Teach Me

By: Sloan Johnson

Narrated by: Christopher Rain

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two words stripped Austin Pritchard of the privileged life he was used to. The moment he uttered the words "I'm gay," he realized there is no such thing as unconditional love. Now he's gone from traveling the world with his family to living on the streets, trying to figure out how he's going to stay in school.

A chance opportunity changes everything. Austin impresses the foreman and lands a job, but even more, he catches the eye of David Becker, who is determined to teach him that true love doesn't come with strings.

The only thing David had as a child was love. His family struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. That has driven him to stay focused on his goals, become a tenured professor at a university, and save enough money to build a home of his own. It's not until he sees an insecure college student working on his new house that he realizes he hasn't planned on someone to share his life with. He's about to learn that everything he's already accomplished is nothing compared to the task of making Austin see that he is worthy of love.

©2014 Sloan Johnson (P)2015 Sloan Johnson

Loving Oneself...

This is a tale about learning to see the true you and that sometimes you need a bit of help. David and Austin's story reminds us that overcoming obstacles can happen if you just get out of your own way. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend...

Good Epilogue

First, this book has a satisfying HEA and Epilogue!
The premise of this book originally drew me in, especially since I'm a sap for age gap and hurt/comfort tropes, but I had a hard time getting into this story for a few reasons:
- It was hard for me to connect with and truly root for the MCs. Austin: there's naive and then there's Austin. David: he's 35 going on 65+.
- I feel the development and believability of the relationship would have benefited from having the attraction build from insta-lust or insta-love, but it felt kind of lop-sided with only David having stronger feelings from the start.
- I couldn't invest in all the drama surrounding Casey.
- The narration was closer to dictation than a performance, but I didn't mind it since his enunciation was clear enough for me to listen at 2.5x speed without issue.

worst narration ever

This writing appears to be mediocre, but it is hard to tell because the narration is so very, very poor. There is the usual mispronunciation of words, which I have come to expect, but that is not nearly so irritating as it usually is because this narration is completely devoid of tone, characterization, and expression. It could have been read by computer.

There is no indication that the narrator is actually reading the words in any sequence as the emphasis is often on the wrong word in sentences, and the the pauses between sentences so short, including between the words of two different characters in dialogue, that they are delivered as a long monologue. The listener has to try and retrospectively piece back together what the author might have intended.

There is no attempt to differentiate between the voices/accents of the two main characters, despite being of different generations and from different parts of the USA, and neither of them are given any expression. It's very fortunate the author begins each chapter by telling us the POV, otherwise you would never know.

I can't finish the book, so I don't know how good the story ends up being. This will be the first book I have returned to Audible.

Not really feeling it

The story isnt bad. Its just not really good either. I dont Think this author is for me since i do not Seem to get a feel for his characters. It is just listening to a good story about People that i do not care about. But maybe it is just me - i like the books where the MCs are People u miss when u finish and this one i just missing that "extra" something. Didnt like the narrator either.

Good story but just ok narration

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this story. It was really sweet and I love teacher/student books. It had the potential to be rated higher but the younger MC carried on alot more petulant than a typical 20 year old and that kind of ruined some of the enjoyment in the story. Otherwise it was a sweet read/listen.

I wasn't overly fond of the narrator. He was age appropriate, I'll give him that and his voice wasn't bad. I've heard way worse but he didn't really express any emotion and this was one of a few times I had to adjust the speed to 1.60x. He also didn't change voices between the 2 MCs but he did try with some of the side characters. I didn't hate it but it was just a sub par performance, 3 stars at best.

A young man fallen from grace trying to survive

Austin had everything. A loving family, fancy trips, and college paid for... until he told his family he was gay. his dad took him to the bus with only the clothes n his back, no money, cut off his savings and accounts, took his car, and stopped paying tuition. so Austin is all on his own, He meets a couple of street people that take him in and showtime the ins and outs and how you can legally make some money to survive.
David has had to work for everything he has achieved ad proud of it, He is a professor and building his own home. When he meets the newest hire sparks fly but he feels he is holding secrets. needing nourishing, David sips him food and tries to make sure he has plenty of work.
will their secret crush their budding friendship?
Sloan Johnson writes some of the best character-driven stories, His characters are deep and realistic, and relatable. the story with a bit of angst but spectacular endings.
If you like age gap, professor-student, friends to lovers, good characters, and an allover hot romance you will like his,

The narration was Ok I think with practice and feedback it will improve. his voice is smooth and says to listen to but I like emphasis on character voice and personality

Heart-wrenching and heartwarming

Sloan Johnson blew me away with her writing. This story will make you feel so many different emotions. Austin is a young gay man who is devastated by the way his father treated him. David is an older man who is instantly drawn to Austin. He is kind and allows Austin to set his pace with their romance. This will not be an easy journey and there will be bumps along the way. Austin must learn to love himself and trust again. They will also have to realize that communication is the key to their success. I love the friendship that develops between the street couple and Austin. The epilogue will have the listener smiling.

Christopher Rain did an excellent job of making the listener experience the emotions of these characters, thereby bringing the story to life. He made the story flow smoothly along and captured my attention throughout the entire story. He is an excellent storyteller and made this an enjoyable listening experience. I highly recommend this Audible book.

Trusting in Love

Christopher Rain did a great job with the narration. I was able to hear the age difference between the two MC’s.

I was slightly annoyed with Austin...he kept acting so childish, I don’t know how David put up with him!

Overall the story is about believing you deserve to be loved. That’s something we can all stand to learn.

*I received a free copy of this audiobook*

shattering

This was hard to listen to at times, because of the biases and I empathized with Austin and David. Austin's dad made me sick, because of his vile nature and prejudices. I liked seeing the relationship between Austin and David develop and grow along with trust. Through all the heartbreak the epilogue made it all better for me. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job bringing it to life.

Narration was wooden & stiff; mispronounced words

It was painful to listen to this book. The story was okay, but the narration was wooden and stiff. I had to speed it up to 1.5x to make it somewhat bearable. Words were mispronounced and there was no cadence or flow in the reading. I will not listen to anymore from this narrator, but would read more from the author's kindle unlimited selection.

Good solid story.

Good story, great narration.
First sloane Johnson book, but boy was it good. Will be reading a lot more now.

yummy

this was tasty... so yummy and interesting and sexy.. it was fun and made me smile. i enjoyed the characters and the narrator did a good job. i liked it

Love the story

As with Godsend by the same author, I have read this book a few times and always loved it. While I felt the narrator was appropriately sombre in Godsend, it didn't work well here. Christopher Rain did use a range of voices for secondary characters, but was decidedly monotone for both main characters. I felt quite low at times listening to this rendition, while I didn't when reading the book.

as good as the ebook

The story is always 4 or 5 stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. It took me a little bit, to come into the narrator, but at the end, it worked. I only have to take a few breaks between. I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Great, would recommend for the story.

Story kept me engaged to the end. I wasn't a fan of the performance though.