Heels Over Head
Grade : B

Heels over Head – could there be a more perfect title for a novel about a romance between divers? Part of my rating is awarded for the amazing research that the author must have put into this story. The championships, the timing, the training schedule, dry training and all the different dives – I learned so much.

The novel charts the development of the romance and careers of two divers from very different backgrounds and with very different attitudes to competition.  Jeremy Reeves, the Golden Boy of diving, is totally goal orientated and trains every day with top trainer, Andrey, hoping for an elusive place on the Olympic team and a gold medal in two years time.

On his team and also training with Andrey is Jeremy’s best friend from childhood, Valerie, who has just finished her degree in Kinesiology. She is goal focussed as well, but secretly those goals appear to be changing. Then there is Brandon, who seems to have been thrown out by his rich family when they found out he was gay, though this isn’t too clear. He has an amazingly positive attitude, considering he has had to fend for himself by working and gaining scholarships in order to get himself through school and now college.

One thing of note – parents are not nice people in this novel. Jeremy has a family of such repulsive, red-neck, beer drinking homophobes that they veer into caricature territory. Yet for some reason, Jeremy’s raison d’être is to make his father proud of him as an athlete. Valerie’s mother has the ability to terrify everyone, and as mentioned above Brandon’s parents are just absent.

The novel follows a period of two years, beginning when flirtatious Brandon joins the training team as a total newbie with incredible potential. Jeremy does not like him from the start. It takes a fairly long time for him to warm to Brandon, partly because Jeremy has been brainwashed to think of being gay as wrong, weak, and not what real men are. To achieve his Olympic dream, Jeremy must be strong and that just doesn’t go with being gay. As he has been diving since he was nine years old, virginal Jeremy is so far in the closet he’s almost in Narnia. Brandon scares Jeremy, inspiring feelings in him that Jeremy cannot cope with. One of the best elements in this story is the way Brandon treats Jeremy when they start to admit feelings for each other. The author writes these scenes with great sincerity, thought and gentleness.

Brandon also has a great Skype friend, an ex, Aaron, who advises him well and supports him with unconditional love and affection. Good grief, he needed someone to be there for him at times!

All the elements are here for a great read, but somehow it just didn’t gel with me. I thought Jeremy’s homophobic family were painted too black with no shades of grey, or signs of future hope, whereas Brandon has seemingly been thrown out, cut off from friends and family with no money, and has no bitterness, sadness or nostalgia. It frustrated me that nobody sits Jeremy down to talk to him and reason with him regarding his family. Likewise, Valerie’s mother is a horror but there is no back story as to why, or what her motivations are.

The trainer, Andrey, is with them all day, every day, and I wanted ‘Yoda-like’ wisdom from him to his young team, but it doesn’t happen.

While it didn’t quite work for me, Heels Over Head might be pure romantic sporting heaven for another reader.

Reviewed by BJ Jansen
Grade : B

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : May 31, 2017

Publication Date: 05/2017

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BJ Jansen

I'm an English romantic, and an author who simply adores reading and writing books. I believe that all love has equal status, and all humans need and deserve romance. So, I am thrilled to be able to review LGBTQ+ novels for AAR and introduce more readers to some gorgeous LGBTQ+ romances and fascinating stories.
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