The past never stays buried forever.
John Faimu is an Australian-Samoan police officer who deals with hurt kids every day. He loves what he does, but he’s tired of the grind of shift work, and of trying to find a balance between his job, his family, and the young man who straddles the increasingly blurry line between both.
Caleb Fletcher was the teenager John saved from a cult eight long years … eight long years ago, and he’s now the young man John wants in ways that neither of them should risk.
Eight years after his rescue, Caleb is still struggling with PTSD and self-harm. John has always been his rock, but now Caleb wants more. Can he convince John to cross a line and love him the way they both crave? And when the monsters from Caleb’s past come back seeking to silence him for good, will John’s love be enough to save him?
The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an mm gay romance featuring hurt/comfort, first times, found family, and angst with a happy ending.
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An intense, emotional, and ultimately satisfying story about John Faimu, an Australian-Samoan police officer who finds an abused teenager while on a case investigating a religious cult. From that first moment, Caleb’s spirit sparks something in John. Not just pity, or even compassion, or responsibility, but a deep awareness of the strength of the individual behind the battered exterior.
John has befriended and watched over Caleb and his father, for years now. And as Caleb’s strength and stability have improved, John’s love has become something else. But Caleb still has bad moments, and self-harms, and his PTSD derails him. How can John justify anything other than a platonic friendship, when the deeper waters of a relationship might destroy Caleb if anything goes wrong.
Caleb has other ideas, though. The strength that sustained him locked in a water tank for days, also helps him move forward. He’s doing better, ready to try for more than friendship. But the people who abused him are due to get out on parole, and his hard-won balance may not be solid enough to withstand their release into the world.
This story manages deep emotions without being graphic about the abuse. Brief flashbacks to the day John saved Caleb give us a sense of the devastation they began with. Caleb’s dad made me ache – for the way it feels to want to help your child past a mental health problem and to be unable to shield or heal them. John’s mother is a warm though sometimes demanding presence in his life, and his family issues with his sister add texture to the story.
I loved that this ends with happiness, but not with total healing and perfection. You can be broken and patched together and still shaky, and yet find love and moments of joy
This one is really good. I fell in love with John’s version of falling in love, and the setting and diversity and family and so on only made that better. And I’m not going to take away from my rating for the one thing that didn’t work for me, but I will note it; the title, that parable, seemed too simple compared to the story itself. I suppose it’s the Christian angle one is suppose to assign to it, considering who abused Caleb, but… I don’t know. That part didn’t work for me.
But everything else did. Really good story.
Poignant and lovely, The Parable of the Mustard Seed is a book about the deep agony that exists in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Lisa Henry has a gorgeous and exquisite writing style that flows seamlessly from page to page, but make no mistake: this is not a light subject. There is angst and sorrow, feelings of helplessness and despair, and yet, the book never falls into true misery because underneath all the anguish there is an ever present and ever enduring sense of love and hope. John Faimu’s love for Caleb is strong and steady – even in the darkest moments that love never falters. That love is what pulls the reader out of despair and makes the book beautiful.
“John’s heart ached for how much he loved this: just a warm, safe moment when Caleb was sleep-rumpled and happy, and Cricket’s tail thumped on the kitchen floor. Screw the big moments; the fireworks and the end credits. John wanted a lifetime made up of tiny moments like these…”
For eight years, Caleb has been healing from the trauma of being kidnapped and nearly killed by the cult his mother forced him into. For eight years, John and Caleb have loved each other silently. For eight years, the people responsible for hurting Caleb have been in prison. But now, after eight years, things are changing. People are out of prison, skeletons have appeared, and love is no longer silent.
I loved every moment of this book. From the angst to the happy ending, and all the drama and action in between. The ending was lovely, but I still did not want to say goodbye to the characters. I highly recommend this book.
I absolutely loved John. He was such an incredible man, so giving, despite being emotionally pulled thin and jaded. He might have had broad samoan shoulders, but sometimes the heaviness of guilt and helplessness seemed to drag him down. I was so sorry to see him disheartened by not not being able to do enough at work, for his family and especially for Caleb.
His feelings for the younger, broken man were precious. A love so strong and complete, never supposed to evolve into a romantic relationship, because John was afraid to hurt Caleb’s already fragile mental health. And I cheered so much when Caleb showed everyone that, yes, he might of been fragile, but he was also the strongest. Strong in knowing his feelings and what he wanted…the man he wanted…in the face of his limitations, flashbacks and many problems.
Let me tell you, Lisa Henry didn’t spare any punches with Caleb’s problems and other pretty sensitive subjects. She did it with care and realism, emphasizing their impact on everyone’s lives. And maybe this book has been a lot about the ugliness of human nature, about frailties and weaknesses, but it was mainly about the beauty of courage, hope and love. A true emotional wringer, that has had me invested from page one up until the end. I loved the characters, loved their stories and I can’t recommend this book enough.
Sometimes stories can take a personal turn. This one certainly did for me.
Mental health issues are frequently used as plot devices. Sometimes authors handle the subject well. Lisa Henry handled the subject skillfully and gracefully. I wish more people understood this subject as well as she obviously does. I hope everyone who reads this book gains a better understanding of the challenges faced by people who deal with issues like Caleb’s. They truly are the strongest people.
The characters and the setting were beautifully constructed. I feel like I had a looking glass that showed me John’s world. The way his mother’s home was described left me in tears because it reminded me what life was like growing up in a crowded home full of siblings.
The story had a good resolution, but a part of me is reluctant to think this story is over. I really loved the characters. I would enjoy exploring this vibrant world just a little bit more.
I also enjoyed the narration, and I will certainly look for more books narrated by Glen Lloyd.
An extraordinary story! Reading it was something special, in this story you’ll find John a police officer who works for the Child Protection department. Eight years ago, at twenty-three, his life collided with Caleb’s, a boy of fifteen years, heavily abused, neglected and almost dead.
Throughout this read, we get to know his incredible story.
Caleb trusts John and now eight years later he wants more with John. John loves Caleb for a long time but will never risk breaking the heart and friendship of this fragile but oh so strong man, the strongest man John ever met.
“It was his spirit he fell in love with first. All of the rest came later.”
In retrospect, we get to look into this story, from the very beginning until now. It’s more than enough to digest. What Caleb went through in his life can’t be described with words, the hurt, the torture, there are no words, only silence, and tears.
Caleb was always something special to John, from the very first moment John felt something special for Caleb.
Caleb is always on his mind. Together with Darren, Caleb’s father, they take care of Caleb, as family, not as a job, never as a job.
He can’t risk breaking Caleb’s heart, it’s too fragile, too precious. Instead, he let his own tender heart break many times over the years.
“I love him, and I want him, and I know he wants me too, but we can’t. We can’t.”
After all the horror of the past and the struggling of the present you’d think that was it, I thought it was, but no, there is more. I had trouble getting through this because it’s so hard. So you sit, read and be stunned.
John’s beautiful words in his Samoan language was stunning, I heard and felt them.
“Ou te alofa ia te oe.”
“manamea”
Gosh what an impressive story, not an easy one, but the kind, thoughtful way of writing made up to the content.
Heartbreaking moments, tender-hearted, affectionately moments. There is also humor, sweet, silly, warm humor.
Their connection is so strong and John’s love unconditional, Caleb will always come first.
A special shout out to Darren because he showed what fatherly love is all about.
Queensland, Australia and her natives as main scenery were special, very special!
I think the author did a marvelous job with this story, the balance between almost too much and just the right weight was so well done. It could have been a completely other experience without all the care that was given to the story. The cruelty was tough and hard to digest, but Caleb’s strength and the unconditional love present was the best of the best.
I’m floored and out of words. Highly recommended!