Title:
Screwups
Author:
Jamie
Fessenden
Publisher:
Dreamspinner
Press LLC
Release
Date: March
7, 2014
Blurb:
1996, Jake Stewart is starting his third year at the University of
New Hampshire. Even as a successful business major, he is absolutely miserable.
Not only is Jake pursuing a field he hates when he’d rather study art, he is
utterly terrified of what will happen if his father finds out he’s gay. When he
finally gets up the courage to move into the creative arts dorm on campus, his
new roommate, Danny, is openly gay—and there’s no denying the attraction
between them.
Danny Sullivan has been out since high school, and he appears comfortable with his sexuality. But something happened in Danny’s past—something that gives him nightmares he refuses to talk about. Unknown to Jake, the way he mistreated his friend, Tom Langois, when Tom came out to him in high school, is mild compared to the way someone very much like Jake treated Danny.
It may be too late to fix the mess Jake made with Tom, but if Jake wants to be with Danny, he’s going to have to fix the mess made by another closeted jock he’s never even met.
Danny Sullivan has been out since high school, and he appears comfortable with his sexuality. But something happened in Danny’s past—something that gives him nightmares he refuses to talk about. Unknown to Jake, the way he mistreated his friend, Tom Langois, when Tom came out to him in high school, is mild compared to the way someone very much like Jake treated Danny.
It may be too late to fix the mess Jake made with Tom, but if Jake wants to be with Danny, he’s going to have to fix the mess made by another closeted jock he’s never even met.
Review:
This story is not the light-hearted
story that the cover and title make it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, there are
hilarious parts that will have you laughing. As with any great story, this made
me laugh, cry and get very angry.
Jake may be studying business but that
is not where his heart lies. He suffers under the pressure of having to do what
his father expects of him. Growing up with a father who thinks art is a waste
of time and two older twin brothers who would rather pin him to the ground with
a wrestling move than hug him, Jake is stuck. Until he decides to take an art
class and takes measures to move into the artist dorm. This is not easy for the
jock looking student. It’s a case of judging a book by its cover, but things
are not always what they seem. With the exception of how he treated his old
friend Tom, Jake’s not a bad guy. Right?
When he moves in, his life is never the same. Not after he meets Danny,
that is.
Danny is scarred from his past, bullied
by jocks and everyone else in high school after he comes out. A painful event
happened to him that gives him nightmares to this day that he will not talk
about. Danny has an inner strength in him considering his past or it may be
because of it. Danny is out and proud and on the outside he looks like he could
handle anything. On the inside he’s always waiting for something sinister to
happen. He likes Jake from the start
even getting past his outward appearance of being just like the others in his
past. There is just something different about him.
This book is well written and pings the
geek spectrum. Well, there is Dungeons & Dragons with costumes. What more
could you want? Round that out with a terrific group of friends who have your
back and you have a well rounded book.
Trust me, you’ll want to read this.
I give this book 5 Blue Roses.
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