GUEST POST: Nurture by Jaime Samms & Sarah Masters
Nurture by Jaime Samms & Sarah Masters
No doubt about it, abuse is a difficult thing to read about. It’s difficult to write about, too. Nurture explores abuse within a relationship—extreme abuse—and how two men fight their way through it. Three men if you count the new love interest—four and five men if you count the two friends also in the story. It’s a tale about pulling together, about helping a man see that what he’s suffered is abuse. All right, Paul knows his relationship with Carl isn’t normal, but he needs time to come to terms with that.
We see both sides of the coin, with Carl showing the reader why he’s abusive; how his upbringing and the things his father said to him brought him to where they are today—with Carl expressing his love for Paul in a manner that no one should express. By murdering people to prove how much he cares. His logic is twisted, but to him it makes absolute sense. To Paul, it’s horrific, and he wonders where and when Carl crossed that line. When did he shift from charming and wonderful to wicked and sadistic? Paul learns that it’s possible to feel empathy for a deranged and evil person—and that’s what he struggles with. Emotions and feelings have a habit of swaying our minds and hearts, and although Paul can see exactly what Carl has become, he still holds on to the fact somewhere deep inside that Carl wasn’t always like that.
However, Paul isn’t some whimpering bloke who refuses to see what’s right in front of his face. He can see it—has felt a fist or two connect with it as well—and it’s time to move on. The problem is, Carl isn’t about to let that happen, and rather than let Paul go, or get Paul to run away with him so he can have him all to himself, Carl would rather see Paul in jail than free. At least then he’d know where Paul was. Yes, twisted logic again, but through his eyes a child, we can see how he came to that conclusion—that Paul being incarcerated is better than Paul being free.
There are too many good people on Paul’s side, though, encouraging him, believing him—in him—and Paul’s journey, though as harrowing as Carl’s but in a completely different way, is about to take a different turn. He realises he must put the past behind him—and he must learn to let go. With the help of a police officer (Vic), and Paul’s friends Brian and Lil, he finds the courage to take the first step into a life without restraints. It’s a hard thing to do, walking away from an abuser, but the strength to do so is inside him. The problem is, Carl is stubborn and refuses to set him free.
Nurture isn’t a book everyone will want to read, we know that. But it is one we couldn’t not write. It called to us, and while writing, we wondered where on earth the plot would go next. We were surprised by ourselves on many occasions, and once we’d completed it, felt drained from the intensity of it all. But we’re glad we wrote it. Glad that if someone somewhere reads this book and alarm bells start ringing in their heads, giving them the courage to walk away like Paul, then we’ve done a good thing.
It’s not all doom and gloom. We also wanted to show that new horizons are out there, just waiting and, once a person is ready for it, beautiful things can happen. There’s hope, there’s a light at the end of a long and dark tunnel. There’s nurturing, not torturing.
There’s love.
URL for Nurture: https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/nurture
Jaime Samms Author Bio:
Jaime writes, romance, fantasy, urban fantasy, shifter stories about men, about life, about love. Her work is populated with mostly men, most of whom are into each other, and yes, we do mean into each other. You can find plenty of free reading on her website.
She also reviews for Dark Diva Reviews, mostly the same types of stories, and will happily spout her opinion on the books she reads to her kids, who she home schools. Finally, she’s occasionally gainfully employed. She writes for the love it, and hopes to pass on that love to her readers, her kids, and anyone else who comes along.
Sarah Masters Author Bio:
Sarah Masters is a multi-published author in three pen names writing several genres. She lives with her husband, youngest daughter, and a cat in England. She writes at weekends and is a cover artist/head of art in her day job. In another life she was an editor. Her other pen names are Natalie Dae and Geraldine O’Hara.
Sarah also co-authors with Jaime Samms, and as Natalie Dae she co-authors with Lily Harlem under the name Harlem Dae.