Scarred - This Week's #TBT Book Suggestion

Scarred

By: Mia Kerick

Publication date: December 31st, 2018 – Second Edition
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Genres: LGBTQ+, New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Even in paradise, beautiful faces can hide scarred souls.

ONE tropical island.

Placida Island’s gentle ocean breezes and rolling surf beckon to those who wish to reside in remote tropical serenity.

TWO men living in self-imposed exile.

Wearing twisted ropes of mutilated skin on his back and carrying devastating damage in his soul from severe childhood abuse, Matthew North lives alone in a rustic cabin on the shore, avoiding human contact.

Gender fluidity his perceived “crime” against family and friends, Vedie Wilson flees his childhood home so he can freely express his identity.

THREE persecutors seeking their warped view of justice.

Vedie’s past refuses to stay in the faraway city he left behind when family members, intent on forcing him to change, threaten the precious peace he’s found.

TOO MANY scars to count.

Their beautiful faces masking deeply scarred souls, Matt and Vedie live in hiding from the world and each other.

Can they unite and embrace each other’s painful pasts, leaving the scars behind, to find love?

 

Amount of sex 3 / 5
How explicit 3 / 5
Romance 4.5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5

When I first read the blurb for Scarred, by Mia Kerick, I was intrigued by the storyline. I haven’t read anything from the author before, but I enjoy reading MM romances, so… I thought I would give it a try.  I am so glad that I did!  Scarred is so much more than just a MM romance!  My emotions were all over the place and it really made me think.  

Since, I live in North Carolina, I am already aware of The House Bill 2 (HB2) in North Carolina, which is also considered the bathroom bill.  I know everyone has an opinion of what they believe is correct and I guess it is one thing to debate the subject and another to experience it…  and that is exactly how I felt!  I experienced the pain along with Vedie and I am unable to express how much I love Mateo.  He is an amazing character and I wish more people would think like him.

Ms. Kerick took me on a journey with Mateo and Vedie and it is one that I will not forget!  

A must-read!

Some of my favorite quotes

“I been on the wrong end of hate crimes one too many times, so’s I pretty much always hold the fear of gettin’ my ass kicked in the back of my head. See, people don’t like it that I don’t fit inside one of the gender boxes – it scares ‘em bad.”

“Mateo, the world divides people up into male and female – and most folks can only see those two categories. I ain’t a good match for neither, so I show myself to the world as a fucked-up blend of both.”

“I never was gay, mom. But I never was straight either. In fact, my sexual orientation would be very difficult to describe to a person like you, who only see two choices – gay or straight”

 

Vedie

“Lookin’ good, pretty Miss Vedie.…mmmhmm….” No matter if I’m dressed like a dude or a lady, Joey always stares at me as if I’m a juicy bowl of strawberry shortcake—he licks his lips and I know he wants to take himself a nice big bite of a flavor he can’t get at home. Then he slaps a hand hard against my thigh, and creepy-slow, it climbs my leg. It’s headed for my ass cheek, or my name ain’t Vedie Wilson.

“Hands outta the cookie jar, Joey, my man.” I don’t appreciate it when any dude gropes me without asking for permission first. But the sad truth is I ain’t never gonna like Joey’s hands on me. While he gawks, I pull a shimmery hairband out of my bag and wrap it around my head to hold the damp dreads off my face. “Got yo’self a sweet tooth, looks like, Joey. You’d be wise to get your ass home to your sweet wife, not that you asked me for no words of wisdom.”

“Not gonna even think about going home ‘til I had me some fun,” Joey replies, jamming his hand in his pocket—probably to keep it from curving ‘round my ass.

When I bend down to rinse the sweat off my face he stays quiet and don’t goose me. Maybe this time he heard what I told him about gettin’ his butt home to Miz Joey. But more likely he’s checking out my butt.

“Baybeee… uh huh…. mmmhmm… nice ass you got there in them sweet little shorts….”

I sigh real loud, “I got some shit to do here, big dawg, so’s if that’s all you wanted…” The only way to get this guy to take a hike is to tell him point blank that he’s gotta head on out. “Catch ya on da flip side, ‘kay?”

He leans in so close I can feel his scratchy beard brushing on my neck and I shiver in the bad way. He takes a deep sniff—I guess he likes the smell of sweaty dude—and then finally bails. Right now, I sorely wish the tiki hut restaurant I work at had one of them one-person anything goes restrooms—for a dude, a lady, or whoever you feel like at the moment—but at least now I’m finally alone in the men’s room.

I pull out my makeup bag and quickly powder my nose so’s it don’t shine, and glide a deep shade of maroon over my lips, but I take the time to be an artist with my eyeliner and mascara ‘cause I figure eyes oughta say somethin’. When I look good enough that I’d wanna do me, I figure I’m looking good enough for public viewing. My new perfume smells like the freedom I got down here on Placida Island—coconuts and wildflowers and the ocean and honey— I spray it all over my neck and chest.

As I saunter outta the men’s room, I don’t miss that it’s kinda funny how I went in here looking all-dude but comin’ out, you could mistake me for a lady. Ha! More like a red-hot, sexy mama—smooth and silky everywhere ‘cept for the four-day beard.

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another a professional dancer, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and the baby finally off to college. (Yes, the nest is empty.) She publishes LGBTQ fiction and romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-five years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of young people who are challenged by the circumstances of their lives and relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature, and as a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of tortured heroes and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She has NineStar Press to thank for providing an alternate place to stash her stories.

Her books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine and have won Rainbow Awards for Best Transgender Contemporary Romance and Best YA Lesbian Fiction, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, a First Place Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, a First Place Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award for YA Fiction, among others.

Mia Kerick is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

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