bit longer, though, but it still was pretty good.
Rating: 4 Stars
The Willow Weeps for Us
Jack, the young son of a grocer, meets Richard, a charming piano teacher, with World War II and Britain’s impending joining into it looming over them. Despite Richard being in a relationship with a girl, Jack and he start a friendship that evolves into more.
This story was lovely. I felt transported to the era it’s set in. Both Jack and Richard were likeable and again, even if I’d wanted it to be longer or have some sort of epilogue, it was a nice read.
Rating: 4 Stars
The Fire Eater’s Daughter
Ruth has been pining for Constance, the Fire Eater’s daughter, since she met her a year ago, and now she wants more. Staying behind and just seeing each other once a year is not enough anymore. Ruth has to take care of her mother, though, so going away might not be as easy as she thinks.
There was sweet chemistry between both Constance and Ruth. Despite everything, Ruth seemed a bit more impulsive than Constance, once she put her head into doing something she was set on it, at least until she started to see some of the problems that her plan might cause, and even then, she found a way around it. Only it wasn’t her who solved it all in the end.
Really loved how this story worked. It was a very good twist there in the end.
Rating: 4 Stars
Surface Tension
This was my favorite story in the Anthology! Logan wants a summer of Un-Gay where he doesn’t have to worry about fitting in or being bullied or hiding, a summer of just being. Only he didn’t take into account that he would meet Dave, who is out and proud and very loved by everyone at summer camp. Slowly Logan starts acknowledging who he is and after a while Dave and him start something that he is almost afraid to name, something that has an expiration date.
This story was well written, and while not overly long, it was the most complete of all the stories in the anthology. We get the sweetness of first love, the light angst and the chemistry between the main characters, right along with an array of secondary characters that were a delight to read.
Rating: 5 Stars
My Best Friend
In a letter to his best friend, a young gay man reminisces about their relationship.
Perhaps it was the way this was written, but I didn’t really connect with the story Nikki was relating to his best friend Scott. Still, it was a nice read, and a different kind of love story. A friend’s love that has built from childhood into adulthood and that probably will keep building for the rest of their lives, even when they aren’t going to live anywhere near now that Scott married.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
What the Heart Wants
Noam isn’t aware of her desires until Amber enters her Art class to pose as a model. It was lovely to see that Noam’s mother and her friends were so accepting of this, even if her sister was so awful.
I would’ve liked reading more of Noam and Amber together, but that part was mostly glossed over. Other than that, it’s a good story of self-discovery and friendship and learning to accept who you are, no matter what.
Rating: 4 Stars
The Most Handsome
This was the sweetest story! I just adored Carter and Alex! Alex was so accepting and so loving with Carter, before and especially after learning he was transgender. Would've loved to read more, which seems kind of a pattern for me with this Anthology, but I had to admit the ending made me tear a little.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Something Like Freedom
Bisexual Eli was just out of a 2 year relationship with a girl when he meets his best friend's cousin, Gabe, who was practically thrown out of his house after his father discovered him kissing a boy. They grow closer and start a relationship that turned out to be just what both boys needed.
They are so good together, they couldn't be more different and yet, they complement the other in a way that brings out the best of them. This story definitely was another favorite for me.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
They are so good together, they couldn't be more different and yet, they complement the other in a way that brings out the best of them. This story definitely was another favorite for me.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
On the Shore
A very sweet, enjoyable read. There was a spark right from the start with Amber and Poppy and it was lovely to see it bloom into something neither of them seemed to expect.
Rating: 4 Stars
Rating: 4 Stars
Author Interview:
Interview with Ella J. Ash, Author of Surface Tension.
What inspired you to write this story?
My youngest daughter, who is medically fragile, was in the hospital for an extended period of time last year. It was winter here in Canada, freezing cold, and we were in the hospital for twelve hours a day every day. I wrote this story sitting in the ICU waiting room. Nothing better than hot summer days, cool lake water, and two boys figuring themselves out and falling in love to counter the deep freeze...perfect escape from sterile waiting rooms and antiseptic hospital smells. The story got written and my daughter got out. So two happy endings.
What are your favorite qualities about each of these two main characters?
Logan’s inner strength. I loved that he was sure of his self worth and talent even while living in a context that didn’t appreciate him for all he is. Having him finally be in an environment (creative arts summer camp) where he was seen and appreciated was a sort of rude awakening for him (even though it was positive, he resisted it. It wasn’t easy for him to let his guard down) and exploring that challenge was fun.
Dave’s sweetness and vulnerability hidden under impish cockiness. Those two things have to go together for this character. Dave is self confident - He’s talented, friendly, comfortable in his skin, but when faced with a more bristly and suspicious Logan, it’s ultimately his vulnerability that shifts their relationship from tenuous to friendship to more.
What's your favorite genre to read?
Political and literary young adult – if that can be considered a genre. Young Adult is the obvious default but the characters have a story that hopefully either subtly challenges common assumptions or imagines the world as it should be. That’s what I like to write too. So no surprises here.
Besides writing what else do you enjoy doing?
Cooking, berry picking, farmer’s markets (hmmm...there is a theme here), dance parties in the kitchen with my kids, musicals, theatre, addictive TV shows.
A night out on the town or a night cuddling in front of the T.V.?
TV. Cuddles. Particularly if accompanied by Bengal Spice herbal tea and homemade chocolate chip banana bread. Even better if it’s Glee. But that’s over now. So I may be found binge watching Orange Is the New Black.
Author/Anthology Information
Where to find more information:
Twitter: @duetbooks, @interludepress
Pinterest: pinterest.com/interludepress
Other: duetbooks.com
Other: duetbooks.tumblr.com
Tour Dates & Stops:
23-Jun
24-Jun
25-Jun
26-Jun
29-Jun
30-Jun
1-Jul
2-Jul
3-Jul
6-Jul
Rafflecopter Prize: One $25 Interlude Press gift card. Five multi-format Summer Love eBooks.
Thanks for taking the time to review each story individually. I haven't seen that being done with our anthology before and it's nice to get feedback.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this stop of our tour! It was lovely to see the individual reviews of each story as well. I haven't seen that done anywhere else so far-I really appreciate the feedback and am glad Mari enjoyed the collection. Thanks again! S.J. Martin
ReplyDeleteThank you for having us during this Book Tour, and particularly for giving both a global review and individual ones--your feedback really is heart-lifting :)
ReplyDelete