“My name is Isabel Cruz, and I’m nineteen years old, almost twenty. I go to Lincoln University where I’m majoring in English. I’m a straight-A student, and I know what I’m doing with my life, but things weren’t always that way. Or rather, I’ve always known what I wanted, and it just hasn’t always gone along with society’s views. In high school, I had an affair with my swim coach. I wanted him, and I took what I wanted. We were together until I graduated, but he had a wife and kids, and I left him behind to come here. I left everything behind to come here. At least that’s what I thought.”
Isabel was never like the other girls at her school in the sleepy town of Hillside, California. At sixteen she fell in love with Tom, a married swim coach at Royal Oaks High School; their exhilarating and sultry affair continuing in secret for several years. Finally, Isabel realized that her own future had to come first, but even after relocating to Washington, D.C. to study at Lincoln University, she finds herself still wracked by guilt over jeopardizing the happiness and security of Tom’s young family. Now almost in her twenties and desperate to start a new chapter in her life, free from past controversies, Isabel will once again find that her beauty and precociousness will captivate another older man, this time a professor at her university. Confronted by this burgeoning affair, Isabel realizes just how deeply she still loves Tom and, in spite of the disapproval of her hometown community, her feelings become too strong to deny.
When Isabel returns to Hillside, reunited with Tom, she feels herself falling for him all over again, only this time with the tantalizing promise that things could really work out for them, especially since she is no longer the naive teen she used to be. But all is not as it seems; Isabel begins to hear rumors about Tom’s involvement with other girls at Royal Oaks High. Quickly this salacious gossip leaks to the local media and the authorities begin to investigate the claims. Only then does the true gravity of Isabel’s misguided choices begin to profoundly affect those around her and threaten to derail her life completely.
Tainted Love is the thrilling follow up to Sweetest Taboo by Eva Marquez, and rejoins Isabel Cruz as she tries to put her complex and forbidden romance with Tom behind her. Written from the perspectives of both Isabel and Tom, the irrational and desperate love they share is brought to vivid life by Marquez. Inspired by the conviction of one of her former high school teachers for sexual misconduct with a minor, it addresses a poignant modern taboo, one that is becoming increasingly common in the US, with unnerving insight and precision. Tainted Love is a must read for young adults, their parents and all fans of romantic fiction.
My Review
5 of 5 Tainted Love
Tainted Love is the follow up story of Tom and Isabel. This on was such a heart wrenching book for me to read because Isabel graduated high school and moved on to college. She was now a young adult and no longer had to hide her feelings for Tom. But she was going away to college and was not sure if there relationship would survive and Tom let me just tell you he infuriated me at times because he knew things were wrong from the beginning but he could not help himself. He allowed himself to fall in love with Isabel and have a relationship. Well now four years later Isabel is leaving him and starting a new life in college and he is not happy.
Isabel is excited to be moving on and getting to start college. She meets some awesome people there and she starts to live her life. She is finally living a care free life with no lies or rumors and she does not have to hide who she is or who she is with. But old habits die hard as they say and Isabel misses Tom really badly. She is not used to not seeing him everyday. Whether it was at swim practice or in school she saw him and at college she is surrounded by other people. This adjustment is taking it's toll on her so when break comes and she gets to go home she is excited. She is dying to see Tom.
When she gets home she and Tom start to see each other again and things just get complicated from there because Isabel starts to hear rumors that tom is seeing other younger girls just like he did with her. At first she is not sure what to believe but as things unfold Isabel will learn the truth about Tom and his ways and what she finds out and goes through will rock Isabel to the core. Has Tom been lying all this time to her? Has Tom always been like this? Is Tom with someone else? What about his family? His children?
Once again I was torn by this book because it has so many things going on but the fact of the matter is Tom is still a teacher and he has crossed some serious lines here. Has he always been like this or was it a one time thing? Isabel will have to face some harsh and cold realities and she herself will start a relationship with a professor at her college. What will happen to Tom and Isabel in the end.........
Isabel Cruz was fifteen years old when she met Tom Stevens. She was 15 when they started dating, and 16 when she lost her virginity to him. By the time she turned 18 and went to college, everything had fallen apart.
This hadn’t been an ordinary love, though. Not a love between two dear friends, or even high school sweethearts. This had been the most taboo sort of love there was: a relationship between a student and her teacher. Isabel started her high school career as a normal student, but set her sights on Tom Stevens as soon as she met him, and pursued him with an intense – and sometimes reckless – fascination. When he finally approached her after swim practice and told her that he shared her feelings, it was the start of a forbidden and dangerous relationship.
Join Isabel as she makes her way through this dark love story, hiding from teachers, lying to her parents, and defying the authorities to make a life with the man she loves. Watch as she discovers the wonders of love and romance, and the terrible betrayal of jealous friends. And cry with her when she learns the hard truth about life and the people in her world.
Sweetest Taboo is inspired by the true and tragic stories of students who fall in love with their teachers, and live with the hard truths of forbidden romances. In a world full of after-school specials on sexual predators, this touching book seeks a different path, casting both student and teacher in a gentle light, and showing that true love may lie at the base of even the most illicit romance.
My Review
5 of 5 Sweetest Taboo
First I want to start by saying this review is JUST my opinion and my opinion alone. Yes some of the content in this book is very controversial.I personally LOVED this book. First off I have to say that student and teacher relationships are just a part of life. I am not sure why this is happening but all over students are falling in love with their teachers. There have been so many news reports on this and no matter what the consequences are the relationships are still happening. Is it scary hell yes but love is such a crazy emotion that no one can describe it to it's core.
Isabel Cruz is in high school and she sees a teacher named Tom Stevens. For her it is love at first sight and she peruses him like no ones business. It does not matter to her that he is a teacher and that he is married with children. She sets her eyes on tom and she does not stop until she has him.Isabel is willing to give Tom any and everything she has and at first tom fights her off but he soon finds himself liking her and wanting to be with her.
Tom knows he should stay clear of Isabel but he is not the one chasing her. In fact she is chasing him and making it harder for him to resist. Yes she is a child but feelings are feelings and quite frankly you can't control feelings. Yes you can try and ignore them but what good does that do. As Tom and Isabel merge into the danger zone which for me was when they both crossed the line they could not return from which is when they became intimate with each other I was afraid for them because once they crossed that line they had to lie and hide and that just gets complicated. Isabel was determined to have her man and at any cost. It did not matter to her about family or friends or the authority. They both lied to keep the relationship going. But in the end will they stay together or will they be separated?
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, daughter of European immigrants, Eva Márquez has spent most of her life outside of her home country. At the age of five, Eva accompanied her parents to the United States, where the family settled permanently. After graduating from university, she went on to complete graduate studies in International Relations in Spain. Eva received her Master of International Studies degree from the University of Sydney and went on to work in the global health field in Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Eva currently resides in Southern Africa.
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