Have you ever felt so alone that your own heartbeat sounds like a
stranger's?

If you've survived abuse but not the shame. If you've endured trauma but still carry
the weight of believing you deserved it. If you've been told you are damaged goods
so many times that you started to believe the lie—this book was written for you.

Love Is in the Eye of the Beholder (Definitive Redux Second Edition) is not a gentle
book. It's the story of Dalesa, a woman who has survived premature birth,
childhood neglect, sexual assault, HIV, and a suicide attempt—only to discover that
the hardest battle is learning to believe she deserves to heal.

Through narrative prose interwoven with 26 spoken word poems—what author R.
Antonio Matta calls a “literary musical”—you're invited into therapy sessions with
Romeo, a counselor who becomes Dalesa's guide through the wreckage of
generational trauma. You'll witness the moment when self-harm turns into self-
inquiry. When despair softens into the quiet rebellion of deciding to stay alive one
more day.

Across 14 unflinching chapters, this collection traces the messy, non-linear path
from self-destruction to self-love. Anchored by the wisdom of Corinthians 13, Matta
redefines love not as romance, but as the radical act of choosing yourself when the
world has taught you not to.

This book speaks directly to:

— Survivors of childhood abuse, neglect, or foster care trauma

— Anyone navigating life with HIV or chronic illness while fighting stigma

— Readers healing from sexual assault or intimate partner violence

— Those in therapy, wondering if transformation is truly possible

— Anyone who has felt invisible, unlovable, or beyond repair

R. Antonio Matta is a trauma-informed peer support counselor, storyteller, and
author of six books exploring mental health recovery. Trained through the Academy
of Peer Services and certified in Person-Centered Counseling, Matta writes from
lived experience—not clinical distance. His work has helped therapists, nonprofits,
and treatment centers translate clinical wisdom into stigma-free, human-centered
content.

You are not too broken to be loved. You are not beyond healing. And you
are not alone.

Love Is in the Eye of the Beholder is waiting to remind you why you're still here-
and why that matters more than you know.

R.Antonio Matta