TJP
Powered by Books.by
TJP
A Novella
by TJP
A devoted boyfriend becomes convinced the only way to protect the woman he loves is to eliminate the man hurting her—but as his plan unfolds, the line between love and control begins to blur.
A psychological thriller about love, control, and the lies we tell ourselves in the name of protection.
Parker James Thomas is the kind of man who believes in doing the right thing. As a fifth-grade teacher, he’s made a life out of caring—for his students, for his dog, for his new girlfriend, Mack. But when he meets Mack’s family, he discovers something he can’t ignore: her mother’s long-term boyfriend, Richard, is cruel, volatile, and dangerous.
At first, Parker only wants to help. He knows the signs of abuse. He’s spent years rescuing others, from his little sister to the children in his classroom. But the more he learns about Richard—and about Mack’s mother’s refusal to leave him—the more Parker’s concern twists into obsession.
When Richard and Mack’s mother suddenly marry, Parker’s protective instincts become something darker. He convinces himself that love requires action, and that peace is something you sometimes have to take by force.
Told through the voice of a man who mistakes devotion for destiny, The Boyfriend’s Burden is an intimate, slow-burn psychological thriller that explores the line between care and control—and the chilling lengths to which love will go when it believes it’s right.
Joined books.by 2 months ago.
TJP is a poet and educator from Plainfield, Illinois. He studies elementary education and ESL at Grand Valley State University. His poetry explores love, loss, grief, identity, and connection, drawing inspiration from personal experience and writers like Sylvia Plath and Edgar Allan Poe. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, Tyler also enjoys reading, playing drums and guitar, and spending time with his girlfriend; dog, Bug; and cat, Siren. As a fiction writer, his work explores grief, guilt, and the quiet horrors that live beneath ordinary moments. His writing focuses on deeply human characters navigating loss, isolation, reflection, and identity. Whether in contemporary realism or psychological horror, his works are most interested in the moments when the familiar turns unsettling.