New Releases

Book Blurb

Forty-eight-year-old Ben Thompson has always found comfort in stories. A devoted librarian, a passionate booklover, and a man still grieving the loss of his longtime partner, Ben has resigned himself to a quiet, solitary life among the shelves.

Then Jason Barnes walks into the library.

Beautiful, guarded, and impossibly young, nineteen-year-old Jason visits almost every day, lingering among the books he never borrows. Intrigued by the sadness behind Jason’s shy smile, Ben reaches out with gentle patience and unexpected kindness. Slowly, Jason begins to trust him, revealing the painful truth about the life he left behind — years of abuse, rejection from his family for being gay, and the heartbreaking secret that, despite loving books, he has never learned to read.

Determined to help, Ben offers to teach him.

As lessons turn into long conversations and quiet evenings together, an undeniable connection begins to bloom between them. Jason discovers safety, tenderness, and the chance to dream of a future for the first time in his life, while Ben finds his guarded heart opening once more to love. Yet Ben cannot silence the doubts that haunt him: Jason is young, beautiful, and only just beginning to discover himself. Could someone like Jason ever truly want a man like him?

Surrounded by the warmth of the close-knit library staff and strengthened by Jason’s growing confidence, the two men discover that some love stories begin not with grand gestures, but with patience, trust, and the turning of a page.

 

 

First edition published at Dreamspinner Press, September 2016.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Publisher	Independently Published
Length	Novel, 265 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	19-June-2026
Price	$5.99 ebook, $12.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3RCLP3Q