A Tiny Piece of Something Greater

by Jude Sierra

Overview

Reid Watsford has a lot of secrets and a past he cant quite escape. While staying at his grandmothers condo in Key Largo, he signs up for introductory dive classes, where he meets Joaquim Oliveira, a Brazilian dive instructor with wanderlust. Driven by an instant, magnetic pull, what could have been just a hookup quickly deepens. As their relationship evolves, they must learn to navigate the challenges of Reids mental illness--on their own and with each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945053610
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/17/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jude Sierra is a Latinx poet, author, academic and mother working toward her PhD in Writing and Rhetoric, looking at the intersections of Queer, Feminist and Pop Culture Studies. Her novels include Publishers Weekly starred review recipient What it Takes, Hush, and idlewild, a contemporary LGBT romance set in Detroits renaissance, which was named a Best Book of 2016 by Kirkus Reviews.

Editorial Reviews

04/23/2018
In this tender, touching romance by Sierra (What It Takes), 20-year-old Reid Watsford moves to Key Largo, Fla., to reboot his life after a bout of rapid-cycling moods and a rough breakup. He meets Joaquim Oliveira at scuba diving lessons, and, after some flirtatious looks, they date and fall for each other fast. Joaquim’s laid-back charm calm the anxious, reckless Reid, who is afraid to share his big dark secret: that he is bipolar and often self-injures. Sierra does a good job of depicting Reid’s therapy and recovery, his triggers and difficulties, and his fear of rejection and other anxieties. The caring and patient Joaquim gives Reid the chance for a healthy relationship, but Sierra never plays up the idea of love as a magical cure. The guys do get to have hot sex, and they also fight briefly when their relationship is in jeopardy, but mostly this story focuses on them creating and building trust, especially when Reid backslides after his ex unexpectedly visits. The drama may be slight, but Sierra makes it satisfying. (May)

Publishers Weekly

“A realistic look at living and loving in the context of mental illness by an #ownvoices author that doesn’t lose sight of the romance.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Tender, touching romance…”—Publishers Weekly

“FIVE STARS… a tender, compassionate look at learning to love another

person and oneself at the same time.”—Foreword Reviews

From the Publisher

2018-04-16
The Florida Keys provide the setting for love between a laid-back Brazilian dive instructor and a Wisconsin-bred trainee with secrets behind his ice-blue eyes.Joaquim Oliveira, single-minded yet calm, left his loving family in São Paulo to work on his master scuba diver trainer license in Florida. The unpaid internship leaves him almost no time for fun, but when tattooed and pierced newcomer Reid Watsford signs up for classes, all bets are off. Reid just moved down from Eau Claire to look after his grandmother's empty beachfront condo, and himself. After years of struggling with a rare mental illness and a family that couldn't, or wouldn't, fully support him, Reid is starting over. He's slowly learning how to cope with his rapid mood cycling and anxiety after years of self-injurious behavior and a suicide attempt, and the sunshine and sand of the Keys might be just what he needs. Reid doesn't anticipate falling in love with Joaquim or the way his new situation might require new tools for managing his symptoms. While Reid's cyclothymia is the focus, sometimes overly so, of this lightly plotted novel, Sierra (Idlewild, 2016) makes time for a series of warm and sexy encounters—a boozy beach party, a midnight swim, a dinner out, and, of course, scuba diving—any romance reader will appreciate. Joaquim is less well-developed, but his self-image as "chill" does take a hit when Reid's defenses and irritability get under his skin. But now that he has experienced the difference between passive contentment and active happiness, Joaquim is not letting go. While the complexity and fragility of the coral ecosystem serve as obvious metaphors for Joaquim and Reid's relationship, Sierra's gentle invoking of the subtropical setting brings her characters to life, as when Reid tries to "transform the rasping cicada song into calm white noise."A realistic look at living and loving in the context of mental illness by an #ownvoices author that doesn't lose sight of the romance.

Kirkus Reviews