Tag Archive | 2 Stars

Dom of Ages (Collars and Cuffs #7) by K.C. Wells and Parker Williams (2 Stars)

Feb20

Sexy times continue at Collars and Cuffs.

Jarod lost his master of 20 years in a horrible accident, and years later he’s still struggling to move on with his own life. He needs to find a new master, but it appears most doms don’t want a 50-year old sub. Eli is 30, and he’s finally ready to settle down. When he first sets eyes on Jarod, he’s instantly drawn to him. Age doesn’t make any difference to him when Jarod is so clearly the sub Eli’s been looking for.

The two men hit it off almost instantly. The fact that Eli isn’t a great dom doesn’t seem to bother Jarod. Even though Eli initially treats Jarod as a housekeeper, somehow Jarod isn’t bothered by his actions. Fortunately, Eli’s friends help him to see the error in his ways and give him some pointers to improve his behavior. The age wasn’t really a factor since neither of them were bothered by it. Jarod’s biggest concern was that Eli would eventually have to deal with losing Jarod, even if they both just died of old age.  Their sexual interactions were very touching, and they enjoyed trying different things including mummification and sounding (inserting probes in the urethra).

My biggest issue with the story was Jarod’s lack of personality. He came across as too simple-minded, and I failed to understand why either of these men would truly want to be with each other. I really struggled to connect with the characters as a couple. It was nice to see some of the other characters from the first 6 books.

A steamy entry in the Collars & Cuffs series.

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

Someone to Keep Me (Collars and Cuffs #3) by K.C. Wells and Parker Williams (2 Stars)

Apr30

He knew to the bottom of his heart that he wanted somebody to keep him.

Scott Keating has been living a very sheltered life with extremely controlling parents. Once the opportunity to leave home and start a new life presents itself, he’s more than willing to take advantage of it. Although things didn’t work out as planned, he’s saved by Ben Winters. Now Scott just needs to see if Ben will keep him forever.

I adored Scott and truly felt sorry for him. His family didn’t treat him with any love, and it appeared that he was kept in his home without any friends for most of his life. It really showed his inner strength and desperation that he was willing to travel around the world to find a new life.

Ben rescues Scott from the airport, but that was one of the few nice things he did during the story. Overall, Ben was not appreciative of anything Scott did for him. They also didn’t have much of a relationship outside of Scott playing the housekeeper. Ben was supposed to be a Dom, but his actions and immature behavior didn’t portray him as a very good one. Ben was temperamental and seemed to lose it at the most inopportune times. I was hoping for a romantic story with Scott finding true happiness, but this felt more like a guide on a poorly handled Dom/sub relationship.

The writing was smooth, and it was impressive that two people wrote this story. Although this is part of a series, and I loved the first one, I think this can be read as a standalone.

A look at the emotional draw of belonging to somebody.

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

Choices by Grace R. Duncan (2 Stars)

Aug31

Is freedom more important than spending your life with your one true love?

Teman and his friend, Jasmin, have been caught stealing for the last time. They have a choice of either going to the dungeon or becoming a pleasure slave for the palace. They both choose the palace and begin a very long sexual training process to learn how to pleasure their masters. During this time, Teman falls in love with his master, Amir Bathasar, who is also next in line to become the leader of his kingdom. Unfortunately, Bathasar’s father, Mukesh, is the current leader and an extremely cruel man, especially to the pleasure slaves. Teman forms a strong bond with other people in the palace including two other pleasure slaves, Nadir and Cyrus. The biggest obstacle for Tteman and Bathasar is freedom. If Bathasar becomes the leader, and has the power to free Teman, will Teman, who values freedom almost above anything else, stay with Bathasar or leave?

The vast majority of this story is focused on sex. The first quarter of the story is about the training that the young slaves go through which included hours upon hours, in very descriptive details, of all types of sex including oral and anal, with multiple partners. Orgasm denial was the single biggest component of this training. After Teman and Bathasar begin their relationship, the majority of the sex takes place with the two of them, but there are still many scenes which include other people basically resulting in an orgy. Since Mukesh is a very serious sadist, there are several scenes, described in great detail, where there is nonconsensual sex and torture. The few parts of the story that weren’t about sex made for a great story with the author’s smooth writing style.

All of the characters were interesting, but it was Teman and Bathasar that were the easiest to love. Teman’s angst over his freedom was very believable and tugged at the heart strings. They were both very kind people who truly cared about each other. Unfortunately, the excessive amount of sex overwhelmed the otherwise good story.

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

From This Window by Diana Jean (2 Stars)

Aug18

How do you find love when you’ve locked yourself away from the world?

Lucas Davison rarely leaves his home except to sit in the Da Vinci Café. His days are spent watching people and writing about it in his journal. Jeremy Roberts works in the cafe and develops a crush on Lucas. Jeremy’s determined to get Lucas to open up and take a chance with him.

Lucas doesn’t work and rarely interacts with anybody. The few times he speaks with others, he’s generally rude. Jeremy is an extremely nice guy with plenty of friends. He is very exuberant and seems to truly enjoy every day. Unfortunately, Lucas appears to have some very serious psychological issues. The story is told from his point of view, and he’s a very hateful and angry person. His family wasn’t able to help him with his issues, but they continue to take care of him as evidenced by his brother bringing over groceries. It wasn’t clear how he even supports himself. He received a college degree and yet couldn’t figure out some job to do at home to earn a living. Unfortunately, he came across as lazy and mean-spirited, making it really hard to believe that Jeremy would ever be truly interested in him. It was also hard to believe that Lucas would change because of Jeremy.

The story was simply much too short to deal with such a heavy subject matter. I did, however, like the author’s writing and would definitely read a different story by her.

A holiday story dealing with struggle and hope.

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