Hickville Crossroads by Mary Karlik Blog Tour

Frasier Anderson is one of the hottest teenage actors in the UK, but he’s virtually unknown in the US. Now he’s landed the leading role in a big-budget Hollywood film that could make him an international star.

So how do you prepare a Scot for a role as a Texas high school student? Embed him in a Texas high school. He only has to follow three rules:

No drama. No girls. And no telling who he really is.

Jenna Wiley is smart, funny, and has a few no-drama, no-dating rules of her own. Her friendship with new kid Ethan Smith is perfect and might even lead to something more. Except for a few things that don’t add up. Like his mom being afraid to have company. Or their house, which is more staged than lived in. Or his sister, whom nobody talks about.

It all comes to a boil when Frasier’s biggest secrets hit the tabloids and the paparazzi swarm Hillside with Jenna in their sights.

Can Frasier convince Jenna that shy, goofy Ethan Smith is closer to real than the image the tabloids have created?

And can she ever forgive him for breaking the most important rule of all? Because for Jenna, when it comes to love and science, the truth is all that matters.

Book 4
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
Hickville Crossroads is the fourth installment in the Hickville High series, and can most definitely be read as a standalone with little to no confusion. There are slight mentions of events that happened in past installments, with the characters shown. I hadn't read the series in a few years, not entirely sure if I read book three, but I easily fell into the story from the start.

The premise of the book is an intriguing one. A Scottish actor comes to small-town Texas, to a place called Hickville no less, to practice for a role in an upcoming series. He's to go incognito, learn to speak the dialect, ditch his own accent and pick up a new one, and blend in as if he's a transplant from a few states North.

What I adored the most about this premise is how Ethan Smith (Frasier), his parents had to be in on the charade, Mom struggling the most with the accents and the way of small-town life. It was unexpectedly quirky, humorous, and lighthearted.

Jenna, after getting to know her in past installments, she felt different to me, having her own crosses to bear. Family issues, friends to support, insecurities to feel. Jenna was a well-rounded character who felt/acted/reacted like a real teenage girl. Easy to empathize with Jenna, especially as the novel evolved.

Burnt in the past by a boy, Jenna holds a lot of people at arm's length, so imagine the yummy angst as the boy she lets in isn't who she expected him to be. An impostor, using their town and the people inside it to study a role.

Hickville Crossroads was a solid young adult novel, a good addition to the series overall. I do believe the age demographic is was meant for would appreciate it the most. Young teens – a clean romance that isn't overly complicated for younger readers, filled with cute moments that aren't older than their years.

When reading this genre, it draws me back to when I was that age, but I'm not sure most adults read in the same way. Since this is YA, I judge it based on how a young adult would perceive it. I don't look for the same things a forty-year-old woman enjoys in a novel. I look for the butterflies a young teen feels during her first real crush.

A delightful, lighthearted, age-appropriate, warm and fuzzy novel that brought all the right feels. The shorter length perfect for the demographic, which ended up being a few hours of escapism for this adult who is young at heart.

Young Adult age-range: 12+. Drug-use handled in an age-appropriate, mature manner, which is more teaching moment than entertainment device.

Mary Karlik has always been a dreamer. When she was a teen, she read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and then sat in every wardrobe in her Nanna’s home, trying to open the door to Narnia. She didn’t find it, but she did discover her voice as an author: one filled with her young adult self, and grounded in her roots as a Texan and her Scottish heritage, nourished by obscure Scottish folklore.

You can find her Texas roots in her indie published, YA contemporary romance Hickville series, which has been described as “100% solid storytelling,” and begins with Welcome to Hickville High, a “lovely story about growing up.”

She digs deep into her Scottish roots – there is magic there, she just knows it – for her YA epic fantasy Fairy Trafficking series published by Ink Monster Publishing LLC. Her first book, Magic Harvest, debuted in September of 2018. It reached #1 in 3 categories of YA Fantasy on Amazon. Magic Heist, the second in the series has been described as “a fun twisty read which will never let you guess what will happen next.”

Mary recently moved from the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains of Northern New Mexico where she was a certified professional ski instructor to Texas. She loves visiting Scotland where she is currently earning a degree in Gaelic Language Studies at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye—part of the University of Highlands and Islands system. Mary also earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, has a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and is a Registered Nurse.

Mary is an active member of Romance Writers of America and serves on a national committee of RWA. She formerly served on the board of the Young Adult Romance Writers of America. She is an active member of the Dallas Area Romance Authors and looks forward to raising a glass or two of gin and tonic with her fellow writers every year at RWA’s national convention.

Connect with Mary

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Hickville Crossroads (Hickville High #4) by Mary Karlik to read and review for this tour.

Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza? by Andy V. Roamer Blog Tour

RV is a good kid, starting his freshman year at the demanding Boston Latin School. Though his genes didn’t give him a lot of good things, they did give him a decent brain. So he’s doing his best to keep up in high school, despite all the additional pressures he’s facing: His immigrant parents, who don’t want him to forget his roots and insist on other rules. Some tough kids at school who bully teachers as well as students. His puny muscles. His mean gym teacher. The Guy Upstairs who doesn’t answer his prayers. And the most confusing fact of all—that he might be gay.

Luckily, RV develops a friendship with Mr. Aniso, his Latin teacher, who is gay and always there to talk to. RV thinks his problems are solved when he starts going out with Carole. But things only get more complicated when RV develops a crush on Bobby, the football player in his class. And to RV’s surprise, Bobby admits he may have gay feelings, too.

Warning: Homophobic bullying, homophobic slurs, physical abuse, mentions of gay bashing, racism within a character’s family.

Book 1
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NineStar Press

Why can’t life be like pizza?

I’ve been asking myself the question a lot lately. I love pizza. Pizza makes me feel good. Especially since I discovered Joe’s. Joe’s Pizza is quiet and out of the way and allows me to think. And Joe’s combinations are the best. Pepperoni and onions. Garlic and mushroom. Cheese and chicken. And if you really want that little kick in the old butt: the super jalapeno. Mmmm, good. Gets you going again. And lets you forget all your troubles.

What troubles can a fourteen-year-old guy have? Ha! First of all, I’m not a regular guy, as anyone can guess from my taste in pizza. My parents are immigrants who are trying to make a better life for themselves here in the United States. Besides the usual things American parents worry about, like making money and having their kids do well in school, my parents spend more time worrying about the big things: politics, communism, fascism, global warming, and the fact they and their parents survived violence and jail so I-better-be-grateful-I’m-not-miserable-like-kids-in-other-parts-of-the-world.

Grateful? Ha! As far as I’m concerned, life is pretty miserable already. Instead of thinking about the World Series or Disneyland, I worry about terrorists down the street or the dirty bombs the strange family around the corner might be building.

I don’t know why I worry about everything, but I do. It’s probably in my genes. Other guys have genes that gave them big muscles or hairy chests. I got nerves.

And then there’s my name. RV. Yeah, RV. No, I’m not a camper or anything. RV is short for Arvydas. That’s right. “Are-vee-duh-s.” Mom and Dad say it’s a common name in Lithuania, which is the country in Eastern Europe where my parents were born. A name like that might be fine for Lithuania, but what about the United States? Couldn’t Mom and Dad have named me Joe, or Mike, or even Darryl? My brother, Ray, has a normal name. Why couldn’t they have given me one?

I even look a little weird, I think. Tall and skinny with an uncoordinated walk because of my big feet that get in the way and make me feel like a clod. Oh, yeah. I’ve been getting some zits lately, and I wear glasses since I’m pretty nearsighted. Not a pretty sight, is it? At least the glasses are not too thick. Mom and Dad don’t have a lot of money to spend, but they did fork up the money to get me thin lenses, so I don’t look like a complete zomboid.

What can I do? I try my best, despite it all. I’m lucky because I’ve done well in school, so at least my genes gave me a half-decent brain. Hey, I’m not bragging. It’s just nice to feel good about something when most days I feel pretty much a loser at so many things. When I was in grammar school, there were enough days when I came home from school and cried because some big oaf threatened me, or I got hit in the stomach during my pathetic attempts to play ball during recess…

Okay, okay, I’m getting off track. I want to write about my first day of school. Mom and Dad gave me this new—well, refurbished, but new to me anyway—computer for getting into Latin school, and they keep after me to make good use of it. So, I’ve decided I’m going to write about my new life. My life away from cretins—Lith, American, or any other kind…

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆
RV is 14 years old and in his first year of high school. We spend a year with him as he goes through life dealing with issues in his family life, problems with friendships, girl problems, and dealing with his sexuality. He thinks he may be gay, or bi, he isn't really sure.

Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza? was a little slow to start off but once it got going, I really enjoyed it. As someone in their 40s, you look at a 14-year-old as someone young with no worries. Really though, they are often dealing with a lot of serious problems just like us adults, they just have less life experience.

I particularly enjoyed seeing RV’s home life. He is the son of Lithuanian immigrants and I liked seeing what life was like for him as a member of that community and what being a child of an immigrant is like.

I'm looking forward to more installments of The Pizza Chronicles and seeing what happens with RV's love life, finding out what is going on with his little brother, and generally seeing what life will bring for him next. This is a good start to a new series.

Andy V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after college. He worked in book publishing for many years, starting out in the children’s and YA books division and then wearing many other hats. This is his first novel about RV, the teenage son of immigrants from Lithuania in Eastern Europe, as RV tries to negotiate his demanding high school, his budding sexuality, and new relationships. He has written an adult novel, Confessions of a Gay Curmudgeon, under the pen name Andy V. Ambrose. To relax, Andy loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies, and travel.

Connect with Andy

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The Pizza Chronicles Blog

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza? (The Pizza Chronicles #1) by Andy V. Roamer to read and review for this tour.

I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount

I hate you, Fuller James.

I hate your floppy hair and your lopsided grin and those laughing blue eyes that always seem to be laughing at me.

I hate that you’re the most popular guy in school and I’m still the girl who sneezed and spit out her retainer on someone at a middle school dance. It’s just such a cliché.

I hate that I’m being forced to tutor you in English and keep it a secret from everyone. Because otherwise it might put our basketball team’s chances at winning State in jeopardy, and even though I hate you, I love basketball.

I hate that it seems like you’re keeping a secret from me… and that the more time we spend together, the less I feel like I’m on solid ground. Because I’m starting to realize there’s so much more to you than meets the eye. Underneath it all, you’re real.

But what I hate most is that I really don’t hate you at all.

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Entangled Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shannan – ☆☆☆☆
This is a new-to-me author and I have to say I absolutely loved this read. I don't read a ton of young adult, but this one pulled me in from the first page.

We've all seen the this premise before – the nerdy girl forced to tutor the popular jock.

Wren is the overachiever of high school, assignments turned in early, going above and beyond for each class, and acing all her tests. She battles a lot of bullying from an incident in middle school earning her the nickname Wrentainer. Her best friend back then pushed her aside and became one of those mean girls, making people laugh at Wren's expense. When a food fight breaks out in the cafeteria, she's had enough and throws mashed potatoes, earning her a visit to the principal’s office. She either has to give up something she's been working really hard for or tutor cocky jock Fuller James.

Fuller James owns the school. He's the star of the basketball team. The popular kid everyone wants in their circle. He's done everything right except keep his grade up in AP Lit. The only way to play in the biggest game of the season is to get a tutor or sit on the bench. Knowing the scouts will be there to watch him, he'll do whatever it takes to be at that game, even if it means getting tutored by Wren and making the stupidest bet of his life.

I was invested from the beginning to the end. I mean, I knew how it was going to end, we've all seen a young adult movie on Netflix, but I still wanted to see it through. It was an entertaining young adult read.

KELLY ANNE BLOUNT is a USA Today bestselling author of young adult novels. When she’s not writing, she’s probably lost in a book, watching Twilight, snuggling her five furry rescues, or having an adventure with her handsome husband and their darling daughter. After living in a palace in Scotland, across from the Caribbean Sea, and in the snowy land of Wisconsin, Kelly and her family reside in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. Kelly loves connecting with readers on social media! Stop by and say, “Hi!” or ask a question.

Connect with Kelly Anne

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount to read and review.

For What It's Worth by S.M. James Release Blitz

They say there are no rules in love, but will three be a crowd?

Rory García is terrible at making choices.

Dating Micah has been the best decision Rory’s ever made. Micah calms his wild side by bringing Rory back down to earth. They’re perfect for each other.
But when Rory’s Australian crush randomly shows up to stay with him, Rory’s torn between the boyfriend he maybe loves, and the guy he thought he was over.

Micah Holtz is the most loyal boyfriend in history.

Since the day Micah first saw Rory, he fell hard. There’s never been a moment where Micah’s doubted his feelings and when they finally start to date, Micah plans to hold on with both hands.
But then Justin arrives from Australia and Micah finds his single-minded attention starting to slip…

Justin Anderson has a plan for everything.

Showing up on Rory’s doorstep is the most adventurous thing Justin’s ever done. He’s lowkey sick with nerves, but knowing Rory’s there makes it all worth it. Until he finds out Rory has a boyfriend. Which was never part of the plan.
Suddenly Justin’s back to his usual game of second guessing everything, including Rory’s flirting and Micah’s lingering looks.

When Micah’s childhood haunt is set to be torn down, the three of them join forces to try to save the historic building. But will the teamwork add cracks to an already unstable friendship, or bring them closer than they ever imagined?

For What It’s Worth is a standalone story.

Book 5
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~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

Justin pretends to shudder. At least, I think he’s pretending. “Kill me now.”

“Nah, you’re way too pretty to kill.”

Those mismatched eyes meet mine and we’re just a pair of awkward losers staring at what we can’t have. I should probably take my words back and make out like ha ha jokes but I’m not joking. I spent way too many late nights thinking about that face… before Micah, of course.

Justin being here serves to remind me that the world is a fucking big place.

We switch off the TV and I scoot closer, craving him like fucking air and I still can’t work out exactly why. “You’ll be totally fine. Just be yourself. You won Micah over easy enough, and me, and Ari.”

He scrunches up his little nose. “Sure, my friendship group has grown to three, what an achievement.”

“Excuse me Mr. Sarcasm, but how long was that group at one for?”

Justin doesn’t answer, just screws his lips up to the side like he gets my point.

“Exactly. A fucking long time. And now you’ve tripled that number in just a few short months, like are you kidding? You’re on a roll, you charismatic piece of shit.” The name calling comes naturally to me, and at first I worry Justin won’t take it in the affectionate way I mean, but he cracks a smile that brings up those little dimples on either side of his chin and damn I want to touch them. “Plus Ruby and Grace think you’re the cutest thing ever.”

Justin shakes his head like he doesn’t believe a word coming from my mouth but he’s still smiling. “Just Alexis to go then.”

“With how much I talk about you she already thinks you’re best friends so there’s nothing to worry about there.”

“Talking about me, hey?” He’s leaning against the back of the couch, head tilted toward me. The teasing that flickers across his face is just beautiful. His hazel eye is on this side and I love how he looks slightly different depending on which side I look at him from.

“When I got back from Australia, Alexis literally banned your name from conversations.”

His lips twitch. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not. She was allowed to punch me every time I said it.”

“How many bruises did you get?”

“All down both arms.” I smirk. “Totally worth it.”

A laugh hiccups from him and he opens his mouth to say something, then stops.

“No, no.” I lean in closer. “You’re not allowed to over think, remember? Whatever you were going to say, say it.”

That gorgeous tint starts to rise on his cheeks as he swallows.

“Say it or I’ll tickle you.” I’m totally lying, but I wish I wasn’t. Every time he’s around I’m itching to get my hands on him and if that means tickling him like we’re in middle school, I’ll fucking do it. But what I won’t do is make him uncomfortable.

He buries his face into his hands. “Now you’ve made it into a thing.”

“And I’ll keep making it into a bigger thing until you tell me.” The fact he’s avoiding it just makes me even more curious. And once I get my mind stuck on something, I’ve got to know.

His hazel eye peeks out at me. “I was just going to say…” His side expands as he takes a deep breath. “That if I had any friends, they would have banned your name too.” His face disappears into his hands again, but he can’t hide how his neck goes all read. “See? Dumb.”

I slide closer, until I cross that invisible barrier he keeps locked in place and lean down so my face is near his. “Justin?”

“What?”

“Look at me.”

He hesitates a second before he lifts his face, sucking in a sharp breath when he realizes how close I am. Something skitters across my chest as he pins me with his rare eye contact. I’m barely aware of my lips moving until I hear my own words.

“Nothing you ever say is dumb.”

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This is a very sweet and almost angst-free young adult/new adult romance. All three of the boys are interesting and engaging characters and I enjoyed the family and community that surrounds them. This is poly writing with a focus on emotions and relationships.

There is angst free romance and there’s romance that lacks conflict. And there are moments when this book actually needs a little bit more conflict. These teenagers are a little bit too selfless, a little bit too reflective, and their communication skills are a little bit too good to be convincing. The boys are sweet together but I’m not sure readers ever really feel any real chemistry between them.

I feel like the plot wanders a little in this story. The central conflict around the sale of an old church feels like an add-on and it doesn’t necessarily develop the romance element of the story at all. Lots of plot threads are introduced but not always followed through with. I’m still a little fuzzy on Justin’s touch issues and I’m not sure Rory’s high school escapades add much to a story about his relationship with two older guys. The story lacks the heat I’d expect from a new adult romance but with one of the main characters still in high school, the new adult/young adult lines get a little blurry. Even as a young adult read, the characters are probably a little bit too pure to be really believable. I’m just not sure all the parts of this book come together in a coherent whole. I enjoyed the characters and their coming of age decision making, but this book somehow lacks the tension I need in a good romance.

S.M. James writes books for teens about squishy sweet characters.

While not writing, S.M. is a readaholic and Netflix addict who regularly lives on a sustainable diet of chocolate and coffee.

Unapologetically dishing out HEAs for LGBT+ characters.

Connect with S.M.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of For What It's Worth (#lovehim #5) by S.M. James to read and review for this tour.

The Students of Barrenmoor Ridge by Jackson Marsh Blog Tour

Liam has set himself a goal. To come out to his best friend, Casper, before his 18th birthday while hiking at Fellborough in the Yorkshire Dales.

Things don't go according to plan, and when a violent storm hits, the camping trip takes a potentially fatal turn. Local mountaineers, John Hamilton and his husband Gary are called to help, but it soon becomes apparent that the rescue is more than physical. Liam and Casper both have secrets that when known, have the potential break or mend their hearts.

Book two in the Barrenmoor series of MM romance stories with a mountain rescue theme. A mix of YA, romance and adventure, The Students of Barrenmoor Ridge brings back popular characters from the first Barrenmoor book in a familiar setting with love, mountaineering and the dangers of both.

The Mentor of Barrenmoor Ridge is the first book in the Barrenmoor series of MM romances with a mountain rescue theme. The Students of Barrenmoor Ridge takes place two years later, and it is better, but not vital, to read the stories in order.

Book 2
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John was unable to sleep that night. The raging wind didn't bother him even though the roof tiles rattled, and he knew the old yew tree would be creaking as it bent towards the lean-to. He was used to it and so was the cottage. It was well built.

Gary was curled up behind him, spooned in with one arm across John's chest. The bedroom was warm, Gary's presence warmer, and the pillows were soft. There was no reason sleep shouldn't come, they were safe from the battering, cocooned in the perfect shelter of each other's arms, and yet…

The scream of the wind as it charged them from the summit of Lhotse, the vibrations of the ground when an avalanche fell, the hiss of snow stinging the tent, and the mountain's roar, all sounds he heard through the inconsequential force six doing its best to rattle the house. The bitter bite of memory gnawed at his mind for sure, but the main reason his thoughts leapt from the anesthetising approach of sleep to the worst conditions in the world had nothing to do with the past.

There were people out there now, at Everest, yes, but also on the fells. The team were over at Northpeak and they'd picked a fine night for training, but closer to home, there were hikers and climbers huddled beneath inadequate canvas hoping their pegging was sound and wishing the night would end. Daylight might bring security, but it didn’t guarantee good weather, and it was still hours away. A lot could happen. The storm had worsened to a frightening zenith before the thunder abated slightly, but still he couldn't sleep. The lessening conditions meant the eye of the storm was overhead, and there would be more, possibly worse, to follow.

He pictured the fell from above, seeing through the agitated clouds to the swamped ground a mile below. Lit by lightning bursts, he imagined it as waves frozen in mid-roll with Fellborough peak a crest and the lower terrain its ripples. Peppered around it were insignificant dots of inappropriate colour, the shop-bought, budget tents of the unwary trembling against the elements.

He had pictured the scene on many nights as he lay listening to the conditions and waiting for the MRT radio to spark into life, or for his pager to double-beep the call sign, but tonight he was seeing it more clearly, as if it was unfolding on a widescreen television in high definition. Unaffected by the storm, he floated above it, watching over its potential victims, safe at his altitude and apart. The unhinged tempest beneath blasted from one insane thought to another, swiping at anything in its path, but John was safe, hovering on a warm updraft that dulled him towards the soft paws of sleep.

Until he fell.

Security gone. No handholds, no rope, only the empty space between him and the life-taking certainty of rock.

Gasping, he opened his eyes as his body jerked. The clock glowed one-forty-seven, and Gary had rolled away leaving him exposed and vulnerable. The pager was silent, and John was safe in his bed, but a few miles away, people might be battling for their lives, and all he could do was wait.


The rain no longer stung when it swiped Liam's face, his flesh was too numb to register the pain. The torch beam was nothing more than a thread through barely penetrable blackness, but it showed him the ground a few steps at a time.

That was all he needed to do, take it slowly using common sense and exercising caution. The tent had been facing west, and he found the way down from the ledge between two large boulders with no trouble. Straight on to the south, he met the path. Over to his left, the lightning was now on the horizon, and the wind was swooping down from the fell on his right. If the storm didn’t change direction, it would keep him on course, and the path, now more like a stream, was marked here and there by cairns. With the wind to one side and the dying lightning to the other, he only needed to keep going downhill until he met the riverbed. If it was flooded, he'd wade straight through to if he had to.

It was his fault that Casper was in trouble. Whatever had made him go out unprotected in the storm, and whatever had happened next didn’t matter. There was nothing that could be done to change that, all that mattered now was finding someone who could save him. Repercussions of a bad decision would come, and Liam would deserve them – unprepared, inexperienced, thinking he knew what he was doing… Why hadn’t he just taken Casper down to the beach at home to tell him? Why drag him halfway up the country and make him climb a hill to ruin their friendship? He could have done that weeks ago had he not been such a ridiculous romantic. There was nothing romantic about destroying their friendship and leaving his best friend shivering to death on…

He yelled at himself to stop. Beating himself up wouldn't do any good. He had to concentrate on his footing, and pretend he knew what he was doing. Casper needed him to be strong, to be wise, to take only a course of action that would lead to rescue, everything else had to wait.

Not knowing how far he had descended, he stopped and took out his phone. Sheltering it as best he could against his chest, he switched it on only to find no signal and the battery bar now glowing red. The phone back in his pocket, the torch aimed at the path, his head down, he continued.

The rain was easing off, that was a blessing, but the gale roared in his ears, low and booming one moment, high-pitched the next. As uncoordinated as his frozen feet, as wild as the anger he turned in on himself, it would not leave him alone. It taunted and jabbed as it bullied, and in the cacophony, he imagined laughter, spiteful and insulting, but deserved.

Another sound grew closer on a rumbling vibration beneath his feet, and a few paces further, he came to the edge of the riverbed.

Except now there was no bed, only river as thousands of gallons of water teamed from the blackness on his right to vanish back into the night on his left. The torch lit foam spewing around rocks in untamed channels that bubbled wildly and fast across his path. There was no way to judge the depth, and no way of knowing if the rocks that stood above the surface were stable, but equally, there was no time to think about it. Squinting through dripping eyelashes and aiming his light, it was impossible to see how wide it was either, but he knew for certain that there was no way to go up and around. Downhill, it could flow east for miles and take him off his path. The only way was through, and he knew he might not survive.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
The second book in this series brings readers back to the mountain home John now shares with his husband, Gary. This time, the focus of the story is on Liam and Casper, two young sixth formers who get into trouble while hiking.

Liam and Casper are beautiful, anxious, and completely adorable together. Full of teenage angst, theirs is a story about friendship, coming out, and growing up. There are some wonderfully tender moments between these two and theirs is a sweet and gentle romance. Frustratingly, though, there is something slightly dated and formal about both boys and they don’t quite feel like contemporary teenagers.

I enjoyed catching up with John and Gary, but I found it a little odd that Gary had grown into a mini John in the elapsed years. Gary’s age was a bit blurry in this book – it’s mentioned a few times and the dates don’t quite add up. I enjoyed both of the romantic relationships more than the criminal drama in the story. With all the mountain climbing action, I’m not sure the slightly slapstick villains are actually necessary. This is a gentle, low heat read. The first book wasn’t exactly steamy but this one with teen characters is properly chaste.

Also Available in the Barrenmoor Series

Book 1
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~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

For reviews & more info, check out our The Mentor of Barrenmoor Ridge post.

Jackson Marsh is a British born author of novels and screenplays.

Jackson has a background of theatre, cabaret and music and yet holds a social policy degree. He was born on the Romney Marshes in Kent, UK, but now lives on a mountainous Greek island. During the 1980s in London he campaigned for gay rights and performed political satire cabaret, writing song and reviews, appearing at Pride events, national venues and on television.

He moved to Greece in 2002 and married his partner there in 2017. He has won awards for his gay erotic writing, and in 2007, won a European-wide award for short stories. In 2017, he won awards for his screenplay writing.

Jackson is the author of The Clearwater Mysteries, and also writes fiction under the name James Collins.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Students of Barrenmoor Ridge (Barrenmoor #2) by Jackson Marsh to read and review for this tour.