Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Have You Seen Luis Velez?

"Have You Seen Luis Velez? Is a beautiful yet melancholy tale of an unlikely friendship between Raymond - a young African American guy - and Mrs. G. - an elderly Jewish woman. The story naturally unfolds, exploring Raymond's relationship with his family and the task he sets himself. Whilst I wasn't fond of the fragmented sentence structure, it didn't override my appreciation of this depiction of a relationship that is all too often excluded from contemporary fiction: companionship."

An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde brings heartwarming authenticity to the story of two strangers who find that kindness is a powerful antidote to fear.

Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn’t belong. Not with his mother’s new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father’s wife. Not at school, where he’s an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he’s tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who’s introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez?

Mildred Gutermann, a German Jew who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, has been alone since her caretaker disappeared. She turns to Raymond for help, and as he tries to track Luis down, a deep and unexpected friendship blossoms between the two.

Despondent at the loss of Luis, Mildred isolates herself further from a neighborhood devolving into bigotry and fear. Determined not to let her give up, Raymond helps her see that for every terrible act the world delivers, there is a mirror image of deep kindness, and Mildred helps Raymond see that there’s hope if you have someone to hold on to.

Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: New Hand by L.A. Witt

New Hand (Bluewater Bay Book 23)

"I'm always happy to revisit the Bluewater Bay universe. The main characters in this one had some significant issues to deal with (grief, loss, health concerns) but it was still overall an uplifting story. L.A. Witt never disappoints me."

The Bluewater Bay stories can be enjoyed in any order — jump in wherever you'd like!

Months after his husband’s death, Garrett Blaine desperately needs a fresh start. He sells his house in Seattle, leaves his accounting job, and starts bartending in Bluewater Bay. There he meets a man who wakes up his nearly forgotten libido.

Jesse Connelly’s friend with benefits bolted after Jesse disclosed his HIV status. Stood up and stinging, Jesse tries to drown his sorrows . . . and finds an unexpected connection with a lonely bartender.

Jesse and Garrett quickly bond over a shared love of comics and card games, and they can’t get enough of each other between the sheets. Not even a bumpy start and a fifteen-year age gap can derail them as they go from strangers to lovers, then friends, then much more.

But as Garrett’s feelings for Jesse deepen, so does his grief for the man he lost — especially as he sees hints of his late husband in his new boyfriend. Now Garrett has to figure out if Jesse is his second chance at true love, or if Jesse’s just filling in for the man he’s never fully grieved. And he needs to figure it out soon, because Jesse’s starting to wonder the same thing.