RELEASE BLITZ
Teach Me to Touch You
(Novella 1 in the Teach Me Series)
(Novella 1 in the Teach Me Series)
by
Joshua Landon
Joshua Landon
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre/s: Gay Romance
Length: 27 000 words approx. /100 pages
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Release Date: December 23, 2018
Blurb
When Austin’s father deserts his young family, he leaves Austin and his sister to struggle with poverty and neglect at home and bullying at school. When Austin’s first girlfriend kisses him in high school, his PTSD flashback to childhood abuse scares his girlfriend away.
A Marine at eighteen, Austin returns home after four years with his PTSD aggravated by nightmares of war. He fears he’ll never have a sex life.
Daniel, a psychiatric technician with a speciality in PTSD, helps Austin readjust to civilian life. Over months of work together, trust grows between them along with an attraction they hide from each other, since Austin is straight and Daniel is gay.
A gifted healer, Daniel believes a sexual relationship between them could harm Austin, though Austin is anxious to learn to touch again. But when their visits are scheduled to end, both men must deeply examine their concerns and untangle their desires for the future.
Excerpt
Austin
I was seven when my dad left for work in the morning and never came back. My sister Julie was six.
It was a bad year, the first truly awful year. Not that the years before had been ideal, with my parents snapping at each other over each little affront, but at least they’d both been part of my life. And with either parent alone, I’d felt like a normal kid. It wasn’t entirely self-deceptive—it was all I knew.
But the day my dad pushed my mom against the wall, cocking back one huge fist to strike her, I ran to push myself between them.
“No, Dad, don’t!” I’d cried.
He’d looked at me, lowered his fist, and never spoke another word to me.
In the morning, he was gone.
At first, the dad-sized hole inside me seemed about to swallow me up. I was sure I’d die like the baby bird I’d found in the yard early that spring. I’d given it water and worms in a shoebox with crumpled toilet paper for warmth, but it wouldn’t eat or drink and grew steadily weaker. When it quit moving altogether, my mother stroked my hair, soothing me in a whisper.
“Its tiny heart quit beating, Tintin. Baby birds are too small to survive without their parents. But you gave it the best care you could. Its death isn’t your fault.”
I buried the bird in the back corner of our Mountlake Terrace yard without fanfare, digging its grave in the frozen ground with icy fingers that held a bent teaspoon. Despite my mother’s insistence that I wasn’t to blame, I knew the truth. I’d failed the bird just as I had failed my father.
A fanboy of books, theater, and cinema and a supporter of the LGBT+ community, Joshua Landon lives in the greenbelt and park-filled community of Lynnwood, Washington not far from Seattle, Edmonds and Everett—a great location to experience the outdoors, music and the arts. He recently authored the three Teach Menovellas, a romance about two young men: a troubled Marine and a talented healer. They will become available for order through Amazon online in multiple countries, releasing between December 23, 2018 and February 2019.
When not writing, Landon enjoys building stage sets, bungee jumping, river rafting, and watching films from all eras. He shares his bookshelf-lined home with a middle-aged tomcat, and his back yard fills seasonally with wild rabbits.
Austin
I was seven when my dad left for work in the morning and never came back. My sister Julie was six.
It was a bad year, the first truly awful year. Not that the years before had been ideal, with my parents snapping at each other over each little affront, but at least they’d both been part of my life. And with either parent alone, I’d felt like a normal kid. It wasn’t entirely self-deceptive—it was all I knew.
But the day my dad pushed my mom against the wall, cocking back one huge fist to strike her, I ran to push myself between them.
“No, Dad, don’t!” I’d cried.
He’d looked at me, lowered his fist, and never spoke another word to me.
In the morning, he was gone.
At first, the dad-sized hole inside me seemed about to swallow me up. I was sure I’d die like the baby bird I’d found in the yard early that spring. I’d given it water and worms in a shoebox with crumpled toilet paper for warmth, but it wouldn’t eat or drink and grew steadily weaker. When it quit moving altogether, my mother stroked my hair, soothing me in a whisper.
“Its tiny heart quit beating, Tintin. Baby birds are too small to survive without their parents. But you gave it the best care you could. Its death isn’t your fault.”
I buried the bird in the back corner of our Mountlake Terrace yard without fanfare, digging its grave in the frozen ground with icy fingers that held a bent teaspoon. Despite my mother’s insistence that I wasn’t to blame, I knew the truth. I’d failed the bird just as I had failed my father.
Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited
About the Author
A fanboy of books, theater, and cinema and a supporter of the LGBT+ community, Joshua Landon lives in the greenbelt and park-filled community of Lynnwood, Washington not far from Seattle, Edmonds and Everett—a great location to experience the outdoors, music and the arts. He recently authored the three Teach Menovellas, a romance about two young men: a troubled Marine and a talented healer. They will become available for order through Amazon online in multiple countries, releasing between December 23, 2018 and February 2019.
When not writing, Landon enjoys building stage sets, bungee jumping, river rafting, and watching films from all eras. He shares his bookshelf-lined home with a middle-aged tomcat, and his back yard fills seasonally with wild rabbits.
Author Links
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My review:
3.25 out of 5 stars
Teach Me to Touch You by Joshua Landon details the
connection that forms between former Marine Austin Hartley and the Mental
Health Technician, Daniel Rayford, who has been tasked with helping him heal.
The two men discover they have much to teach each other, but their relationship
is definitely a work in progress.
This gay romance novella is the first story in the ‘Teach
Me’ series and is unique in that the chapters not only alternate between the
main characters, but also alternate between a third person omniscient to third
person past vs. a first person past point of view. The backstory is detailed
(and heartbreaking for Austin) and those who have triggers should use caution.
I like the way the relationship unfolds gradually, and the patience that Daniel
uses with the sadly traumatized Austin, but I wasn’t happy about his career-changing
decision as it seemed a little extreme. I was also a bit surprised by the
happy-for-now ending which seemed a little abrupt, however, there is a short
excerpt at the end of the story that indicates that more of this unique
relationship will be detailed in the sequel.
A copy of this title was provided to me for review
That sounds like a romance I would enjoy. Thanks for the review.
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