Second Chance: Book One in the Jake and Kelly Series

When longtime gay couple Jake and Kelly vowed to live out loud together forever, they didn’t mean with decibel-defying shrieks and banging heads. However, raising Jake’s autistic nephew, Chance, throws a maddening monkey wrench into their perfectly appointed life. Can the three come together under one little roof as a thoroughly modern family, even in the face of unbridled, unimaginable chaos?

Second Chance: Book One in the Jake and Kelly Series is the hilarious, heartwarming novel about an altogether different sort of domestic partnership between two committed men and a confounding new addition to the house. After creating a world that is the paragon of peaceful living, Jake and Kelly must now grapple with a new order in the form of a terrifying, tiny child who spins, rocks, and wakes up throughout the night. Not only that, but Chance also demonstrates a head-scratching devotion to a televangelist named Sister Opal and meticulously lines up shoes and Mr. Potato Heads.

After first abandoning her son with his father, Chance’s mother, Crystal, has chosen to again wriggle loose of a maternal bond. This time, she elects instead to follow her bliss with Desert Wind, a hallucinogen-hopped-up shaman. Regardless, this Don Juan wannabe inspires an enthusiasm in Crystal that threatens to upend everything she knows. For one thing, the path to greater enlightenment will not accommodate her four-year-old son, who winds up in the care of her brother Jake and his partner, Kelly.

How do you coerce a pint-sized child to sample something other than the likes of potato chips? How can you create a dialogue with someone whose favorite spoken phrase is “For Christ’s sake, Anne,” which he picked up from his grandpa’s repeated exchange with his grandmother? How can you talk deportment with a kid who has yet to be toilet trained?

Kelly, who is a teacher with a severe hearing impairment, embraces the challenge of Chance’s autism with a professional fervor. Jake, however, craves a life that is next to normal, and profoundly regrets allowing his parents to move his nephew into this home.

Meanwhile, his sister forges deeper into her New Age odyssey with Desert Wind, the burned-out Norwegian druggie with highly questionable shaman credentials. Just because he is one-eighth Apache does not mean his powers aren’t half-baked.

As Kelly introduces ingenious new ways to communicate with Chance, and Jake tries to get over himself, it looks like the young child might get a second chance at happiness after all. But will Crystal snap out of it and get a similar second chance at motherhood? Find out in this refreshing, irreverent look at love from all sides.

Anyone who delights in quirky characters, inventive plots, and bold new literary voices will find a rollicking, meaningful read in Second Chance: Book One in the Jake and Kelly Series. Everyone deserves a second chance, and it is all the more enriching when accompanied by laughter. Readers will find plenty of heart and humor in this charming, lovable story of one wonderfully nutty family.

Michael J. Wiles is a writer and former special education teacher. He worked for sixteen years with deaf children, including those who were also autistic. A trained civil engineer, Wiles left the field after five years, motivated by a strong desire to help the world. He is a hearing-impaired individual who relies on hearing aids and is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). He has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, and a master of arts degree in special education. The author was born and currently lives in Arizona with his partner of thirty years. His most recent novel, Second Chance, was inspired by his past experiences with autistic children, which include having helped raise his partner’s nephew from birth to four years old.