Review by Dottie: Kyland by Mia Sheridan

Kyland

Sign of Love Novel

By Mia Sheridan

Genres: 

New adult, Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age

****

Teasers

 ****

****

Synopsis

Dirt poor. Hillbilly. Backwoods hick. Mountain folk. 

Tenleigh Falyn struggles each day to survive in a small, poverty-stricken, coal mining town where she lives with her sister and mentally ill mother. Her dream of winning the college scholarship given to one student by the local coal company and escaping the harshness of her life, keeps her going. 

Kyland Barrett lives in the hills, too, and has worked tirelessly—through near starvation, through deep loneliness, against all odds—to win the Tyton Coal Scholarship and leave the town that is full of so much pain. 

They're both determined not to form any attachments, but one moment changes everything. What happens when only one person gets to win? When only one person gets to leave? And what happens to the one left behind? 

Kyland is a story of desperation and hope, loss and sacrifice, pain and forgiveness, but ultimately, a story of deep and unending love. 

THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY TAURUS. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Star Rating

(5+++ Stars)

Review

This book, Kyland, is the type of book that makes me hesitate to give other books a five-star rating. The question then begs...What do you give a book that is so much more than 5 stars??? This is the type of book that ingrains itself within your soul and 5 stars just does not describe how amazing it is. So really, let's consider this book 5+++ stars, shall we?!

Ms. Sheridan has been criticized about writing books about living situations some of her readers have a hard time relating to. Others have praised her for writing stories about situations that exist and yet, no one has written about them and gives kudos to her for taking them on. Ms. Sheridan is honestly one of my go-to, one-click authors. When she publishes a book, I don't bother to see what it's about. I buy it. I read it. And always, I love it. Sometimes more than others but it's always quality. Always! Kyland is not an exception to this rule. This book made my heart pound. It made my heart weep. It made my heart sing. And it made me so very glad it was written and that I had the opportunity to read it!

This book is set in a very poor coal-mining town in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Kyland and Tenleigh are both high-school seniors competing for the coal mine yearly full-ride scholarship to get up and out of the poverty in which they live. Neither has a sound place to live. Neither has a good home life. Both know the hunger in their bellies that comes with not having food to eat. Both know what it's like to walk around in the snow with shoes that wore out years before. Both are determined to get out of there and make something of their lives. And both are competing with each other for the only scholarship to get them out of that town. But with poverty comes a common language, a common understanding, a common perception between the two, and a common attraction to a soul mate within each other that becomes very hard to deny.

Kyland’s determined not to become attached to anyone; he wants to get g-o-n-e from there. But there's something about Tenleigh...she eases his spirit. Being with her brings joy to him for the first time. It's very difficult to resist spending time with the one person in the world who makes your heart sing.

Kyland kept staring at me, finally nodding slightly. "Yeah," he said simply. I started back at him, my eyes darting down to his lips and suddenly, something ignited in the air-something unseen, but real all the same. I felt it and I knew Kyland felt it, too, by the way he startled very slightly. He adjusted himself where he sat. I felt my cheeks flush and was surprised at how hard it was to breathe properly. There was something intense and almost pained in Kyland's expression. He moved just a little bit closer and up close like this I could see a light sprinkling of freckles on his nose, under his tan - as if his childhood sat just beneath his skin. And the outer rim of his gray eyes was a soft blue, like sunny days were just off in the distance. "Kyland-"  "Tenleigh."  He leaned toward me, his breath just a whisper away his voice strained. I breathed in his scent, a thrill racing down my spine. He smelled like a mixture of clean, pine-scented mountain air and something that must just be him - something that whispered to me in an intimate, secret way. Something I didn't need to analyze to understand. My eyelashes fluttered. I glanced down at his lips again. God, his lips were nice. And they looked so soft. Would they be soft on mine? My heart beat wildly in my chest as I waited for him to kiss me. He moved a centimeter closer and I held my breath. "You been kissed before, Tenleigh?" he rasped as his hand went to the side of my head, his fingers weaving into my hair. "No," I whispered, my body swaying toward him. No, but I wanted to be. Oh God, I wanted to be.

The chemistry between these two young people is off-the-charts. They are drawn toward one another with that magical pull that comes along rarely in life. They cannot resist spending their time together; all the while knowing one of them will win the scholarship and leave the other behind.

"Hey, Tenleigh," he whispered after a while. "Yes?"  "That book, The Road?"  "Hmm hmm?" I murmured... "There's this line in it that talks about keeping a little fire burning inside, 'however small, however hidden."  "Yes," I said softly.  "I think about that line sometimes.  I think about how that little fire is hope. I think about how you have to keep it burning to get you through the hard times, the times that seem so painful you don't want to continue on." I opened my eyes "What keeps your fire burning?"  "The hope that life won't always hurt so badly. The belief that I'll get out of here someday - that I won't be cold or hungry forever. It keeps me going. It's my fire. It helps me do the things I need to do to survive, and it helps me hate myself less for doing them." Oh, Kyland...

The writing in this book really felt like Mia knew the area, knew the people. She was able to capture both the feelings of despair as well as the feelings of hope these people have to deal with. She dealt with these issues with compassion and insight. The people in the story were the exemplification of poor mountain people but the story was written in a very respectful way. It painted a very vivid picture of the life these people live.  And Kyland, btw, amazing!!! Honestly, I want (actually it might be more like need...) a Kyland.  He made my heart melt into a puddle. He's a very special guy. But then Ms. Sheridan always writes them like that.

This book...truly one of those books that when you are done reading it, you find yourself holding your breath for just a moment, an attempt at holding all of the emotion this book brings to your spirit. My emotions were heightened and I felt like they were going to burst out of my chest. I loved it! Amazing book!  

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