Reviewed By Donna
TITLE: Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson
AUTHOR: Geoffrey Knight
PUBLISHER: Wilde City Press
LENGTH: 10,400 words
BLURB: Valentine’s Day has long been a difficult day for widow and single mom Kate Madsen. But this Valentine’s Day is going to be more than just difficult… it’s going to be downright awkward. For Kate’s only child, seven-year-old Mikey, just stunned the small town of Elk’s Ridge by writing a Valentine’s Day card to someone name Bobby Bryson.
While the card sends teachers into a tizz and turns Mikey’s grandfather into a grumpy old man, Kate discovers over the course of one afternoon that she and her young son are about to begin a journey of questions, confrontations and hopefully one day… happiness.
In the meantime, will Mikey and his Mom make it through this Valentine’s Day? Will the innocent intentions of one young boy change the narrow minds of a stubborn, small town? And just who exactly is the object of Mikey’s affections—Bobby Bryson?
REVIEW: This story is special, there’s no better word to describe it. It was originally published as part of a Valentine’s Day anthology last year but has just been independently released through Wilde City Press. To tell the truth it was the cover that caught my attention. I saw a promo on Facebook and couldn’t resist checking it out. A cute handyman complete with overalls and power tools? It’s sounding hot already!
But that’s not what this book was about. It wasn’t what I expected at all. It was so much better, so much more.
The story begins with a teacher’s determined march through the deserted halls of a primary school. It caught my attention instantly. It’s obvious something is very wrong, but what could it be? What is so alarming that she feels the need to charge into the principal’s office unannounced? The answer is thrust upon the principal’s desk in all its horrific glory! A Valentines Day card. One badly cut out, heart shaped Valentine’s Day card written to Bobby Bryson from seven-year-old Mikey Madsen.
This book is sweet in all the best ways and it had me switching between, ‘oh that’s so sad’ to wearing a big stupid smile on my face the whole time I was reading.
Mikey’s mother gave me a few bad moments, as, at first, it was hard to tell if she was going to offer her son her support. I felt so sorry for Mikey who couldn’t understand what the problem was. He’s too young to understand terms like ‘gay’ or ‘straight’. All he knows is the teacher told him to make a Valentine’s Day card for someone he has feelings for and now everybody is upset with him. And it’s not because of his poor scissor skills. I just wanted to be able to pluck Mikey out of the pages and give him a big hug.
So, who is Bobby Bryson? Well, it’s not hard to guess. But who is Bobby Bryson? He’s the wonderful person who finally reassures Mikey that it’s okay for two boys to love each other. He also tells him that the most important person to love is himself.
I finished reading this book with a sigh of contentment, mind firmly entrenched in a very happy place.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: Wilde City Are
Man – this sounds like a pretty special story. Thanks for the review. I honestly had not seen anything about this but the cover sure is fun. I’m going to need to spend more time over at Wilde City’s website.
Hey Lisa.
Wilde City is my favourite place to find books that aren’t necessarily romances. Plus they download direct to your kindle. I sound like a publicist now 🙂 but I do really like their books.
I read this last year in the On Valentine’s Day Anthology and I really loved it. I thought it was such a cute read. Do you have any idea if the story was expanded? The cover itself is adorable =)
Yeah I love that cover. As far as I know tis exactly the same story. I haven’t seen anything that says it’s revised or expanded.
Okay, thanks so much!
H.B., yes the story has been expanded! Two brand new scenes have been added.