Plan B

Finished February 23

Plan B by S.J.D. Peterson

This gay romance novel was a book I picked up at a library conference a few years back and I decided to read it now to meet the February portion for Novelist's reading challenge, which is a LGBTQIA+ romance. 

Danny Marshall, the main character is at college and sharing a dorm room with his longtime best friend Bo. Danny has ambitions to act professionally and always takes time with his appearance. As the two are getting ready for a frat party that Bo wants to go to, as a young woman he likes will be there, Danny takes time perfecting his makeup and hair, and chooses a vintage Stones tee along with jeans and boots. His look is often androgynous, and he doesn't mind getting attention. At the party, Bo soon finds Katie and likes this woman his friend is interested in. What he doesn't like is the attitude of her brother Lance, a man he's already had a tense encounter with as he grabbed a drink. 

Danny has very supportive parents, who are both professionals in the theatre world, and he loves art, theatre, and almost all that goes with it. Although he doesn't have dancing skills. Lance is at university on a football scholarship and has dreams of the NFL. 

After Lance apologizes for his behaviour, he says he wants to get to know him better, and Danny finds himself Lance's first experiment in a male-male relationship. Danny is attracted, but doesn't know if he wants to be in a secret relationship. 

This is a novel of attraction and Lance's fear of the fallout of being out is a big part of the story. His reaction to Danny is a little bit of a surprise for him, and he is at an age where he is discovering who he is in many ways, not just sexually. Danny knows who he is and has for years, but is still at the age where relationships are new, and the strength of his attraction and feelings add to the story in a big way. 

I enjoyed the novel, and could feel for the main characters. 

Nobody's Baby But Mine / This Heart of Mine

Finished January 6
Nobody's Baby But Mine / This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

This two-in-one book contains two romance novels that are connected through the fictional Chicago Stars football team. The first book, Nobody's Baby But Mine, has Dr. Jane Darlington, a Mensa-level physics professor, discouraged by her lack of family as she nears her mid-thirties, who is neighbour to a young groupie of the Chicago Stars football team. The groupie wants to do a favour for some players and connives to have Jane pretend to be a high-class call girl as a birthday present for star quarterback Cal Bonner. Jane has no plans to see Cal beyond this, but fate offers a different outcome.
The second book, This Heart of Mine, has Molly Somerville, the younger sister of Chicago Stars owner Phoebe Somerville Calebow, in a vulnerable state. She's feeling discouraged about her life, despite her successful children's book series featuring Daphne the Bunny and her friends. She's had a crush on quarterback Kevin Tucker for years, but his women tend to be model beautiful and not much for intelligent conversation. Molly knows that she has a tendency to self-destructive actions when she gets in these moods, and decides a little R and R at the family cabin would be a good thing. What she doesn't know is that Kevin is already at the cabin, sent there to do a little thinking about some of his recent risky escapades. After a bad beginning, the two get along, until Molly makes a impulse move that catches Kevin by total surprise. They part ways, but fate, and Phoebe and her husband Dan, have them getting back together before too long, and learning more about each other.
Both stories have some silly situational things happening, but the characters are interesting and show growth as the stories move forward. with some side stories coming in to add even more interest. I enjoyed them

Restless

Finished July 5
Restless: A Ghost's Story by Rich Wallace

As the title indicates, this story is told by a ghost. The story takes place in the town of Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, and the central character here is Herbie, a 17-year-old entering his senior year of high school. Up to now, Herbie played soccer, but the new coach doesn't appeal to him, and when he quits the team, the coach slings an insult at him that he couldn't make footfall or the cross-country team, so Herbie decides to do both. There are no rules against it, but it hasn't been done before, and meeting the challenges of both will require a lot of work on Herbie's end. As the year begins, one of his regular runs is through the cemetery, and Herbie's energy draws the attention of a ghost who hasn't been able to move on, Eamon Connelly, a young man who died in 1888, while trying to scale a cliff just below the cemetery late one night. But Eamon isn't the narrator of this story, although he does have a central role.
The narrator is Herbie's brother Frank, who died years ago when he was 17 of lymphatic cancer. Frank hasn't been able to move on either. He also hasn't been able to make himself felt in any way to Herbie, except in Herbie's dreams, even though he spends almost all his time with him.  But things seem to be changing. Herbie actually sees Eamon's ghost that night when he runs, and he begins to wonder, about energy, about life after death, about ghosts, and about many other things.
A couple of years back, Herbie's parents separated and he moves back and forth between them. This is definitely better than when they were together, arguing so much.
As he continues to work hard at school, at his sports, and as he meets a girl that seems to like him as much as he likes her, his interest in his brother and in the ghost he continues to encounter lead him to think hard. But he's not the only one. Frank is also entertaining some ideas that he never considered before, and that just might change everything.
A wonderful story of the need to prove oneself, of the idea of possibilities beyond what has been proven. A story that I truly enjoyed.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Finished April 12
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

This novel takes place on Thanksgiving Day at Texas Stadium as the Dallas Cowboys go up against the Chicago Bears. Billy Lynn is nineteen and a member of Bravo Squad, a team of marines whose engagement in a recent action against Iraqi insurgents has made them national heroes. Footage of the action by an embedded Fox reporter has brought it more immediate recognition than most engagements that are just heard about. Billy was awarded a Silver Star for his actions. Bravo  Squad has been touring America, attending a variety of events, and this is their last one before shipping back to Iraq to complete their tour of duty. They are travelling with Albert, a Hollywood producer who wants to make a movie about their story.
There are some flashbacks here, a major one is Billy's one-day visit with his family a few days ago. Billy is in the forces because of a criminal act he committed, albeit one with strong conviction behind it. His sister Kathryn, who he is close to and who he committed the act for, is urging him to contact a group she has heard of who helps soldiers who don't want to go back to Iraq. But Billy feels pulled between his hatred of the war and his bond with his fellow Bravo members.
Billy is young in many ways, and as we see his various interactions, with his team members, with a young woman he meets at the game and becomes enamored of, with the producer, with his family, we see both his maturity from his experiences and his innocence from his lack of experiences. Billy is still affected by the loss of one of his fellow squad members, Shroom, who was a mentor to him and who died in his arms during the action.
We see the goodness in these young men and the male banter, often lewd and irreverent, that occurs among them. These young men are contained energy, trained for action, and right now caught up in media attention that they aren't entirely comfortable with.
I felt for Billy, his struggle and his innocence here. He came alive for me.

The Off Season

Finished September 24
The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This is the second novel in the series that began with Dairy Queen. This begins with the fall semester of DJ's junior year at school. She has made the football team, and after a brief interruption resumed her friendship with Amber. Brian Nelson seems interested in her for more than just her coaching skills, and things are going incredibly well.
And then they aren't. With injuries to both her and others in her family, relationship issues, and attention that she hadn't expected, DJ's world changes drastically. She has to deal with things she never thought of, and be an anchor to her family in their time of need.
DJ really grows here, realizing that she has qualities she hadn't thought she did, and her family and friends see a side of her they hadn't expected.
A great addition to the series.

Dairy Queen

Finished July 7
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This novel is the first in the series featuring D.J. Schwenk. D.J. is almost sixteen as the novel begins and has been taking on the majority of work on her familiy's dairy farm for the last five months. Her older brothers are off at a football camp, her father has hip trouble, her mom is busy working two jobs, and she stepped in and did what needed to be done. But it has gone on longer than she thought it would and things are starting to get to her. Her younger brother Curtis is the quiet one in the family, and he doesn't seem to be talking to her much either. Then Brian Nelson shows up at the farm. He is quarterback at the rival school and a bit of a jerk, and D.J. can't figure out why he is there, until he tell them his coach is making him.
But what starts out as a hassle turns into something else. And D.J. starts wondering about what makes her happy, and what would happen if she really tried to do it. And so she thinks about trying out for the football team herself.
This is a story about a young woman finding her way. About responsibility and life choices. About love and families, and communication. It sure has me wanting to read the next book.