To anyone looking, Mike Miller was an average high school kid. A jock, not too bright but not a dumb kid either. He dated, hung out with his buds drank and partied. Average for any kid in 1988. He was in his senior year, within a few months of graduation. Then he caught sight of Jason Reilly.
Red headed, pale skinned stoner Jason Reilly. The kid who cut classes, hung out with the strange kids and listened to weird music. Left in cars with strange men. That Jason Reilly.
And Mike became intrigued, but he wasn't sure what he wanted. Till he found out what Jason did in those cars for those guys. Then he had to have it for himself. Try to scratch the itch he never knew he had. But once Jason agrees, and Mike pays for his services, he is hooked.
Thus begins Mike's obsession with Jason. One that has him spending all of his cash, his college funds, and which may cost him his family. Because when it gets out what he has been doing, and who with, there is a huge price to pay.
Melanie Tushmore has crafted a remarkably sweet and romantic tale about two total opposites who discover they have more in common than just money. Mike and Jason find themselves, reluctantly and oh-so-bittersweetly, in love. I was drawn into Mike's life and world immediately, and utterly charmed by his naivety.
Because Mike is the loyal, one man kind of guy we all hope for. Shy but bold, sweet but silent, he so desperately wants to be liked by the object of his affections, and is so very clueless as to what he is wanting. My heart ached for him, and I found myself rooting for him and finding an unlikely hero.
And Jason, if there was every anyone so apparently undeserving of a man like Mike, it was him. Until, until we meet him on his turf and discover all his secrets and desires. He is as hidden as Mike, only so much more in-your face about it. And such a tragic boy. What happens when he thinks Mike deserted him broke my heart.
Ms. Tushmore wrote her heart out with these two, and I would love to see some follow up to their story. For all that these two boys, then men, are so strongly drawn, there is such a lovely fragility and quiet to their love story. I found myself holding my breath in places, afraid a noise might scare them away.
This book will stay with you, making you want to revisit it again and again.
Loved every word.
Tom
