Reviewed by Stephen K
TITLE: Looking Forward
SERIES: Unconditional #21
AUTHOR: Michael Bailey
PUBLISHER: Independent
LENGTH: 258 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 21st 2018
BLURB:
Owen Hannity was nineteen when he lost almost everyone he thought he could trust. Each loss more painful than the last.
With the unwavering support of his best friend, Andy, Owen put the pieces of his life back together. Now, more than two decades later, Owen owns and operates a successful comic shop. Despite his modicum of success, he still feels like a shell of a man, carrying the emotional scars from his past.
Without warning, Owen’s past returns. Secrets come to light. Secrets that could either destroy Owen or finally give him the strength to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about Andy, himself, and the way in which he views the world.
To see that he is truly worthy of loving himself and finally begin…
…Looking Forward.
REVIEW:
Trigger warning: Parental Neglect
Owen Hannity grew up without the parental support and approval that most teens enjoy. His mother died when he was young. His father was distant and undemonstrative and when a step-mother appeared on the scene she was more step-monster than step-mother. Yet unlike so many real world teens, Owen was fortunate in that he had a steadfast friend in Andy, the only openly gay guy in Owen’s Toledo high school.
Though Owen’s early crisis is set “years ago,” the dilemma of parental rejection is still an all too real a phenomenon. e.g. A 2010 study featured in the American Journal of Public Health finds that approximately 25 percent of gay teens in Massachusetts public high schools were homeless, compared to only 3 percent of heterosexual students.
Unlike so much of contemporary m/m fiction this novel doesn’t use the dual POV “he said/he said” convention so there’s a refreshing lack of head hopping in this story. That both works for and against the story. As an older reader looking in, being “stuck” inside Owen’s point of view was a bit frustrating. I was almost certain of Jack’s and Andy’s feelings much earlier than young Owen, and it left me a bit frustrated with the kids (all of them.) And yet, given the lack of demonstrated loved in Owen’s childhood, it made very very clear and understandable his inability to perceive real love when he encountered it. In some ways Owen is much more of youngster even as an adult than most young adults you meet in m/m fiction. His sense of self worth and self esteem had been all but destroyed by his uncaring and hateful parents and yet I identified with him on several levels. Having been raised in the midwest myself, I found myself enjoying the references to Ohio. Even as fortunate as I was to have had two loving parents, I was a bit slow to learn the emotional aspects of “adulting,” and could empathize with Owen more than was sometimes comfortable.
A large part of this tale is told in flashback, with the main character now a “pushing 40” adult looking back on his coming out. Therefore he doesn’t have quite the same immediate vulnerability as main character David in book 1 of this series. Although, the tale doesn’t have the same direct visceral impact as the first book, it is compelling in its own right and deepens the world developed in book 1. It even add some additional aspects to the characters introduced there and moves their stories along a bit. I’m now anxious to move on to book 3.
RATING: 
BUY LINK: