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Tea and Empathy #1
His to Hold
Love can be found when you least expect it ... if you take a leap of faith.
Cole Gallagher never intended to date an empath. Empaths bond for life, and they like to keep their bonded anchor happy, which is more responsibility and power over another person than anyone ought to have. Despite his lack of interest in being an anchor, Cole gets talked into meeting a coworker's empath cousin, and he genuinely likes the man.
Aiden is everything Cole wants in a charismatic, witty, cute, and a lot of fun. The catch is that he only has a few months to find an anchor, so Cole faces pressure to quickly make a lifelong commitment. When Aiden is kidnapped, Cole has to decide whether he will let his fears win and walk away, or take a chance on love.
Cole Gallagher never intended to date an empath. Empaths bond for life, and they like to keep their bonded anchor happy, which is more responsibility and power over another person than anyone ought to have. Despite his lack of interest in being an anchor, Cole gets talked into meeting a coworker's empath cousin, and he genuinely likes the man.
Aiden is everything Cole wants in a charismatic, witty, cute, and a lot of fun. The catch is that he only has a few months to find an anchor, so Cole faces pressure to quickly make a lifelong commitment. When Aiden is kidnapped, Cole has to decide whether he will let his fears win and walk away, or take a chance on love.
- GenresM M Romance
97 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 21, 2018
4 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Jessie Pinkham
15 books12 followersJessie writes M/M romance and loves a rich fictional universe as much as a good happy ending. Her published works include the novel Survivors and the Tea and Empathy series, and her work has been included in anthologies by Evernight Publishing and JMS Books.
She's usually writing more than one new book at a time, and frequently rushing out at the last minute because she got lost in her own fictional world.
She's usually writing more than one new book at a time, and frequently rushing out at the last minute because she got lost in her own fictional world.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 19, 2018
here’s just no heat between them and when the sex does happen it comes across as forced. The fantasy scene with Aiden is so freaking awkward. The action with the kidnapping and its resolve is great! The story itself about Empaths and how they need an anchor to not go crazy is really interesting. It’s a unique twist in the scifi genre.
FULL REVIEW - http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/reviews/...
FULL REVIEW - http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/reviews/...
April 12, 2018
A Joyfully Jay review.
3.75 stars
This book reads a lot like classic science-fiction with the story being more of an exploration of life with and as an empath rather than a story about an empath. The characters personalities, and the romance, take a back seat to the philosophical and ethical implications of mental and bodily autonomy, as well as the reality of taking responsibility for another person who, once bonded to you, will be unable to either leave you or displease you. There is so much world building that the characters suffer for it, but the ideas behind the stories are successful and interesting enough to hold my attention.
We see the story, and Aiden, through Cole’s eyes. He’s a junior architect on the planet of Tusna — with it’s eight day weeks — and happy enough with his life. He likes his older sister, has little to do with his older brother, and gets along with his parents. He likes swimming and is a nice, decent person. Unfortunately he reads a little like Prince Charming, so good and noble that he doesn’t have room to be a person. Even when he’s angry, it’s a noble anger. He has no real dislikes, no actual opinions; he likes pretty much everything and is willing to like pretty much everyone. It’s another reason the book reminds me of older sci-fi; the main character always tended to be an “I-guy” so that the reader could put more of themselves into the story. It’s not a bad choice, but it’s a slightly bland one.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
3.75 stars
This book reads a lot like classic science-fiction with the story being more of an exploration of life with and as an empath rather than a story about an empath. The characters personalities, and the romance, take a back seat to the philosophical and ethical implications of mental and bodily autonomy, as well as the reality of taking responsibility for another person who, once bonded to you, will be unable to either leave you or displease you. There is so much world building that the characters suffer for it, but the ideas behind the stories are successful and interesting enough to hold my attention.
We see the story, and Aiden, through Cole’s eyes. He’s a junior architect on the planet of Tusna — with it’s eight day weeks — and happy enough with his life. He likes his older sister, has little to do with his older brother, and gets along with his parents. He likes swimming and is a nice, decent person. Unfortunately he reads a little like Prince Charming, so good and noble that he doesn’t have room to be a person. Even when he’s angry, it’s a noble anger. He has no real dislikes, no actual opinions; he likes pretty much everything and is willing to like pretty much everyone. It’s another reason the book reminds me of older sci-fi; the main character always tended to be an “I-guy” so that the reader could put more of themselves into the story. It’s not a bad choice, but it’s a slightly bland one.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
March 11, 2018
1.5 stars - The concept was a good one, but the delivery fell short to me. I felt kind of disassociated from the characters, and that the story was a bit boring.
March 9, 2018
What an interesting premise! I'm really enjoying this book, but then I'm a sucker for both sci-fi and m/m :D
It's also interesting in mirroring of human rights throughout history. In this future world where humans have populated the stars, empaths started out as test tube creations with no rights who bonded to an 'anchor'. They were tools, much like drones, human tools to be used by politicians and the unscrupulous because when an empath bonded to an anchor they became so invested in the anchor that they would do anything to please them. And humans are nasty and brutish and more than willing to take advantage of that so there was a huge black market to buy and sell empaths for all sorts of things, including as sex slaves.
But as those first generations of empaths had children and the genetic trait was passed on and eventually, humanity was forced to recognize that empaths were human beings with autonomy and not just a tool to be used.
This book starts with an interesting debate on the practice of 'buying' an empath between the main character, Cole, and his friend who happens to be from a wealthy family. The friend's sister is shopping around for an empath, a practice Cole finds disgusting. The friend, being the black sheep of a wealthy industrial family, finds his family's attitude amoral as well. The conversation ends and Cole thinks nothing of it... until approached by another co-worker who overheard the conversation for a private discussion.
The co-worker has a cousin who is an empath in need of an anchor and he wants to find his cousin a _good_ anchor. The very fact that Cole was disgusted by the behavior and had no desire to be an anchor was what brought him to the man's attention. Out of courtesy Cole agrees to meet the cousin, Aiden, and finds himself falling for the other man _despite_ him being an empath, not because he was; and the attraction is mutual. But Aiden is on a timeline. He has to bond to an anchor with months or go mad.
The couple slowly falling for each other, Cole always aware of the ever-looming timeline. He spends his time away from Aiden pondering the weighty responsibility of becoming an anchor but an unscrupulous friend of a friend causes that timeline to speed up drastically when Aiden is kidnapped and an injected with a drug meant to force an empath into bonding prematurely.
It is only when he receives the news that Aiden has been kidnapped that Cole realizes all his worry and self-doubt was unnecessary. He was in love with Aiden, empathy and all. Now he can only hope he gets the chance to tell him.
It was a well-written and thoughtfully thought out book. I love how the rights of empaths mirrored struggles of previous generations - the emancipation of women, the end of slavery and the struggles of segregation. I will definitely be reading book 2!
It's also interesting in mirroring of human rights throughout history. In this future world where humans have populated the stars, empaths started out as test tube creations with no rights who bonded to an 'anchor'. They were tools, much like drones, human tools to be used by politicians and the unscrupulous because when an empath bonded to an anchor they became so invested in the anchor that they would do anything to please them. And humans are nasty and brutish and more than willing to take advantage of that so there was a huge black market to buy and sell empaths for all sorts of things, including as sex slaves.
But as those first generations of empaths had children and the genetic trait was passed on and eventually, humanity was forced to recognize that empaths were human beings with autonomy and not just a tool to be used.
This book starts with an interesting debate on the practice of 'buying' an empath between the main character, Cole, and his friend who happens to be from a wealthy family. The friend's sister is shopping around for an empath, a practice Cole finds disgusting. The friend, being the black sheep of a wealthy industrial family, finds his family's attitude amoral as well. The conversation ends and Cole thinks nothing of it... until approached by another co-worker who overheard the conversation for a private discussion.
The co-worker has a cousin who is an empath in need of an anchor and he wants to find his cousin a _good_ anchor. The very fact that Cole was disgusted by the behavior and had no desire to be an anchor was what brought him to the man's attention. Out of courtesy Cole agrees to meet the cousin, Aiden, and finds himself falling for the other man _despite_ him being an empath, not because he was; and the attraction is mutual. But Aiden is on a timeline. He has to bond to an anchor with months or go mad.
The couple slowly falling for each other, Cole always aware of the ever-looming timeline. He spends his time away from Aiden pondering the weighty responsibility of becoming an anchor but an unscrupulous friend of a friend causes that timeline to speed up drastically when Aiden is kidnapped and an injected with a drug meant to force an empath into bonding prematurely.
It is only when he receives the news that Aiden has been kidnapped that Cole realizes all his worry and self-doubt was unnecessary. He was in love with Aiden, empathy and all. Now he can only hope he gets the chance to tell him.
It was a well-written and thoughtfully thought out book. I love how the rights of empaths mirrored struggles of previous generations - the emancipation of women, the end of slavery and the struggles of segregation. I will definitely be reading book 2!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2018
This is the first book in The Tea and Empathy Series. A spellbinding book the writing was great. The plot was entertaining and it was steady throughout the book. I found the story and characters intriguing. I loved this story I just wish that is was longer. The characters were developed and thought out. Aiden and Cole are the MC’s of this book. There was humor, Empath, Anchors, an eclipse, traveling, kidnapping, Geology, graduation, family, snorkeling and so much more in this book. My only problem with this book was the bonding it felt like an afterthought.
Here is a quote from the book, “Is it easy to tell what emotions are other people’s?” “Yes, now. It wasn’t for the first six months or so, which you can imagine was a challenging time.” “And it’s only one way.” “Yes. I’m not entirely convinced that projecting empaths even exist. They might be an urban legend, because I’ve never come across any solid evidence for that ability, nor anyone in the empath community who was a projecting empath.”. There is more but you will need to read the book which I can highly recommend. I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.
Here is a quote from the book, “Is it easy to tell what emotions are other people’s?” “Yes, now. It wasn’t for the first six months or so, which you can imagine was a challenging time.” “And it’s only one way.” “Yes. I’m not entirely convinced that projecting empaths even exist. They might be an urban legend, because I’ve never come across any solid evidence for that ability, nor anyone in the empath community who was a projecting empath.”. There is more but you will need to read the book which I can highly recommend. I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.
March 5, 2018
I enjoyed this book and the concept was really intriguing however I do feel that it could have been fleshed out a lot more which would have made it a more enjoyable read overall. The story focused a bit too much on the main characters to the exclusion of all else and I think that it would have been nice to have had a bit more interaction with the others characters such as his co-worked Gabe.
I really liked the idea of empaths and how they bonded to someone as their anchor to keep them sane, but I just wanted a bit more, the main character Cole just seems a bit too good to be true and a bit too much of a nice guy, I like Aiden the empath a lot more as he felt more real.
Overall though it is a well-written and enjoyable book, I would have liked it a bit longer in reading length as it felt a bit too short for me.
I was kindly given an ARC by the author to review (thank-you!)
I really liked the idea of empaths and how they bonded to someone as their anchor to keep them sane, but I just wanted a bit more, the main character Cole just seems a bit too good to be true and a bit too much of a nice guy, I like Aiden the empath a lot more as he felt more real.
Overall though it is a well-written and enjoyable book, I would have liked it a bit longer in reading length as it felt a bit too short for me.
I was kindly given an ARC by the author to review (thank-you!)
February 25, 2018
This is an intriguing and entertaining story that I really enjoyed. It is well-written and the world building is excellent. In this world empaths have to be careful who they bond with as they could easily be mistreated by their anchors. Aiden's family are trying to help him find the perfect anchor before time runs out for him. Cole hates how empaths are treated and has never considered being an anchor until he is asked by a co-worker to meet Aiden. They both have to decide what they want and take the time to get to know each other. The secondary characters add a lot of depth to the story and I hope we see Gabe again. There was a lot packed into this book and I loved the ending. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
I was given an ARC to review by the author.
I was given an ARC to review by the author.
August 6, 2018
A sweet quick read – with a feel good story. In a world where this message should be the norm, all wrapped up in a SciFi.
Cole is a good man, with the genuine concern for people and how the emphatic community is treated. Talked into meeting an empath, Aiden who needs an anchor very soon, Cole decides it wouldn’t hurt anything to meet him and talk to him. When one meeting turns into a series of dates, Cole can’t deny that he’s falling in love with Aiden. But when Aiden is kidnapped, is Cole too late to save him?
This book is short, so I won’t get into more, but it’s a sweet story of two people finding love where they least expect it and the message in this story just has me hoping that I will live long enough to see it come true. Reviewed by Cyrene
Cole is a good man, with the genuine concern for people and how the emphatic community is treated. Talked into meeting an empath, Aiden who needs an anchor very soon, Cole decides it wouldn’t hurt anything to meet him and talk to him. When one meeting turns into a series of dates, Cole can’t deny that he’s falling in love with Aiden. But when Aiden is kidnapped, is Cole too late to save him?
This book is short, so I won’t get into more, but it’s a sweet story of two people finding love where they least expect it and the message in this story just has me hoping that I will live long enough to see it come true. Reviewed by Cyrene
March 7, 2018
This is an enjoyable story that kept me entertained throughout. The author does a really good job of explaining this world and the different people in it, such as empaths and anchors. Cole has never wanted to be an anchor for an empath, that is until he meets Aiden, an empath. They are attracted to each other and get along very well, but Aiden doesn't have much time to find an anchor and Cole isn't sure that he can be that anchor.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
March 12, 2018
i've never read anything by Jessie Pinkham before, but I'm hooked now! omg this book was amazing. well written, great characters, fun story. i loved cole and aiden! i hope there is more of them in book 2. def would recommend.
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May 10, 2018DNF. Neat srory idea. Boring writing. Flat MCs.
March 6, 2018
This book has an interesting take on empaths and the role they have in society. Instead of using it for their own gain or evil, empaths were initially an experiment that are now a part of society. Though only just getting a law passed that they have rights and its illegal to use or buy one for your own gain. To succeed in life, they need an anchor. One person for them to focus on and partner with for life.
Cole is an architect and gets asked by a colleague to meet his cousin, Aiden. Having never thought about being an anchor he's very unsure but upon meeting cannot deny the spark he feels towards the man.
I love the idea of an anchor for life for an empath, helping them to cope with all the emotions they feel. The story is well told, going along at an even pace. We meet secondary characters on both sides providing backstory and support to the MC's. It's nice to see the relationship evolving and Cole taking his time to decide, not just diving head first.
The world the book is set in sounds lush! Technologically advanced but still with the beauty of nature, though this is another planet so who knows what earth is like.
This is my first from this author but I'll definitely look out for others by her and would recommend this book!
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
Cole is an architect and gets asked by a colleague to meet his cousin, Aiden. Having never thought about being an anchor he's very unsure but upon meeting cannot deny the spark he feels towards the man.
I love the idea of an anchor for life for an empath, helping them to cope with all the emotions they feel. The story is well told, going along at an even pace. We meet secondary characters on both sides providing backstory and support to the MC's. It's nice to see the relationship evolving and Cole taking his time to decide, not just diving head first.
The world the book is set in sounds lush! Technologically advanced but still with the beauty of nature, though this is another planet so who knows what earth is like.
This is my first from this author but I'll definitely look out for others by her and would recommend this book!
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews