Raise a Glass

Monday morning and the young pair prepare to face the music heading back to school. The point of view switches between our two principals. The author prolongs the agony with lengthy passages of introspection making extensive use of sports metaphors in Brad's case. We know the lad's a jock but the author's knowledge of baseball play and the intimate details such as the use of a "cup" may not be shared by all his readers especially bookish nerds such as Kyle.

Book three describes going back to school on Monday and everything one could dread about that day seems to hit these two. As the day ends their two mothers spring into action and little is more fearsome than a lioness defending her wounded cub.

End of the Beginning

In book 2 of this series the narration switches to the jock, Brad. If you've been reading so far you're aware that Brad outed both himself and Kyle in rather dramatic fashion at the end of book 1 before the entire school. Kyle has suddenly ceased to be invisible and Brad has abdicated his position as the golden boy.

Brad talks about the sports experience in the locker room, on the field, and in the dugout in rather homoerotic terms, though of course most jocks would staunchly deny having any gay tendencies. Book two is full of introspection which tends to slow the pace down considerably. What becomes apparent is the fact that even in one's darkest hour help may come from the most unlikely of sources.

The action takes place over the course of a Friday and the weekend following.

Creed's Honor

For this branch of the Creed Family we move to Lonesome Bend, Colorado to another sprawling ranch owned jointly by Steven's identical twin cousins Brody and Connor. Connor personifies the good son who stayed home to keep up the family heritage while his brother Brody, older by 4 minutes, is the black sheep of the family who ran off to join the rodeo circuit and play the field with buckle bunnies. This book follows Connor's journey to matrimonial bliss with Tricia, who lives with her Great-Grandmother. I cannot be accused of spoilers because, as usual, the entire plot is telegraphed from the opening pages. As is generally true of Romance Novels the story here is the rocky road to true love.

Maybe with a Chance of Certainty

What does the brilliant high school nerd have in common with the Letterman jock? Surprise, they're both gay and they both have an alcoholic parent. Tough to think who has the bigger problem here.

Without throwing hip language at one or resorting to profanity and bad grammar the author manages to perfectly evoke the insecurities and tensions of those high school corridors. Behind that confident exterior the high school jock and the prom queen have the same raging hormones and insecurities everyone else shares, they just have more to lose.

The story is told from the point of view of the nerd. Girls have long been portrayed as besotted and struck dumb in the presence of the object of their overwhelming affection. Here we learn that boys can experience similar emotional paralysis.

Near the end of this book Kyle lays it on the line for his high school prinicpal:

 

The teacher is struck dumb.

Ask Him Why

This novel is about what happens when a sibling gets accused of wrongdoing. The media frenzy that gathers outside your doors hounding your family and inconveniencing the neighbours as well. The graffiti painted on your walls by vandals. The bullying classmates who make life difficult, the boyfriends whose parents refuse to be associated with you. The work your father loses due to the notoriety. The people who shun all members of your family. The hurtful press and social media commentary. The sense of hurt and loss that a person you loved, looked up to, and idolized could so fall from grace.

The novel takes a turn for the truly weird in the second half and then jumps forward nearly 10 years.

The sample provided interested me sufficiently to move me to buy the whole. The author can seem a little preachy but the story pulls you in.

Finishing a book is like losing a friend. One is saddened to have lost the relationship but glad to have had the experience while it lasted.

A Creed at Stone Creek

Steven's name is Creed but he's only distantly related to the Creeds we've already met. This family seems to have a lot of lawyers. It's his adopted son five-year-old Matt, orphaned by Steven's best friends and former partner who initially tugs at one's heart strings.

A word about the conventions of Romance Novels, in this case Cowboy Romance. The male is always a magnetically virile hunk of manhood and his romantic interest equally sexually attractive. The two are introduced in the opening pages and the remaining story involves the path to marital bliss. Happy endings seem guaranteed. At some point there will be a detailed description of their coital encounters. Well-written romances such as this one rise above these conventions or I wouldn't be reading them. They also seem to be wildly popular, just ask Harlequin.

This one seems to have more drama than most and introduces us to the protagonists in the following entries in the series.

A Creed Country Christmas

Well I asked for a prequel but the author's done me one better and gone back an entire century to the Creed family patriarch who homesteaded the original family ranch. Life is rugged and Montana Christmases are cold and snowy but romance blossoms in the wintry cold or the generations wouldn't follow. I may not read this for the romance but there's enough added to satisfy the need for a good read.

Montana Creeds: Tyler

Being book 3 in a series that runs to 7 volumes. If it has yet to be written this series cries for a prequel that would follow the lives of the wild Creed boys, their alcoholic father Jake, his three wives-their various mothers, and their “grandma” Cassie in her Teepee.

As usual the romance at the centre of the tale is telegraphed from the opening pages. The men in these tales are always described as R-rated eye candy with prodigious 'equipment'.

More bedroom gymnastics in this outing, indeed splendour in the grass but enough other things going on to make it interesting.

Being book 3 in a series that runs to 7 volumes. If it has yet to be written this series cries for a prequel that would follow the lives of the wild Creed boys, their alcoholic father Jake, his three wives-their various mothers, and their “grandma” Cassie in her Teepee.

As usual the romance at the centre of the tale is telegraphed from the opening pages. The men in these tales are always described as R-rated eye candy with prodigious 'equipment'.

More bedroom gymnastics in this outing, indeed splendour in the grass but enough other things going on to make it interesting.

Montana Creeds: Dylan

This is book 2 in this series of Romance Novels. The essential romance at the centre of things is telegraphed from the opening chapters. It is the character development and all the side issues that get in the way that make this good reading and I wouldn't be spending my time if it wasn't engaging reading. Not great literature of course but well written, well edited text to beguile an evening.

Scorch Trials

Being book two of The Maze Runner Series. Since I've seen the movie based on book one it's hard to read this without picturing Dylan O'Brien as Thomas and Ki Hong Lee as Minho in his runner harness looking oh so brawny. The 370-page book has 65 brief chapters that give the story a choppy episodic nature. The trilogy extends to over 1000 pages.

I read book one in the series to see what all the fuss was about before watching the movie version in part because I knew Dylan O'Brien from Teen Wolf. Book two comes off as overly wordy, even turgid. I can't get sufficiently interested in it to spend the time to finish reading it. I would also note that inventing words to replace profanity I would not be allowed to use in an Amazon review is still swearing, it just sounds more awkward.

Chasing Fireflies

Took me several chapters to get involved in the storyline. “Sketch” is a non-verbal abused kid who ends up in hospital where he is met by Chase Walker a reporter who also happens to be a foster child. Chase's challenge is to get through to this child and establish his identity. Sketch communicates by drawing, a skill he has mastered magnificently at his young age.

The story is narrated by Chase who in telling Sketch's story relates his own parallel history as an orphan. Side-issues are the rivalry between brothers for a rich inheritance, the mystery of a triple murder, and a fortune in disappeared bearer bonds.

In the end this story seems overly contrived and stretches belief but its heart is in the right place.

Montana Creeds: Logan

The author writes Cowboy Harlequin Romances. This series begins with Logan Creed and introduces his brothers Dylan and Tyler. Logan is, of course tall, raven haired, brown eyed, handsome with high cheek bones and you can bet his brothers will be equally virile sexually attractive males, all of them rodeo stars. It is one of the clichés of the genre that ordinary-looking men never get any action. That quibble aside these books are always well-written and edited, easy to read. I sat down and read 100 pages at one sitting.

The scene is a 10,000-acre Montana ranch and conveniently the love interest lives in one of the three ranch houses on the property. A single Mom with two wrangling sons 8 and 10 plus an estranged, divorced husband lurking around the edges. Throw in an old pickup, a dog, and a retired rodeo bull.

The romantic plot-line may seem predictable but the characters are well developed and the back-story never seems contrived. No one will call this great literature but it makes light reading when one needs relief from heavier topics and it comes with the assurance of an eventual happy ending.

This one turns out to be more mystery thriller than romance and keep the bedroom gymnastics to a minimum.

Be Careful What You Wish For

This is book four of the Harry Clifton Series. More than any book yet this one is set in the world of business. An author who likes cliff-hanger endings to entice the reader to buy the next in the series gives this book an explosive ending.

Keep Quiet

If you've read Reservation Road or seen the movie based on it then you have an idea of the plot for this book. Another movie in a similar vein would be I Saw What You Did Last Summer. It may be possible to hide a crime but living with it is quite another proposition. The fact that the wife and mother here is a judge adds an ironic twist. At the heart of this tale is the fact that the relationship between father and son is one of parenting not buddy, buddy; parenting is not a popularity contest. Somehow the book comes off as less than satisfying and the snapper ending seems somewhat contrived.

His Whole Life

At first glance everyone in this novel appears to be on a guilt trip. The protagonist we follow in His Whole Life is Jim whose family is visiting his uncle, his mother's brother, who lives in Lanark south-west of Ottawa, Canada, Jim's family lives in New York City. Jim and his mother, Nan, move back to the winterized log cabin to live when the owners die leaving Jim's father behind in New York. Most of the action, such as it is takes place in Jim's mind.

This is a Canadian novel despite its part-time location in NYC and Quebec Separatism and Referendums work their way into the storyline. The story follows Jim from age 8 to 17. Somehow as much as I enjoyed reading it this book was tough going.

The Life We Bury

Joe Talbert's mother is a typical alcoholic--manipulative, predatory, self-centred. Reading about how she treats her son will make you understand how one can love someone and want to throttle them at the same time. His brother Jeremy can't help the fact he's autistic. No matter how many times Joe thinks he's escaped his mother does something to drag him back.

The story grabs your attention and keeps it. Turns out to be one part murder mystery, one part thriller.

Common Ground

I can remember when Justin Trudeau was born on Christmas Day 1971. There followed many pictures of he and his brothers peering between the legs of world leaders when his father took them along to Commonwealth Conferences or State Visits. When he decided to run for office Maclean’s Mag published a multi-page spread in which they interviewed his skiing buddies and anyone else they could persuade to talk. In the most recent election the Tory Party ran some very un-Canadian attack ads. History will judge whether or not he was “up to the job” but if a son learns his trade by watching his father Justin had a unique training ground. So far there have been no pictures of him pirouetting behind the back of the Queen or saying fuddle duddle. This autobiography serves as his attempt to set the record straight.

The book is well-edited and very readable. After trying out the generous sample first chapter I was moved to want to read the rest.

When I reached the section documenting the electoral machinations I got bogged down. First Trudeau persuaded the Liberal members of his riding to select him as candidate over the party leader’s approved choice. Then he persuaded the voters of Papineau to unseat their elected representative in his favour. Then he persuaded the Liberal Party of Canada to select him as party leader. Finally helped elect a majority government making him Prime Minister.

Even if the cachet of the name Trudeau didn’t work in his favour the family fortune enabled him to conduct his electioneering with a sense of comfort. It takes $2 billion to elect a president of the US. The record of donors and their contributions are a matter of public record in Canada. Trudeau’s maternal grandfather was a bagman for the party. He gets mention but in slightly more flattering terms. These final chapters are more political statement than biography. I happen to agree that the Harper Tories needed defeating. Ploughing through Trudeau’s policy statements makes for dry reading unless you’re a politico junkie.

Best Kept Secret

Book Three of the Series. Book two ended with another cliff-hanger as the House Of Lords returns a tied vote on the matter of Harry vs Giles.

Britain’s highest court of appeal may have established in law that the two were not brothers but doubt remains. Harry becomes a writer and Giles an MP. A fourth generation of Cliftons and Barringtons continue their adventures here with just as many plot twists and as much excitement. The story continues to be told from multiple points of view at times back-tracking when the centre of attention shifts.

So is it a spoiler to say that Sebastian’s younger sister Janice may be his Aunt. Is this anything new in Britain’s inbred aristocracy. As a biographical aside it might be noted that the author has personal prison experience. The author continues to keep the reader in suspence with cliff-hanger endings.

If books one and two sparked your interest you’ll love book three and probably want to read book four.

The Sins of the Father

Second in a series that at time of writing stretched to seven volumes. Book one had a cliff-hanger ending as young Clifton learned that assuming the identity of someone whose past one doesn't know can be fraught with unknown hazards.

Somehow it took some time for my interest in this book gain hold but after a few chapters it becomes difficult to put it down.

Once more we are faced with a cliffhanger ending as the House of Lords returns a tied vote in the matter of Giles vs Harry.

The Story of the Other Wise Man

This is a small book published in 1895 of which I only recently heard and today read. This little morality tale makes it plain that the success of a quest often lies not in attaining the goal but in how one makes the journey.