REVIEWED by Cindy
TITLE: Teaching Ben
SERIES: Dreamspun Desires
AUTHOR: Shae Connor
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 170 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2018
BLURB:
Learning to love means a study in patience.
Fresh out of the military, Ben Cooper is ready for a new start. He’s away from his domineering father, making his own choices… and out of the closet. On his first day of college, he meets David Powell, who’s just the kind of gorgeous man Ben’s dreamed of. Too bad he’s the teaching assistant—which makes him off-limits in Ben’s eyes.
David is Ben’s age, but his life has taken a different path. He’s close with his family, who helped him deal with personal struggles after he came out. And while he’s staying away from any hint of scandal, Ben’s a kind of temptation he hasn’t faced in years. If only they’d met on more equal footing.
As the semester progresses and their lives become more entwined, keeping their relationship platonic becomes more difficult. They just have to hold out until the end of the semester….
REVIEW:
I’ve been a big fan of Shae Connor for a long time, right from the beginning of her career, so of course I jumped at the chance to review this story and I’m so glad I did.
Ben Cooper is a man who’s moving on to the next part of his life after leaving the military and going to school is a part of that. Ben is a man whose spent most of his life having someone else make all his decisions for him but now it’s all up to him.
He’s a good man who’s finally becoming comfortable with who he is and I love how much of his growth we get to see throughout this story.
David Powell is starting over in his own way, and escaping from his own past. Like most of us he’s made some pretty terrible choices, but he’s finally to the point where he can forgive himself and start to build something good with the support of his awesome family.
I loved seeing these two guys come together. They found what they needed in each other and it was a beautiful thing to see.
David’s sister Hope is a fun addition to this story. She’s a shining light in David’s life and you can’t help but adore her as much as her brother does.
This is a slow burn story, as David and Ben are trying to do the right thing, for themselves and for each other, but the anticipation makes them coming together all the sweeter. It took me a few chapters to really get into it, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.
There’s not a lot of angst and for once I’m okay with that. The ups and downs they experience are the kind of things that life tends to bring all of us from time to time. I’ve always believed that the big crisis’ are easier to deal with than the constant daily issues we sometimes suffer from. You deal with a crisis and it’s over and you can move on. But when things are poking at you day after day, the tension just seems to grow and grow.
I love this author’s style. Her characters are honest and very real and I had no problems connecting with either of them. I happily went on the journey they took me on.
I’d give this an 9 out of 10 on the steamy scale and I love that she made me giggle a few times during the sex scenes.
All in all, I loved this story and have no problem recommending it to everyone.
RATING: 
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