#RachelReviews THE SENIOR AND THE SURFER by M. B. Feeney #Charity

The Senior and the Surfer by M. B. Feeney

Released November 01, 2021; 292 pages

BLURB:

A senseless attack brings clarity to Rare Breed’s Wes’ life…

Wes Archer is gay.

His friends and sister accept him without judgment and love him for having the strength to live his true life. The band and his friends have become an escape from the misery of living with a homophobic father, and he hates to think how things would be without them in his life.

When he meets Wyatt, a surfer, down at the beach, their relationship becomes another welcome distraction from life at home, and he finally sees a future away from his parents.

But just as Wes starts to grow in confidence, an unprovoked attack threatens to derail his courage and determination.

Can the band, his sister, and Wyatt show him that he can move beyond his past, and toward a happy and bright new future, where Rare Breed reach for the stars?

The third book in M. B. Feeney’s New Adult Rockstar Romance Series.

AMAZON 

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MY THOUGHTS

In The Senior and the Surfer, we return to the Rare Breed world created by M B Feeney. This time, for Wes’ story, the band’s drummer.

Right off the bat I must applaud Feeney. The Rare Breed world, set in Los Angeles, is one world, one story, and yet the author has been able to present us with three individual tales to date. As a reader, I’m not fond of recapping the same scene over and over. As an editor, I’ll pull my authors up on this. Feeney, however, has manipulated this series with style and grace. While these books all follow basically the same timeline, there are enough nuances and unique scenes to make each story stand alone as Feeney tackles various hard-hitting subjects of adolescence. And while each is an amazing read on its own, they deliver so much more of an impact when read all together.

My understanding is that The Senior and the Surfer was Feeney’s first full dive into the m/m world after tip-toeing around the subject in earlier books. Her handling of the subject matter was beautifully done, and I was easily won over by Wes and Wyatt’s budding relationship. I cheered their good times and lamented their hard times, falling in love with the idea of them.

I admittedly don’t usually give more than 4 stars on a review, but the Rare Breed series has been 5 star all the way for me. Each and every book has been an absolute delight to read. Thank you, Ms Feeney, and write on!

Get the whole series HERE!

SURPRISE! There will be a fourth installment to the Rare Breed series, The Sophomore and the Second Chance, and Feeney will be working on it to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Get all the details, cheer her on, and make a donation HERE

#RachelReviews: WHAT SHE DESERVES by Clare Bentley

 WHAT SHE DESERVES by Clare Bentley

                                                                                    

BLURB:

Two years ago, Kaidence Hadaway thought she had met the man she would spend the rest of her life with. But when Mitchell Stevenson lost his job a year later and has to move in with her, she is thrust into a life of abuse.Without her parents around and with her friends gradually driven away, she takes the punishment she feels she deserves until fate brings a police officer to her door, who makes it his mission to rescue her.But just when she decided it’s time to get out, Mitchell discovers the secret she’s been hiding. Will she make it out alive? Or will she be so close only to fail?

Release Date: March 2020; 583 pages

BUY LINK (available in KU)

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MY THOUGHTS

Wow. Where to start? Probably best to start with a warning: the subject matter of domestic abuse is a hard one to tackle, and Bentley pulls no punches with her debut novel (pun NOT intended). If you trigger easily, this is likely not the book for you.

The mind is a powerful thing—a place where we can find confidence and the strength to endure, but also capable of crippling us to our core with fear, self-doubt, and loathing.

Kaidence Hadaway’s story opens mid-beating, setting the tone for what is about to be a hell of an emotional ride as Bentley takes us through the ups and downs of trying to live a double life. With little family left, and no remaining friends to lean on (thanks to the mind games of Mitchell, her abuser), Kaidence opts to hide her abuse. Until she can’t.

A chance meeting with Officer Jackson Chase, while not an immediate fix to her problems, starts to open the door to her salvation. As her live-in manipulator, I mean boyfriend, gets deeper into her head, the missed days at work add up along with her injuries and injustices, leading to the increased need for professional intervention from those in the medical field and law enforcement. Unfortunately, with the amount of humiliation, degradation, and physical attacks she has endured, only Kaidence can decide when she’s had enough. What follows is a “two steps forward, one step back” situation. With every new friend she makes and chance at life she takes comes the inevitable “step back” as Mitchell’s vitriol and anger rain down on her. Somehow, she gets back up each time, stronger than before.

The technical writing aspects of this book are a little rough in places. Slipped tenses, rapidly shifting points of views (sometimes within a single paragraph), minor punctuation issues, and some inconsistencies in the narrative along with some concepts being repeated multiple times (making me, as the reader, feel the author doesn’t trust me to “keep up”) influenced my rating.

My editorial opinions aside, Bentley delivers a story not to be missed in What She Deserves. It’s an experience that truly is raw, real, and relatable.

Bravo, Ms. Bentley.

#RachelReviews: The End of August (Part One) by Rue Volley

 THE END OF AUGUST (Part One) by Rue Volley

Release Date: October 13, 2021; 315 pages

BLURB:

It's 1985.

Everyone is wearing a Swatch Watch and carrying a Trapper Keeper.

Goonies, Back to the Future, and The Breakfast Club are killing it at the theaters.

Super Mario Brothers is a lifestyle.

Posters of Duran Duran and Madonna are on every bedroom wall.

But for fifteen-year-old, August East, the biggest news is the move his family made to the odd little town of Whynot, Ohio, a cute boy named Keller West, and, of course, that whole murder thing.

*This is a DUAL POV*

BUY LINK (99c for a limited time!)

GOODREADS    BOOKBUB

MY THOUGHTS

A tale of finding acceptance and love while delving into the darker sides of life.

Rue’s covers and blurbs have always been eye-catching, and although I’ve followed her on social media for years, this was my first foray into actually reading one her works. (Thank you for the ARC opportunity.) As a child of the 80s, this doesn’t disappoint. From subtle mentions of Chuck Taylor’s to the Stars Wars glasses we all collected from the Happy Meals to the all-important soundtrack of the decade, The End of August knocks it out of the park as a walk down memory lane. As a lover of all things ghostly and paranormal, August also wins my heart.

August East, Keller West, Shylo, and the fabulous sibling duo of Vincent and Evie make up the perfect pentagram-oriented five-person team as they dig into the history and bowels of Mill House. The big question is, who is being protected? Something we won’t learn until part II releases next year.

Additional thoughts  (not shared elsewhere)

There were some assorted issues I found while reading which went beyond a misplaced comma here or there. As an editor, and knowing this was an ARC which would be finalized before publication, the handful of inconsistencies, some spelling, and misused punctuation I could overlook. However, as a reader, one of my biggest pet peeves, what I call “recap overlap,” pushed me to take a star. While some readers don’t mind re-reading the same scene from multiple POVs, I do, and often end up skimming and moving on. There are ways to show all the sides of the story without retelling the same main part.

Please note, this is my personal opinion, and should not detract you from experiencing the delicious tale unfolding under Rue's talented pen. The End of August is not to be missed!