My Rating for Sending Jack off to Jesus: Five Stars and a Recommended Read
Jack Miller and Andrew Collins thought they had a future together until life through them such a curveball that neither can see beyond their own pain.
Jack is determined to finish high school, get hat football scholarship and get the heck out of town with Andrew by his side. But when his father decides that praying the gay away won’t work and instead decides to send him to a Gay conversion camp, well things just go from bad to worse. Can Jack find a way to get back to Andrew and heal his shattered spirit?
Andrew finds that life back home with his abusive parents is just as hard as ever. When he is left for dead after a vicious beating by his parents, can Andrew find a way to survive in order to be with Jack again?
Two souls longing for one another, two lives torn asunder. Can Jack and Andrew survive what they are dealt with in order to be together once and for all?
My Personal Review:
When I finished Pray the Gay Away, I was in awe at the author's way of showing the reader just what it is like in some places down south if you are gay/GBLT. Talk about eye opening for this reader. I live up north and for me, Pray the Gay Away was strong, emotional and quite a journey. Now in book two, Sending Jack Off to Jesus, it gets more intense and in this portion there are scenes of parental abuse and other abuse that just made my heart bleed for these two characters. This is a powerful and emotional continuation of Jack and Andrew's story that left me reeling all the way to the end.
With book one, Pray the Gay Away, you get introduced to Jack, Andrew and the residents of the tiny town of Sweet, Georgia. From the very first page, I was enamored with Jack and Andrew’s stories, rooting for them to overcome the prejudices of that tiny town and their families to get their own happily ever after. Except for these two to get there they need to cross some very dangerous things. From gay conversion camp that borders on torture to parental abuse so awful it made my heart clench in fear for the characters while I longed to smack some sense into them in the process. I have to caution you that this is a heart wrenching story and the trilogy should be read in order as the second and third books continue where the last one left off.
When Jack and Andrew met it was like lightning hit, friendship bloomed into love and for these two people, and life is changing even as they sleep. Jack has tried to be the perfect son, the best big brother and make his family proud. What he can’t do is deny who he is anymore and that is a gay man. Meeting Andrew leaves him breathless and when he falls in love with him, well let’s just say their sparks fly fast and furious. Andrew is an out gay man but living in this small town has left him reeling. Abused by their parents, both men have to stay strong when events conspire to destroy them completely. I have to admit, these two characters just tug on my heart. Both are wounded by the people who should be supporting them the most- emotionally, mentally and even physically. All through this second book I was torn into pieces as both Andrew and Jack find themselves in situations that a lesser man would die from. Their inner strength comes through the flames and I was rooting all through this story for them to get back to one another. The secondary characters have left me wanting to either hug them in gratitude for their kindness to these two young men to out right murder.
Ms. York doesn’t pull any punches in her second installment in the Southern Thing Trilogy and if you are expecting a happy ever after are doomed to disappointment. This is a brutal no holds barred story that showcases the extent that some may go to make sure their children are not gay. There are no hand holdings with those scenes. They are brutally honest and I, for one, am appalled to find that some places like these conversion camps are still in business. I cried and had my heart torn out a lot while reading this book and I, for one, am in awe of this author’s research into gay conversion camps, starvation and more.
This is an emotional heart wrenching story and the ending will leave you with tears in your eyes. If you are looking for a strong, powerful story that continues to stay in your head and heart long after the book is done then you need to read A Southern Thing Trilogy. I caution you to make sure to have tissues on hand because you will cry, you will rail against the bigots and you will feel like your heart is breaking for these two wonderful characters. This alone is the testament of this author’s storytelling and in that I salute Sara York for a phenomenal story that needed to be told and I look forward to reading the final installment of this amazing series soon.
A Southern Thing Trilogy
You can find more information, book trailer and buy links HERE
Star football player, Jack Miller, had it all. The perfect family, looks, girls hanging on his every word, and the respect of most people in his town. But one thing was missing–a man to be his own.
When Andrew Collins showed up in small town, conservative Sweet, Georgia, he looked more scrawny mutt than high school senior.
Andrew’s plan was to keep his head down and graduate high school, leaving his family behind to start his real life.
When he meets Andrew, Jack thinks he’s found heaven, but reality holds him in check until one night when his lips gently slide across Andrew’s and fireworks go off.
As lust and something a little deeper brings them together, compelling them to take chances, people start to notice. Then the unthinkable happens, and Jack’s parents find out he likes guys. The battle lines are drawn and they vow to pray the gay away.
Jack Miller has more than he could ask for with Andrew as his boyfriend, but it’s being taken away from him and there isn’t anything he can do. His father knows he’s gay, and his mother wants him to have sex with a girl to make sure he’s not mistaken.
Andrew Collins has found the perfect home in foster care with Cole and Melinda Kemp, but it won’t last. The DA thinks his parents have proven they’ve changed, but Andrew doesn’t believe the change will last.
Just when Jack and Andrew think it can’t get any worse, it does. Jack’s father sends him to New Life Christian Camp, a program that promises to pray the gay away. But Andrew has it worse as his father takes out his anger on him, leaving him near death.
Both Jack and Andrew are lost to each other, their lives in tatters all because their parents wanted to pray the gay away.
When he was a kid, Jack Miller thought life would be a certain way, then he figured out he liked boys and not girls, changing the course of his future. Jack has spent the last few years learning that life doesn’t always give you what you expect, in both good and bad ways.
Andrew’s gone missing and Jack’s parents have split. He’s made it through high school, but the future is nothing without Andrew. To be complete, Jack knows he needs to find Andrew and bring him home. But Andrew has disappeared.Lost doesn’t even begin to describe how Andrew Collins feels. Homeless and destitute, he’s ready to end it all. Thinking that Jack is dead, Andrew returns to Sweet to end his life on Jack’s grave. Instead, he finds lies were told that drove him to a path of destruction.
After not seeing each other for almost a year, Jack and Andrew come together, but their problems don’t end there. They must work hard to make it to their big fat Southern gay wedding or risk losing it all.
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