Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Home Improvement by Tara Lain

Home Improvement — A Love Story

"What a wonderful, romantic, awesome, well written and a treat this was to read! I loved these characters, especially Gabe with his patience and understanding, his daughter, Ellie, for being such an awesome teen, and of course, Jerry, for his shyness and all his fears. I'm so glad that, in the end, everything worked out for this lovable couple. I have always enjoyed reading Tara's works."

"This book is part of a series and can be read as a stand alone however after reading this book i will be looking for the other books. I loved the characters and the story itself had me turning the pages to see how everything would play out."

"Great single dad story. I am a fan of Ms. Lain’s and always try to get her books. So glad i was given the chance to read this one."

Romance on Aisle Sixteen—opposites attract amid the hammers and screws of the home improvement store.

Gabe Mason became a father at seventeen, and his daughter, Ellie, is the most important thing in his life. But being the parent the courts demand means Gabe has given up most of his dreams—education, making furniture, a gay social life—to be a model dad with a steady, reliable job in a home improvement store. Life’s predictable until Jerry, a shy, eccentric guy in a hat and sunglasses, begs Gabe to oversee the renovation of his run-down mansion.

Gabe loves the house and the work, and Jerry's pretty lovable too, but when Gabe discovers Jerry’s secret identity, he fears their passion could overturn both their lives forever.

Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: That Doesn't Belong Here by Dan Ackerman

That Doesn't Belong Here

"That Doesn’t Belong Here is far and away the best story I’ve read this year. On the border of young adult and new adult fiction, this is the story of Kato, an ‘impossible creature’, and of friendship and love. It’s also a stark allegory for every inhumanity humankind commits against those deemed ‘lesser humans’ and animals. I truly struggled to put this down even to sleep, and I sobbed my heart, but this is generally not a sad story. There is hope and there is humour, and Kato is such a brilliant, optimistic character. Levi is his opposite in many respects, but together they are…byouiful. This is the second novel by this author I’ve read, and in both cases, the entire cast of characters is richly developed, the pacing is excellent, the plot is sustained to the end, and the ending…just perfect! Yes, Dan Ackerman has secured themselves another fan."

That Doesn't Belong Here begins when Levi and his friend Emily discover an impossible creature in an abandoned pick up. The thing is wounded, frightened and the two friends cannot leave him to the mercy of rubberneckers and tourists. This novel explores what it means to be a person, as the creature, Kato, begins to display not mere intelligence or friendliness but what can only be explained as humanity. The question of who we are allowed to love arises for Levi and Kato, as they are not just crossing the boundaries of gender or sexuality, but of species.