4* Heavyweight by M.B. Mulhall @MBMullhall #ReviewShare #LGBT #YA

Heavyweight by M.B. Mulhall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My first impression was - The characters and the events draw you in. At times, you become upset that not enough is being done about bullying. You would like to think this isn't the case in real life but many schools have yet to find ways to cope with bullying or mob rule.

As I got to the middle, I felt - I was touched. Ian's issues with trying to hide his homosexuality and his eating disorder seemed too much to bear for both character and reader. This is when I truly understood the meaning of the title, "Heavweight" - it was the secrets that were weighing him down.

As I neared the end, I thought - No matter your sexual preference, this book is tender and real. Messages of acceptance are written into the story without being bossy or forcing the reader to change their thinking.

My final impression and recommendations - Great writing, characters who grow and the inner journey of a young man who realises how hard it is to grow up. He considers himself to be a normal teenager but even in the first chapter, you already know this is an extraordinary story. Highly recommended.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.

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#Author D.P. Denman's #WriteTip for Writing Under Deadlines @dpdenman #AmWriting #LGBT

How to Handle Pressure: Writing Under Deadlines

I have a confession. I have a nasty habit of procrastinating when it comes to things I don’t want to do. I'm not the type to dive in and get them out of the way. I like to whine about it for a while first. That attitude definitely applies when the task in question is intimidating.

I recently completed my Bachelor's degree after a long hiatus from school. Because of my work schedule going to class on a traditional campus wasn't an option so I did the whole thing online. For those of you unfamiliar with online degrees they require an incredible amount of writing. I had a paper due once a week every week for three years. That's a lot of writing (and research) about things in which I didn't have any particular interest. As you can imagine that left ample opportunity for procrastination. I saw classmate after classmate fall prey to that same temptation completing their section of group projects at eleven o'clock at night on the night it was due. I also saw a lot of them fail out of the program because they couldn't overcome the habit.

During those three years I learned how to short circuit procrastination out of sheer necessity, especially when it comes to intimidating projects. I stopped looking at the projects in their entirety and broke them into pieces instead. Researching and writing a fifteen-page paper that covered assigned aspects of a dreadfully boring topic is enough to make anyone want to hide under the covers.  Instead, I gave myself daily assignments. Each day I researched a different aspect of the topic. The last two days before the paper was due I gathered my research and wrote in chunks, focusing on one aspect at a time and taking breaks to goof off in between. It worked much better than waiting until the day before the paper was due and spending twelve hours chained to my computer hating every minute of it.

Some people thrive on stress and prefer to wait until the last minute. I tried that for a while until I got tired of having to devote every weekend to finishing papers that were due Monday morning. Tackling one piece at a time got the job done without all the stress and without me having to sacrifice all my free time to do it.

Working all the time leads to burnout. Playing all the time leads to failure. The key is finding the balance somewhere in between.

Simon Leander is living a lie. He hides the truth from his partner in a relationship he's determined to tolerate…jealousy, rants and all. Michael was supposed to be the love of his life and he's not ready to let go of that dream even though the romantic has turned tyrant.

When Drew appears, Simon's determination begins to waver. Drew is everything Michael used to be but isn't anymore. Drew also knows his secret. When the truth he works so hard to hide bursts from the shadows he must decide whether he can trust Drew and if love deserves a second chance.

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Genre -  MM Contemporary Romance

Rating – R

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