There is a lot to Teddy's Story! just wow.. very heart wrenching in parts.. you just want to reach out and help Teddy become who he really is and escape all the neglect and abuse thrown at him by his family and others. Teddy's journey in this book covers quite a span of his life. Ian his friends older brother is the love of his life.. and there is a second chance romance here as well. This book was very different from most I have read and it is a well written emotional journey with a trans MC! I received an ARC of this book and I recommend for those looking for a dangerous and emotional story!

⚠️Triggers included in this book.⚠️
This is a first read for the author with this book. An okay start to the story as it starts with Theodora's aka Teddy plans to become a man.
Written with both pov's of a freinds to lovers theme.. flirting between friends loan shark deals, illegal drug deals, danger, death of a character.
Time jumps forward and Teddy and Ian re-meet again. A bit of a surprise on how they see each other again.. and the story continues. Urr the story takes a DARK side at chapter 22 and thats where I stop reading. Nope.. A huge trigger for me..

Teddy 18 yrs aka Theodora was born a female but wanted it to be different. Looking after his drunken mother..

Ian 22 yrs lived next door from Teddy, Ian was Pan-sexual.

This was a new to me author and I found the writing style to be very easy to get involved with and the book was written well. There was plenty of drama and the two main characters were likeable. I didn't gel with the story but that was more because I did not read the synopsis properly first and this is one of my less liked tropes, so don't let that portion of my review put you off. There were a few areas of development that I really thought were missing and that was what happened to the other members of la familia after the final showdown at the warehouse and did Teddy ever resolve things with his mother but other than that the book was great.

I liked the concept of this book, a lot. I was a fan of a lot of the themes and the relationship. It was just harder for me to get into this book sometimes, but I really appreciated all of the ideas behind the book.

I received an arc of this book and this is my honest opinion

Wow, this was more emotional than I was expecting! Teddy was assigned female at birth and has always had a crush on the older boy next door, Ian, who also happens to be his friends brother. The first part of this book covers Teddy coping with his alcoholic mother and preparing for surgery as well as Ian’s worry about his brother who has dropped out of school and is spending time with a bad crowd. The second part of this book is set 4 years later and sees Teddy dealing with the aftermath of his earlier decisions and the return of Ian to his home town. I really enjoyed this book, but some parts were a lot darker than I was expecting and there may well be trigger warnings for some people so check before reading if you have concerns. The only downside for me was that it felt slightly to quick at the end and Teddy went through a lot of emotional things but had very little issue after and was quick to be back out and about afterwards almost like nothing happened. There is a minor daddy kink element to this book as well but that isn’t the main focus of the book in my view. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series however this could be read as a stand-alone.

I am still not totally sure what to say about this story, it was good and well written. I just had trouble understanding some of the characters actions at times. Teddy is lucky that he has mostly been accepted by those he cared about even when his mom almost ruined his chances of his surgery. Ian drastically changed the course of his life when his brother was killed. When he finally comes home he finds he still has all the same feelings for Teddy. They both have to learn to open up to move forward.

I received a copy of this book and am giving an honest review