David Harris is determined to put the recent past behind him, particularly the tragic loss of his mother in the autumn. Desperate to move on, he takes positive action and commits to three straightforward New Year resolutions: Get up promptly; Take in a lodger; Have proper sex with Lucy before the new school term begins. It's not too much to ask. Unfortunately for David Harris and friends, the challenges in their 1970s working class community are never far away. Things go wrong from the outset. The lodger might be gay, which seems to be a problem for Lucy and her father. And things go from bad to worse when posh-boy Peter blurts out a potentially deadly secret; the truth about how the local psychopath ended up behind bars. Ultimately, the story is a collision of sexuality and bigotry, friendship and hostility, trust and suspicion, love and revenge. Can David Harris finally find the happiness he deserves? Far more importantly, will he realise his New Year resolutions? Icicles and Valentines is the third in a series of novels from Martin Andrews. Each novel chronicles aspects of the complex and challenging transition from adolescence to adulthood. The stories overlap and are set against a tough, working-class backdrop.