PRAISE AND COMPLAINTS FOR BLESS THIS HOT MESS
“Big laughs, bigger heart, and just the right amount of 90’s nostalgia—Bless This Hot Mess is pure fun. This book sings, (Literally!)”
— USA Today Bestselling Author Ella Frank
“A fresh, funny take on love, faith, and finding your place—messy, meaningful, and totally entertaining.”
— USA Today Bestselling Author Brooke Blaine
"Bless This Hot Mess is a book filled with joy, love and toe-tapping fun. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a song in your heart."
— Felice Stevens, Lambda Literary Award-winning author
“Charlie David's voice is irreverent, affectionate, and fiercely self-aware with a deep, abiding belief in the power of community. The entire cast crackles with charm in the bracing comic stylings of the author, a clever Canuck who mines this terrain for heavenly metal. Why isn't this already greenlit as a TV series, like, yesterday? Why hasn't Netflix hired Cheyenne Jackson and Rebel Wilson, and rushed this into production in Hollywood North? Tick tock, bitches.”
— Damon Suede, Author of Hot Head
SOUNDTRACK. WAIT...IS THIS A BOOK? OR A MUSICAL?
It’s both! Make this story interactive! Find the Bless This Hot Mess soundtrack on all major music storefronts including Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube and more. Read, listen and sing along. '90s nostalgia never sounded so good.
SYNOPSIS (Buckle-up Buttercup!)
Hilarious, campy, musical and moving, this book provokes you to ponder: If I steal a few hearts, can I still get into Heaven?
When a failing radio station’s morning show starts stealing, sampling and remixing ‘90s pop songs in a Hail Mary attempt at attracting an audience, virtuous virgin Japheth is forced to team up with Rino, a dangerously charming Italian car dealership heir with advertiser dollars to spend and maybe-mafia vibes, and their enemies-to-lovers romance threatens to become the station’s biggest scandal and its only salvation.
At WWJD Radio in Greater Napanee, salvation is off script. The phones are ringing off the hook, the fax machine is spitting out cease-and-desist letters from every boy band of the ’90s, and Trinity, the trio of accidental evangelists, are stealing pop songs “for the Lord.”
There’s Rebekkah; the breathless true believer who, though 30, still refers to herself as an ingénue. Her best friend Japheth; virtuous and still virginal. Ronald: poly, pan, and building an ark in his backyard.
Together with Carrington (part receptionist, part stylist, part chaos incarnate), Suwarna (HR, in charge of keeping her new station owner alive and not ‘disappeared’), and everyone's new boss, Emma-Lou (an heiress with a talent for panic and bangs that weren’t her idea) they’re keeping WWJD barely afloat.
Until it burns down. Literally.
Their only shot at salvation comes from Rino Ferrari: a devastatingly charming Italian car-dealership heir with too much money, too many secrets, and maybe a little mafia energy. Unfortunately for Japheth (romantic mess and professional overthinker), Rino is also the last person he wants to need… and the first person he can’t stop thinking about.
As scandal, suspicion, and undeniable chemistry collide, Japheth and Rino tumble from enemies to lovers in a rom-com where faith is flexible, temptation is tailored, and the guy you’re supposed to hate is the one who makes you feel alive.
Is local car dealer Rino Ferrari a mobster, or just a surprisingly generous Christian with body bags of money to give away? Why did Emma-Lou’s parents really “disappear” in the Bermuda Triangle? And will Trinity rebuild a new station on a floating ark, or sell out to dirty money for fame, tote bags, and a studio album?
Outrageously funny, shockingly tender, and just heretical enough, Bless This Hot Mess will jump-start your heart.
Charlie David is the author of the novels Mulligans, Boy Midflight, Fatal FX, Bless This Hot Mess and Shadowlands-works that blend heartfelt storytelling with wit, honesty, and emotional resonance.Mulligans was adapted into a feature film distributed by Warner Bros. while Shadowlands became a TV miniseries on Amazon Prime in 14 languages worldwide. Through these adaptations, Charlie's fiction has reached a broad international audience, establishing him as a distinctive voice in 2SLGBTQ+ literature and screen storytelling.Charlie's YouTube channel, We MAKE LOVE Stories consistently has 30,000 views daily-the equivalent of filling 200 movie theatres every single day. Whether on the page, screen, or digital platforms, Charlie's work consistently champions stories of identity, love, and resilience with both humour and heart. Visit: border2border.ca Instagram: @mrcharliedavid
