Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: For Love of Self

SERIES: Blessed Be

AUTHOR: Robin Reardon

PUBLISHER: IAM Books

LENGTH: 312 Pages

RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2023

BLURB:

A beautiful young man, dancing alone and completely naked at the edge of a pond, is not what Spencer Hill expected to see. It’s 1987, and he has been assigned a ministerial post in a Unitarian Universalist parish in Assisi, Vermont, close to the Canadian border-a far cry from his hometown of New York City. So a “sky clad” wood sprite takes him very much by surprise.

What might have been a ho-hum posting in this remote northern location turns out to be anything but that. The good news: His progressive parish doesn’t care that he’s gay. The bad news? His attempts to make a goodwill connection with The Forest, a nearby Pagan community, are consistently rebuffed for reasons he doesn’t understand.

As Spencer makes friends and enters into a love affair, he begins to explore the fraught relationship he’d had with his late father. And in his efforts to reach out to The Forest, he uncovers a dark secret the Assisi townsfolk don’t want to talk about.

REVIEW:

After changing his church – Reverend Spencer Hill was rewarded with a parish in Assisi, Vermont. The Unitarian Universalist congregation is semi-rural, accepting, forward thinkers – a good thing, given that Spencer is gay and out. Nevertheless, the Reverend is far from the hustle and bustle of his New York homeland. Amongst the varied personalities, his new flock is keeping secrets – one involves The Forest Pagan community. There are other distractions, too – A man who dances naked, and then there’s Marshall.

For Love of Self is the second book of three in the Blessed Be series that follows Reverend Spencer Hill. In book one (For Love of God), he faced religion vs his orientation. Now, happy with his sexuality, he is a natural helper, but where do the lines lie between being a minister and his requirements as a man? This story is extremely thought-provoking. It almost reads like an autobiography, yet it is fiction with an enjoyable arc. I found myself entertained, albeit most of the time, I pondered over the interpretations of who or what God is.

The story is told in the first person from the sole perspective of Spencer. Once you read, you’ll get what I mean when I say that – within the first chapter, there was a lot of church-style dialogue (to be expected), but the nature of the talk left me on the outskirts of the story, as I had only had a vague idea of what was being said. Similarly, there was the odd word, e.g., Antithetical, that had simpler alternatives that wouldn’t have had me reaching for a dictionary. Using long words is part of Spencer’s personality, but one must avoid alienating an audience.

Some scenes had me crying my eyes out to the point of hiccups. However, much of the story follows Spencer’s daily schedules and meetings, which often divert potential conflicts, taking the calmer route to success instead of forcing acceptance with a sledgehammer. What I found most thought-provoking was exploring concepts of God and finding one’s own interpretation of him and how he fits into your life, be it through Catholicism, Paganism, or other forms, including the UU. There were interesting perspectives on creation, where many national holidays originated, and where to draw the line on past acts that left me with lots to think about.

I thought this story was a good balance between information, introspection, and entertainment.

RATING:

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