Intervention by Mia Kerick

As a musician at the popular college café Coed Joe's, high school senior Kai Manter is never lacking for male attention. Out, proud, free-spirited, and sexually aware, Kai sets his sights on his darkly Gothic and undeniably bad-tempered coworker, Jamie Arlotta, a freshman at the local arts university. Sporting long hair and alluring hippie style, Kai expects his interest will be reciprocated, with satisfying sex as the end goal. That's what usually happens. But Jamie's lessons in life have been harsher. Having been sexually abused by his older stepbrother for several years, Jamie has grown an impenetrable outer shell meant to keep the world at a safe distance.

Kai is angry at first when he takes the brunt of Jamie's bad temper, but after Kai accidentally discovers the abuse Jamie has suffered, he wants to fix things. Kai's plan is based on what he knows best - music - and he stages a "musical intervention" to let Jamie know he's not alone and things can get better. When Jamie's perspective changes and he emerges from his shell, Kai changes, too, gaining a whole new understanding of what sex can be when love is there too.

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Title: Intervention
Author: Mia Kerick
Genre: YA, GLBT, Romance
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Unabridged Audiobook
Narrated by: Tristan Wright
Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins

Reviewed by Brandi

4 Stars – Recommended Read

In Intervention we are introduced to Kai, a senior in high school who’s into himself, his music, and other guys. He’s never had a serious relationship, and really isn’t interested in one. Along comes Jamie, a dark, unfriendly, artistic type who works in the café where Kai performs, and Kai finds himself being drawn to Jamie. As the story unfolds, Kai finds out more about Jamie and the abusive past which still plagues him. And since Jamie isn’t all that into letting people into his life, let alone going to except help from someone, Kai intends to make progress into a friendship by using his music to say all the things he can’t say to Jamie in person. Could it be that Kai is interested in more than just a sexual tryst?

This was an interesting, heart wrenching story about trust, overcoming abuse, building relationships that go deeper than sex, and growing up. The idea of using music to convey your thoughts and to say all the things you want to say but can’t in the hopes that the person listening will get the messages was clever. And since the musical intervention is a major part of the plot, you can expect numerous musical titles to be given throughout the story. That can be a good thing and/or a bad one. For those who consider themselves a music aficionado of many different genres, you will probably get what is being “said.” For those who are not so musically proficient, you might not get the impact or the emotion of what is being musically said.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to Intervention and felt the narration was excellent. The author also did a good job of building that bold yet awkward teenage world as seen through the eyes of a young man who is figuring out what it is like to truly love someone.