Stray Cat Chronicles

by Beverly L. Anderson

Leslie doesn’t have a clue about love. Then, in the locker room, he and Aaron end up getting together after a fight during swim class. Their relationship is just sex, of course, as Aaron is voracious. Then, Leslie starts to show some worrying signs that Aaron picks up on, and soon, so do his other friends. An obsession with calorie counting and weight loss compels Aaron to try and get him to seek out help. Resistant to the thought, Leslie tries to manage alone. When things don’t work out, Aaron steps in to try and convince him he needs help with the situation. All the while, though, Leslie is falling steadily, and deeply, for the rough and tough Aaron, much to the surprise of those around him.

95 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2023

About the author

Beverly L. Anderson began writing at eleven; their talent foreshadowed a remarkable future. Their first story, written in spiral notebooks, was about a kidnapping. Even then, countless story ideas featuring fantastic places, monstrous creatures, and forbidden love filled their mind. Unsurprisingly, they now favor the darker recesses of the psyche over its brighter aspects. They immersed themselves in the study of psychology and related fields. They spend most of their days dreaming about stories and deciding how to make the unruly characters do as they tell them. Characters sometimes act independently, defying the author's intent.

Bev’s other hobbies include gaming of all types, including a great love of tabletop. They are an advocate of transgender/LGBTQAI+ issues as well as autism/mental health. They still enjoy writing fanfiction when they can. Their interest in the BDSM community began as a simple curiosity but has led her to the road to finding a place for themself there as a Dominant. They have gone on the journey of self-discovery in the last few years, finally pinning down their identity after thirty years of searching. Coming out as non-binary (bigender), asexual (aegosexual), and panromantic was one of the hardest things they’ve ever done, but it gave them the confidence to become themselves even more. Bev, who is autistic, has ADHD, bipolar disorder, and follows an eclectic pagan path, frequently clashes with what society deems as "normal."

Beverly started their writing journey seriously in 2013 when they found their way to fanfiction. They spent several years writing over three million words in various fandoms. For the last few years, they have been pursuing the adaptation of those stories into original works and publishing them for a wider audience. Finding their publishing home with Phoenix Voices Publishing helped make that dream a reality, one that they help others find.

Reviews

[Nicole Deanne Veracruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leslie is a sweet boy that has a crush on his swimming partner Aaron. When she finally admits to having a crush they end up in a relationship. From there this book dives into some serious issues. The main one being an eating disorder. But the other thing I picked up on is this book deals a lot with consent. Especially the ability not to be able to give consent if you drink too much. Therefore I really enjoyed this book cuz it dealt with some really deep topics. And as somebody that suffers from an eating disorder it was nice to see somebody else right about it. And the real struggles that happen when trying to deal with it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and although I enjoyed the story well enough I don’t get how the title relates to it, the story is about Leslie and Aaron meeting at swim class and going from enemies to lovers, it contains a lot of steamy times but also handles the very real problem of Leslie developing an eating disorder and Aaron and their friends trying to help him with it. An epilogue from a bit in the future would have been nice for this story.3.5 read rounded up.