Love Is in the Hallways By: RJ Scott Series: Love Is in the... Book Number: 2 Star Rating: Sensuality Rating:

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Synopsis

After revealing their feelings for each other and spending an amazing weekend together, Cameron Anders is ready to let the world know that Luke Holston is his boyfriend. He wants to walk into school on Monday hand in hand, but Luke isn't so sure. There are frightening things in his past that Luke hasn't told Cam about yet, and even though the kids at school have known for a long time that Luke is gay, he isn't quite ready to flaunt a relationship in their faces. He'd rather keep things quiet and just get through high school under the radar. Truth be told, he's a little afraid that Cam might change his mind about being with him too. When some of Cam's teammates start pushing him around, calling him names, and making allegations that Luke 'changed' him, Luke doesn't hesitate to stand by Cam's side, but can their budding romance survive the onslaught of bullying they have to endure?

Review

Love Is in the Hallways is the second novelette in RJ Scott's Love Is in the... young adult series which follows brand new teen sweethearts, Cameron, the captain of the football team, and Luke, a math geek. This is basically the next chapter in their relationship. In my opinion, there was less romance in this one than the first one. Cam and Luke only have a couple of scenes alone together, and only one in which they really talk and get close. Instead, the story mainly tackles the issue of bullying at the high school level, particularly of gay students. The kids at school have known for a long time that Luke is gay, but Cam just recently came out and most of his fellow teammates aren't taking it very well. Cam wants to walk down the hallways holding hands and letting it be known that he and Luke are boyfriends, but past experiences with bullying make Luke reluctant. He'd rather keep their relationship on the low-down until they graduate, but he can't quite bring himself to explain his reasoning and feelings on the subject to Cam which leads to some mild friction between them. It didn't quite feel like there was as much of a wrap-up to this story either. As with real life, there are no hard and fast answers for Cam and Luke. It ends on more of a tacit agreement that they will be there for each other no matter what and that their respective best friends, Dan and Mitchell, will back them up and help protect them from the bullies. I really liked how supportive Dan and Mitchell were even though both of them appear to be straight, and that Luke's mom is there for him too. It looks like the bullying storyline will continue with the next novelette in the series, Love Is in the Message, so maybe there will be more of a resolution there.

Overall, Love Is in the Hallways was a pretty enjoyable read even though I would have liked a little more romance. This is probably one of the more sensual young adult stories I've read. Cam and Luke graduate from the sweet, tentative kisses of the first story to a passionate make-out session, including high sexual tension and sexual contact, though fully clothed. There is also some fairly strong language. I was slightly disappointed that the technical aspects of the writing didn't appear to be as strong as in the first two RJ Scott books I read. Some of the narration didn't seem to flow as nicely as it could have, and I detected a number of typos such as missing words. Both could be a little distracting, because I was putting effort into figuring out what was meant rather than immersing myself in the story. I didn't feel it was bad enough to warrant taking off more than the one star, and like I said before, it was a pretty good story anyway. I'll be looking forward to seeing what happens for these two young men next.

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RJ Scott

Themes

Geniuses, Scholars & Scientists aka Geeks - Heroes
Tortured Heroes
Virgin Heroes