Reviewed by Sammy
TITLE: Teddy’s Truth
SERIES: Out in Austin #1
AUTHOR: K. D. Ellis
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 357 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 12, 2021
BLURB:
Teddy de Luca thought being born in the wrong body was the worst thing that ever happened to him. Then he met Julian…
All Teddy de Luca wants is for his outside to match his inside—so badly that he takes a loan from a Mexican cartel. It’s not like he can borrow the money from his alcoholic mother. She got him into this mess in the first place when she poured his savings into bottles of Jack. He figures he’ll get his operation, pick up a second job, then pay the debt off quickly and put it all behind him. When the cartel raises the stakes, his plan falls apart and he’s left with a mounting debt and no way out.
Ian Romero is a second generation Hispanic-American whose only goal is to live the American dream—finish college, find the perfect partner and settle down. His inappropriate crush on his brother’s best friend isn’t going to stop him. But when his troubled brother becomes another victim of the local cartel, his plans change. He can’t save his brother, but he can get his revenge.
After years apart, Teddy’s and Ian’s paths cross again, neither expecting the passion between them to reignite even hotter than before. Can Ian forgive Teddy’s role in his brother’s death to become the Daddy the younger man needs—or is their relationship destined to fail again?
REVIEW:
Teddy knows two thing for certain, he must continue his transitioning with top surgery as soon as highs school ends in a few short weeks and the crush he has on his best friend’s older brother, Ian, might just be reciprocated. Before any of that is for sure, however, Teddy has to try and get his alcoholic mother to work every day. Plus he is worried for his wealthy but tortured friend, Shiloh who he takes care of when he shows up with bruises and cuts and refuses to discuss how he got them. Shiloh may enjoy all the trappings of being the son of a rich magnate but there is a price he pays that eats away at his soul. Still Teddy has his own share of problems as he watches his mother fall deeper and deeper into the bottle every day. But it’s not until he goes to the bank to ask why his bank card has been denied that he discovers his mother has been slowly draining the money away from the trust fund he was to use for his top surgery and finds out he has nothing left.
Teddy has to have the surgery—he has spent too many years in a body that is not the one he should have been born with and delaying the surgery could mean the doctor refusing to do it in the future. So when his friend, Ian’s brother, introduces him to a “money guy” he signs a contract thinking he will have six months before he needs to start repaying the loan. Little does Teddy realize with the swipe of that pen he will destroy both his future, rope himself to a criminal drug lord and lose the one man he secretly wants to be his “daddy” all in one fell swoop.
K.D. Ellis has begun a new series with the release of Teddy’s Truth and it is quite a story. Spanning several years, the novel watches the slow but sure tragedy that Teddy De Luca’s life becomes. He will endure brutal beatings, along with a particularly frightening incident that will leave him terrified. Along the way he will lose Ian only to have the man reenter his life a few years later and offer a second chance at creating a daddy/boy relationship that both desire. But this time both men are caught up in bringing down the one person who forever changed their lives and left a taste of revenge in Ian’s mouth and the fear of torture or worse in Teddy’s.
The dynamic between Teddy and Ian is delicately accomplished with both wanting the same thing—not a 24/7 daddy/boy set up but definitely one that reaches well beyond just the bedroom. It is such a natural progression for the two of them and it is very well done. I found these two to be utterly believable and their love for each other the greatest spark of light in an otherwise difficult and bleak novel. The story here is compelling but also dark and unfortunately also quite realistic. There is no easy way out for Teddy—he is financially tied to violent scum who will stop at nothing to bring him to heel at a moment’s notice.
I think my only problem with this story was in regard to the enforcer who often came to deliver punishment to Teddy and the way in which things ended in this story concerning the man’s ties to the crime boss. I did appreciate how the man had a bit of a metanoia and changed his ways but it seemed way too simple and much too neat and easy and after such a gritty plot it didn’t really gel with the rest of the novel.
I also find it important to state this novel could potentially be triggering for those who have dealt with past abuse—there are several scenes that are quite graphic and violent and Teddy can be observed taking care of his own bruises and those of his friend Shiloh also appears with them on a recurring basis. Still I will say that most of these scenes are critical to the plot and not dwelled upon longer than is necessary.
Teddy’s Truth is a strong and interesting beginning to a series I look forward to reading. This novel is fast-paced, visceral and emotionally draining but the fine line of romance that flows through this story is really quite lovely.
RATING: 
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