Welcome to book one of a trilogy I've been working on for quite some time now! This book can stand on its own if the ending is what you're looking for, but there are also two sequel novels that will be posted on my profile if you're looking for more of Jake's (and Connor's) story.
Here's what you can expect out of this series as a whole. We've got a mlm summertime romance (in book one at least), slow burn, rural midwest hometown setting, grumpy x sunshine / sun x moon trope, Taylor Swift, high school and college years, found family, healthy male friendship! (we love to see it), consent and communication, discussions on mental health, healing (so much healing), Casey The Cat (stay tuned), and overall a bit of angst if I'm being honest.
That being said...
I write what I know, and therefore some of the content can be a little too accurate, so I'd like to go ahead and throw out some content warnings from the start.
A disclaimer to anyone starting this particular book for the first time, here are some potentially triggering things you can expect and the depth to which they are touched on in order from most to least prevalent:
Homophobia: it's an undertone of the story, but only explicitly acted on a couple times (really not too bad, I promise). The word queer may be used in a derogatory sense once or twice, but I refuse to write the f-slur for personal reasons. Given the rural setting and the religious elements of the story, homophobia is to be largely expected, but for anyone who thinks it may hit too close to home (if you are in an unsafe household, closeted, etc.) proceed with caution, especially in chapter forty-nine.
Domestic Violence/Child Abuse: it's implicitly understood that household abuse occurs for a couple of the main characters. There are not scenes enacting physical abuse, but it still happens, and the characters deal with the aftermath of it in their own ways. Information on domestic abuse can be found here https://www.thehotline.org/ please get help if you need it! I will go ahead and put an extra warning on this one that the most detailed this content will get is in chapters thirty-eight, forty (kinda), and fifty.
Anxiety/PTSD: although never explicitly stated, the main character of this book suffers from Anxiety and PTSD and acts accordingly. Part of the character's PTSD can include things that mirror internalized homophobia, and sometimes the anxiety can result in habits that resemble an eating disorder (but he does not, in my own perspective, have an eating disorder). There are not depictions of self-harm or suicidal ideation in this story, but still proceed with caution if you think reading another person's anxiety or trauma might affect you. The worst bouts of his mental health crises happen in chapters eight, nine, twenty (a little), thirty-eight, forty, forty-one, forty-seven, forty-nine, fifty and fifty-two.
Alcohol: the main characters use alcohol in group settings like parties and such, and although none of them are alcoholics, a few parents are mentioned to be. Nothing unsafe happens to anyone as a result of being under the influence.
Violence: very few occasions, but yes there are some tense moments and fights between characters who are not romantically involved. They're not incredibly graphic and contain no weapons. Small interactions at best. Most serious this gets is chapters thirty-three and forty-two.
Religious Trauma: another common theme here given the character's battle with religion. You can thank Rachel for pointing out that I should probably put a warning here. Chapter thirty-five deals with this the most.
Vague Internalized Biphobia: it's a very very small element of the story and doesn't occur in the main character's perspective. I just had to mention it anyways just incase. You won't know it's there unless you look for it.
Addiction/Drug Abuse: just in passing mention.
If you have any questions about other content before you start, reach out to me, I'd be happy to go over them with you! Happy reading :)
-hannagustin
(also, hey: shoutout to my beta reader Rachel, show her some love, she really roasted the hell out of me for this series to be in the shape it is today)
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Home is a Four Letter Word
Romance(Book One) Jake Holmes hadn't put much thought into what home meant until Connor Morgan asked him to. He had settled with an idealistic fantasy. A life in the closet, complete with the girl he could bring home to momma, a house next to his best frie...
