Reviewed by Donna

 

TITLE: Love Spell

AUTHOR: Mia Kerick

PUBLISHER: CoolDudes Publishing

LENGTH: 146 Pages

BLURB:

Strutting his stuff on the catwalk in black patent leather pumps and a snug orange tuxedo as this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon feels so very right to Chance César, and yet he knows it should feel so very wrong.

As far back as he can remember, Chance has been “caught between genders.” (It’s quite a touchy subject; so don’t ask him about it.) However, he does not question his sexual orientation. Chance has no doubt about his gayness—he is very much out of the closet at his rural New Hampshire high school, where the other students avoid the kid they refer to as “girl-boy.”

But at the local Harvest Moon Festival, when Chance, the Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue, the Pumpkin Carving King, sparks fly. So Chance sets out, with the help of his BFF, Emily, to make “Jazz” Donahue his man.

An article in an online women’s magazine, Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love with You (with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure), becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart.

 

REVIEW:

OMG, yaaasss! This book is totes adorbs, fucker-nelly sick and reviewing it is going to be a pie-stroll. My only dooza-palooza is going to be keeping it to a reasonable length. You’ll probs be like – whoa, yapper-halt, B – but you’re gonna have to deal cause I laaaaove this story! Kk?

Honestly, need I say more? #ofcourseido

Chance César (“chances are”, for those who missed it) locks eyes on Jasper Donahue and knows that he needs to make that boy his. He has no idea if Jazz feels the same way, if he’s the slightest bit interested or if he’s even gay. He needs to hatch a plan to land his man, and luckily he’s not alone. His BFF Emmy is absolutely committed to assisting in the hunt and they’re armed with a ten-step-to-love magazine article and a love spell or two.

I’m not going to try to fool you, as much as I went totally nuts for this book it’s definitely not for everybody. It’s very much young adult and although I may have overdid it with my first paragraph, if you can’t take a few totes, probs, amazeballs and smexys, then you should probably steer clear of this tale. #onlyforthecoolkids

It’s much easier to sashay to the sound of a snazzy snare drum than to the unpleasant clamor of heckling. Not that my backside won’t wiggle righteously to any sound at all. Because, rest assured, it will.

Chance is full on, full time. We first meet our main character as he struts his stuff after being crowned Miss Harvest Moon in a move that was intended to humiliate him. Instead, he owns the stage as he waves and swishes along in the glamorous heals he spent hours practicing in. He knows the haters are gonna hate but he doesn’t allow anything to keep him down. He’s snarky, witty and in your face and, to be honest, I was a little worried that his somewhat abrasive personality was going to start getting on my nerves if he remained so “all in” throughout the whole story. But his inner fears and the way he forces/fakes his brash confidence are instantly endearing and, in my case anyway, countered any exasperation I may have felt.

“So you thought voting for me as Miss Harvest Moon, here, would humiliate me – dull my shine or rain on my parade, perhaps?”

I wag my well-manicured finger at the crowd.

“Well, in your face, my sorry backwards homies, cuz I’m here and I’m queer and I’m shining on – just like that big ol’ harvest moon!”

The story consisted of two key problems for Chase to overcome. If you asked Chase, he’d tell you that the most important thing for him to focus on would be to make Jazz fall in love with him.

Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love With You

This part of the story was absolutely hilarious and oh, so sweet at the same time. THE PLAN makes me cringe because it really does bring back so many embarrassing memories of being a teenager who believes in the advice of magazine articles. Poor Chance and Jazz, I don’t know who I felt the most sorry for. I couldn’t wait to see how Chance would interpret the article each time he moved on to a different step in his plan. And if Chance was confusing and frustrating himself then imagine how Jazz was feeling. When Chance finally comes to the conclusion that the plan may need a little something extra to help it work, he naturally moves on to love spells. Because it’s the only logical direction to take, right? This was maybe my favourite scene in the book. (It is kinda hard to just settle on one.) Chance dressed only in a tiny red speedo, in a bath of hot salt water, chanting his love spell, surrounded by candles and swaths of pink fabric while Genie in a Bottle plays in the background. You couldn’t make this shit up! But Mia Kerick sure can! #thewomanisagenius

Chance’s second complication is a little more difficult to figure out. And this time, if you asked Chase, he’d probably give you a whole lot of poopatude. It’s not something he likes to think about or talk about and he’s fairly certain it’s the cause of everything that goes wrong in his life.

I know what my body is.

I know what my sexuality is.

I just don’t know what I am.

Chance César is one very confused teenager. His body is that of a boy, and he’s fine with that. He likes other boys, and he’s fine with that too. But inside he doesn’t know if he’s a boy or a girl or something else altogether. He knows all the labels and nothing seems to fit him properly. He doesn’t see how anyone else could love him or how he is suppose to love himself, when he doesn’t even know who or what he is. As much as I was amused by Chance’s antics as he attempts to woo Jazz, this part of the story is, I guess, more important. Chance’s struggle to identify himself, his belief that he needs a label really tugs at your heart because you can see just how vulnerable the outgoing teen really is. #givethekidahug #notsarcasm

If you do like young adult then I can’t recommend this book enough. In my opinion Mia Kerick is one of the top writers of young adult fiction in the m/m genre. With Love Spell she simply proved once again that she has so much talent to share. While you don’t need to be a gender confused teenager to enjoy the book, I would love to think Chase’s story could give some hope to any people out there who are also still trying to figure out just what they are inside.

“If I had my wish, there’d be no pressure for me to ‘define’ my gender, anyway.” I form those strategic air quotes that I detest so much with my trembling fingers. “I’d just live my life in a gray zone – like I’d be as femme or as masc as I feel at any given moment – and I’d stop asking myself endless questions about what I am.”

#sha-blam 

RATING: 

 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

ARe

CoolDudes Publishing