Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Yellowbelly Hero 
AUTHOR: Susan Laine
SERIES: Heroes at Heart #1
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 83 pages
BLURB:
Heroes at Heart: Book One
Yancy Bell was bullied in high school for being a yellowbelly, not because of any cowardice, but because of his nervous bladder condition. It’s Yancy’s first year in college, and he’s hoping to make a fresh start.
Three days before Christmas, the campus is empty. Having to pee on a midwinter night leads Yancy to meet Curt Donovan huddled in a dark shower stall. Curt’s a troubled jock whose coming out went badly, so he plans to end it all.
But Yancy adamantly refuses to let Curt go through with his irrevocable plan. With just one dark night to talk Curt around, Yancy has to win the trust of a stranger who only sees one way out.
REVIEW:
Yancy Bell, Freshman college student, has an issue. He has a weak bladder and pees a lot. Sometimes where he should be peeing, sometimes he doesn’t make it. This has made for a rough childhood and led to some bullying at school. Now he is at college. One night before heading home for Christmas, he has to make his usual mad dash to the common bathroom in his nearly empty dorm to pee, and finds a surprise in the bathroom.
Curt Donovan, gay jock, has just come out to his father, it didn’t go well, so he decides he’s had enough and it’s time to check out. He’s in a bathroom in his college dorm, with a knife, ready to kill himself, when he is interrupted by a fellow student, who stops to pee, then comes to see what’s going on in the dark shower stall.
The two young men share their stories and some drama, and possibly start something between them.
I’m not sure how I feel about this story. There wasn’t enough background developed for either character for me to really get a good feeling for them. Curt’s reaction to his father’s rejection seemed a little over the top, but I am not a 20 year old gay man who just came out, so I don’t really know what that would feel like. But it was extreme, maybe if I had seen more of his life I’d understand it better. I did like the care that Yancy shows in dealing with Curt at such a desperate time in his life. I liked the dialogue that takes place between them, the sharing of stories, and the bonding over a difficult situation. I liked the two characters, at least the brief bit we know about them, they both have potential to be good guys, and I could see the attraction there, even in the odd way they meet.
There was some really deep stuff in here, the attempted suicide, Curt’s rejection by his father, and poor Yancy and his peeing issues. It was almost too much in such a short story, I would liked to have seen more…. something. This all takes place literally in a matter of hours, and I think it needed more time. Time to address the prevalence of young/new adult suicide, the rejection of young men by their parents and what that leads to, these are obviously both serious issues. It’s what this story is about, but somehow it wasn’t really dealt with. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense. This felt like the beginning of a story, not just in the relationship between Yancy and Curt, but the beginning of some discussion about these difficult subjects. There just wasn’t a solution or discussion. I want to see Curt deal with his family, get some counseling, get some help. I want to see how Yancy deals with a relationship with someone who understands his bladder issue. There is so much potential here, so much story, this 83 pages was just inadequate. I want to see what comes next so badly. This is the first I have read by Susan Laine, and I can see there is talent here, and I’d love to see this expanded and turned in to a novel.
I had a hard time rating this one, I did like it, but it’s way too short to deal with the issues brought up. The writing is good, the story is good, and the characters are good, it’s just really short and rushed for such deep problems.
RATING: 
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