Love by the Numbers

Love by the Numbers #1

by S.L. Danielson

Jared was the school’s darling of the baseball team, with one major flaw. He was failing math. Fortunately, the teacher ‘assigns’ her best pupil; Scott. Scott is overweight, shy, and very aware he ranks just above an amoeba in popularity. How could he and Jared possibly work together, much less develop any semblance of a friendship?

The tutoring begins, as do Jared’s daily visits to Scott’s house. Rumors abound as to why they never visit his house, all of them ending with lame excuses and unanswered questions. This goes on for months until the new, strong friendship had developed an unbreakable bond. On one sunny afternoon, almost all of the questions are answered, except for one.

That night, a shocking atrocity brings the teens back together to rally at each other’s side. The truth is out; Jared has been abused by his father for years! He hid it as best he could; but that night he’d not only told his father off, he told him he was gay and in love with Scott.

Can this new relationship stand the test of both school and their impending graduation? Scott asks a serious question and doesn’t quite get the answer he expected. Everything is up in the air. What will win? Their love or go their separate ways?

Genres: M M Romance, Young Adult, Romance, Teen, M M Contemporary

120 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2008

About the author

aka Stephanie L. Danielson. I've been an avid reader since a small child. My first loves were science fiction as well as general fiction books.
Later, I began writing my own stories with a romantic flavor to them.
With influences running the gamut from romance,sci-fi, and drama, my muse was found.
In 2007 I was first published with Love Resurrected, and have since released over a dozen other books, mostly in the contemporary gay romance genre. I am particularly fond of young adult/college age boys to write about.

When not working on a new book, I can be found shooting pool and darts, hanging out with my husband, parents, and cat, cycling, skating, or spending way too much time playing computer games.

Reviews

[Betryal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't beat around the bush since I'm not about telling you what this or any book is about because that's what the author's summary is for. I don't see the point. It's called repetitive. I'm here to tell you what I think of the books I read plain and simple and mostly to the point.

What impressed me in all Steph's books I've read so far is that at least one of the main characters in her stories has that imperfection; that flaw that makes them less than perfect. They aren't uber gorgeous, buffed or muscled and toned, but rather every day dudes just looking for love and acceptance for how they look and who they are by touching deeply on those pain points. They are REAL.

In her stories and this one it's their weight mostly. But they start off as innocent young boys and takes you through their life story till they're are grown men and create a deep bonded friendship which ultimately results in true love such as this story does. The flow though time is creative and exceptionally written.

A fabulous touching story and I look forward to more from this author.

[Erotic Horizon]

A while ago I saw this book on one of the yahoo groups that I lurk on and after some attempt to get it from the UK – the author was gracious enough to send me a copy.

I was attracted to the book by the blurb, for two things mainly – it sounded like a coming of age or more YA book and I am not so good with these book and wanted to spread my wings, secondly S.L.Danielson is a new to me author and I really wanted to read her – I am like that sometime, I get tunnel vision on an author without knowing anything about them.

LOVE BY THE NUMBERS is one of those book that the beauty of the book lies in the fine print, the quality of the cast and the emotion that the author brings to the plate.

Before I get into the story let me tell you about Jared Adamson and Scott Williams. Jared is the local senior school star athlete, not doing well in maths and while seeming to have the all round boy next door life he had issues. Jared in alot of respect is a very stereotypical kid who excel at sports. Scott is the exact opposite he is academically bright and this shows and he is rewarded by being the teachers pet for this, Scott also has issues and his issues can physically be seen and this causes Scott all kind of confidence problem.

Where Ms .Danielson twiked these boys and made me really like them is by placing them in a decent neighbourhood, with parents who are as polar opposite of each other as you can get and making them just normal kids – they didn’t have attitude, there no slamming of doors, no over the top music and they were courteous – they had no shrugging of shoulders, no missing curfew they were decent kids.

It was refreshing to see kids just being kids, rather than the chip on the shoulder little toes rags that I normally read about. And in some respect they both had little bits of me in them – they had a good support system around them for the most part, needed a little work in some areas, but was happy to conform and life went on happily around them.

Now that you met the boys let me tell you their story. Jared and Scott goes to the same school and while Jared is the middle of the aisle strut his stuff football star, Scott is the hug the wall maths whizz that keeps a low profile and have no friends. Jared is not doing well in math and as the boy with the best grade Scott is offered up as the sacrificial lamb to tutor Jared through this mind field of numbers.

Both boys are surprised by the person they meet and within a few days they hit it off and realize that they can find common ground in order to make this tutoring gig work.

Jared gets on famously with both Scott’s parent and eventually the friends moved beyond tutoring and Jared is spending a great deal of time at the William's house. For Scott's parent it was no big stretch, they were thrilled their son has a honest to goodness friend who not only came around but had their son laughing and interacting as any other teenager.

Because the boys are literally in each others pocket Scott soon realize that Jared has apart of himself that he never really let anyone see and the one time that Scott looked close enough and was persistent enough he and Jared ending up having their first real disagreement. This doesn’t last long and soon they are back on track with Jared also getting involved in Scott’s issues but it is Jared and his parent that everyone was concerned about.

While the three parents try to figure out the big elephant that has been between the family for a little over a year the boys grows closer and starts taking onboard each others battle.

It’s not pretty from then on and I don't want to give it all away, but rest assured Jared and Scoot gets their time together and it’s all done on the up and up. Why I mention this is because when I met the boys they were just in their last year of high school so 17 – 17and a half…

LOVE BY THE NUMBERS is one of those books that I had to step away from to marshal my thoughts before I could get it right on paper.

Why? because YA is not my forte and I wanted to give the book the justice it deserved and not just say it was a sweet read with all the right pieces in the right place and had the ending I expected, because it was more than that.

From the character development I was hooked – Danielson worked up the boys, the school, the social structure and the family dynamics before she toss in the angst. By the time the angst got there I was caught up in other things in the boys life and it was slowly introduced in such a way that I wanted to fight all their battles for them, I supported all their decision and I wanted to smash heads all round.

This is not a long book just a smidgens over 90pgs and it was chock full of details and highs and lows – I thought Danielson made use of every available page time. The positives are things like the connection between the boys, the interaction between the boys and their parents, the social structure (school) around the boys and how they rooted for each other with people who would have made their life hell. The time frame of the book – this books flowed over into about 18-19 months, so not a sudden attraction sort of read.

I also loved that the author didn’t just give it up with the mystery she took the time to let me see how it happened, and in some respect why it happened( I know I an being evasive – but I cant give it all away). There was dialogue all the way through this book – not because they were teenage, don't expect grunts – they talked and talked and laughed and shared and it made all the difference.

The niggles would be parental intrusion overload – I am fickle like that, while the interplay between the boys and their parents really made the story, I knew it would eventually annoy me – because they wanted it all for their son and in some ways wanted to bypass the natural flow of attraction (nothing underhanded here again - I must clarify).

I love Danielson's voice and style, it flows naturally and while I like the jumping scenes, more like the snapping of a camera lens it might not work for everyone – but it suited the boys life and the moment they were in…

I cant do this round up without mentioning the smut – it happened and it was only one incident and it was suitable and at the right time as the boys had most certainly past their 18th birthday….

Because LOVE BY THE NUMBERS is a YA – I would love to see where they both end up as men and some of the more unsettled plotline that I wasn’t privy to - I would love to see how those panned out.

Bottom line

Good to the last drop and if you had any sense you would just go get it.

[Elisa Rolle]

I believe this is one of the first stories by this author and in many ways you can see it: the novel is innocent, naïve, like it was not tainted by the ugly life, and the comparison is right on the spot since this is a story about teenagers and their first love experience. I will not say that is unrealistic, since many time people proved to me there is still hope and happiness somewhere in the world, even if it’s not the common experience, but in Love by the Numbers the power of love is able to overcome any trouble and drama.

Scott is a lucky guy; true he is a little overweight, and also quite shy, he is the classical wallflower at school, but other than that he has a loving family that fully support him and respect his being gay, so much they are the first to push him to go out and find a boyfriend. Scott is so lucky that he has not even to do that, the math teacher practically send Scott’s dream date at home with him, he needs to tutor Jared, the local baseball celebrity, in math otherwise the other guy will fail that course.

Even if Jared is the butterfly of the school, he proves to be a good guy right from the first moment, and he seems to really like spending time alone with Scott. Every time Scott highlights how different they are, how Jared is the perfect boy, a wise Jared makes clear he would give everything away for living in a supporting family like Scott. And even if Scott has not a perfect body, Jared is able to see beyond the body right to the heart of Scott.

I found both Scott than Jared a little too emotional, but maybe both of them had their issue to overcome, Jared a little more serious than Scott, since Jared was right on the spot about Scott, he has really nothing to worry about, fat and shyness are both issue he can easily overcome. And maybe Scott’s sensibility is something he has inherited by his own parents, both of them wonderful parents, but sometime a little too much wonderful, treating their 18 years old son like someone way younger; that could be explained with the fact that Scott is an only son, and very much loved, and so, well, maybe he is a little spoiled.

This is the story of the first love for both guys, and so it’s sweet and innocent, and the author decided to not look further into their life: if they have a chance to be together, if their life will be simple or complicated, this is something that is out from this contest, this is the story of a first love, and as such, real life stay out.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZH8E2A/?...

[CAS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Young Adult M/M themed story. It came to my attention by chance as being the prequel to the upcoming release of Life After Math by the same author. If not for that, I might have missed the opportunity and pleasure of reading this very poignant and memorable story. At it's heart this is a beautifully written coming of age story which slowly unfolds over the course of a year. BUT, what is most compelling and what had the greatest impact on me was the inclusion and exploration of several very important social issues so many of our youth are faced with on an almost daily basis. This was very smoothly and effectively illustrated through the interactions and experiences of two very different young men and their equally different families. It wasn't an easy journey and it progresses slowly, with a quite natural feel.

I'm very much looking forward to the release of Life After Math and revisiting these two captivating young men as they head off to college and their journey into adulthood continues.

[Cris · Rating 1 out of 5]

This would've been cute if it wasn't so badly written. It actually had me cringing at several points. As I've said before, I'm not expecting classic literature with these kinds of books, but I do expect something that doesn't read like a ten year old wrote it. Every single character talks with exactly the same voice, neither of the mains talk like teenage boys, and on top of that, this is a perfect example of what NOT to do when it comes to "Show, don't tell." It skips way too much time- we never get to KNOW the main characters, much less the very few minor ones. By the end I honestly didn't care about any of them. If that wasn't bad enough, there are entirely too many exclamation points. Seriously, some character or other is constantly making some kind of declarative statement, often multiple times in a row. It's not only juvenile, it's lazy writing. This is downright painful to read.

[Helgaleena Healingline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of classmates bonding over shared homework, then facing tough knocks in life that strengthen that attraction into love, is so sweet and strong you could eat it on toast.

Daniels writes with a minimalist style that renders everyday experiences epic, until the little things add up into a crescendo of feeling and significance.

Young people growing up gay can be so isolated and have no templates for achieving a happy ending. Here is one for them to take to heart.

[Julie Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jared Adamson is your typical blond jock—he’s into athletics more than he’s into academics. When his math teacher informs him that he’s about to fail, and thereby become ineligible for baseball come spring, he panics. Luckily, the old battleaxe has a solution—he can be tutored by Scott Williams, who just happens, unbeknownst to Jared, to have a crush on him! Will opposites attract or will Scott stay invisible to the hot blond forever?

Scott is a little overweight and self-conscious about the fact, as well as the fact that he’s never attracted anyone even slightly. He’s gay, and he’s out with his family, who are very supportive, but he tends to be reserved considering what he sees as his fatal flaws. On the other hand, he thinks Jared is extremely cute, but he knows Jared’s way out of his league, not to mention he’s straight, despite his mother’s ideas to the contrary.

Jared comes to Scott’s house for his study sessions; Scott’s mother, Margaret, embraces him warmly, almost like another son. The teen feels at home. It seems sometimes as if he tries to avoid going home. And he never wants to talk about his home life, or his dad. But if Scott questions him, he clams up and remains obstinately quiet.

The boys grow closer as the tutoring continues, developing a deep friendship. Jared refuses to accept Scott’s self-pitying concept of himself, encouraging him to lose weight and live a little. Scott wants to know more about what is bothering Jared, but he’s afraid to push and lose their friendship. He wishes it could be more. A lot more.

Senior year is a rollercoaster ride when you’re a teen with raging hormones. Make that two teens who are trying to figure out who they are, and how they want the world to perceive them, as well as one another. Can love grow in such an environment? Will Jared ever confide the truth to Scott about what his home life is truly like?

Love by the Numbers is a coming of age story about two teens finding one another, and finding something in each other that’s worth fighting for. If you’re a follower of Ms. Danielson’s, this is an earlier book of hers, and doesn’t reflect some of the later growth in her writing skills, which at this point were a little raw yet. So there are some points that could or should have been smoothed out. Some unbelievable family dynamics (sorry, I’m not a believer in the whole parents who not only openly espouse their child’s being gay but encourage them to sexually express themselves). But these are minor points, which do not detract from the story as a whole.

Ms. Danielson’s style is not flowery nor verbose. She writes in quick jabs, knows what she wants to say and says it. She gets to the heart of the matter, which is the relationship between these two boys, and being themselves. There’s a sequel, Life After Math, which I intend to read and review as well.

[Mj Macgregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Love By the Numbers" takes the coming-out story and adds the realization that looks are often deceiving, subtracts the typical first-love scenarios, and in the process, multiplies our interest in - and sympathy for - Jared and Scott. The lives of the two protagonists are real and so are the problems they face in starting a relationshing and making it last. The forces set against them try to divide them. Love - and most of all - the bounds of loyalty will be tested. Their youth, insecurities, and the qualities of their familial relationships will go a long way in determining whether they pass or fail.

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story about two high school seniors who form a very tight friendship when Scott (the 'nerd') is asked to tutor Jared (the 'jock') in maths.

The developing feelings on Scott's side are described with sensitivity. The slow pace of the novella adds to the realism of how a very shy young adult (with weight issues on top of his 'nerd' status) might go through a development like that. The issue of Jared's bruises and occasional hints at a troubled home life with his father add tension.

[Kiki · Rating 1 out of 5]

very amateur effort ... sweet story in concept, but the writing is so very poor it was almost painful

[Amy Dufera - Amy's MM Romance Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this re-release of Love By The Numbers by SL Danielson to be a very sweet high school romance.

I found the pace to be fast, but it is still enjoyable. My only complaints would be that I wish there was more packed into their relationship in the beginning. That part felt rushed and missing some of the chemistry. That said, I still really enjoy this story.

The basis of the story is great. Two teens, one popular and great looking, the other overweight and a loner. Both boys are actually very insecure and are very derogative to themselves. One of my favorite quotes of the book is "'Dude, don't say things like that about yourself, you'll grow to believe them forever." What a wonderful, profound piece of advice.

Jared is lucky to find Scott, who he can open up to and whose family is loving and supportive. Jared's life might look wonderful from the outside, but on the inside his life is hell. Spending a lot of time at Scott's house gives him a place where he can relax, be himself (sort of), and to not be scared. With Scott, he finds his first true friend. He may seem to be very popular, but having pretenders by your side doesn't satisfy a person.

Scott is also lucky to find Jared. He never expects to find his first true friend in Jared, but that is exactly what happens. Scott knows he is overweight and constantly puts himself down because of it. Jared's encouragement is the push he needs to get healthy. He is happy to have this new friendship, but he wishes that Jared was gay, so they could be more than friends.

A moment that I found to be so damn touching is when Scott complains to Jared that he has nothing. Scott claims that Jared has everything, as he is popular and always surrounded by girls. Scott's response, telling Scott that he has a family that loves him, is super smart, and has a true heart, is so stirring. It is truly an emotional moment that is both so real and raw.

The issues that Jared has to deal with in secret are sad and ugly. He may appear to have it all, but he is suffering and has never been able to tell anyone.

Overall, I really like Love By The Numbers. I wish SL Danielson could have added some to the story, but she does a great job with telling a story that is poignant and inspirational.

[Ashley E · Rating 1 out of 5]

This reads like bad fanfiction, as in, immature and melodramatic. I could not keep a straight face while reading this, because it was just so darn over-the-top. While the writing is technically not bad, the character and plot progression just didn't seem realistic, and I mostly read this with the feeling of "so bad, it's ridiculous" and "did that really just happen?"

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Hate crimes
Disownment
Emotional & physical child abuse
Domestic abuse

[Sid · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, but I pushed it upwards for I really really enjoyed this read.

Most of the M/M novels that I have read so far have one thing in common. The main characters and their potential love interests are described with chiseled jaws, skinny build, or the abs to die for. They are the men who are described as ‘hot’ and even readers drool at the image that they get in their minds. But is it really always the perfect men that can have an equally perfect love story?

S.L. Danielson breaks this overly used formula and shows us that even an average guy can find his true love.

And that is why I believe, LBTN is not just a story of friendship and love, but the story of dreams that do come true.

Full review on my blog: http://sidlove.wordpress.com/2013/03/...

[Miriki · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's poorly written. The story read like a an essay without showing much of the characters' emotion.

With the same theme of friends turn lovers, Wes and Toren was so much better.

[adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so overwhelmingly angst-ridden, both in plot and writing style. though maybe danielson is a young author(?). it was like reading every teenage melodrama (except for a pregnancy scare) in one book.

[Tailtiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5*

[The Blog of Sid Love]

3.5 Stars

Please read the review at The Blog of Sid Love