The winners of the A Perfect Tree Giveaway by J.P. Barnaby are:

Twitter winners:

jone402

AmburHostyn

ShuShuFon

CherylSab

ForWhlz

elaing8

Blog winners:

Ava March

katiebabs

tori aka ggs_closet

Missie

Chris

Kim vA

Congratulations everyone!  Twitter winners have been DM’d and blog winners have been contacted via email.  Thanks so all who entered and thank you to J.P. Barnaby for the generous giveaway.

The Perfect Tree by JP Barnaby

Master Ethan has decided that his boy Jayden should have a nice traditional Christmas for the first time in their relationship. What would Christmas be without the perfect tree?

Hey m/m romance lovers!  J.P. Barnaby is feeling generous and wants to giveaway some novellas!!  Up for offer: Twelve eBook copies of her recent release The Perfect Tree! Since she’s letting me give away twelve copies, I thought I’d do the giveaway a little different this time.  I’ll giveaway six copies here on the blog and six copies on twitter.  So, you have two ways to enter.  Simply leave a comment here for a chance to win.  Then, follow me on twitter and tweet the following:

Win The Perfect Tree by @JPBarnaby on Fiction Vixen’s blog!  http://bit.ly/fUmE5v @FictionVxn

Just copy and paste.

I will choose winners on Monday.  Good luck!!

Abandoned by J.P. Barnaby e-Book Publisher: TBD Available: TBD Genre: GLBT, Young Adult Source: Author

Reviewed by: Sophia (FV) 

Abandoned is the second book in the Little Boy Lost series by J.P. Barnaby.  This is a series you definitely need to read in order. 

Brian is a gay teen, living  in a very conservative southern town.  Life has become extremely difficult for him since the rumors of his sexuality are running rampant through the community.  Not only does he have to deal with the hostility at school and in the town, he is also dealing with a broken heart.  He and his best friend Jamie are in love.  But after Jamie’s family found out their relationship had gone far beyond friendship, they promptly packed the family up and moved to California leaving Brian hurt, and confused and no way to contact Jamie.  But Brian is not taking this forced separation sitting down.  In nine months he will graduate high school and turn eighteen.  He intends to find Jamie no matter what it takes.  Nine months seems like an eternity for Brian, and in that time he will face some hardships that will push him nearly beyond his limits. 

J.P. Barnaby pulls no punches and brings forth the harsh reality of life as a gay teen growing up and falling in love in a community where homosexuality is not tolerated.  In Abandoned, Brian faces an extreme level of bullying both physical and emotional,  not only from his peers but from his community as a whole.  But with the loving support of his adoptive parents and a trusted mentor, he is determined to put his life back together after a vicious physical attack and work his way through the emotional pain of being shunned. 

Abandoned is a little different from Enlightened, the first book in this series.  Enlightened was focused on romance, discovery and love for Brian and Jamie.  But in Abandoned, things have gone very wrong for them and J.P. Barnaby takes her readers on a heartbreaking journey with Brian.  I was touched by Brian’s determination and strength in the face of adversity and by his resilience.  Although this series as a whole is a romance, Abandoned was a little short in that area.  The story focused mostly on Brian’s hardships and I missed the romantic elements we got in the first book and I also missed Jamie’s presence within the story.  However I was left eagerly anticipating Jamie and Brian’s reunion at some point in the future.  Being young and in love they have much to overcome and I look forward to reading more of their journey as this series progresses. 

 

Book in this series:

• Enlightened
• Abandoned

Author’s Website

Enlightened: Little Boy Lost by J.P Barnaby  Paperback: 216 pages Publisher: CreateSpace Available: March 4, 2010 Genre: GLBT-Rom Book received from: Author

Little Boy Lost is the story of Brian McAllister, the boy next door.

Brian goes to school, he does his homework, and he helps his foster parents around the house. Brian also has a secret. He is in love with his best friend. In Crayford, Alabama being in love with another boy is the worst kind of sin.

"His lips were warm and smooth as they moved over mine. It was everything that a boy’s first kiss should be. Only it wasn’t with a girl." - Brian McAllister

Enlightened is a coming of age story of two young men growing up in an ultra-conservative southern town.  Best friends since they were eleven years old, Brian and Jamie are Juniors in high school and just your average teenagers.  But Brian has begun to have feelings beyond friendship for Jamie.  After sitting through a fire and brimstone sermon at church on the evils of homosexuality he is convinced he’s going to hell because of his feelings for his best friend.  Brian is terrified he’ll be found out and persecuted for being gay but most of all he fears he’ll lose Jamie forever if he reveals his feelings for him.  One day Brian and Jamie have a confrontation that changes both of their lives and their relationship with each other forever. 

After learning that his friend Jamie has feelings for him too, their relationship is taken to a whole new and exciting level.  However, some of the joy and excitement is eventually overshadowed by fear of their relationship being exposed.  They are young couple experiencing the thrill of first love, however it is tainted by shame and fear of exposure which leads them to fake interest in girls for the sake of appearances. Jamie unfairly leads a young girl to believe he cares for her when what he is actually doing is using her to deflect any rumors or suspicions about his close relationship with Brian.  This is such a heartbreaking turn in the story.  Keeping in mind that this girl is a teen herself and she believes she has a boyfriend that cares for her very much.  On the other hand Brian has to stand by while the boy he loves shows affection and leads this girl on.  Jamie is apologetic and his heart seems to be in the right place in wanting to protect his relationship with Brian, but the circumstances are still quite unfair for all involved.  

Although Jamie and Brian feel they must be very secretive about their relationship, they manage to spend time together alone and their developing romance is very tender and loving.  After getting over the initial awkwardness of their newly declared feelings for each other, they experience remarkable honesty in communication.  At times I almost forgot that they were only 16 and 17 years old.  They still experience jealousy, and misunderstandings, but for young lovers who have never experienced the intimacy of an emotional relationship, the level of trust and communication between them was exceptional. 

What I was most taken with is how beautifully this story is written.  J.P Barnaby captures the joy and excitement of first love and the fears that these young men are confronted with in being gay in an intolerant environment.  Enlightened is a touching, and at times heartbreaking, yet wonderfully romantic tale of young love that will stay with me for some time.  This story touched me quite deeply, so much so that I am having a difficult articulating my thoughts enough for coherent commentary.  As a mother, my heart goes out to Brian and Jamie. 

Enlightened: Little Boy Lost is highly recommended read and I look forward to the next in the series, Abandoned.

 

Purchase a copy of Enlightened: Little Boy Lost

Other books in the series:

Abandoned: Little Boy Lost book 2 (Summer 2010)

Enlightened: Little Boy Lost on GoodReads

Visit author at: Website | Blog |Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads

EDITED TO ADD:  I labeled this book as YA because the romance is about teens, but there is graphic sex.  I would let my teen read it though.