Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: The Sex Coach
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
PUBLISHER: Fox Love Press
LENGTH: 256 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 8, 2020
BLURB:
The teacher and the student. The stable hand and the single dad. First times and friendship turn to love.
Toby
There’s nothing attractive about a twenty-four year old virgin, especially not one who blushes every time a hot dude looks his way. But I can’t help the heat that ripples through me every time I see Cole Maguire. And the clench of my heart when I realise how unhappy he is. He’s a city boy with a baby on his hip—we have nothing in common—but if he can teach me how to own my sexuality, perhaps I can teach him he’s worth loving.
Cole
I don’t like horses. But I love my daughter, and there’s nothing I won’t do for her, including leaving the city for life on a farm. I’m ready for that, but I’m not ready for blushing stable hands who make my heart race and my blood run hot. Toby has no idea how beautiful he is. I can teach him that, if he can handle the heat, but after one night with him…damn.
Maybe it’s me that has a lot to learn.
REVIEW:
I’ve never lived through a kiss like that, one that went on for days after it was over. I was legitimately changed by it. And I couldn’t get him out of my mind.
Is this Garrett Leigh? Where’s all the angst? The Sex Coach is much lighter fare than Ms. Leigh’s usual, and I love it! It’s a sweet and sensual story, and I truly welcomed this lower angst book during these distressing real-life times. I need to take a moment to acknowledge the cover, which first drew me to the book. The model exudes the perfect combination of sexiness, innocence, and vulnerability to represent Toby perfectly. And those lips!
What’s to love about The Sex Coach:
- Being back on Whisper Farm
- Toby, sweet, sweet Toby
- Cole, longing for something he doesn’t even recognize
- The connection between these two men
What’s not to love:
The Sex Coach is set entirely on Whisper Farm and in the town of Newquay in Cornwall. It’s not, but it feels like it could be a continuation of the Skin series; Joe and Harry are ever-present and Rhys and Angelo come and go. It was wonderful sitting around the big kitchen table with these sexy men again. Leigh does such a wonderful job – as she does in all her books – of creating a world in rich detail. I could really sink into the narrative, imagining the sound of the surf, feeling the cool sea air on my skin, getting cozy in the back of the VW, walking through the grass barefoot, and stroking the horses in the stable.
Toby first appeared as a minor character – a teenage stable boy – in Whisper, book two of Skins. He was sent to the farm by his homophobic father to work and make a man out of himself (little did he know the farm was operated by gay men). Toby’s a darling young man, now twenty-four, so devoted to Joe and Harry and the beloved horses he works with. He’s an endearing character, sweet and conscientious. Toby is bisexual but completely inexperienced with men and he becomes shy and flustered in their company. Cole recognizes his innocence and endeavors to help Toby become more comfortable in his own skin.
Cole is a friend of Harry’s and is relocating from London to work as the pilates instructor in Harry’s clinic. He is a hippy through and through, but he’s harboring significant anxiety having completely uprooted his life, and he feels vulnerable as a new dad to eight-month-old Ella, the result of a one-night stand. Toby intuitively picks up on Cole’s anxiety and wants to be there for him, but Cole doesn’t make it easy.
He was the first person in years – perhaps ever – to listen without me having to speak.
So, on to the instruction. From the title, I expected the book to begin with a more clinical arrangement made between two men who didn’t initially have an emotional connection. But I was pleasantly surprised with how many feels were to be found in this book. Toby and Cole have the wisps of a friendship stirring, with a thread of an emotional undercurrent between them before agreeing on the coaching agreement. It’s not just about sex, either. Cole teaches Toby how to be comfortable around men – not just in bed – and instills self-confidence. The Sex Coach could be called The Sensuality Coach from the way Cole approaches it: helping Toby know his body, and teaching him to be comfortable together naked, tracing his body with his fingertips. They go slow, at Toby’s pace, since he’s not quite ready for The Big Stuff yet. It’s a delicious slow burn. And it’s sexy AF. In the meantime, they become invaluable friends to each other and they come to an impasse over whether it’s worth risking their blossoming friendship by continuing the sexual relationship. They both want more but they’re hesitant and neither knows how to verbalize their desires. But they work it out and the sweet ending is, of course, a happy one eight months in the future.
The Sex Coach is a light and easy read, full of warm fuzzies and wonderful characters, primary and secondary alike. Although there are a number of past characters included here, this is a complete standalone and you won’t feel left in the dark if you haven’t read the Skins series or are new to this author. You can’t go wrong with this one. I highly recommend it.
RATING: 
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