I think it’s appropriate to start out our Audiobook Month with two of my favs! Amy Lane is one of my all time favorite authors and her audiobooks rank among the books I can listen to over and over and over. Some of my favorite are: Clear Water, Bolt Hole and Beneath the Stain. Narrating two of those is Nick J Russo – he ranks as one of my top three favorite narrators and it’s Amy’s works that help him hold that position. So, with no further ado…. let’s start off our month of great listens with Bonfire!
Dreamspinner Presents
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/bonfires-by-amy-lane-8682-b
Blurb
Ten years ago Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron George lost his wife and moved to Colton, hoping growing up in a small town would be better for his children. He’s gotten to know his community, including Mr. Larkin, the bouncy, funny science teacher. But when Larx is dragged unwillingly into administration, he stops coaching the track team and starts running alone. Aaron—who thought life began and ended with his kids—is distracted by a glistening chest and a principal running on a dangerous road.
Larx has been living for his kids too—and for his students at Colton High. He’s not ready to be charmed by Aaron, but when they start running together, he comes to appreciate the deputy’s steadiness, humor, and complete understanding of Larx’s priorities. Children first, job second, his own interests a sad last.
It only takes one kiss for two men approaching fifty to start acting like teenagers in love, even amid all the responsibilities they shoulder. Then an act of violence puts their burgeoning relationship on hold. The adult responsibilities they’ve embraced are now instrumental in keeping their town from exploding. When things come to a head, they realize their newly forged family might be what keeps the world from spinning out of control.
Review
(Book reviewed here previously)
I’m going to divide this review into two parts because it was amazingly emotional and really brought so many thoughts and feelings to the surface for me and I think it will for others as well.
The first part will be the review for people who don’t want any spoilers or any discussion about politics – because I know that can really set people off. The second part will be a bit more personal with some very biased opinions and a bit of spoiler action that you all can totally skip ☺
As you all know, I am a huge Amy fan. I’ve read nearly everything the woman has written and I not only admire her writing but think she’s pretty awesome as a person. From knowing a bit about her backstory, I can tell she wrote this book with her own experiences in mind. Larx is a high school principal – reluctantly – and a single parent. He was married before, but after exposing his bi-sexuality his wife left him and the kids. He’s moved from the city (other bad stuff happened there) to a small town to start over. Now, seven years later, he’s still single and thinking it will stay that way til his kids are graduated.
Aaron is the small town deputy, slated for Sherriff in the upcoming years. His wife died in a car accident and though he’s always considered himself bi-sexual he’s never acted on it and really never thought to do anything about it until his kids graduated. When he sees Larx – the man he’s known for years- running down the highway without a shirt a light switches on in his head and suddenly all those plans he had, change.
**
Part of what I absolutely love about this book is that the characters are closer to 50 than 40 and they feel so very REAL. They aren’t in perfect shape – Aaron struggles with his diet – they aren’t sleeping with everything that they see – neither has had any sort of significant anything for years – and they’re parents and their jobs first – not slaves to their lust! They live real lives and have real concerns and yet… Amy manages to find the romance in their lives and bring it out for all to see. It’s magnificent!
In addition to being real people, they have real kids. Neither of them was/is a perfect parent and their kids aren’t perfect either – well – Kirby and Christi might be but…. ☺ …. The kids fight, do dumb things and make mistakes. But – they aren’t evil incarnate either.
I did not see the ending coming… I mean I kinda did… but not exactly. Amy played the mystery out perfectly with just enough hints that you could see how we got there by the end, but it wasn’t hitting me in the face the entire time making me wonder how the MCs couldn’t see the obvious answer.
The good news/ bad news is the “bad guy” in the story is unfortunately very real and very possible. Maybe there were some exaggerations for impact sake, but, unfortunately the people like this exist and that’s up for discussion later.
As for the romance. Ahhhhhhh. Man, I loved these two guys together – so much! If I had any complaints at all it was that we didn’t get to see them together outside of a tense situation for very long. I wanted to see these two settled down and living life – quietly! – for a bit – just because they worked so hard for it (and so did I)!
We also get a bit of a secondary romance (or two!) and I really hope those characters get their own book in the future!
I can’t recommend this enough. It was sweet, exciting, romantic, touching, and also really, really relevant and thought provoking. For fans of the author this is a must, and for any parents, people from small towns, people with brains, or people with hearts – this is a must read!
**
Following, in the spoiler section, is stuff more political and opinionated and it might give away some parts of the story – so skip this or read it after you’ve read the book if you don’t want to be “spoiled”.
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This is a really important story given our current political climate. The central villain in this is essentially a psychotic bully (both mother and daughter) who manages to control an entire town/high school simply because they have connections and money. Does that sound like anyone else we know?
What’s so insidious about this bullying is that (with a few notable exceptions) it’s done without violence but the impact is just as scary and critical. Julia manages to terrorize Isaiah without lifting a finger and without even really threatening anything – based solely on past actions and supposition. Anyone from a small town knows a Julia and her family. If you’ve seen the movie “Heathers” from the 80s you know what I’m talking about. Girls (and boys) who essentially run the school and who can ruin a kid with their thoughtless decrees.
What I loved about Amy’s story is the victory Larx manages to counter that. He manages to give the kids a safe place despite the small town mentality and bigotry. I loved that she showed us that the kids are more “cosmopolitan” than their parents and more willing to forgive. I sincerely hope this is true in more than just fiction.
More personal info – my own mother was a teacher in the Columbine school district in Colorado when the shooting happened. She wasn’t at the school that day, but potentially could have been and she was absolutely part of the subsequent fall out and debriefing that occurred when people wondered “how could that happen” in an upper middle class school district with kids who literally had it all. Larx touches on this briefly – kids shouldn’t have access to guns – but also we see how important it is to have parents actively involved in their kids lives because – unfortunately – real life happens in high school, too, and without involvement really, really bad things can happen.
When I was reading this I was reminded of the fear that going to school could bring – while it should be a safe place – if we don’t watch it closely, school can end up being scary – bullies, guns, terror – you name it. Teachers today have to make this place safe AND shape and mold young minds AND they get paid very poorly to do it. Today’s administration wants to make this struggle even more difficult and more impossible and to widen the gap between those who can and those who can’t.
Amy’s own story with teaching isn’t so rosy and perfect and I’m sure some of her own experiences ended up in this story and I’m really, really scared that with the new administration we have right now, some of what we see in this book could be happening all over the nation. We’ve made some tremendous strides forward and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come but right now we’re facing the backlash from that and the schools are likely to be one place where that backlash manifests. I don’t know enough to say what key figures can do or not do, but I do know this: we should all be vigilant. We can’t let the bullies in the world win. We can’t let them push us back towards hatred, fear, and bigotry just because they can. In this sense, this story is so timely because it reminds me (us) about how important it is to stand up and be heard in the face of bullying – even though it might scare the pants off you!
I am sincerely hoping that as a nation we can continue to move forward away from fear and hate and bigotry and I think fiction, as a tool, can help. One of the reasons kids are so much more “cosmopolitan” is because of the internet, social media and things that give them access to an “alternate reality” than their own. Fiction is that. Especially when it’s fiction that feels “real”. So… Kudos Amy. This is one of those stories. One of those books that takes real people in situations that may not be fact but “could” be and I’m hoping it’s a model for people/kids/parents everywhere.
A tiny side note: Amy – I caught that – Delilah – really? Geez and I thought you were a pet lover- every book, Amy– at least one!
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Audio
Well, you know I love Am[/spoiler]y and you know I love Nick so together – Oh Yeah!
Nick is just amazingly well suited to Amy’s language. I love how his voice gives life to her characters. I absolutely fell in LOVE with Aaron’s voice and thought Larx’s voice suited him as well. Nick does the younger voices well, including the females. While it was different than I’d imagined, I loved his choice for Yoshi, too.
All in all a great way to enjoy this and a perfect choice!
6 of 5 stars
Copy Generously Provided by Publisher for Honest Review
Blurb
