The TA I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About: A forbidden MM college romance full of tension, queer angst, and slow-burn desire

by Mikel Vale

I was supposed to ignore him.
I was supposed to keep my head down, pass the class, and definitely not fall for the gorgeous, soft-voiced TA who looks at me like I’m something he shouldn’t touch.

Adrian Hale is calm, brilliant, breathtaking… and completely off-limits.
I’m the anxious disaster who stumbles into tutoring sessions I don’t actually need just to hear him say my name again.

But the more he helps me, the more lines blur.
The more his voice softens.
The more his touch lingers.

One moment changes everything—
a kiss we almost had,
a night we shouldn’t have shared,
and the promise of something neither of us knows how to hold.

This isn’t a simple crush.

It’s longing.
It’s heat.
It’s the boy I pretend not to want…
even though he’s the one who ruins me.

Perfect for fans of slow-burn MM romance, forbidden crushes, chaotic pining, and steamy tension.

82 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 3, 2025

Reviews

[Syd · Rating 4 out of 5]

*sobbing* that was so cute 😭 although if I had to read “his breath hitched” one more time, I was going to lose it ahaha