Author Guest Post with Phoenix Blackwood: The Love that Binds Us

From the outside, Alex has a perfect life.

Welcome to the April 6th stop on the blog tour for The Love that Binds Us by Phoenix Blackwood with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

I’d like to take a bit to talk about Theo and Alex’s relationship. It’s a relationship I was very careful to show healthy communication and boundaries in. Of course, they’re teenagers, one with a severely traumatic history and another with her own string of unhealthy relationships behind her, so they’re going to make mistakes. Mistakes are inevitable in relationships, no one’s going to be perfect all the time. The best people can do is apologize and move forward, holding themselves accountable for their actions and doing their best not to make the same mistakes again.

We have Theo, who’s almost certainly never seen a healthy relationship in their entire life. They’re thrown between dysfunctional foster homes until they finally land with Monica, who is a single mother. Theo has no idea what a healthy relationship looks like. They fell absolutely head over heels for Alex, and they hold her on a pedestal of their perfect person. This is a lot of pressure for Alex, and Theo doesn’t realize they’re putting that on her.

And then Alex, who is a chronic people-pleaser. She wants to make everyone around her happy, and that includes Theo. She’s very sensitive to their emotions, an empath, which is exhausting for her because Theo has such big feelings all the time. She shrinks herself to make room for these feelings, often not telling Theo what her needs are or how she’s feeling. She loves them beyond words, and adores being around them, but sometimes she needs her own space to recharge, whether that’s going out with friends or taking some space away from them. She’s an extrovert through and through, the complete opposite to Theo’s introvert.

This recipe has the makings of disaster, if it weren’t for one thing: communication. Theo has a very difficult time communicating everything they need – something they’re not used to doing – but Alex is good at pulling it out of them. Alex almost communicates too much to make up for that gap. It’s the silent cues from Theo that she has to pick up on, their body language, their facial expressions. Talking isn’t their strong suit, but they’ll do it with her. She’s one of the only people they’re able to do this with. While Alex can often hide her emotions and needs in order to make room for Theo’s, she’s able to communicate with Theo when she really needs something.

Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes, things fall apart despite people’s best efforts. But, in this case, the relationship is a saving grace for both of them. They’re each other’s safety nets, each other’s home. No one can rip that away from them, and while neither of them have the best examples to live by, they can push on and become their own examples, their own leaders. They’re mighty apart, and even stronger together.

About the Book

The Love that Binds Us
by Phoenix Blackwood

Published 4 April 2023
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC

Genre: LGBTQIA+ Coming of Age
Page Count: 248
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

From the outside, Alex has a perfect life. She has a partner who loves her, gets good grades in school, excels at most sports, and has a big heart. From the inside, Alex’s life is anything but perfect. She hasn’t spoken to her father in years. She’s hiding the fact that her once-best-friend now-romantic-partner Theo is trans and nonbinary from her homophobic mother. Bullies are harassing her and Theo at school, taunting and shoving. It’s all becoming too much for Alex to bear.

Things take a surprising turn when Alex’s mother discovers her relationship with Theo. After Alex is thrown out of her house and taken in by Theo’s foster family, Alex can live honestly. For a while, things start to feel manageable. Alex finds a new group of friends. She navigates what “family” means beyond her mother and sister. She even considers forgiving her mother’s past mistakes. But forgiveness requires honesty. Secrets Alex’s mother has been keeping are surfacing, trying to bind Alex to misery. As Alex learns the full truth of her mother’s past mistakes, she will need the love of her chosen family and friends to gently bind her life into a shape that keeps her whole.

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Excerpt

I sat on my bed and pulled Theo down to my level, kissing them on the forehead. They sat down with me and kissed me on the lips until they were leaning over me and my hands were wrapped around the back of their neck, pulling them closer. They were so soft, always so tender. I focused all my attention on the kiss, so much so that I didn’t hear the small squeak of my door opening. Theo pulled away suddenly, jarring me and forcing me to look in the direction of their gaze.

Leah had opened the door. She stood there with her mouth open, her face frozen in wonder and confusion. She’d known Theo since we’d become friends, I bet she had never imagined finding us kissing when she opened my door.

Theo and I looked at each other in horror. The secret was out, how were we going to get her to keep quiet? We should’ve been more careful. We’d gotten too comfortable.

I signed for Leah to come sit between us on the bed. My face got hot as she sat and tears brimmed in my eyes. My mom could never, ever find out – Leah knowing was so dangerous.  She looked up at me with wide eyes and signed, “Boyfriend?”

Theo must’ve seen the panic rising up in me, because they took over. They gently rested one hand on her shoulder to get her attention and then explained, “We love each other. I’m not a boy, but I’m still her partner. I’m like a boyfriend, just minus the boy part.”

Walking through the threshold of Theo’s house was like a weight lifting off my shoulders, all the tension of home and school falling away. This was what home was supposed to feel like. I flopped down on the couch and Theo joined me a couple minutes later with two mugs of tea, handing me one. I leaned into them as they wrapped an arm around my shoulders after turning the television on to the latest show we’d been binging. This felt so safe, so calm. A feeling I rarely got in my own home. Always on edge, an internal dissonance telling me that I wasn’t good enough. Here, I was everything I was supposed to be.

We watched television until Seth–Theo’s brother–made his way down the stairs and started rummaging through the kitchen to start dinner. The house was quickly filled with smells that made my mouth water – meat searing in a pan, vegetables being chopped, pasta water boiling. I sat in the scents until I couldn’t take it any longer and my stomach growled, causing me to get up and make my way into the kitchen.

Seth shot me a sly smile. “Probably another ten minutes.”

I pouted, staring at the food and willing it to cook faster.

About the Author

Born and raised in New England, Phoenix has always been a creative – whether it’s painting or writing. From a very young age, Phoenix has envisioned and created characters, writing them into existence and exploring them through visual arts. Having graduated to first-time short story author, Phoenix is embarking on a journey towards novel writing as they finally bring characters they’ve known for years into the world. Phoenix is neurodiverse and intersex and hopes to bring more representation to both topics with their writing. They believe in creating relatable characters that people can find themselves in and empathize with.

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Giveaway Alert!

Phoenix Blackwood will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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