REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Taught to Love
AUTHOR: T.J. Masters
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 54 pages
Blurb:
In an effort to help a boy who lost his mother, schoolteacher Rob Cooper offers to tutor him. He doesn’t expect to fall for Sam’s father, Ken Reid. Ken’s grief has led him to bury his needs and emotions in work, but he can’t deny the new feelings Rob awakens. Wanting to see his father happy again, Sam encourages a relationship, leading Rob and Ken to explore a seduction that might become true romance.
Review:
Rob Cooper is a good teacher who gets a little frustrated with parents who can’t be bothered with their children’s education. When he meets Ken Reid, however, he finds that the man isn’t uncaring, just oblivious.
Ken is a man so wrapped up in his own grief over the death of his wife that he is completely unaware of the problem his son Sam is having in school. When it’s brought to his attention by his sons teacher, he does everything he can to help him.
These are two good men who find each other through sad circumstances. Their story is sweet and a little funny and I enjoyed how the author managed to have a slow build-up in so few pages.
I have a bit of a problem with the whole “gay for you’ element going on in the story except for the fact that it almost makes sense here. Ken was so in love with his wife that he could never see another woman in her place but because Rob is a man, it doesn’t feel like he’s replacing her. With Rob it just feels like he’s moving on to something different…not less important or less in love, just a new kind of happiness.
Sam is adorable in his campaign to bring his favorite teacher and his father together and I enjoyed the little moments of them all together being domestic.
Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I usually have an issue with short stories, because there’s not enough time for development, but this story managed to tell the full tell in 39 pages without making me feel cheated at the end.
It’s a happy story with very little angst and a good read for when you’re looking for something to make you smile.
I’ve read Taking the Gardener as well by this author and enjoy his writing style immensely. I’ll be looking for more stories from T.J. Masters in the future.
Rating: 
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