A Young Mans Fancy by M. Tasia and others

This lovely YA/NA anthology holds five m/m romance stories about the lives and loves of young men trying to find out how to be true to themselves. The stories were all very different, some funny, some more heartfelt, but they were all such sweet and well-written tales about coming out and letting your best friend or neighbor long time crush know how you really feel.

In David by M. Tasia we get to meet David at his last day of high school, when his longtime boyfriend dumps him out of the blue. Depressed, he takes on a job remodeling a remote lake house for the summer. While slowly getting over the depression, David realizes that the person he misses the most isn’t actually his ex boyfriend, but his best friend, Jacob. So when Jacob pays him a surprise visit, David must carefully navigate his new feelings while trying to find out how Jacob feels about him without risking their friendship. This was such a sweet and heartwarming story about realizing that the thing you’ve wanted the most has been right under your nose the whole time, and how to risk it all for a chance of true love and happiness.

No Bunny Like You by Susan Mac Nicol was a funny and witty story, but it didn’t get me as invested in the characters as the others did. Colin has been checking his hot neighbor Dashiell out, spying on him dancing shirtless in his room, but has never worked up the nerve to talk to him. Not until Colin was assigned as the neighborhood Easter bunny and fell into the water while swooning over Dashiell and almost drowned. Only to be saved by the very reason for falling into the water… There were some parts of this story that didn’t really sit well with me, like the spying thing that came a bit too close to creepy stalking and the insta-love part. But those things set apart, it was an entertaining story with some really hilarious moments.

In Homecoming by Emily Mims, newcomer Clay is immediately drawn to his acting class mate Justin and can’t believe his luck when he’s gay and interested in him too. But complicated family dynamics put pressure on them both about keeping their feelings secret and obstructs their plans to go to homecoming together. This was one of my favorite stories, but I had some issues at first with the way Justin put pressure on Clay to come out. Forcing some one to come out is never okay, even if the reason for it is that you want the person to be proud of himself and for you to shout out to the world how much you love him. But the ending more than well made up for that, so all in all it was a sweet, heartwarming and hopeful story.

Hold The Line by Kitty Bardot was such a beautiful story about being loved for who you are, and for not underestimating the love and support from your friends. Terry is the defensive lineman, devoting his life on the field to protecting his best friend Chris, and his life outside it to hiding his secret crush on him. But when push comes to more than a shove, Chris gives Terry the greatest gift of all. My absolute favorite story of them all!

Shake Me Down by Elle Wright was a cute opposites-attract tale when the attraction between nerdy genius Zach is reciprocated by the new cool player Everett, who might not be as experienced as he likes everyone to believe… The romance felt a bit too fast and unrealistic to be as gripping as it could have been, but I’m always a fan of opposites-attract stories and the nerd getting the hot guy, so it was nevertheless a highly enjoyable read.

This was a very solid collection with stories that were all highly entertaining, yet all very different, and all with added depths or twists and with a wonderful flow. The only minor complaints I have are that the stories didn’t really feel like YA ones in the way they were written, they were more stories about young persons but for an older audience, and that the romances were a bit too instalove because of the short format.

But all in all, I truly enjoyed this anthology and the honest and heartwarming way it showed the challenges that, sadly, are still a reality for so many persons. All stories dealt with different aspects of the challenge to come out, but in a hopeful way that left you feeling warm at heart, and with characters to root for. Highly recommended!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this lovely book! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

Get your own copy:
Amazon

​Author info:
M. Tasia
Susan Mac Nicol
Emily Mims
Kitty Bardot
Elle Wright