Gimmie Pride by J. Tomas
13 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in J. Tomas Tags: J. Tomas, JMS Books LLC
Title: Gimme Pride
Author: J. Tomas
Publisher: JMS Books
Pages: 26
Characters: Chip Reid, Bobby Jarrett
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: YA/Contemporary
Kisses: 4
Blurb:
At 15, Chip is out and proud. It doesn’t hurt that his best friend Jennifer is only the most popular girl in their high school. With her at his side, he feels invincible.
When Chip’s older sister invites him and Jen to help her man a vendor booth at Richmond Pride, the two teenagers jump at the chance. Decked out in a provocative bathing suit and feather boa, Chip is completely in his element. Then Jen spots Bobby, who plays soccer for their school and who Chip’s had a crush on forever. If he’s at Pride, does that mean what Chip hopes it means?
But when Chip tries to talk to Bobby, he discovers not all gay teens are as comfortable flaunting their sexuality as he is.
Review:
Chip Reid’s sister has hired him and his best friend, Jen, to work in her vendor booth during Gay Pride Day in Richmond. Chip is fifteen, out and proud, and excited about the prospect of spending the day with his BFF and absorbing the experience, something he doesn’t get the chance to do being the only gay guy at his high school. Or so he thinks.
Chip understands that the only reason he’s been immune from the bullying is because of Jen, who is the consummately popular girl. His friendship with her has given him a pass because, really, all the other guys just want to stay on her good side, which means they leave Chip alone, but it doesn’t stop the whispers and hateful things they call him when they think he can’t hear.
While mixing a little work with a lot of play, Jen and Chip get a bit of a surprise when they spy one of the most popular boys from their school at the Pride event, a boy that Chip has had a huge crush on since his freshman year. But Bobby Jarrett, the star of the soccer team, gay? It doesn’t seem possible, though the idea thrills Chip, which, in his excitement, causes him to make a move he comes to regret.
Gimme Pride is a great little story that contrasts two boys’ lives and what it means for them to be both proud and afraid of who they are and of what it means to feel the pressure of being “different” in high school. This is a story about being comfortable in your own skin versus the very real pressure of keeping things on the down-low to maintain the status quo, a message that was delivered with just the right mix of humor and heart.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Caught by J. Tomas
06 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in authors, J. Tomas, JMS Books, publishers Tags: J. Tomas, JMS Books LLC
Title: Caught
Author: J. Tomas
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Pages: 16
Characters: Mike Watson, Robby Brown
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: YA
Kisses: 4.5
Blurb:
When shortstop Mike Watson catches his Junior Varsity teammate Robby Brown slipping a tube of ChapStick into his pocket at the store, he doesn’t know what to think.
Mike has had the hots for Robbie since the two boys started high school and finds it difficult to talk to him without feeling awkward and stupid. But he has to say something. What if someone else saw and Robby gets in trouble?
Does Robby make a habit of stealing things? Has Mike’s perception of his friend been wrong all these years? Is the ChapStick a cry for help or a way of getting Mike’s attention? Mike is determined to find out.
Review:
That crazy little thing called love can make otherwise rational people do some pretty insane things. Couple that with the already built in frenetic complications of teenage longing and angst, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for the perfect little story. Or, at least, J. Tomas does. All I had to do was eat it up, and I did, gladly.
Caught is the story of two boys who’d been friends as children, but, as often happens, they grew apart as they grew older, though they remain teammates on their high school baseball team. Neither boy can seem to find the right words to overcome the gap in their differing popularity—Robby at the high end, Mike bringing up the rear as the boy who’s scoffed at for being queer and who stays away from Robby so the stigma of that label won’t rub off on him. The problem with that most noble of sacrifices, however, is that Robby doesn’t want Mike to stay away, and Mike wants nothing more than to be close again to his one-time friend. What’s a boy to do when there are so many ways to say the things that are in his heart, but he can’t find the words? He decides to let his actions do the talking.
What, at the time, seems like the perfect idea, the foolproof plan to get the attention of the one he’s been longing for, actually turns out to be a little bit more foolish than foolproof for Robby, but the door’s ajar now; now all it needs is to pushed wide open so the boys can let each other in.
J. Tomas has written a quietly beautiful story in Caught. There are no wild swings in tone or mood to be found here; there is only the simple knowledge that a first kiss is an unspoken promise, eloquent and perfect.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Who’s Watching Whom? by J. Tomas
04 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in J. Tomas, JMS Books Tags: J. Tomas, JMS Books LLC
Title: Who’s Watching Whom?
Author: J. Tomas
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Pages: 18
Characters: Logan, Chad
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: Young Adult
Kisses: 4
Blurb:
It’s the first Saturday of summer vacation. But upcoming high school senior Logan Bradley can’t celebrate — he has to watch his younger brother Dylan while their mother attends her monthly book club meeting. She even forbids him from inviting his boyfriend Chad Adams over when she isn’t home!
Logan’s only consolation is his cell phone, which connects him to Chad. Now, if Dylan will just leave him alone long enough to chat up his boy, the evening might be salvaged…
Review:
The first weekend of summer break between his junior and senior year of high school doesn’t go quite as Logan had planned. Rather than cruising around town in his boyfriend’s new car, he’s just been informed he’ll be at home Saturday night, babysitting his ten year old brother, which is the last thing Logan wants to do.
Logan’s stuck in that awkward stage of adolescence, not quite a kid anymore, yet not quite an adult, when the thought of being out on his own in the world terrifies him equally as much as the idea of being out on his own in the world excites him. Living in his mom’s house means he lives by her rules too, in spite of how much he just wants to do what he wants to do, like spending every moment he can with Chad.
Who’s Watching Whom? is the story of two boys who want nothing more than to be together, but privacy is at a premium when you have a little brother who’s an amateur Peeping Tom and a fairly accomplished pain in the neck.
In this one short scene, J. Tomas captures, with honesty and humor, a small part of the urgency and angst of young love and of coming of age, trying to maintain the balance between childhood and independence, while floating on a sweet emotional high.
Reviewed By: Lisa
First Kiss by J. Tomas
25 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in authors, J. Tomas, JMS Books, publishers Tags: J. Tomas, JMS Books LLC
Title: First Kiss
Author: J. Tomas
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Pages: 8
Characters: Noah Lipinski, Doug Hathaway
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: YA/Contemporary
Kisses: 4
Blurb:
Noah Lipinski has a fierce crush on Doug Hathaway, a hot jock on the high school football team whose locker is fifteen down from Noah’s in the hall. When Melissa Bradshaw, only the most popular girl in school, suddenly shows an interest in Noah, he suspects he’s being set up for a cruel joke. She asks him to Homecoming and he refuses to go.
After school, the doorbell rings and Noah’s sure she’s back to pester him about the dance. But when he opens the door, he finds Doug there instead, with an explanation and a much better offer than Melissa’s.
Review:
If ever there was a little story that ought to grow up to become a big book, it’s First Kiss, the sweet and touching story of the awkwardness and angst of a boy’s first love.
J. Tomas has perfectly captured that anxiety in a mere 8 pages of narrative told from Noah Lipinski’s perspective, as he suffers from the universal pain of being the nerdy boy who’s crushing on the unattainable football player, Doug Hathaway.
A secret confession leads to a plan that will ultimately bring Doug to Noah’s doorstep, which leads to that one unforgettable and heart-racing moment—a first kiss from the boy who, for two years, was nothing more than an elusive dream.
Which led me to wonder what became of Noah and Doug and left me to hope I might find out someday.
• This is a free story from the author and JMS Books.
Reviewed By: Lisa
New e-books by J.M. Snyder, J. Tomas, and Steven Kerry
01 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in J. Tomas, J.M. Snyder, JMS Books, Steven Kerry Tags: J. Tomas, JM Snyder, jms books, JMS Books LLC, My Strange Little Oasis, Steven Kerry
Now Available from JMS Books LLC!
First Kiss
by J. Tomas
GENRE: Contemporary • Gay Fiction • Romance • Young Adult
LENGTH: 2,272 words
Download your FREE copy today!
BLURB:
Noah Lipinski has a fierce crush on Doug Hathaway, a hot jock on the high school football team whose locker is fifteen down from Noah’s in the hall. When Melissa Bradshaw, only the most popular girl in school, suddenly shows an interest in Noah, he suspects he’s being set up for a cruel joke. She asks him to Homecoming and he refuses to go.
After school, the doorbell rings and Noah’s sure she’s back to pester him about the dance. But when he opens the door, he finds Doug there instead, with an explanation and a much better offer than Melissa’s.
Download your FREE copy today!
Just What the Doctor Ordered
by J.M. Snyder
GENRE: Contemporary • Erotica • Gay Fiction • Interracial
LENGTH: 31,520 words
Read an excerpt or buy your copy today!
BLURB:
Curt, a college professor, lives with his lover of several years, a pediatrician of Chinese descent named Lee. Eager to write, he receives a grant to take the summer off and work on a novel. Then Lee’s mother calls — she wants to visit. Curt is eager to meet her but Lee isn’t so sure … she’s of a different generation, a different culture even, and doesn’t speak much English. Still, Curt insists.
But when Mrs. Gui arrives, Curt finds himself struggling with writer’s block. He feels like an outsider in his own home when Lee and his mother converse in Cantonese, leaving him out of the conversation, and even his sex life suffers with her in the bedroom next to theirs. Can Curt and Mrs. Gui move past their cultural differences to see that they both love Lee and have his best interests at heart?
Read an excerpt or buy your copy today!
My Strange Little Oasis Book 3: The Passage of the Night
by Steven Kerry
GENRE: Contemporary • Erotica • Gay Fiction
LENGTH: 66,230 words
Read an excerpt or buy your copy today!
BLURB:
Book 3 in the My Strange Little Oasis trilogy
The Oh Aces had proven an idyllic escape from Ren’s isolation until now. Andy the psychic is convinced Ren and his mother need reconciliation before she dies and Ren’s honesty about his HIV status will be the catalyst. When Ren disagrees, Andy forges ahead with his self-imposed mission as ‘divine mediator’ on Ren’s behalf, and the two friends become enemies.
When Andy is attacked on a dark street, Ren intervenes to save him and extends mercy to the young perpetrator. Having always believed kindness is strength and cruelty weakness, Ren recognizes the man he’d been before his face was disfigured and finds a renewed sense of self-worth.
As Ren’s story winds down, he bids farewell to Night Cloud, his spirit guide, who is confident Ren has found lasting love with Gust, new friends in the Aces and, most important of all, himself.
