Category: MLR Press

A Lucy Review: All My Fault by Michael Gouda

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

John Grant. When they form a relationship, and move in together, pressure from others causes them to doubt what they have together. After being apart, the two find that maybe they are stronger together. That what they first perceive as a hostile place isn’t necessarily one.

I was really looking forward to this book because one of the main characters has cerebral palsy.  As a teacher who has had students with cerebral palsy, as well as the friend of an adult with cerebral palsy, I know how misunderstood and sometimes isolating the disease can be.  That being said, this fairly short book missed the mark in many ways for me.

Let’s start with the very beginning, when John is describing the meeting in the hospital between himself and William.  William not only has a chest infection but also has cerebral palsy (CP).  “… a brain disease for which there is no known cause nor cure…”  While it is understood there is no cure for CP, there is a known cause, which is “a brain injury or brain malformation that occurs while the brain is developing – before, during or after birth”. This definition is the same whether you look at cerebralpalsy.org, the Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Health, etc etc.  While John admits he got his information from the Internet, I’m not sure where that came from.  He also mentions, “Luckily, William’s condition was comparatively slight.  He could walk with the aid of crutches, though his muscular coordination was sometimes uncontrollable, and even if his speech was a little indistinct and slurred, I was able to understand him.”  Okay, sounds right. 

Yet then it turns out William was in a nursing home previous to being in the hospital and once he moves in with John he has carers come in that literally do things like help him with pajamas and put him to bed.  “Basically all this consisted of was changing William into pajamas after the briefest of washes and tucking him into his hospital bed.” It didn’t seem to fit, particularly when later William is able to sneak out of John’s high bed, cross over to his own room, get his own undies on and get into his own bed without the carer in the next room being aware.  All this yet he needs someone to tuck him into bed?

There is a lot of talk about whether a disabled person such as William is considered competent enough to have a relationship with a more able-bodied person such as John.  Again, he is supposed to be cognitively unimpaired, so I didn’t understand this.  A little speech issue would not make someone incompetent.

For his part, John like being with William but has a temper issue.  I understood it when John was so angry at the teenagers mocking William but his response was over the top.  There is a plot point of John being attacked that seems pivotal and then goes nowhere. There is an event that happens after William sees the doctor that made me go back and reread the chapters previous, trying to figure out if William was, in fact, deemed incompetent because he is certainly treated as if he is.

The connection between the two wasn’t strong enough for me to overlook the other issues of the story. We are told William loves John but I didn’t see it much. To be fair, the story is told from John’s point of view, so we don’t get William’s side as much. So, as much as I was hoping to like this story, it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped.  This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I would try another of his works.

The cover, showing William in a wheelchair looking upset, fit the feel of the story.

Sales Links:  MLR Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 51 pages
Published March 29th 2019 by MLR Press
ASINB07Q5KCPWQ

A MelanieM Review: Step Up with Me (With Me #5) by Kris Jacen

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Richard “Tank” Martin was a big boy from the start. Born weighing over 11 pounds, he didn’t stop growing. When he was in middle school, a football coach took him under his wing and finally explained to him the mystery of calories in, calories out and from then on it was all good for him. At least he thought. Being called to meet with his platoon sergeant and told that he was now part of the Army’s overweight program, sent him into a spin that only his crews can help him out of.

Dr. Jack Dillon thought his life was good and finally settled. Part of an active veterinarian practice, volunteering with a service dog organization, spoiling his sister’s triplets and training in sports jiu-jitsu…the only thing missing was a partner. He never thought that his world could be shattered with just a phone call even after being around his military friends.

Tank and Jack have been dancing around each other for months until Tank takes a chance and kisses Jack at their friends’ wedding moving their slow dance into a heated bump and grind. Can these two survive the changes coming their ways together or will all the changes break them apart?

It seems I always learn something new about military life when I read one of Kris Jacen’s stories, especially her series With Me.  Step Up with Me, the fifth book in the With Me series, addresses an issue I hadn’t even thought was a problem with the military.  That of weight and body issues.  I had no idea.  i just assumed (bad me) that all the constant training and workouts kept everyone ready and well, slim or rock hard.  I should know better considering all the various body types out there and struggles with weight that just don’t mysteriously vanish one you enter the military.  Or that it has such serious repercussions if not met.  Including the end of a career.

Yes, the U.S. Army has Weight Standards for its Soldiers , men and women. Army Body Fat Measurements that includes an army body fat calculator and  the Military Tape Test which  Jacen makes  such effective use of in her story.  She also notes that the current standards are under review and, hopefully will be updated to more realistic measurements.

All of this brings us to Richard “Tank” Martin, a man who has been fighting with his weight and body image all his life.  Solid muscle by any standards, a recent “tape test” has deemed him overweight and his superior officer put him on the Army’s Overweight program, which carries not only a stigma but potential career consequences.  This in addition to the emotional impact its having on Tank himself, who is not only frustrated in his attempts to lose weight but dealing with the old issues of poor self image as well.

Tank is easily one of most recognizable and connectible characters of all of the military unit for me.  Perhaps it’s in his issues with his body image, his quiet manner of questioning his choices later on in this story, or his appreciation of all the difference people in his life, his teacher on nutrition and diet (who just happens to be the wife of one of the Heptad).  Maybe its a largesse of character and personality to go along with his body that Jacen has created for him, a huge heart as well.  Whatever it is, Tank is someone who I gravitated towards immediately.  You will too.

As we saw towards the end of the last story, a swift surprise kiss with Dr. Jack Dillon moved a tentative romance ahead and that’s where this story starts off.

Both men are already established characters and here they come more fully into depth, revealing more layers and backhistory as their romance progresses and we see Tank work through his “program”, learning to eat better, exercise more in a way that suits him all the while talking about body positivity and support.

The two men together are so special  and just settling in, when another traumatic event happens to throw them and the reader into an emotional spin.  I wasn’t prepared for just how much pain this section caused but as Jacen has done her normal outstanding job of putting together a character that we cared about, however briefly, I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Then come the triplets, oh my.   And a family unit.

I won’t give too much away except to say how much I love this story.  All the many other characters from previous books appear as support and, as have been proven over and over again, the military families joining forces to act as an extended family to those in need.  It was heartwarming, moving, and it felt as authentic as could be.

With Me is such an outstanding series and Step Up with Me (With Me #5) by Kris Jacen is another exemplary reason why I always recommend this series and this author.  The writing is so smooth as to be impeccable, the plots realistic and moving, and the characters real and memorable.  Read them all in the order they were written for a memorable journey with a group of people you won’t soon forget.

Cover art: Kris Jacen. I adore this cover by the author.  It’s perfection in its representation of Tank and one of the triplets.  Now I need to read it again.

Sales Links:  MLR Press |  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 125 pages
Published February 20th 2019 by MLR Press
ASINB07NZZDCY3
SeriesWith Me #5

Wait for Me

Explore with Me

Learn with Me

Challenge Me

Step Up with Me