IT STARTED WITH A DARE - S. L. DANIELSON & JULIE LYNN HAYES - A REVIEW

Publisher: No Boundaries Press

Author(s): S.L. Danielson & Julie Lynn Hayes

Title: It Started With A Dare

Series: Southern Comfort

Book: One
Cover Art: Dakota Trace

Pages: 247 (180 On my Nook)

Price: $ 4.99

http://noboundariespress.com/2012/05/04/now-available-it-started-with-a-dare-by-s-l-danielson-julie-lynn-hayes/ 

AMAZON - KINDLE $ 3.99

http://www.amazon.com/Started-Southern-Comfort-Series-ebook/dp/B0080961WO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336422835&sr=1-2 

B&N.COM - NOOK $ 3.99

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/it-started-with-a-dare-s-l-danielson/1110604148?ean=2940014470421

 

BLURB

Book One of the Southern Comfort Series

Boredom at the Junior Prom leads to a dare that leads to a kiss between two seventeen year old boys. Being gay in rural Georgia is no picnic. As circumstances force them together, Mark and Blake uncover truths about themselves, embarking on a daring relationship. But they’ve got one major strike against them already—Mark is unwilling to come out about his sexuality, and Blake doesn’t want to live in a closet. Can they fan the flames of their relationship, or will it sputter and die?

REVIEW

This is one of the better Young Adult novels I have read in a long time.  I say it is a YA novel because the main characters are 17 years old as are alL of their friends.  Many of the events in the book are very much youth oriented and what you would expect from the average teenage boy but the difference with this book is that where most YA books close the door when things get steamy, the authors of this romance do not. 

We get a very NC-17 or higher view of how much these boys care for each other, and they as you will see from their treatment of one another as their relationship grows from animosity and the beginning of the book to true love at the end.

The writing is solid with very few errors in grammar or spelling which helps keep the reader stay in the flow of the story.  Characterization is excellent and consistent all the way through though I thought Mike “came out” a little too easily after the way he behaves at the prom, that’s not really much of a spoiler as it happens so early in the story. Other than that one minor quibble, it is a highly entertaining read and well worth your time and money.  I can’t wait for the sequel.