Best Books of 2017: Sammy’s Picks and a Giveaway

What an amazing year 2017 was in the world of LGBTQIA literature.  From amazing paranormal offerings by such authors as Santino Hassell and F.T. Lukens to stunning YA and New Adult novels by John Goode, Nick Wilgus and Robin Reardon, to name just a few, the quality of work coming from this community of writers was just outstanding.  It was very hard to pick just ten favorites, but somehow, I managed.  Here, in no certain order, are my top picks for 2017.

~ Sammy

Beneath the Stars by Lynn Charles – I’m not sure how I’ve never heard of author Lynn Charles before, but I can tell you that I will be looking for her work from this point forward. Beneath the Stars is an epic novel and I completely enjoyed it. It’s rare that I fall in love with a child in a novel, particularly in a male/male romance story, but I can safely say that little Adrian captured my heart immediately. Perhaps it was because his father, Eddie, made for such an incredibly honest and loving character himself, or perhaps it was the way in which the author decided to portray the little boy in such a realistic way, hardly perfect and yet one that just grabbed the heart instantly. Either way, the duo of Eddie and Adrian was a real tour de force and made this novel both an emotional and whimsical story of love and survival.

WILD by Adrienne Wilder – Honestly, I just do not know where to begin. This novel was amazing. Gutsy, raw, stunningly realistic and gripping—every single one of these epithets could be used again and again to describe Adrienne Wilder’s latest story, WILD. From the very first page to the end, this book rocketed into your imagination and took hold, never letting up, never giving you much more than a quick second to catch your breath before it dove right back into the relentlessly harsh reality that August and Keegan were living. Furthermore, when you realized that August was in this dire situation by a stroke of fate and pure bad luck, but Keegan chose to live on the edge of the wilderness with barely any hint of creature comforts and continually fighting for his life, it was just mind boggling. As the story unfolded, you began to dread what it was that haunted and hunted Keegan—both animal and human alike. To say that his past was horrific is to almost minimize his everyday struggle to survive the Alaskan frontier, which was brutal to say the least. But it was the love—the romance, the growing genuine attachment that August and Keegan had for one another, that was the real star of this novel and, in the end, it made every desperate, gut-wrenching moment worth it.

The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens – The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic is one of the finest YA paranormal stories I have ever read. Cleverly balanced with just enough humor to mitigate the real life anxiety and fear weighing Bridger down, the main cast of characters from Pavel to Astrid and Leo and all the others in between spring to life and lead you on a glorious chase that delights in so many ways. Without downplaying Bridger’s real turmoil over his sexuality and his fear of losing his mother’s love because of it, F.T. Lukens is able to offset that very real drama with fast-paced action, mythical creatures and loyal friends. All combine to help Bridger realize just how important it is to be himself and realize that love can conquer even the darkest fears.

Insight by Santino Hassell – When an author sets up a paranormal community for a new series of stories, I am eager to check out what they have done to set their novel apart from the pack. Sadly, in this particular genre, so often the same storylines are toted out and reused, but this is so not the case with author Santino Hassell and his newest release, Insight, book one in The Community series. While you and I may have read about psychics before, I would venture to say that the spin this author puts on his paranormal cast of characters will leave you much like it did me–wanting so much more!

Dream of a Waking Man by John Goode – This novel is definitely Brad’s coming out story, not as gay, no; those who follow the series (and you SHOULD be following this series) know that happened many books ago. What I mean is this book really focuses on showing how much Brad has grown. He’s a man now and he is solidly in love with Kyle, which allows him to step up in ways we’ve never really seen from him before. These two are all grown up, and while their humor still has plenty of snark, and Brad can still be the most naïve boy on the block, there’s now a definite edge to their interactions that had never been there before. Brad is still unsure of his own keen insightfulness, but he wields it with a greater ease. I loved watching this boy become a man in this novel, loved seeing the hidden depth in Brad that has always been there but never fully realized till now. To use his own sports analogies, he stepped up to the plate and brought it home in this novel, and did it with such perfect “Brad-ness”.

Raise It Up by Nick Wilgus – I really loved this novel. I have never read this author before, but I must tell you that I will be remedying that in the near future, as I have already begun to check out his backlist. Nick Wilgus writes with a truly distinctive voice—one which is genuine, compelling and rich in emotion. Raise It Up is not an easy story to read. With physical and sexual abuse running as concurrent themes, and restrictive religious overtones, you will be constantly amazed at how our hero, Cyrus, manages to survive. It is a brutally honest story that never sugarcoats the hell Cyrus navigates and manages to survive in. But despite all that, Cyrus creates a loving existence for his two younger siblings, and claws his way out of despair over and over again.

Antisocial by Heidi Cullinan – Antisocial was one of those novels that left me both educated and entertained. I have read a few other stories that featured asexual, or ace, characters before, but those often left me with no real sense of better understanding just how someone who identified as ace really coped with all the emotions and questions they had about their sexuality. With this book, I felt author Heidi Cullinan truly plumbed the depths of what it means to continually grapple with trying to identify exactly what you are experiencing when you finally come to understand that the way in which you experience love for another person may manifest differently than your peers. Even now I am fumbling with trying to explain why this book felt so genuine—why Skylar seemed to resonate with me as a person who I could relate to, just because he was an average joe in so many ways.

Waiting for Walker by Robin Reardon – Honestly, I am a bit overwhelmed even at the thought of writing the review for this amazing piece of fiction. Waiting for Walker by Robin Reardon is perhaps one of the most sensitive and compelling stories I have read, to this day, about intersex and gay youth. We get both an amazing education about what it means and feels to be intersex, and also walk away from this story with a keen awareness of what it looks like when teenagers confront their own doubts about their sexuality. We watch as two boys grapple with first love and what that means realistically and we are schooled on how our insensitivity and, yes, fears about physical differences have a devastating affect on those who live their lives, every day, dealing with a body that is both male and female, and how confusing that can be for them. However, beyond all that, we are given a rich and beautiful story about two teens who simply want to discover if they can love and be loved, and it is done so very well—written so brilliantly!

Elpida by C. Kennedy – I read Elpída, by C. Kennedy, in one sitting. It was…riveting…so much so I could not stop and just had to get to the end. Fans of this series will remember Christy and Michael from Omorphi and Tharros. They will also recall the discovery of Thimi, a boy Christy watched out for and cared for during their nightmare of abuse at the hands of the animals who held them captive. Thimi had survived for months, living in ductwork, all the while thinking Christy was dead. Now, Thimi would come to Wellington—the place of healing that had helped Christy over the past year, and would be cared for there with Christy leading the team. But Thimi is so very damaged—even worse than Christy was with every movement, touch, noise and decision sending him into a spiral of absolute terror. Unfortunately, Christy himself is also trying desperately to recover from the trial of his main captor and abuser that has set him back in terms of healing progress. Michael stands by his side, also somewhat lost, as old enemies rear their heads and threaten him and his family. All in all, it is a nightmare that everyone wants desperately to wake from, and it is only with great determination and hope that all of them will survive.

Adulting 101 by Lisa Henry – Once again I can marvel at how gifted Lisa Henry is when she turns her hand to pathos infused humor and lets her characters loose to simply, joyously be themselves. I venture to say that the pairing of Nick, a recent high school graduate and eighteen-year-old on the cusp of adulthood, and the pragmatic yet wandering soul, Jai, a twenty-five year old who runs from commitment, is near genius! The two of them meet when Jai is home for the summer building up funds to take off once again to another country simply to enjoy the freedom of travel in the unknown. It also may be that Jai has never really recovered from the death of his best friend and father many years before, and since then he has been a bit rudderless, knowing only that attachments are not his thing and life is meant to be lived to the fullest. Nick, on the other hand, seems to have his path all laid out. Unfortunately he has suffered all his life from panic attacks that leave him helplessly confused and unable to cope with pressures that are just overwhelming, from the SATs to the idea of going to college when he has no earthly clue what he really wants to do with his life. Thankfully, his best friend, Devon, has always had his back and is a unique support for Nick—but even he cannot help Nick break it to his parents that he does not want to attend college yet.

The Giveaway

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