Review: The Sex Coach by Garrett Leigh

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.

Tender, not too angsty, and no major drama - it’s the lighter side of Garrett Leigh!

This book is a spin-off of the Skins series. I thought the book worked fine as a stand-alone, but I probably missed some nuances in the relationships of the side characters. Regardless, I didn’t feel that I was missing anything major.

‘The Sex Coach’ follows Toby, the jack-of-all-trades at horse sanctuary/health retreat Whisper Farm and 24-year-old virgin, and Cole, new physiotherapist and father of a baby girl.

From the moment the two meet, they both feel an undeniable attraction. But it’s not one they act on immediately - Toby’s nervous about sex, and Cole has to put his daughter first.

I absolutely adored Toby. He’s a complete sweetheart - a bit shy and awkward, and so kind and just nice. And he loves animals. Yes, my heart did go aflutter a few times!

Cole was a bit more difficult to connect to. His approach to life (and to Toby, at times) was often quite...mopey. And I just didn’t really get why that was.

Garrett Leigh often writes troubled men, but their backgrounds are fleshed out and understandable. In this case, I never understood why Cole felt the way he did.

That being said, I liked how devoted Cole was to his daughter. 10/10 for good co-parenting.

I also loved how patient Cole was with Toby. He respected Toby’s boundaries, and made sure that whatever they tried was on Toby’s terms.

And was it ever some hot sexual discovery! These two take to experimenting pretty enthusiastically.

The emotional connection grows gradually. Toby and Cole start off as friends, then friends with benefits, and eventually they’re falling for each other.

Though they do have to work through some hangups, it was never too dramatic.

The best part of Cole and Toby’s relationship was how simple their feelings for each other were - just some wholesome heart eyes and boners. Entirely wholesome!

Overall, this was a fairly easy and enjoyable read, if not necessarily a grand romance. If you’re looking for an MM romance set on a farm by the Cornwall coast, give ‘The Sex Coach’ a try.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Valet and The Stable Groom by Katherine Marlowe

Hardworking and ambitious, Clement Adair has his career planned out: a steady rise from a mere personal valet to the head butler of a grand noble house. When a new baby causes a split in his employer’s estate, Clement is packed off to the country where he has little hope of ever advancing his station. Clement plans to resign and return to London as soon as possible, even though it means leaving his friends, his endearingly silly employer, and the charming and kind stable groom who has made overtures of friendship... and perhaps more.

The longer Clement stays, the more complicated leaving becomes, as the estate's economic circumstances grow dire and Clement feels like he is the only one holding the household together. Somehow, impossibly, he must reconcile the future he's determined to bring to pass and the life he didn't know he wanted. Clean romance, no cheating, no cliffhangers, standalone novel.

This was a clean-romance and feel-good read. Yes, with fade-to-black scenes.

Strangely enough, I didn’t care. The love story is cute and adorable. The kind of “May I kiss you?” before daring with further actions.

What I liked the most, however, is the country life. Or, better said, Clement’s change of lifestyle when his employer’s older brother decides it’s no longer acceptable to be all living under the same roof in the house in London, as he has just secured his male heir with his newborn. That’s how Clement’s masters are “exiled” to a cottage close to the Welsh border, with all that it implies.

Clement is a conscientious valet, but full of ambitions. He hopes to become the butler of an important house one day. The prospect of moving to the country shatters his plans. He sees how his goals slip through his fingers, and he ponders resigning in order to come back to London to achieve them.

But once they reach their destiny, there is always something that has to be done. Let’s see to the employers to get settled. Let’s see to Hildebert Devereux, his master, to find a new hobby. Let’s see to his master make acquantainces worthy of his social class. Let’s see to the maintainance of the household with an apathetic butler and to reach its self-sufficiency after the new acquisitions in people and expenses.

Let’s see to that stable groom with the nicest smile he had ever seen.

Hugo is the (only) stable groom, but he also trains dogs and has some notions of herding. Since the very beginning, Clement feels a pull towards him and is anxious in his presence, wanting to become his friend and not let him down. But that’s easier said than done, as his innumerable duties and his poor abilities to lead a conversation keep him from forming a strong bond with him.

The longer he stays, the harder it is to leave. Clement simply can’t stand the idea of his master getting hurt/killed in his varied attempts not to get bored. His master is rather eccentric and with a plain lack of self-preservation. Every time Hildebert sets his mind into doing something, Clement is there trying to give sense to (or to fix or distract from) his scandalous ideas, which gave me plenty of occasions to laugh out loud and pity poor Clement and his anxiety at Hildebert’s wardrobe to get stained or his reputation of a gentleman being called into question. Whether Hildebert performs his silly actions or not, Clement’s voice of reason is always there discouraging in the kindest of ways, or negotiating for a safer option when there is no way around it.

Hildebert’s wife, Jane, is more sensible and mature, but that doesn’t mean she’s not capable of mischief. In the company of her maid (and also Clement’s friend), Letty, she tests Clement’s patience more than once.

Clement’s decisions lead him to take more and more responsibilities, and soon he is so overwhelmed he neglects Hugo’s interest. And he can’t have that.

The first aspect that drew my attention was Clement’s appearance. He’s described with “dark brown hands” and “a blush that cannot be seen with this skin color”. I don’t remember the last time I read a proper historical British book with a character of African descent, if ever. I was really curious about his origins and his family history, but we were only been told they are from Wales. I was surprised to know his mother was an actress, for once.

I got the feeling the homophobic sense was erased from this book. It’s not that the MCs are obvious about it in front of everybody. In fact they try to control themselves and not show any public display of affection. But when Clement talks with Letty about his feelings, there is no rejection. I guess this alternative reality is even cuter because of that.

Anyway, the book was subtle in every sense of the word. Nothing was strikingly noticable. There was a certain balance in it all, written in a very good taste and with a great sense of humor.

This is an amusing M/M Regency tale. In the rigid English society, there are indeed multiple chances to lose the stiff and find outlandish and memorable tales to tell. At least in this book.

A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

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