REVIEW BY BRANDY! TORMENTED DISCOVERY BY JAYSON JAMES (@JaysonJamesbook)

BLURB:

Justin and Derrick have a secret that they revealed only to their closest friends. They are gay and are now a couple. The story of Justin and Derrick continues as they learn more about being a gay couple in their senior year of high school and the complications that arise from it. Some friends will have their backs while others simply stand on the sidelines. Other friends will be accepting and others will ridicule them.

Sometimes love is almost not enough to save a relationship and both Derrick and Justin begin to have their doubts as they watch relationships around them rise and fall. Justin and Derrick both want to have new experiences, new choices and make new friends, which leads to them questioning their own relationship. They soon discover that some of the people they consider friends have their own secrets, some darker than others. The couple begins to see how people react towards homosexuality and just how people want to deal with it and them.

Will Justin and Derrick be able to hold onto each other while their lives and secrets spiral around them?
Or will they decide to step back and give up on themselves and each other?

REVIEW:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.  This is the sequel to Finding Your Way. 

I am enraptured with Jayson James.  His writing style is real and it flows.  I wasn't sure I would like reading a story from three different perspectives but he manages to make it move beautifully. 

The boys have come out and they are trying to make a successful relationship.  This is difficult in the best of circumstances and I am impressed at the realism of the things they go through.  Being a teenager in love is not easy but you can see how hard it would be to be a gay teenager in love.

I am simply stunned with how real Jayson James makes these characters.  These young and passionate men could be your sons, your nephews or the teenager down the street.  All they want is to love and be loved.  When threats start being made, which we see in real life all the time, the boys struggle to hold onto what they have.  Take a chance on this author and enjoy an amazing story!

Rated 4 Kisses

REVIEW BY BRANDY! FINDING OUR WAY BY JAYSON JAMES (@JaysonJamesbook)

BLURB:

Justin Parker and Derrick Wilson have been the best of friends since meeting back in middle school. Both of them are now in their junior year at Chandler High School, and are living the good life as teenagers. They have great girlfriends, plenty of close friends, their own cars, and parents who are well off. As nice as things might look to an outsider, something is missing from both of their lives.

Justin has become the invisible son in the midst of his parents failing marriage. In an effort to get his parent’s attention, Justin keeps getting into trouble. So far he has been able to get away with anything without facing any repercussions, while Derrick is feeling distant and tired of what he feels is a too “perfect family”. He just wants to have a normal social life and spend time with his friends without the pressures from his family to spend time with them.

Beyond individual family dilemmas, Justin and Derrick both have felt for quite some time something was missing from each of their lives. Now these two best friends blurred the lines of friendship in the process to discover what has been missing from their lives and who they really are.

What happens when two best friends cross the boundaries of friendship? Will they able to be happy together? Will they keep their secret from their friends? Will they be able to hide their relationship from their parents?

Justin and Derrick both take turns narrating the story of their junior year in high school and all of the events that take place in each of their lives. Being a teenager can be tough. Being gay can be tougher. For Derrick and Justin they are both, and life can’t get any more complicated.

The story will bring you into the minds and lives of Derrick and Justin, who are caught up in life and how they work together finding their way.

“You tell it from your perspective. Then I will tell it from mine.”

REVIEW:

I was given a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.  A love story is a love story no matter who the characters are.  Justin and Derrick are your typical successful teenagers until a kiss changes things.  Who knew something that was so basic could change so much and define your life in such a fundamental way?

I am an open-minded person and will read anything.  I have no boundaries on my passion for feeding my literary hunger.  Jayson James managed to create something that was different from what I am used to.  I am not talking about the same-sex relationship.  In this day and age that is not a big deal.  I was enthralled with the layers of complexity he created in the relationship.  How often do we see that anymore?  This was a book that seemed so real, I felt like I could call up these young men to see how they were doing.

I cried at the pain you knew they were feeling.  I know a lot of people who have struggled to come out to their friends and family and this is the first time that a story has seemed so mesmerizing and real.  You can feel the emotion ripple off the page.  I am thrilled to discover this author and hope you all check him out!

Rated 4 Kisses