I loved every minute of this story! Being in Cal’s head was amazing and made me really feel like I knew him. He truly wanted to understand how to be a good Dom to James, and it came through with his request to be trained by Nick. I adored seeing Nick and Spencer from If It Flies and If It Fornicates. Nick was pure perfection with his psychoanalysis of the situation and his joy of helping out Cal.

There were several extremely hot scenes with the necessary emotional connection to really make it work. I was glad I wasn’t in James’ head, since he was not in a good spot in his life, and it could have really brought the story down.  We got a glimpse into James’ life, but there was still quite a bit left to explore.

Although the story is complete, I hope to see a sequel. These two are just starting their relationship, and there are so many different things they have yet to explore. I would love to see a story from James’ perspective now that he has somebody to truly take care of him.

I highly recommend this extremely hot step into the Market Garden universe with the engaging Cal.

Originally reviewed for Swept Away By Romance. Complimentary copy provided by Riptide via NetGalley for an honest review.
Book Blurb

A captivating story of finding your soulmate for both life and love.

Alex Daniels is a painfully shy young man living at home after graduating from college without any job prospects in his field. While working as a waiter to save enough money to get a place of his own, he meets Leo Hart. Leo is part owner of Collars & Cuffs, a BDSM club. He’s also still mourning the death of his lover. Leo and Alex begin to build a relationship together while dealing with life’s little issues.

This was simple relationship-based story with the focus on really getting to know the characters and watching them fall in love. Outside of a little bit of angst here and there, they spent most of their time happily exploring their adoration of each other while also working through the Dom/sub attributes of their affair. I’m not sure I’ve ever read so many amazing kissing scenes. On top of going out on sweet dates, these guys were huge cuddlers.

At the same time, there was a real story taking place that kept it from passing into the overly sweet category. Alex had some family issues to deal with, including a mother who was extremely detached and a weasel for a brother. Although Leo doesn’t dwell on the lover he lost to the point of depressing the reader, it was obviously still affecting his life.

I really enjoyed the other players in this story, including Thomas Williams, Leo’s partner, and Pietro, Alex’s co-worker and friend. I also loved when Alex started keeping a diary. Since Alex was so shy and he didn’t talk a lot, this served as an excellent chance to get into his head even more.

There were little things I would have liked addressed. Alex’s Facebook friend just seemed to disappear, and I never really understood why he was so afraid to come out to his family when he clearly wanted nothing to do with them. The excessive use of the word “boy” became a bit much. But these were minor issues which I easily overlooked due to the incredible storytelling capabilities of this author. Note that they do spend time in the club, engage in some bondage and whipping scenes, and they have sex in front of a crowd.

I was obsessed with reading this slow-burning, deeply romantic love story with realistic angst, scorching sex scenes, and a good introduction to the BDSM world.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb