Controlled Burn (Farm College #1)

Title: Controlled Burn (Farm College Book #1)
Author: Erin McLellan
Publisher:  Self-Published
Release Date: August 14, 2017 (Second Edition August 24, 2018)
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 309
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here


I'm stunned to learn that Controlled Burn appears to be Erin McLellan's first novel. I absolutely love McLellan's writing and the way this story unfolds. Joel's first love was his high school boyfriend Diego, but Diego was ashamed of being gay and in small-town Nebraska, they hid their love. As Joel later recalls, "Even as a teenager, I had been locked so securely in the closet with Diego I’d never let my guard down."

After Diego's tragic death, Joel goes to college, keeping people at a distance because he is terrified of letting go of his secrets, and grieving by shutting down his emotions and using sex to "screw the memory of my dead boyfriend out of my head.” When he meets Paulie in a class and they slowly become friends ("I could do this. I could be there for Paulie. I could be a good friend. I didn’t have to close myself off all the time.") and then gradually into lovers, there is just something so fragile and beautiful about how Joel feels about Paulie, how he treasures this "sweet beautiful boy" who "looked like home, and nothing had looked like home in a very long time."

Boy Shattered

Title: Boy Shattered
Author: Eli Easton
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 16, 2018
Genre(s):  Suspense, Tragedy,
Page Count: 317 pages
Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Eli Easton's "Boy Shattered" - the story of a school shooting and recovery - is heartbreakingly tragic. It's one of those rare books where you don't just read it, you experience it and at times it's a difficult read, but as Brian ponders:

It was good that there were people in the world like Landon. It was a tiny defense against the horror that people were capable of. But maybe ... maybe that tiny bit was enough. A light in the darkness.

Easton does an exceptional job of showing us every nuance of survivor's guilt / PTSD - call it what you will - but Brian is hurting so badly and you feel his every emotion down to your gut. It's raw and honest, and Easton doesn't sugarcoat the shooting and its aftermath. And as Brian and Landon fall in love, watching Brian slowly rebuild - still broken but recovering - their love story is so tender and life-affirming. Brian and Landon's romance has more of a YA feel as there are no extended graphic sex scenes, FYI.

The Art of Hero Worship

Title: The Art of Hero Worship
Author: Mia Kerick
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: October 29, 2018
Genre(s): Contemporary Suspense
Page Count: 186 pages
Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Oh, boy. I wanted to really like this story of Liam and Jason who bond together in the aftermath of a terrifying shooting at a college theater performance. The plot immediately grabs your attention from page one as Liam saves Jason's life and drives him to safety.

But after escaping the horror with their lives, they do NOT call the police and let them know about the active shooter, and more importantly that they know his identity. Later on, a similar instance occurs ... when Liam rushes into a smoke-filled building to save a little girl, but Jason doesn't inform firefighters going into the building until much later that Liam has run into the building. Seriously?