Pride and Persistence

Singlets & Secrets
Pride and Persistence

Editions:ebook, Paperback

What are we fighting for if not each other?

After a roller coaster of ups and downs last year, Aiden Rothe starts sophomore year on a high. After all, he's dating the boy of his dreams. What else matters? But Aiden's hopes for a drama-free school year are thrown aside when a new student captures everyone's attention: Michelle, an incredibly athletic, transgender black belt.

Fearing a repeat of last year's bullying, Aiden's karate club reaches out to Michelle, hoping to recruit her. To their surprise, she already has a team. Michelle is training with local police Captain Decker at his MMA studio, the epicenter of LGBTQ+ hatred in and around Washington High. Soon after, Decker and his notorious partner, Washington High Wrestling Coach Krake, announce a new tournament with a $25k college scholarship as the grand prize. For some, like Mateo, it's a crucial opportunity-he lost his scholarship chances when he came out and quit the wrestling team the year before.

Can the true meaning of martial arts heal the divisions in this town, or will fighting only make things worse? A rousing story of love versus hate, where hidden truths and life-altering decisions lay behind every corner, Pride and Persistence celebrates the indomitable spirit within us all-the fighter that refuses to stay down, no matter how many times one falls.

Published: August 27, 2024

Publisher: Mad Cat

Genres:

Romance, YA

Tags:

LGBTQ fiction, sports

About the Author

Joe Chianakas

Joe Chianakas has been an educator for 21 years, the first half as a high school English teacher, the last half as a professor of communication at Illinois Central College. He's published several novels, including his horror series Rabbit in Red, and is working on a new adult horror series, Darkness Calls, with Oghma Creative Media. Under his pen name, NC Nest, he's published a series of LGBTQ YA contemporary books, including Looking for Derek. His next YA LGBTQ series is titled Singlets and Secrets, which will be published by Young Dragons Press.

When he's not teaching or writing, he enjoys spending time with his mini Australian Shepherd, Bailey. Joe loves the outdoors, fitness, reading (of course!), martial arts, travel, and binge-watching TV. He lives in Peoria, IL, with his husband, Brian.

Other Books By Joe Chianakas

Stand-Alone Books

Sorted First to Last

Darkness Calls

Series: Unveiling Aiden

Sorted First to Last

Singlets & Secrets

Pride and Persistence

Lawless Frontier

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When justice is blind, vengeance sees clearly.
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Fast, fierce, and relentless, Will Rogers Medallion-winning author Anthony Wood delivers an unflinching story of one woman’s quest to strike down those who prey on the innocent. In a world that has lost its sight, Marion Tullos is the reckoning.

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When the past comes for blood, you either draw first or die trying.
Tom Callahan was once the government’s deadliest secret—a lethal gun-for-hire leading a team of assassins no one knew existed. Now those days are long gone. Or so he thought.
Now an aging cowboy trying to keep his ranch alive, Callahan wants nothing more than peace… and a sliver of forgiveness. But when word reaches him that his wife and son—long believed dead—may still be alive, that peace turns to dust.
From railroad corruption to a secret slave trade, outlaw towns to Washington’s back rooms, every mile drags Callahan deeper into the rot of the nation he once served. Hunted, framed, and haunted by the men he used to ride with, he’s forced to become the one thing he swore he’d never be again—a killer.
In a world built on blood, there’s no clean way out. To save his family, Callahan will have to face the ghosts of his past—and decide if redemption is worth the price in bodies.
New York Times bestselling author M. William Phelps delivers a brutal, timely, and cinematic Western thriller where the trail to the truth runs red and redemption rides a pale horse.

Roan & Weatherford