Reviewed by Stephen K
TITLE: One Little Word
AUTHOR: F.N.Manning
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 204 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 28th 2017 (Re-released June 2021)
BLURB:
What would you do if the most popular guy in high school asked you for a favor?
Ryan Miller’s intellect goes beyond his smart mouth. So when a desperate jock approaches him with a wild plan, he knows getting close to a gorgeous straight boy is a terrible idea. But being openly gay and a science geek in a small town means his social calendar is wide open. And besides, Ryan has a plan of his own…
As a junior, Luke Chambers is already high school royalty. The captain of the baseball team, he has a seemingly endless supply of friends. Yet none of them can help when he screws up. Instead, he must depend on the one classmate who seems to hate him. Luke’s sure it can’t get worse, but he just might be falling for the nerdy guy anyway.
Fearing his feelings, Luke wants to return to his normal life. Ryan wants a boyfriend who wants him back. And when someone else is willing to be that guy, Luke must speak up or risk losing Ryan before ever really having him. If one little word brought them together, how many words will it take to make Ryan stay?
REVIEW:
How many coming out/ coming to terms stories have been written in the last decade? I’ve read a bunch and generally love the best ones as they allow me to empathize with the boy or boys coming out. It’s therapeutic to see this gut-wrenching experience through the eyes of another. This one is doubly therapeutic in that it’s laugh out loud funny in spots and laughter is, as they say, the best medicine.
Ryan is the only openly gay student at his small rural high school. Luke is the school’s athletic golden boy and has earned Ryan’s animus in a way that we only learn later. When the two begin their fake relationship, Ryan is looking to avoid being expelled while Ryan is looking get a little revenge of the clueless popular kid… if only he weren’t so gosh dang sweet, and cute, and Grrr.
This is a surprisingly well written “he said/he said” novel in which both boys get what they want, and discover that they both want more. The insights that both boys gain, moves this out of the merely entertaining and into the enlightening. For a book to do that while also being an enjoyable read, and even laugh out loud funny in spots, makes this one great.
The characters here are pretty much all good people. I enjoyed spending time with them. Several of the supporting characters here really deserve their own books as well… or at least appearances in the sequel to this one. I look forward to seeing how this story (and these lads) develop further.
Since this is aimed at the YA market, don’t expect any graphic sex here, but do expect a few first kisses, first dates and as the author puts it “a ridiculous amount of hand holding.”
This was F.N. Manning’s debut-novel but this re-released version is longer than the original. Given the witty repartee here, I can’t imagine why this hasn’t been scooped up and made into an audio-book. Someone needs to do something about that. And while they’re at it, maybe consider a movie? Some of the scenes here feel like they’d be incredibly telegenic.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: