Summary:
Having come to terms with being gay, Chance
César is still uneasy with his gender identity, or, as he phrases it, “being
stuck in the gray area between girl and boy.” This concern, however, doesn’t
stop him from strutting his fabulous stuff on the catwalk in black patent
leather pumps and a snug-in-all-the-right (wrong)-places orange tuxedo as the
winner of this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon Festival at the local Beans and
Greens Farm’s annual fall celebration, serenaded by the enthusiastic catcalls
of his BFF, Emily Benson. Although he refuses to visually fade into the background
of his rural New Hampshire town, Chance is socially invisible—except when being
tormented or beat up by familiar bullies. But when Chance, the Harvest Moon
Festival’s mockingly-elected Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue
(Jazz), the legitimate winner of the Pumpkin Carving King contest, sparks fly.
Chance wants to be noticed and admired and romantically embraced by Jazz, in
all of his neon orange-haired glory.
And so at a sleepover, Chance and Emily conduct
intense research on their laptop computers, and come up with an article in an
online women’s magazine called “Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man
Fall in Love with You.” Along with a bonus love spell thrown in for good
measure, it becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart.
Quirky, comical, definitely “sickening” (this is
a good thing), and with an inner core of poignancy, Love Spell celebrates the
diversity of a gender-fluid teen.
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REVIEW:
After reading author Mia Kerick's It Could Happen, The Weekend Bucket List and My Crunchy Life- all of which I absolutely loved- I'm become a huge fan of hers, so when I got to know about Love Spell, no way was I going to let it pass. Just like her previous works, Love Spell was also an adorable, fun and believable read.
Chance César, our male protagonist is a very average teenager who is trying to figure himself out. I found Chance to be super fun and extremely relatable with all his realistic problems and his plan to get the person of his dreams. His faith in an article that would help him win this person over was so fun to read as it reminded me of my silly but fun teenage years.
When Chance meets Jasper, sparks instantly fly but Chance doesn't quite know if he has a chance with Jazz. This is where his mission with his friend Emily begins. Emily was one of the most adorable characters in the book who seemed super cool and fun. Jasper is portrayed as the brooding, mysterious and too kind to be true guy who helps run his home and at the same time perform his duties as a student.
Even though it took me a long time to finish Love Spell, every time I got back to it, it felt like I hadn't left. I instantly connected with Chance and his addictive and attractive personality. Mia Kerick has yet again written a brilliant novel about teenage confusion and human nature. I would highly, highly recommend this one.
*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Mia Kerick and YA Bound in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.
About the Author:
Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—a daughter in
law school, another a professional dancer, a third studying at Mia’s alma
mater, Boston College, and her lone son off to Syracuse. She writes LGBTQ
romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on
college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and
reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-four years has been told by
many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a
sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on emotional growth in turbulent
relationships. As she has a great affinity for the tortured hero, there is, at
minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with
tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead
vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for
safekeeping. She is thankful to her wonderful publishers for providing
alternate places to stash her stories.
Her books have won a Best YA Lesbian Rainbow Award, a Reader Views’
Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in
Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly First Place Award
for Cultural Diversity, a Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly First Place Award for
YA Fiction, among others.
Mia is a Progressive, a little bit too obsessed by politics, and
cheers for each and every victory in the name of human rights. Her only major
regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to
a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of
Technology.
Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com. Visit her at www.miakerickYA.com
for updates on what is going on in Mia’s world, rants, music, parties, and
pictures, and maybe even a little bit of inspiration.
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