What Authors are Reading: Joseph Lance Tonlet on the Don't... Series

Bestselling Amazon author of Grif's Toy, Joseph Lance Tonlet, stopped by Bike Book Reviews a few days ago to discuss his favourite series, and I was completely floored to hear that Mr. Tonlet chose my Don't... series.

To have one as a favoutire is something, but the series as a whole... *blushes*. So this is just to say a huge thanks to Mr. Tonlet and, of course, his kind words.

There's a snippet below, but if you'd like to have a look at the full post, it can be found here: What Who Writes is Reading Joseph Lance Tonlet Bike Book Reviews.

"Jack’s writing is brave in its honesty, refreshing in its unflinching nature, and bold in its intensity."

                                                             JLT on the Don't... series
 

Amazon Link

Prism Book Alliance Recommended Read: Broken Ink

REALLY, REALLY chuffed to hear the lovely ladies over at Prism Book Alliance have given Broken Ink a place in their December Recommend reads! A huge thanks to Caroline! And Brandilyn for taking my work on!!! These badges *polishes the Prism one on the left* and recs are such a pleasure to get!! For those even slightly wicked and curious, there's one or two tiny extracts from Broken Ink below!

 

Blurb: 

Carrying a tattoo on your skin no longer just comes with a risk of infection. Get the composition right, you have the latest mind-control drug on the market. It’s the sex-traders’ dream, or worst nightmare, depending on the concentrated dose of the ink—and just who’s wearing it.

For Kiyen, the ink means he’s able to strip raw the minds of the best and worst of society. He’s one of MI7’s top killers and never more driven to select and take down a target. For Falen, the ink has ensured he’s spent his early years as a willing sex slave and low-grade empath. Hiding out in a small town and trying to bury the needs running through his body, Fal’s hoping to stay under the radar of MI7 and their specialist killers. But the ink itself has a mind of its own, wanting to ignite the natural dynamics driving a Dom and sub, so when Kiyen is forced into Fal’s small world, prejudice battles a pure need to touch. Only problem is: Kiyen’s on the run, and in a world where thought can be the worst crime of all, Fal’s in for a fight for his sanity to find out just what it is that’s making a young killer run for his life. (M/M)

Available at all good distribution sites, plus here: Broken Ink

 

Sinfully Sexy May Hot Picks: Don't... & Antidote

May Hot Picks

The gorgeous ladies and gent over at Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews have very kindly chosen Don't... and Antidote as  May Hot Picks, and my novels are there, sittig among some very excellent authors and novels (so huge humbled blushes).

This is just a huge thanks to Monique, Macky, Mark, and Tina over at Sinfully Sexy!

Thank you!!! (Hope you don't my borrowing of your picture!)

His_ M/M Romance Download links for Free Novella

Just a quick update: my contribution to the M/M Group's Love's Landscapes:  His  is now available for free download from their main distribution site: M/M Romance Group: His, by Jack L. Pyke

There's Mobi, PDF, and ePub formats available

There's also a whole host of other authors on there supporting this M/M Goodreads Dear-Author challenge, certainly enough to keep me busy for a few months anyway. :)

Just a reminder that it's contemporary BDSM, novella length, and the dear author letter itself is being used for the blurb. :)

Released on Goodreads: His (free BDSM novella for Loves Landscapes)

This year's Dear-Author challenge is in full swing over on the M/M Goodreads group, with a host of authors supplying hours of gorgeous free m/m reading material.

Among a few other releases today, my contribution this year: His, is out in the wild too.  At first, it's just available Here through the M/M group itself (you'll need to join in order to read it). But in a week's time, it will be free to download from the m/m goodread's publishing site. (I'll update with with links as they come in.)

Being BDSM contemporary, it comes with a high on kink (and kidnap) level.

I don't have a blurb this year, as full credit should go to Kim Alan, the lovely lady who provided the prompt and (damn tempting) photo. And to use her words:

Dear Author,

He offers such a pure, unfettered submission to the man strong enough to tame him; he’s the best thing that ever happened to this powerful (read: spoiled) Dom. Still... even the best of Doms aren’t infallible, and this one almost lost his beautiful boy. He straightened his head out quickly enough, but by then his boy wasn’t quite so forgiving. If his stubborn sub is so damn resistant to reason, drastic measures are called for… right? What choice does a desperate Dom have but to resort to a tiny bit of kidnapping, and a wee touch of restraint and, well… I’ll let the author decide what else it’ll take to get them to their HEA.

Please no cheating or third parties, and a HEA is a must. Beyond that, author, push our boundaries as far as you dare. And yes, you may take that as a challenge.
 
*****

Yes it plays with kidnap, yes I will stop kidnapping guys and doing wicked things to them one of these days, and yes -- it doesn't play by the rules. But then life rarely does, let alone fiction.

Cover Reveal: His, by Jack L. Pyke (Explicit Imagery also contained)

Oh-kay... It's that time of the year where the M/M Goodreads' group event comes alive: the Don't Read in the Closet, where all works produced will be free -- and that makes for one huge supply of free m/m reading material from some of my favourite authors.

The basics of the challenge is... a reader chooses a photo and writes a Dear Author letter in order to prompt an author to write the story. After that, a bunch of authors run around shouting 'claim' -- it gets savage, lol!

This year the event itself is titled Love's Landscapes, and I managed to fall on such a gorgeous letter and photo prompt (both are below)

First off, the title of my free novella couldn't be simpler:

                             His

And that be the cover up there. (A huge -- huge thank you here to Elena Giorgi for my cover art!!). It's full-on M/M BDSM contemporary erotic romance, with a little (okay -- a lot) of psych-play.

Kim Alan is the lovely author/reader who supplied the letter and photo that I managed to claim, and if you're interested, both are coming up below for you to have a look at and see where this particular story will be going -- (be warned, though,  EXPLICIT IMAGERY below).


Letter:

Dear Author,

He offers such a pure, unfettered submission to the man strong enough to tame him; he’s the best thing that ever happened to this powerful (read: spoiled) Dom. Still... even the best of Doms aren’t infallible, and this one almost lost his beautiful boy. He straightened his head out quickly enough, but by then his boy wasn’t quite so forgiving. If his stubborn sub is so damn resistant to reason, drastic measures are called for… right? What choice does a desperate Dom have but to resort to a tiny bit of kidnapping, and a wee touch of restraint and, well… I’ll let the author decide what else it’ll take to get them to their HEA.

Please no cheating or third parties, and a HEA is a must. Beyond that, author, push our boundaries as far as you dare. And yes, you may take that as a challenge.

And the photo itself that prompted the letter... oh man... I fell in love with it. It's the boots -- the boots next to those shackles!! That and a fully sated Dom holding his utterly exhausted sub...

The release of His comes in June(ish), along with loads of other free stories from the M/M Goodreads Group. They'll go to the group itself first, then will be available from the M/M Romance Group publishing site (plus the likes of Smashwords etc).

New Release for J.A. Jaken: Consort (The House of Silence, Volume 3)

Consort Buy Link

It's a new release for J.A. Jaken and the 3rd volume of The House of Silence trilogy, the Consort. With strong gothic suspense, it's also following true BDSM thrills and spills fashion.

Consort:

On the surface, the business of the infamous House of Silence is obvious enough, but its carefully cultivated veneer of political neutrality is threatened when a lover from Master Charon’s youth arrives with an urgent message from the queen, prompting jealousy from Reiji and putting the whole house on edge.

The House’s unique resources are called upon to investigate one of the local cabals which is overstepping its bounds, snatching up disproportionate amounts of territory and capital beyond its domain. When Tam goes missing, Charon and the boys are caught up in a web of intrigue, peril, and sensuality that may end up costing them their lives.

Title: Consort
Genre: M/M Gothic Suspence BDSM
Length: Novel
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction
Buy Link: Fantastic Fiction, 
Series: The House of Silence

Author Website: J.A. Jaken

And for a little teaser:

“Good morning, Reiji.” Charon turned toward him and favored him with a smile of his own; Reiji contented himself with the fact that this was one of the honest ones, too. “How was your night last night?”
      “Busy.” Reiji shrugged. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” His gaze moved to the stranger standing patiently at Charon’s side. “Who’s this?”
       The stranger’s eyebrow rose at his bluntness, but Charon answered him easily enough. “Forgive me. This is Lord Trenton Devereaux; he’s visiting us from the Siscaline Province. Trent, this is one of my senior boys and one of my most valued employees, Reiji Kendo.”
      “A pleasure to meet you, young man,” Devereaux said, inclining his head slightly. The deliberate courtesy toward someone of the working class—much less toward a whore—made Reiji’s raised hackles settle down slightly.
      “Likewise, I’m sure.” He couldn’t quite keep the twist of sarcasm out of his voice. He glanced at Charon, wondering again what the connection between the two of them was. Charon’s casual use of the nickname “Trent” snagged like a burr in the back of his mind.
    Charon sighed so discreetly that Reiji almost missed it. “Lord Devereaux is an old friend, Reiji. We knew each other years ago, before I ever came to the House of Silence.”
      Reiji’s eyes widened. Before Charon came to the House of Silence meant before he had packed his bags and turned his back on the capital, which meant that Trenton Devereaux had known him before he became “Charon Marque” at all. His gaze shifted to look at Devereaux with renewed interest.
         Reiji was one of only a handful of boys in the House of Silence who knew that Charon was actually a member of the royal family. If Charon had had his way, he would have kept that information a secret all the way to his grave, but events had transpired against them and he’d been forced to turn to his family for help while dealing with the aggressive and underhanded tactics of Lord Darwin Montgomery the previous winter. Like the others, Reiji had vowed to keep the secret for him.    Not because Charon was his boss, not because Charon held significant and undeniable power over each of them, not because Reiji owed the man his home and his life and whatever scraps of happiness he’d managed to carve out for himself here—but simply because Charon was Charon, and Reiji never could keep himself from doing anything the man asked of him.
    “Old school chums?” Reiji guessed, trying to banish the image of a preadolescent Charon toddling around the playground at school.
      Devereaux’s mouth curved in a smile. Unlike Charon’s, Reiji wasn’t quite sure how to read this one. “Something like that,” he said evenly.
       “I’ve invited Lord Devereaux to stay with us for a short while,” Charon said. “I hope you’ll extend him every courtesy for the duration of his stay.”
        Meaning if the man wanted to fuck him, Reiji was supposed to give him all the benefits of a paying client. That could be kind of interesting, actually; Reiji was dying to talk to him and find out more about the pre-House-of-Silence Charon.
        Devereaux glanced at Charon. “I believe you were planning to show me that intriguing indoor garden you were telling me about?”
      “Yes, of course.” Charon gave Reiji another small smile and gestured for Devereaux to precede him down the hall. “It’s right this way.”
       Before leaving, Devereaux turned toward Reiji one last time. “Mr. Kendo, it was truly an honor to meet you. It’s satisfying to know that Charon has such loyal employees looking out for him here.”
        “Someone has to,” Reiji retorted, uneasy with the man’s direct and—as far as he could tell—sincere gratitude. Just how close was he to Charon? He watched without moving as the two of them walked away.

BDSM Week: Guest Post at Boys in our Books

Guest Author Post at BioB

The lovely ladies over at Boys In Our Books are hosting a BDSM Week over on their reviewing blog this week. Today I'm guest posting and going over my first BDSM experience! Scary.

*Chuckles*  Okay, it's my first BDSM reading experience, but it's still scary, okay.

There's a host of other author guest posts taking place this week, including the gorgeous Lynn Kelling, Lisa Henry. Kim Dare, JP Barnaby and so many more authors who delve into BDSM authorship.

Be great to see you over there to see what everyone's talking about.

For those interested, here's the link to Boys in our Books.

Review: From Temptation by Lynn Kelling

             

     “Sometimes I want to do the wrong thing.”

                                                                  

Dark.

   

Intense.

                  

Beautiful.

This novel, where the hell do I start? It took my heart and soul, threaded it so intricately through a tiny needle, and used everything that I am to spell out oh, so, very, slowly:

      The one bad place, the only one “BAD place”— is your mind.

Deliver Us. From Temptation. It’s not hard to make the connection between Kelling’s first novel, and her sequel. What is hard hitting is everything that comes between covers and back pages.

So, where the hell to start? It has to be Kyle. Kyle. Oh my sweet, sexy sub, someone who just purrs his way over the pages and curls up for petting in just the right way. He’s a clever sub, a manipulative sub, one who manages to bring his Dom to his knees every time—and boy does his Dom know it—and let him. Hard as nails Ben Knox, who only ever wanted a body to break, has fallen head and heart for his sub. But Kyle holds a secret, one that’s making Kyle scurry into the darkness of his own mind, forcing Ben to cry frustration and chase right in there after him in the only way he knows how: Dominance, pain and a submission from Kyle, which only breaks Kyle down further.
 
                               “Sometimes I want to do the wrong thing.”

Darrek. Oh Darrek. What the hell happened to you, baby? From the last book to this one? My lovable giant, Gabe’s lover, Gabe’s protector despite Gabe being your Dom—best friend to Kyle, yet light opposition to Ben Knox. Darrek’s usually so sweetly wrapped up in his feelings for Gabe, nothing matters but the peace and security of the people around him. Only Kyle’s acting strange, and it’s starting to get to Darrek. Kyle’s there, broken, huddled in the corner, hiding  from the world, yet at the same time—he’s scurrying, itching at the inside of Darrek’s mind, stirring bad things—and dark, dark… places.

                    "Sometimes I want to do the wrong thing."

Caught in the middle? Gabe. Oh babydoll, you don’t know what the hell you’ve set in motion, do you? Cautious in heart, all scars open—a hard Dom who only ever touched, never allowed to touch, until Darrek takes his mind, body, and soul and keeps it held so gently in those giant hands of his. Knowing Ben’s terrorised Kyle to breaking, Gabe steps in with the cool but sensitive hand to take care of Kyle, as Kyle’s Dom. Only he’s missing the secret—all the signs. Completely unaware of the psychological pressure that’s building from so close to home, through his need to protect and care for Kyle, he’s unwittingly threatening his relationship, his safety—and every part of his own sanity.

    “Sometimes I want to do the wrong thing.”

And back to Ben Knox. The surprise: one of the hardest Doms—the LAST one to step back and offer a reprieve. Christ. By the end of all this? I friggin loved him. All his:

   My love, my soul—my ability to try and make you all whole: fucking test it, Kyle. 

I’m staying here right by you.

                                                                     
                                                             ***

This book, this book dragged me to dark, dark places. One person’s actions acted like a bowling pin to everyone else, and their actions helped define all the characters around him. Even when in Gabe’s life, this was about Kyle, this was about Darrek, this was about Ben, this was about Trace, this was about Micah. Everything was just intricately interwoven, all tied together by a secret—one that tears open the mind and exposes all dark faults, dark needs, and darkest desires. And all just to help glimpse how people try and stay sane as they stagger away from, or back into, their darkest impulses.

Does it make you crumple? Yes. Does it make you want to hide from what’s happening on page, even though you can’t look away? Yes. But in a way that goes to explaining part of the novel:  you’re compelled to follow and not to let go, and that’s the gut-wrencher. You understand Kyle’s relationship with Dare on a deep level, how compelled he his to follow, to “love”, how his own psychology has conditioned him to seek out Dare’s own darkness and ignite it. And how Dare then, in turn, ignites Gabe’s.

I read this in just over twenty-four hours; it gripped me that much. It’s so complex — so heartbreakingly complex — yet there’s a lot of strength and recognition of loving souls for what they are. It makes you want to jump into the page and grab everyone into a hold, or hit certain people, at times. I’m still up in the air with how I feel about Dare, about how safe Gabe is. Just so many emotions that I need resolved. Like — now. *Coughs loud enough hopefully for Ms. Kelling to hear, then grins* “You got the “now” bit, right?”

But overall, just such a stunning a read.




Title: From Temptation
Author: Lynn Kelling
Genre: BDSM Gay Erotic Romance

Link to Author's work: From Temptation by Lynn Kelling

(Disclaimer: I have a shared-world project Ms. Kelling in our next novels. But as it stands, I have had no input into this story or its characters. I'm not officially rating this novel as our relationship for these projects is now underway.)

Review: Above the Dungeon by SM Johnson

Title: Above the Dungeon

Author: SM Johnson

Rating: 5 Scorching Stars

Genre: Gay, BDSM

This has to be 5 stars from me. I’ve read some dark things lately (Herbert/Barker) and this immediately offered something deliciously lighter: something that could pull me back from the dread and compulsion of picking up a dark reads. I kept coming back to this novel with just a real easy sigh, and it’s been such a long time since I’ve found a novel that’s made me feel so at ease.

I loved the 1^st v 3^rd switch in pov between Dare and Jeff. The arrangement not only gave both sides of the relationship “argument” here, but also characterised Roman beautifully. And it all played havoc with my loyalties. I hated Roman, even though I should have been hating Jeff; then I was growling at the possible ménage scenario that neither of them obviously wanted. Then I was loving the possible manage scenario because some of the BDSM sex scenes were just so damn hot. And then – stage door opens to allow Dare into the mix.

Jeff, he’s your one-hundred percent sub, but with a twist: always looking for something else -- not someone, just the thrill of something else. I actually loved Jeff. All his insecurities, his selfishness, but mostly how his own selfishness, aided by Roman’s pure patience and understanding, was his own undoing: his Dom gave him everything he wanted, and loved him enough to supply Jeff with everything Jeff thought he wanted. That was something really special to see from Roman, and from a Dom. So when Dare comes into the mix, you can see the possibility of a real threat, and all of Jeff’s insecurities come into play again.

Dare. He’s your typical pretty(ish) rich boy running away from marriage. You could bring in “trope” 

here, but Dare, he was a surprise, and one I’m not quite sure where he leaves me feeling in the end. He gets drawn willingly to Roman -- and into Roman’s world -- but, and this is part that helped define him in his own right away from trope characters, he pulls himself away from Roman’s world in a bid to retain individual identity. And it’s this that left me a little ‘hmmm’ towards the end. I’d seen Dare getting drawn in body and soul, then when Dare saw Jeff in the 24/7 state, all that heat almost flat-lined. It left a very strange state, but one I can understand. Some people don’t take one-hundred percent to the sub life. So it was good to see that play out and see Dare try to find his comfort levels, and then acknowledge his comfort levels, especially when it came to Roman.

Roman… Mmmmm. The more I think about him, the more I’d like to pull him from the pages and do wicked things to him. I loved how he kept showing his pure commitment to Jeff, even through his fascination with Dare. The tables turned on Jeff again, going from thinking he needed more, to learning Roman maybe was all he needed, to seeing someone else catch Roman’s eye. The whole constantly shifting arrangements made for a whole snake-pit for disaster, but Roman kept coming into his pure Dom roll, showing Jeff how much he loves him, bringing out the best in Dare, so that by the end, there’s a strange part-time sub v full-time sub acceptance with the relationship. I expected Dare to go his own way with how cool he became, or at least find someone else and keep coming back to Roman, so the ending did surprise me a little.

 
But overall, a fantastic read, and I’m damn sure I’ll picking up the next installment to this.


Link to author's Amazon.co.uk page.

Review: Deliver Us by Lynn Kelling

Title: Deliver Us

Author: Lynn Kelling

Rating 5 scorchers

Genre: BDSM, Gay, Erotic Romance.

(Discliamer: I wrote this review before Ms Kelling and I had spoken and agreed to our merged-world projects.)

Okay, where to start without resulting to my initial response, which would probably get a few raised brows from anyone reading this (spoiler: there were a few swear words, a lot of shifting to adjust the heat under my collar, and a lot “phew, they’re doing what?”).

 

Hands up, I have to admit, Deliver Us touched on a few taboos. Ones that I’d not come across before. That’s a strange place to start a review, with a list of likes and unknowns, but it becomes important  when you put it in context with characters, plot, and pace.

​

The two leads in this, Darrek and Gabe, especially because of their histories, they needed an explosive sexual creativity when they were together, that ability to just let go and experience, as life in general had forced them to close down in their own ways. They needed that extreme level of intensity to allow each other the ability to trust when it then came to going beyond the physical.  

​

Darrek is your sensitive straight, who having being left by his ex lover is given a number to a BDSM club. Fully expecting to explore a female D/s relationship, something he has nibbled at in the past, complications over the forms he signs puts Derek under the experienced hands of Gabe, a male Dom with just the right touch to throw Darrek’s world into a heated rush of sensation overload, submission, and the even more dangerous possibility of being Gabe’s lover.

​

As Dom and sub, Gabe and Darrek seem the most unlikeliest pair to meet, let alone become lovers. We have Darrek, the lonely lovable giant who stumbles away from a shattered relationship into the BDSM scene and a gay love life in general. There’s a will and determinism to try everything, to find his body’s limits and test whether he can push through them, all underwritten by his growing feelings for Gabe that seem to give him the drive for pushing his mind and body.

​

Then there’s Gabe.  His troubled history has taken him into the role of a Dom, one who only ever touches, never allows to touch, and who also comes with one hell of a protective group of Doms who get just as aggressive with anyone threatening to touch Gabe (a protectiveness that I loved seeing play out).

​

It seems a relationship that’s doomed to fail, either through Darrek’s and Gabe’s destructive histories, the intensity of a D/s relationship, or the protectiveness of friends. It’s certainly one relationship I was skeptical to in the beginning, the whole straight to gay/vanilla to SUB seeming a wide gap to fill.

​

Yet  it’s that understanding you reach with both parties, how you can see Gabe seeming to find a certain level of  security in knowing Darrek stumbled into the gay BDSM scene, that there’s an innocence to how Darrek breaks down the barrier to Gabe that Gabe forced around himself a teen. You come to see that Darrek wouldn’t have had the same reaction with any other Dom, and that Gabe would have just gone through the motions given any other sub. It had to be Gade; it had to be Darrek for this to work.

​

But, on a level of kink beyond the taboo, I loved this relationship from a language pov too. It was intriguing to see Gabe and Darrek live the D/s lifestyle, but have a narrative prose that showed equal dynamics. Equal weight is given to Darrek and Gabe in and outside of a scene, so both work together, neither really claiming linguistic dominance, and it’s that subtlety that helped cement their relationship, for me anyway.

​

And a lot of that is why it has taken me so long to read this novel. There were so many things going at so many levels, I had to back away, force myself to pull out at certain points for fear of sensory overload.  Not a bad thing at all. In fact, I had to go buy a hard copy for my… collection.

​

This one is a definitely a keeper and one I’ll be reading again

Review: MINDFUCK by Jessi Bond

Title: MindFuck
Author Jessi Bond

Rating: 2
Genre: M/M, light BDSM. Psych-play

First off, the cover to this is stunning, added to the title MindFuck, who wouldn't be tempted? I had really high expectations of this, kind of like wanting something along the lines of Shaun Hutson's Shadows, only with a darker m/m twist.

We first meet the main guy Blake Underwood going through your typical "psychic" show, all onstage and obviously loving what he does. After spotting a young man in the crowd and wanting to try and use every trick in the book to make him comfortable, headgames come into play, only it's not in the form that Blake expects.

This promised so much, and I really wanted that creepy, screw with your head, screw with your body feeling that I love with these kinds of books. Only something didn't quite hit the mark.

The overall problem was that it was just too short. Everything meeded more: more build-up, more suspense, more sexual tension. The writing style itself holds a lot of promise and the concept (artwork, and title) were all very good, but the "Mindfuck" itself didn't hold true to its promise.

So the low rating itself isn't because of any technical faults, it's purely because this short promised so much, but just didn't deliver on content -- and I really wanted it to.


Link to author's Amazon page

Book of the Month: Meet & Greet

The BDSM group on Goodreads has chosen Don't for Book of the Month (BOM) In June.

So, what does this mean, and do we need any biscuits? Well... for the month of June, Don't will be a group read where members can ask questions and give feedback on what they love/loathe about Don't as a BDSM Thriller. I'll be there for any direct questions that come along (and also, as a member of the group, just generally loiter: they have some delicious BDSM discussions in there). I'll also be giving away a few copies of Don't for the group read itself.

The BDSM group on Goodreads is a members only forum, but they're a very welcoming group of people whom love to talk. As with any BOM month, there will be other novels being read alongside Don't, so if you'd like to spread your tastes, it's a great time to join.

I know I'd love to see you there (no biscuits required -- honest *grins*).




Light image cortesy of Free Images

Review: Make Mine To Go by Dilo Keith

4 stars

MM, ebook, BDSM. Menage

Oh my, the games some people play…. ​

​

With everything I’d read, I thought it had put me in good stead to recognize the steps to most plot twists, but I have to admit that Make Mine To Go snuck up on me. And it left me chuckling at my self for not seeing it.

​

It opens with Toby, a twenty-two-year-old part-time sub,  enjoying a touch of ménage with his dominant husband of four years, Justin,  and their mutual friend (also a Dom). Toby is seen to feel comfortable with the complexity of dipping his toes into the beginnings of an open relationship, and he revels in his role, eager to investigate the stinging sensations being played upon on his body and mind. Justin is a little more standoffish, and like any good Dom, he sees Toby’s lingering thoughts over a scene and wandering gaze over other men is leading to something missing in the relationship for Toby. Toby is left thrown when Justin eases the conversation into the possibility that something is wrong, mortified that Justin possibly feels neglected in their relationship. But after Justin’s persistence to face the discussion, Toby comes to realize that maybe Justin is right: he needs something more, although admitting it is harder as they both know voicing it will lead them down a dangerous path.

The complications that arise are typical of any long-lasting relationship, that, even in D/s word, sometimes feel as though they need something new in order to survive. The question is always there as to whether we should take that choice, and thus bring in the threat of longer-lasting damage if we do.

​

I wasn’t taken by the idea of upset, initially. We’d opened with a D/s ménage scene where both Justin and Toby seemed happy enough to play out, so to suddenly have Justin say he was questioning just how willing and distracted Toby seemed to be with other men was a touch disorientating.  And in that respect, I would have liked more of an in-depth look and build-up to their relationship to help draw that conclusion.

​

But then you pick up how in tune Justin is to Toby, recognizing Toby’s unease before Toby can figure out for himself, and I love the care and dynamics of the D/s relationship being played there. Which then made my heart tear a little when the twist started to play out, and that “Hell, he’s actually going to go through with it” came into play. I really felt the full impact of the implications it would have for both of them. There was a natural progression that makes you miss the signs, so that when the twist is revealed, you have that  ”Should have seen that coming” moment, but you’re eased back down to normal pulse levels  with how Keith allows the novelette to end.

​

Not a bad realistic portrayal of a D/s relationship at all. And even though I would have loved it to have been a longer work, I enjoyed the ride Make Mine To Go took me on. 

EBook Link To Publishers