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, steal him from his island home.
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?
Excerpt
Matt
There’s something about Vedie, I think as I drive my truck over the bridge, leading me off the island.
I’m not saying I regret doing what I did—telling the kid to keep his distance—but if I were an honest man, I’d say I feel a certain emptiness when I drive past The Only Tiki Hut and spot his old BMX chained to the bike rack. I think of eyes that can’t help but smile, and the risk he took in telling me how he wanted it to go when we fooled around on the beach, and how he held me and asked no questions when I mentally vacated the premises. But since I’m a man in hiding, I say to myself, there’s something about Vedie, and I leave it there.
Strange, but I’m missing The Only Tiki Hut, too. For almost a decade I’ve kept to myself, worked my online marketing job, played with my cats, pumped iron on my porch, and grabbed a few decent meals each week at the tiki bar on the bay. I don’t interact with many people, which is by design. I get my fill of being in the presence of human beings by visiting the one and only restaurant on Placida Island. But, for all intents and purposes, you could say I fucked the busboy and then dumped him on his ass, so I’ve earned myself a long drive off the island every time I’m in the mood for meatloaf.
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. Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com or visit at www.miakerickya.com to see what is going on in Mia’s world. You can also check in with Mia at https://twitter.com/MiaKerick and https://www.facebook.com/mia.kerick.
Purchase link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/scarred/
Giveaway
Mia Kerick will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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