Returning as a Better Person

No Such Thing by A. M. Arthur, the review of which you can read at AAR, has an interesting premise.  A hellion returns to the tiny town where he grew up and routinely caused havoc as a teen, only he's changed drastically.

No, he isn't a multimillionaire bully who runs a corporation like a sweatshop.  Instead, the anger and belligerence have left him, and he returns in order to help his wonderful, patient foster mother who is raising two children alone now that her husband has recently died.

The guy realizes that without this couple's help, he would probably be in jail now.

What the book doesn't go into is how the foster mother feels about this young man returning.  As someone whose students were often troubled young men and women, I can imagine she feels like I did when students returned to tell me how well they were now doing in school or in their jobs.  My pride in them and their accomplishments was staggering.  When they'd been in my class, I'd believed in them, and now they believed in themselves.  It was wonderful.

So while No Such Thing is a wonderful gay romance and well worth reading for its plot, teachers, former teachers, and foster parents will probably find a little more in the book than just the surface story.