Slaying Isidore’s Dragons by @CodyKAuthor #LGBT #Review

About Slaying Isidore’s Dragons

5 Best friends
4 Vicious brothers
3 STD tests
2 Guys in love
1 Car bombing
&
Nowhere to run

Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.

5 Weeks of hell
4 Attempts on their lives

3 Law enforcement agencies
2 Dead high school seniors
1 Jealous friend
&
A love that won’t be denied

Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.

5 New family members

4 BFF’s
3 Countries
2 Extraordinary Psychologists
1 Courageous Mother

&
A new beginning for two young men in love

Read Chapter One of Slaying Isidore’s Dragons

Now available in print and ebook at Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press
Amazon   Barnes & Noble   OmniLit/ARe

Ingram Books for Libraries and Schools

Cover and Artwork by Reese Dante

Blurb:  Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.

Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.

In Slaying Isidore’s Dragons, Isidore was hospitalized at an insane asylum in London by his father after attempting suicide following the death of his mother and he remains terrified of hospitals. In this excerpt, Isidore mustered his courage and went to the hospital to ensure their friend, Caleb, is safe during a hospital examination. Unfortunately, it has taken its toll on his beleaguered mind.

Isidore stared at his food as memories flooded his mind, fragmenting it into small jagged pieces. No, please not now. I am not in hospital. I am safe with Declan, he begged his mind.

“Isidore?”

Declan’s voice was far away, a faded, tinny sound in the distance. Caleb is not in hospital! I did not let them harm Caleb! I am not in hospital! I did not let them harm me! Half of him wanted to slide into the quiet dark of his mind where they couldn’t cause him pain, and half of him wanted Declan. Go back to Declan! He stood abruptly and vacillated in indecision. The dark or Declan? The dark or Declan?

Declan scooted his chair back and spread his arms wide. “Isidore?”

Declan! I must go to Declan! I must be brave and go to Declan! “I-I must… I must… I-I c-cannot be the scared rabbit.”

Declan rose and went to him, drawing him in against his chest. “Don’t try to be brave all at once. Take it in steps.”

In Declan’s arms the chaos of his mind quelled, and his warring thoughts quieted almost immediately. “I did it. I went to hospital.”

“Yep, you did. You didn’t freak, and you took care of Caleb.”

“Oui, I did this.”

“You were brave.”

“I am weak.”

“You are strong,” Declan countered.

I am a big fan of C. Kennedy’s novels. Like the author’s other books, Slaying Isidore’s Dragons has a main character who has been abused. The abuse in this book has a wider reach than just Isidore. A friend of Declan’s has been abusing other students at the private academy that the two young men attend. That friend has also been abused. Those abusers were abused as well. It was a vicious cycle that showed how so many times the abused become abusers. Thank goodness that isn’t the case for Isidore and another friend, Caleb, who ends up playing a big role in the story.

What makes the abused main characters so special in C. Kennedy’s books is their resilience. They have been broken what should be beyond repair. Physically, mentally, and sexually abused, to the point of wanting to commit suicide. Yet the characters still have hope. The introduction of a truly caring character like Declan, his mother Sorcha, the psychologist couple of Bobby and Mike, and Caleb’s boyfriend Jordan. These caring individuals are heartwarming characters. They give love unconditionally and easily. Declan and Isidore’s relationship is very sweet. Though Declan appears to be the stronger of the two, he knows and the reader knows that Isidore’s strength is amazing after what he has been through.

In addition to the love story and the healing journey taken by Isidore, there is a mystery going on throughout the story as well. Isidore’s abuse, the assasination of Isidore’s mother and Declan’s father,the murder of two students at the academy, not to mention the multiple murder attempts on Sorcha, Declan, Isidore, and Caleb all seemed to be connected. While there are suspects, it is not clear until the end of the story who is truly behind the troubles. I loved that it kept me guessing until the end. It was a really well rounded story filled with action, courage, and the healing power of love.

About Cody Kennedy

Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Cody doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Cody contemplates such weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Cody can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary.

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