Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Ted of the d’Urbervilles
AUTHOR: Rob Rosen
PUBLISHER: JMS Books LLC
LENGTH: 195 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 18, 2020
BLURB:
Ted is an orphan, a young gay man living on the streets following the death of both his parents. Hope seems futile, though hope is exactly what he finds when a surprising email informs him that an unknown wealthy relative has died, that a reading of a will is soon to occur clear across the country. Ted will inherit something, but what that something is remains to be seen.
Benny is a young, homeless drug addict, straight except for when cash is involved. Benny has never had a reason to be hopeful about anything until a chance encounter with Ted.
Both men are soon traveling together from state to state, making ends meet however they can, rushing to the reading of the will that may or may not change both their lives forever. An unexpected friendship quickly forms, and then just as unexpectedly blossoms into something more as their adventure ultimately leads them to their fates.
At turns darkly funny and tragic, deeply erotic and poignant, Ted of the d’Urbervilles uniquely shines a light on the phrase “Love is Love” — though who they will find it with remains a mystery until the very end.
REVIEW:
This was an odd one for me, really odd. I love the plot of the story but what made everything odd was the ‘friendship’ between Ted and Benny. Benny claims he’s straight and Ted is uber gay, but even though Benny only ever had sex for money, he has no problems doing it with Ted, but he supposed to be straight. It’s just so off. You will have to see for yourself.
The plot of the story itself, I loved. Ted is homeless and an orphan, after losing his parents. And although he’s 23 now, it’s still left his mark. He’s alone in the world and barely hanging on. But when he gets an email from an attorney, he’s really shocked because he may be an heir of a family with his last name. But because he’s homeless, it’s going to be a journey to get there. Along the way, he meets another homeless man his age, named Benny, who’s been on the streets because of his father. And having to use every means necessary to survive. Benny agrees to help Ted get to New York, and what they go through to get there is bad enough. But when they get to the estate, things are changing. They say they love each other, and still sleep together, in more ways than one, and yet both are moving on with others in the mansion. Benny, the surviving heir, and Ted, the butler. And as Ted is discovering the real truth behind the estate and the people in it, some things come to light that are shocking. And it may change things in ways they never thought of.
Like I said in the beginning, the plot of this story was good. Finding out you may be an heir when you have no family and didn’t think you had a link to the people in question. Even more was trying to find out the mystery of what was really going on because someone had the information and was hiding it in order to save the secrets of the estate and all the people in it. It was a good little mystery in that sense. But the relationship with Benny and Ted was what made this book hard for me. I get being lonely and needing someone along the journey of what they were going through. I get being straight but having to use your body to make money. But Ted knew Benny was straight and yet their relationship was often sexual. And they claimed to love each other. Which is fine. You learn to trust and love people who are often in the same situation you are. I don’t know. It just after they got to the mansion, it seemed to get weirder and it just threw off the book for me. The mystery of everything is what made it for me. Other than that, I was having a hard time with it.
See what you think. I hope you all can enjoy it.
RATING: 
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