A Young Man's Fancy

Overall, this was a really great collection of YA/NA short stories. I requested the book from NetGalley because Susan Mac Nicol has a story in it but I ended up finding a few other authors that I want to look for more books to read.

David – M. Tasia – 3 stars
I really enjoyed another book I read by this author but this was just OK for me.

No Bunny Like You – Susan Mac Nicol – 5 stars
Very British and I liked it very much. Great boy-next-door story.

Homecoming – Emily Mims – 5 stars
I loved this story even though it broke my heart in places and it made me cry. It was a sad and happy coming out story. I’d like to read more of these characters.

Hold The Line - Kitty Bardot – 5 stars
Heartbreaking story but beautiful. I thought the writing was great and I loved it.

Shake Me Down – Elle Wright – 5 stars
A very sweet short story that felt much longer in a good way. Zach and Everett are so good together. I really couldn’t believe how this author could write a story that spanned several years in such a short number of words. It was a fantastic short story.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

The average of all the stories gives a result of 3.7 so I'll round it up for practical reasons.
It's probably the first time I have such good luck with an anthology. I'm used to more disastrous experiences.
I'm so happy I picked this one.

This book consists of multiple short stories by a variety of authors. I myself was only familiar with one author before this book, but I left with multiple favourites!

These stories ranged from coming out to being yourself and showed the different lives of young, gay boys. The perfect story was chosen as the last novella as it framed the entire book so nicely and left me feeling so happy and hopeful!

This book is perfect for if you want some light, short stories about love and hope. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Boroughs Publishing Group for the earc in return for an honest review.

What a cute little anthology! A little short for me to review each story, but I will say even though they were all short each did feel like a full and complete short story, which is very difficult to do. Some of the stories weren’t exactly my cuppa, but that was all based on writing style not working with me, so it’s a me thing not the book thing. There were funny moments, tender moments, moments that made me angry, and moments that made me sad. It’s a small anthology that has it all in a bite sized package!

A Young Man's Fancy is a collection of some good YA quick romances. They're cute and perfect when you're in the mood for such an anthology.
Seeing these young men explore their desires and try to be themselves makes for a nice read.

Perfect for summer reading. All of these are YA/NA short stories and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.

David - M. Tasia 4.5 stars
When he's dumped on the last day of school, David's reaction is understandable. Working far enough from home he isn't subjected to well meaning platitudes and being the subject of gossip. Jacob is his best friend and once he shows up to work along with David things turn around. Jacob has been waiting for David to finally see what was in front of him all along.

No Bunny Like You - Susan Mac Nicol 4.5 stars
Colin is having a bad day. Volunteered by his mom to play the Easter Bunny, stuffed into a costume and needing a cigarette the poor guy just wants to go home. I loved his 'calisthenics' and his colorful attire while doing so just to catch a glimpse of Dash. Dash gives quite the performance himself with his dancing abilities. The descriptions were so well done I could see the two of them clearly.

Homecoming - Emily Mims 5 stars
Clay's move to live with his dad has him walking on eggs. I couldn't blame him for making assumptions. Having a dad who is a Colonel you would. Meeting Justin has him falling hard but all his anxiety has him hiding. Justin is just interested in Clay and being his authentic self. He hates the closet Clay has them hiding in. His parent's reaction to his desire to take Clay to homecoming came out of left field. Clay's dad earned a medal for being an amazing parent in my book.

Hold the Line - Kitty Bardot 5 stars
Terry is a gentle giant. Hiding who he is and yet never quite being what his dad wants, what his coach wants makes for a lonely life. His best friend Chis impressed me with his loyalty, his friendship, and how his stands up for Terry. I was even more impressed with the rest of the team as they made it clear that they accepted Terry just as he was. I was so glad to see him finally living his best life.

Shake Me down - Elle Wright 5 stars
Everett is tenacious after being bounced from one school to another. Zach's the uber brilliant guy. He's a bit shocked when his crush on Everett turns into something real. I liked that they both approached their relationship with maturity and forethought. Everett is determined that Zach is going to reach his potential and we watch them navigate a long-distance relationship and come out the other side as they begin their HEA.

This collection captures a lot of teen emotions, both angst and young love. The stories focus on teen males having crushes and first loves while also feeling with pressure from their social groups and families around coming out.

Each story is short and self-contained, and they cover different experiences and tones. I recommend this for someone who wants a YA read that circles around finding someone who understands you. Some of the stories contain more romance than others. A couple were devastating.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This was a short but very cute read. I loved almost all of the couples, some more than others. All in all my only complaint is that because they are short stories the couples seem to get together a little to quickly for my tastes.

What a beautiful book about love. All this stories in the book showed the beginnings of a beautiful and hopeful relationship between young men. Whether they were long time friends, new buddies, or neighbors love blossomed. My only wish was that the stories were a bit longer because I loved them so much. I highly recommend this book to those that love to read about love and hope.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. Thank you!

I love anthologies so this was right up my alley! Although they were super short, I enjoyed almost all of them.

David - M. Tasia / 4.5
No Bunny Like You - Susan Mac Nicol / 2
Homecoming - Emily Mims / 3.5
Hold The Line - Kitty Bardot / 4.5
Shake Me Down - Elle Wright / 3.5

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.