Quillon's Covert by Joseph Lance Tonlet & Louis Stevens

Quillon’s Covert by Joseph Lance Tonlet & Louis Stevens

Pages: 186

Date: December 25^th, 2015

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Martin is a guy’s guy, one who enjoys the simple things in life: baseball games with his son, family days, barbecues, and date nights with his lovely wife.

Once a year for two weeks, Martin takes his son, Marty, to Quillon’s Covert, a rustic family cabin secluded in the beautiful California mountains. Since before those long days of learning to play ball, Marty has loved his dad, but as Marty matures, Martin starts to see something else settle in his son’s uncertain gaze. What’s there lingers a little more than it should, and it seems far more appraising than it once was.

As Marty shows every sign of taking the lead, Martin is faced with the tough choices most parents never see: lose his son by being a father, or try to balance what’s best for their relationship by being something… more.

But with another trip to Quillon’s Covert on the horizon, has the point of no return already begun?”

My thoughts:

To deal with that huge purple elephant in the room first; yes, you read the blurb right, this is indeed the story about an incestuous relationship between a father and his son.

Now that you’ve recuperated from the shock, please let go of all your preconceived ideas about what that might mean for the story. Where you might expect darkness you’ll find only light, where you search for perversity you find a deep, profound and honest love.

I fell in love with this story and the two men in it from the first paragraph. The gentle pace in which this story is told makes the changing relationship between Martin and Marty feel natural. I fully expected to at least be shocked while reading this book but I can’t say I even raised my eyebrows once. Marty’s slow realisation that he is not only gay but also in love with his father takes time. In fact, that’s what makes this story so beautiful and believable; everything takes time. Nothing happens until it has been thought through and talked about. Both Marty and Martin are fully aware of how unconventional their feelings and relationship are and it takes them years to grow from acceptance with what they’re doing to finding true comfort in it.

Marty is fourteen when he first realises he is attracted to his dad. When he’s seventeen he expresses his wish to take their relationship further, beyond the close father-son bond they have, and it isn’t until a year later that Martin is on the same page. There is no discomfort while reading this story because it is the son seducing his father, rather than the other way around and because Martin waits until Marty is officially off-age before granting his son’s wish. The intimacy only exists for the two weeks they spend alone at Quinllon’s Covert; the rest of the year they are like every other father and son and have fulfilling relationships with their individual, if oblivious, partners.

“Tomorrow, life would once again come at them full force, but right now, they had the entire night ahead of them. They had each other, and they had this. No matter what life did, it couldn’t take this away.”

This story worked for me because it describes a love beyond anything we’re used to and does so in a guilt free way, while always acknowledging the exceptional nature of it. I’m in awe of what these two authors managed to achieve; they turned what should have been a shocking read into one of the most beautiful and touching love stories I’ve read all year. This book will be added to my ‘extra special’ list and has secured its own corner in my heart.

If you can’t image enjoying a story about a father and son learning to love each other beyond what society approves off, I urge you to stay away from this book. However, if even a tiny part of you is curious about this dynamic, or how it can work on the page, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. This is a sweet, wonderful, sexy and touching story that will pull at your heartstrings in the best possible way.

“Tonight they were father and son, they were friends, they were brothers and soul mates, and they were lovers.”

Buy links:

E-Book: PayHip:           Smashwords:               Barnes & Noble 

Paperback: Create Space:       Amazon