New Releases by Robin Reardon

A beautiful young man, dancing alone and naked at the edge of a pond. A Pagan community that rebuffs friendship offers for mysterious reasons. A young, gay man, newly-minted as a minister. For Love Of Self is a blend of all this.

It’s Manhattan, 1983. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is going strong at the 8th Street Playhouse. HIV/AIDS is still called “the gay plague.” The Twin Towers still stand tall. And Spencer Hill is convinced God has called him to the Episcopal priesthood. There’s just one problem. He’s gay. Determined to stay the course, Spencer avoids Donald Rainey, a young actor he’s attracted to. Then he tries dating a woman, another candidate at General Theological Seminary. Then, as a last resort, he considers a life of chastity. His attempts to deny his orientation fail, and he has a crisis of faith that nearly sends him over the edge. He’s saved by an insightful therapist and by his relationship with Donald, which he can no longer avoid. Then his life is in disarray again when Donald’s life takes a religious turn Spencer cannot accept, and he must find a path where there is no conflict between God and gay.

Trust. It’s a precious commodity. Nathan Bartlett is looking for someone to trust—someone he can give his heart to, someone he can trust not to drop it. He’s ready to love and be loved. He’s lost so much love already. First his parents, then his adored older brother Neil, and finally the grandmother who’d raised him. All but his enigmatic sister Nina are gone. He’s had his fill of relationships that go nowhere, men who’ve led him astray emotionally and on the mountains he climbs in memory of Neil. Nathan has followed enough trails, from Maine to Hawai’i. It’s time to blaze his own. When he does, it leads him to a man who lives life using a wheelchair, a man whose fall from a mountain means he’ll never hike again. Nathan finds himself on a precipice, and only trust will help him now.

Nathan Bartlett is a trailblazer—not because he follows established routes in the White Mountains, or on Kaua''i, or on Mt. Desert Island, but because he explores and then follows that inner path that tells him who he is and how he relates to the world around him. Forging his path doesn''t mean he finds all the answers. It means he identifies the questions that matter. In On Chocorua, Nathan begins his journey as a college freshman. He makes a life-long friend, feels the pain of losing a lover to addiction, and loses his adored older brother Neil in a tragic accident. Although Nathan steps figuratively into the hiking boots Neil can no longer wear, he can’t leave behind him the guilt he feels that he didn’t know Neil—or his other family members—as well as he’d thought. He also can’t seem to find the sense of being loved, the sense of belonging that Neil had given him, no matter how many mountain peaks he claims, no matter how deep the existential forgiveness he feels hiking on the island of Kaua’i (On the Kalalau Trail). He’s had his fill of relationships that go nowhere, of men who’ve led him astray emotionally and on the mountains he climbs in memory of Neil Then, in On The Precipice, Nathan meets Drew Madden, a true mountain man who fell from a cliff and now uses a wheelchair. Nathan’s relationship with Drew helps him realize he’s been looking for himself in all the wrong places and guides him toward his own personal trail, which includes a career in addiction recovery. Nathan is a trailblazer on his own journey. And his success will be measured not by how well he follows someone else''s path, but by whether he can forge his own. Walk with him.

Self-discovery. Sounds simple, right? After all, you’re already there. You’re already you. So it can surprise us that it takes so much time, and so much effort. It surprises Nathan Bartlett. Nathan has lost two family members in a few years. It surprises him to realize he hadn’t known them nearly as well as he’d thought, and this makes him question his own worth. And it makes him feel like he belongs nowhere. So he goes on a spiritual quest. Professional hike leader Conroy Finnegan—sexy, very masculine, and charismatic—leads Nathan to the Kalalau Trail on the island of Kaua’i, “... a place where magic happens, where the very names are magical: Na Pali. Ho’olulu. Waiahuakua. Hanakoa. Hanakapi’ai.” Conroy seduces Nathan in more ways than one. He leads Nathan to paradise and lets him find his own way back. Nathan begins his journey as a searcher. On the way he becomes a seeker. These states of mind are different. And they lead Nathan on different journeys. Walk with him.

Self-discovery. Sounds simple, right? After all, you''re already there. You''re already you. So it can surprise us that it takes so much time, and so much effort. It surprises Nathan Bartlett. Nathan has lost two family members in a few years. It surprises him to realize he hadn''t known them nearly as well as he''d thought, and this makes him question his own worth. And it makes him feel like he belongs nowhere. So he goes on a spiritual quest. Professional hike leader Conroy Finnegan--sexy, very masculine, and charismatic--leads Nathan to the Kalalau Trail on the island of Kaua''i, "... a place where magic happens, where the very names are magical: Na Pali. Ho''olulu. Waiahuakua. Hanakoa. Hanakapi''ai." Conroy seduces Nathan in more ways than one. He leads Nathan to paradise and lets him find his own way back. Nathan begins his journey as a searcher. On the way he becomes a seeker. These states of mind are different. And they lead Nathan on different journeys. Walk with him.

A mountain. A blizzard. A young man new to hiking and to love, making mistakes in both. First year of college. A great time to re-invent yourself. Nathan Bartlett takes the opportunity very seriously—maybe a little too seriously. And he makes mistakes. His mistakes? Falling for a straight guy who reminds him of his beloved older brother. Getting too invested in the substance abuse disorders of two other students. And climbing a mountain in a snowstorm for all the wrong reasons. But he also develops friendships that will be his for life. He faces his inner demons and comes up with a plan. And he realizes that answers to important questions are seldom waiting on the surface but must be worked for, or struggled for, or suffered for—and sometimes all three. Nathan is a trailblazer on his own journey. His success will be measured not by how well he follows someone else''s path, but by whether he can forge his own. This first book in a series of three novels gets Nathan started on a journey that will teach him about himself, about life, and about love. Walk with him.

Jude Connor wants desperately to be saved. He follows the path Reverend Amos King lays out for him, struggling to ignore his dreams, which are haunted not by women but by men. Will Reverend King be able to lead Jude into the Light? Will King''s own demons drag them both into darkness? Or will Jude find the path to his own truth?

"In this paranormal romance, something is drawing seventeen-year-old Jesse Bryce toward the community of Pagans who live in "the village," just outside his rural Oklahoma town. Maybe it''s that he has a crush on Griffin Holyoke, a tall, dark-haired boy with a tree tattooed all up his back. Or maybe it''s that the Pagans accept Jesse for who he is, unlike his family--or his church, where he hears that being gay is a sin."--From Amazon.com.

Jude Connor''s rural Idaho hometown is a place of strong values and high expectations. For those who fit into the local church''s narrow confines, there''s support and fellowship. For those who don''t, there''s ostracism in this life and certain damnation in the next. Jude wants desperately to be saved—to believe with the fervor of Reverend Amos King, whose sermons are filled with brimstone and righteousness. Yet it hasn''t been easy. It''s not just the forbidden friendship with his unconventional classmate, Pearl, or the difficulties of being orphaned and in his older brother''s care. There are the restrictions governing how congregants should behave, the whispers that follow Gregory Hart, a man who cares for his wheelchair-bound sister and offers guidance Jude sorely needs. And there''s Jude''s burgeoning need to decide for himself how to live, when to question, and who to love. When loyalty doesn''t help Jude overcome his own temptations, he must confront the truth behind the church''s façade and his willingness to follow his own path—even if it leads him far from everything he''s known. . . Praise for the novels of Robin Reardon "Mesmerizing. . ..A rare book that will appeal to young adults and adult readers alike." --Publishers Weekly on The Evolution of Ethan Poe "A compelling story well worth your time. . .Reardon is an author to watch." —Bart Yates on A Secret Edge

Simon Fitzroy-Hunt is English to the core, smarter than most and set on attending Oxford University - until his newly remarried mother drags him to Boston. Simon''s new school seems even more demanding than the last, and he''s assigned to coach 11-year-old Toby. As if Simon''s life isn''t complicated enough, Toby confides to Simon that there''s a girl trapped inside this boy''s body, and her name is Kay. As Simon tried to help Kay find her way, he''ll learn what life and love mean to him and find that the right path for himself may be the one he never expected.

In the space of a few months, sixteen-year-old Ethan Poe''s life has become a complicated mix of facts, theories, and hypotheses. Things he knows beyond doubt: his parents are divorcing, his older brother Kyle is exhibiting alarming behavior, and his best friend is turning into a spiritual fanatic. Then there are the shifting uncertainties-including his feelings toward his father and his desire to both blend in and stand out in his rural Maine hometown. Most pressing of all, there''s his attraction to Max Modine, a boy he wants to know much better than he does. Despite Ethan''s initial reluctance, he gets pulled into a heated and sometimes violent conflict about whether to introduce Intelligent Design into science classrooms. Family and friends are turning against each other, school is a battleground, and Ethan will have to take a stand. Because some facts are irrefutable and some bonds unbreakable, even when they can''t be seen. And once Ethan finds the courage to become who he was meant to be, the outcome could be absolutely extraordinary. . . Praise for the novels of Robin Reardon "Stirring. . .thoughtful and convincing." -Publishers Weekly on Thinking Straight "A compelling story well worth your time. . .Reardon is an author to watch." -Bart Yates, author of The Brothers Bishop on A Secret Edge

November 1972. The Vietnam War is rumored to be drawing to a close, and for sixteen-year-old Paul Landon, the end can''t come soon enough. The end will mean his older brother Chris, the family''s golden child, returning home from the Army for good. But while home on leave, Chris entrusts Paul with a secret: He''s gay. And when Chris is killed in action, Paul is beset by grief and guilt, haunted by knowledge he can''t share. That summer, Paul is forced to work at his family''s pet supply store. Worse, he must train a new employee, JJ O''Neil, a gay college freshman. But though Paul initially dislikes JJ for being everything he''s not--self-confident, capable, ambitious--he finds himself learning from him. Not just about how to handle the anxious, aggressive dogs JJ so effortlessly calms and trains, but how to stand up for himself--even when it means standing against his father, his friends, and his own fears. Through JJ, Paul finally begins to glimpse who his brother really was--and a way toward becoming the man he wants to be. . . Praise for the novels of Robin Reardon "Stirring. . .thoughtful and convincing." --Publishers Weekly on Thinking Straight "A compelling story well worth your time. . .Reardon is an author to watch." --Bart Yates, author of The Brothers Bishop on A Secret Edge

I know God doesn''t make mistakes, and if I''m gay it''s because that''s what he wanted. What you wanted. And I think the challenge is to get everyone else to see that. This is their test, not mine. If only Taylor Adams had kept on lying to his parents, none of this would have happened. He wouldn''t have been shipped off to Straight to God, an institution devoted to "deprogramming" troubled teenagers and ridding them of their vices--whether it''s drugs, violence, or in Taylor''s case, other boys. Not that Taylor has a problem with being gay, or with reconciling his love for God with his love for his boyfriend Will. . . At Straight to God, such thoughts--along with all other reminders of Taylor''s former "sinful" life--are forbidden. Every movement is monitored, privacy is impossible, and no one--from staff to residents--is quite who they first appear to be. There''s Charles, Taylor''s clean-cut roommate, desperate to leave his past behind. . .Nate Devlin, a handsome, inscrutable older boy who''s alternately arrogant and kind. . . gorgeous, secretive Sean, who returns to Straight to God each year to avoid doing prison time for drugs. Here, where piety can be a mask for cruelty and the greatest crimes go unpunished, Taylor will learn more than he ever dreamed about love, courage, rebellion, and betrayal--but the most surprising lessons will be the truths he uncovers about himself. In this smart, insightful new novel, Robin Reardon presents a compelling exploration of the journey from boy to man, and a testament to the strength that comes with accepting both who we are, and who we love. . .

Cross-cultural relationships, family dynamics, friendship, honesty, Hindu philosophy and the morality of violence versus non-violence in a complicated world. A sexy, sensitive coming-of-age novel from a major new talent.

Young Micah Jaeger loves the camera his dad gave him before his folks split, but he hides that he''s gay and is ashamed that his mother talks to her dead older son through a medium. Then the gorgeous Walker Donnell sails into Micah''s life in his beautiful sailboat, and things are wonderful. That is, until Walker reveals his secret: He''s intersex.