Darken Not My Soul

“Don’t let his adolescent behavior darken your soul, Mijo. You have the uncanny ability to see the heart of a person, despite your blindness. Randy needs you.”

Adrian Treadwell knows nothing darkens a soul more than losing your sight at nineteen to homophobes. When his family turns him away, after his hospital stay, he’s left with one choice—relocate to New Mexico, and let his friend Mico’s family assist him. With their promises of a new life, the opportunity to relearn his independence, and the potential of making a new friend, Adrian’s future is looking brighter. Once he meets Randy, the possibility they will get along diminishes, as he uses every chance to undermine Adrian’s newfound confidence.

The afternoon Randy Martinez first spies him, Adrian’s dressed in a crop-top, and his jeans are low-cut, barely hanging on his hips, while he dances. He undulates his cut abs like a snake, making Randy’s mouth water. When the music stops, Adrian’s smile has Randy’s heart in his throat. Then, he remembers—he’s not gay. Rejecting all of Adrian’s overtures of friendships, Randy runs with the local gang to keep himself straight.

With Randy on the path to nowhere, and Mico away at school, Adrian fills his time with Braille translations and learning to cope in a sighted world. If he’s lonesome, he keeps it to himself. His world is small, but Mico’s family loves him and has given him a home. It doesn’t seem right asking for more.

Then one year it all came crashing down…

Darken Not My Soul tells how contentious Randy wins the heart of gentle Adrian. Intertwined amid the tragedy of Mico's paralysis, Randy struggles to overcome Adrian's distrust of his motives, his reservations over Randy's youth, and his fear that his disability will burden and steal his future.

Darken Not my Soul complements Love’s Tethered Heart, but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel