Johnny Smith

Jobless in January #2

by Mara Ismine

Johnny has spent thirty-two years trying to do what’s expected of him. When he finds himself divorced, overweight, living with his parents again, and losing the job he’s had since leaving school, it’s the wake-up call he needs to start taking charge of his life. It's time to do what he wants -- if only he can figure out just what that is.

Choosing to go looking for his brother Joey, who he hasn't seen or spoken to for eight years, he follows a postmark on a Christmas card to the seaside town of Anwell-by-Sea. Joey isn't that difficult to find and comes complete with boyfriend Dave, Dave's Uncle Ed, and a rather large and very bad tempered arsehole called Charlie.

Johnny is happy to find Joey and enjoys meeting Dave and Uncle Ed; but he's pretty glad to see the back of Charlie. Despite Charlie being an unpleasant git, Johnny can't wait to get back to Anwell-by-Sea with his kids for an Easter break, and maybe he can make some progress on his to-do list by then, too.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 2013

About the author

I’ll start with the general facts. I live in England. East Anglia to be more precise - the rounded lumpy bit on the right, for anyone picturing their school globe. The part where I live is fairly dry and fairly flat, about the closest thing we have to a desert in the UK.

I have been married for a lifetime or two and have two sons. My sons have reached the useful stage where they can fetch and carry with suitable persuasion and I should start work on getting them to leave home now.

Reading has always been a big part of my life, I don’t remember not being able to read. Writing took a while longer to get to grips with.

I like computers, although the feeling is not always mutual. In between Writing and Real Life I am trying to get to grips with basic web design and build my own website. For anyone willing to brave the not-yet-perfect layout there are a variety of my free short stories available here - http://maraismine.bravehost.com/MaraS...

Please let me know if something doesn’t work! Email: ismine.mara@btinternet.com

I can also be found on Dreamwidth, LJ and Insane Journal as Marasmine (no “I” in the middle), which has been my on-line ID for several years. I made up the name because I had a character called Mara; and then found out, after I had been using it for a while, that marasmine is a malodorous chemical compound found in things like onions. That amused me and I stayed with the name. I decided to adapt it to a ‘proper’ pen name so that my online friends could recognize me.

I can be lured away from reading, writing or swearing at fiddling with a computer by chocolate or trips to the beach - chocolate ice cream on the beach is a guaranteed winner.

Mara

Reviews

[Mandapanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story of Johnny Smith who has been living in a rut his whole life. Now divorced and out of work he begins turning his life around starting with a visit to his long lost little brother who was kicked out of home years earlier for being gay.

I love this kind of story where the hero goes on a personal journey to find himself. It's written in 1st person POV. Johnny's voice is rather painstaking and staid but that suits his personality and the narrative does become more vivid as the story progresses. There is enough of a romance towards the end for it to satisfy although the ending is HFN. I would LOVE a sequel. I could have read a lot more about Johnny.

Edit: Just checked the author's website and saw that the sequel "Something Worth Fighting For" will be out in June.

[Anke · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was the first book I read by this author, but it won't be the last one. It was a very pleasant surprise and I liked it a lot. It was fun following Johnny's journey from his restrained self to not only finding his brother but also hisself and a much more satisfying way of life. A few small things preventing me from giving full 5 stars: 1. The whole police scene was too drawn out with the officer more acting like a counselor than a policeman. 2. I missed the dealing with the parents, and 3. The end was rather abrupt. On the one hand it was fitting to the overall tone of the story, on the other hand I felt as if something's missing.

[Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 – 4.5 stars.

It started a bit slow but somewhere along the first chapters (there’s this one heartbreaking scene on the beach where Johnny remembers… ah, you need to read it yourself! *g*) I fell in love with Johnny and the rest. I could easily picture them all in Anwell-by-Sea, in Ed’s house or in the café and I really liked how Johnny finally found a reason to change his life or the slow development of his first real relationship with a man.

For me one of the better and more realistic contemporary stories I read this year, even though there were one or two eye-rolling moments.

Oh! And the last sex scene? Hot!

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed on Hearts on Fire

From the cover to the title, there’s nothing about this book that screams must read. The main character is named John Smith for goodness sake. Plus this is one of those sometimes frustratingly slow built up stories that seemed directionless at times. I had to check the blurb to see if this was even a romance book. But something happened along the way upon reading about poor & sometimes pathetic John Smith & I fell under the spell of this slow moving story.

Johnny Smith is newly divorced from his wife, doesn’t have custody of his two kids and is recently let go from his job. He finds himself at 32 years old living with his parents and following all their dictates. He’s miserable, drinking too much and out of shape. About the only positive is that his job has left him with a nice payoff and he’s seeing a therapist. He decides to escape his oppressive parents by going on holiday to see his brother who he hasn’t had contact with for 8 years. His parents had kicked out his brother for being gay.

This is about Johnny finally getting his act together and you can’t help rooting for him. Who doesn’t love a good come back story? Seeing his brother Joe again forces John to confront things in his life. He meets Charlie who’s like an evil male version of Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser with a no pain no gain attitude towards workouts. The blurb calls him an unpleasant git which I kind of like. And as you may suspect from that description, this is a British book and Charlie wins the prize for being the eventual love interest. The book hits its stride when the two of them come together first in a hate/friend way and later as lovers.

There were some things that put me off in this book as again there’s an evil ex wife. I’d love for once to see some nuanced portrayal of an ex. In this case we do get an explanation about her behavior but it still didn’t make her likable. There was also a scene involving the police that felt like an extended therapy session. But maybe that’s how things are done in Anwell-by-Sea. It had a bit of a folksy atmosphere.

This book grew on me and I really ended up liking it. Every issue is not resolved and it does have a HFN style ending. This isn’t a typical love story with wedding bells & I love you’s but I loved seeing Johnny getting to a place where he was ready for it. If you enjoy a slow developing story and you want something a little different than the insta-love that populates the genre, you might want to give this one a try.

[Idamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one, nice steady pace in character developement, it's more a HFN than a HEA, but you get the feeling they'll get there :-)

Reread, I wish I could find book 1 but it has been lost, and I never got book 3 which now seems to not be available.

[Katharina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book... wasn't what I expected. Somehow the way the alliteration works in the title elicited in my this expectation of a rather lighthearted book, as if this Johnny person was out of his luck, but still seeing the sometimes tragic comic and irony of life and liked to play with that. This book, though, is everything, but not funny. At least not to me. And it's not particularly lighthearted either. Because of that, I read it probably at the wrong time while being in the wrong mood - I tried to accommodate for that (I gave it three stars, did I not?), but it still might not be a completely fair rating.

Generally speaking, I have to admit that I thought this story was a little dull. Johnny wasn't a character I particularly liked, and neither was Charlie. The kids I liked, but Johnny's ex-wife, well. I couldn't stand her to be honest. Argh. What a bitch. Joey and Dave were nice enough, but even with them, there was just no spark. Nothing that made me want to dive in and really read about them, get to know them, spend time with them.

What I liked was how Johnny really tried to improve himself, to turn over a new leaf in his life. And, boy, is it time too. It seems as if he was passive his whole life, just letting things happen, and while I understand that to a certain extent, it really grates on my nerves too. So seeing him actually trying to change and succeeding, that was great.

The longer I read, the better it got, because I could relate to Johnny and Charlie far more than at the beginning. But the feeling of dullness never quite left me, I'm afraid. Maybe I should reread it at some point, knowing what I'm getting into now. But I'm not really feeling like it, to be honest.

[T.M. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the realistic edge to this story. It follows Johnny; an overweight, recent divorcee who’s life is going nowhere. He decides to journey to a seaside town to find his brother whom he lost contact with several years prior. Along the way he not only finds his brother, but himself as well.

Throughout the story Johnny struggles with his weight, dealing with the ex-wife and his growing attraction to another man. All the while trying to be the best father he can, when he can. Charlie is an overbearing ass, but by the end of the book Johnny learns that not only does love hit you when you least expect, overbearing can be quite a turn on. Charlie’s experience is to be expected, but his patience with Johnny the first time they make love was very endearing.

The author paints a beautiful picture in her writing of Anwel-by-Sea, I could almost smell the sand and hear the waves coming off the water! There were a couple of dips in the story and it sort of just ended. Overall it was a refreshing M/M romantic tale, with fantastic scenery!

[Kira]

DNF around 50% mark. I loved the dry and unsuspecting way with which Johnny handles crises and reacts to everything, not even realizing some things himself. But the writing is too damned amateurish. Everything is described in minute detail, both important and totally irrelevant events. How John had come to Anwell-by-Sea and found his brother, along with what he ate for breakfast, how he shopped for furniture, etc. The book could probably be cut in half without losing anything.

And if things in UK are routinely solved that neatly and fast, from getting a new apartment to losing weight, it must really be a paradise on Earth.

[reader80 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Johnny Smith is someone who life has always just happened to. He got swept into a rut early on and wound up married with two kids and working the same job as his father. He's existing, but not really living. Then, everything falls apart, his wife kicks him out, he loses his job and he's forced into action. The book chronicles Johnny's journey as he asserts control over his life and takes responsibility for his own happiness. The romance is an outflow of this. The book is well written and Johnny is an engaging and sympathetic narrator.

[Snowtulip · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars