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reinatellstales's review against another edition
5.0
Is this whole series kinksters learning they need to use their words?? Yes, and I don't regret it.
This is book two, which has: deaf MC, auditory processing disorder in the other MC, genderfluid MC, impact play, age play, and a hint of poly relationship. It will make you want to read the side character's book for sure too.
It could be just because these books can be long and the characters struggle to mesh together for most of it, but I'm much slower to read these books. I don't think that's a bad thing at all! Absolutely love it, just slower to read it.
If you're looking for more diversity when it comes to gender and disabilities in your spicy romance, check this series out for sure!
This is book two, which has: deaf MC, auditory processing disorder in the other MC, genderfluid MC, impact play, age play, and a hint of poly relationship. It will make you want to read the side character's book for sure too.
It could be just because these books can be long and the characters struggle to mesh together for most of it, but I'm much slower to read these books. I don't think that's a bad thing at all! Absolutely love it, just slower to read it.
If you're looking for more diversity when it comes to gender and disabilities in your spicy romance, check this series out for sure!
katyhaller's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
msjessc's review
5.0
I have read a lot of kink in my life and been in and out of the kink community myself and I have never read a book like this before. There was not a single generic kink in it! I was fascinated and had to read straight through.
Having the HOH/deaf characters added just one more wonderful layer to the story. Seeing how kink adjusts to different bodies and needs was a pure joy.
The pacing in this book was also a treat. It was steady and reliable, but didn't follow preconceived timelines either. I had braced for that 75-80% break up spot, but I was wrong and I love it. :)
Having the HOH/deaf characters added just one more wonderful layer to the story. Seeing how kink adjusts to different bodies and needs was a pure joy.
The pacing in this book was also a treat. It was steady and reliable, but didn't follow preconceived timelines either. I had braced for that 75-80% break up spot, but I was wrong and I love it. :)
indiekay's review
5.0
One of my top ten books of the year! Highly recommend for anyone that is looking for diverse characters and enjoy BDSM/kink romance!
jugglingpup's review
4.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC from the author.
The only thing I knew about this author is they have a book with tentacles on the cover. That was enough for me to download that book and sign up to get ARCs. I am all about the fun and exciting (and weird) aspects of queer romance. Sign me up.
Instead of tentacles, I was given a book that focuses on kink, which HELL YES. Not complaining at all. I LOVED this book. I have a lot more positives than negatives to report in this book. So let’s start with the negatives:
There were no condoms used for oral sex. Oral sex is still a risky sexual activity. With the way that one of the MCs taught kink and was so wonderful about consent, I would think that condoms wouldn’t have been an issue.
I am REALLY not into any form of sexualized age play, or age play at all (hard limit due to trauma. But I will totally color and hang out with littles at munches, they are the fun ones to sit with). So if this is a hard limit for you too, know it is in this story. However, it is middle play. The age regressed to is a sullen teenager and there is no force, just verbal commands for sexual contact as rewards, never punishments. Most of the time the age play is not happening during sexual activity, but there are physical signs of arousal mentioned during those scenes. The exact age of the middle was never mentioned. I am assuming around 15-16 (though one character compares behavior to 8th graders, which is around 13-14), which in some states and countries is the age of consent. So it did not trigger any of my stuff which was nice. I got to see age play and I was comfortable during it all, so this is 50/50 for me.
Two things. That is literally it. Well, really four things, but the third and fourth are my issue with 99% of romance novels so I am not going to hold it against Morrison. Plus Morrison addressed the jealousy issue a little bit. Not in a way that I was particularly happy with, but it was still addressed more than any other romance novel seems to handle it.
Now on to the good:
AMAB NON BINARY MAIN CHARACTER AHHHHHHHH. I mean…There is a character that was assigned male at birth, but has days where she is a woman and some days where he is a man. Transphobia and sexism are NOT part of this story. The trans person is not sexually assaulted or abused. The character is also wonderful in so many ways. Like this is a yes for me. I have no idea if this is great representation or not, as I am binary, but I loved how full the character was and what their job was. I will never treat a character’s gender as a spoiler when the story is not a coming of age. Fight me. I use the pronouns that the character uses in the scenes I am describing, just as the character does.
The Dom was inexperienced. I have such a soft spot for new Doms. They haven’t learned terrible behaviors yet. I only like them when they are’t a “TRUE Dom”, if you understand, you understand this deeply. The Dom is not a TRUE Dom. He is very much still finding himself. He is a soft Dom and I adore him. He is so caring and wonderful. There were a few actions I wasn’t happy with, but they were so minor in the grand scheme of the story (one I missed and only really noticed when the characters talked about it later). Most of the mistakes and issues I had, were addressed and the Dom grew from them. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN A BDSM ROMANCE AHHH.
There was more happening in the lives of the characters than just the scenes. They each had their own lives outside of things. One was a teacher and had family he was close with. The other was trying to support an asexual friend coming to terms with their romantic identity.
There was a male ace character! It is so rare to see an ace character, it feels even more rare to see a male ace character. While he was not ace in the same way I am, I mostly liked him. I am just really put off by the first scene or two with him. It was assumed he wasn’t into sex or kinky, but aces can be (hello, right here). Aces aren’t necessarily aro. Most aces I know aren’t aro. Being aro is not about the level or romance you want, but about romantic attraction. I am aro, but I have made partners cry with the romantic things I have done (like getting the band that played our song to serenade them on our anniversary without the date knowing what was happening). So like 50/50 on the ace discussions. It felt a little too basic and ace 101, but not quite right. I am still counting it as a win, because the character was loved and listened to. Still counting it as a win, because he were still cuddled and had his needs met. I just wish people would stop assuming all aces are obsessed with cuddles or sex repulsed (this character was not sex repulsed, had more of a fascination with the idea which was refreshing, this is just a general note).
The miscommunications were addressed and weren’t just ridiculous. They made a lot of sense in context. Romance novels rely on miscommunications so often that they are annoying and often completely out of context. Morrison makes it make perfect sense. One character will say X and then X is what they mean and why Y happens. Then the characters go “huh, maybe we should have talked about this instead of assuming X meant Q”.
Both the sub and the Dom grew in the relationship. It is so rare that there is character development like this in a romance, especially BDSM romance. BDSM romances that I have read have relied so heavily on sex that the scenes are just boring and don’t serve to help the characters grow. Somehow Morrison was able to get character development into the scenes. There was also not constant penetration or sex. The scenes may have sexual elements, but the scenes weren’t just rough sex.
I was so enthralled by this book. I did not really sleep the night before. I stayed up until 3 AM, but not on purpose. Woke up way too often. I felt like an angry, drunk toddler when I got up in the morning. I was not in the mood for life or anything. I still read this book in one sitting (though a break for lunch that was not my idea). I still loved this book. Imagine what I would think if I came into this book in a good mood. Imagine if age play was my thing and not a hard limit.
I got an ARC from the author.
The only thing I knew about this author is they have a book with tentacles on the cover. That was enough for me to download that book and sign up to get ARCs. I am all about the fun and exciting (and weird) aspects of queer romance. Sign me up.
Instead of tentacles, I was given a book that focuses on kink, which HELL YES. Not complaining at all. I LOVED this book. I have a lot more positives than negatives to report in this book. So let’s start with the negatives:
There were no condoms used for oral sex. Oral sex is still a risky sexual activity. With the way that one of the MCs taught kink and was so wonderful about consent, I would think that condoms wouldn’t have been an issue.
I am REALLY not into any form of sexualized age play, or age play at all (hard limit due to trauma. But I will totally color and hang out with littles at munches, they are the fun ones to sit with). So if this is a hard limit for you too, know it is in this story. However, it is middle play. The age regressed to is a sullen teenager and there is no force, just verbal commands for sexual contact as rewards, never punishments. Most of the time the age play is not happening during sexual activity, but there are physical signs of arousal mentioned during those scenes. The exact age of the middle was never mentioned. I am assuming around 15-16 (though one character compares behavior to 8th graders, which is around 13-14), which in some states and countries is the age of consent. So it did not trigger any of my stuff which was nice. I got to see age play and I was comfortable during it all, so this is 50/50 for me.
Two things. That is literally it. Well, really four things, but the third and fourth are my issue with 99% of romance novels so I am not going to hold it against Morrison. Plus Morrison addressed the jealousy issue a little bit. Not in a way that I was particularly happy with, but it was still addressed more than any other romance novel seems to handle it.
Now on to the good:
AMAB NON BINARY MAIN CHARACTER AHHHHHHHH. I mean…There is a character that was assigned male at birth, but has days where she is a woman and some days where he is a man. Transphobia and sexism are NOT part of this story. The trans person is not sexually assaulted or abused. The character is also wonderful in so many ways. Like this is a yes for me. I have no idea if this is great representation or not, as I am binary, but I loved how full the character was and what their job was. I will never treat a character’s gender as a spoiler when the story is not a coming of age. Fight me. I use the pronouns that the character uses in the scenes I am describing, just as the character does.
The Dom was inexperienced. I have such a soft spot for new Doms. They haven’t learned terrible behaviors yet. I only like them when they are’t a “TRUE Dom”, if you understand, you understand this deeply. The Dom is not a TRUE Dom. He is very much still finding himself. He is a soft Dom and I adore him. He is so caring and wonderful. There were a few actions I wasn’t happy with, but they were so minor in the grand scheme of the story (one I missed and only really noticed when the characters talked about it later). Most of the mistakes and issues I had, were addressed and the Dom grew from them. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN A BDSM ROMANCE AHHH.
There was more happening in the lives of the characters than just the scenes. They each had their own lives outside of things. One was a teacher and had family he was close with. The other was trying to support an asexual friend coming to terms with their romantic identity.
There was a male ace character! It is so rare to see an ace character, it feels even more rare to see a male ace character. While he was not ace in the same way I am, I mostly liked him. I am just really put off by the first scene or two with him. It was assumed he wasn’t into sex or kinky, but aces can be (hello, right here). Aces aren’t necessarily aro. Most aces I know aren’t aro. Being aro is not about the level or romance you want, but about romantic attraction. I am aro, but I have made partners cry with the romantic things I have done (like getting the band that played our song to serenade them on our anniversary without the date knowing what was happening). So like 50/50 on the ace discussions. It felt a little too basic and ace 101, but not quite right. I am still counting it as a win, because the character was loved and listened to. Still counting it as a win, because he were still cuddled and had his needs met. I just wish people would stop assuming all aces are obsessed with cuddles or sex repulsed (this character was not sex repulsed, had more of a fascination with the idea which was refreshing, this is just a general note).
The miscommunications were addressed and weren’t just ridiculous. They made a lot of sense in context. Romance novels rely on miscommunications so often that they are annoying and often completely out of context. Morrison makes it make perfect sense. One character will say X and then X is what they mean and why Y happens. Then the characters go “huh, maybe we should have talked about this instead of assuming X meant Q”.
Both the sub and the Dom grew in the relationship. It is so rare that there is character development like this in a romance, especially BDSM romance. BDSM romances that I have read have relied so heavily on sex that the scenes are just boring and don’t serve to help the characters grow. Somehow Morrison was able to get character development into the scenes. There was also not constant penetration or sex. The scenes may have sexual elements, but the scenes weren’t just rough sex.
I was so enthralled by this book. I did not really sleep the night before. I stayed up until 3 AM, but not on purpose. Woke up way too often. I felt like an angry, drunk toddler when I got up in the morning. I was not in the mood for life or anything. I still read this book in one sitting (though a break for lunch that was not my idea). I still loved this book. Imagine what I would think if I came into this book in a good mood. Imagine if age play was my thing and not a hard limit.
thosemedalingkidsss's review against another edition
4.0
I'm really enjoying this series! Landon/Lena and Dustin we're so good about paying attention to the other's needs, and I really enjoyed the exploration of Landon/Lena's genderfluidity. The experienced sub and new baby dom trope is turning out to be a favortie, and I also like the theme of both leads figuring out new things about themselves. I learned that ageplay with middles is very fun, and depending on if Lena or Landon were in the space, so many new dynamics and elements.
Off I go continuing with this series, I'm really enjoying this!
Off I go continuing with this series, I'm really enjoying this!
sharingthebooklove's review against another edition
3.0
This series the 3 books so far have 3 stars for me so my reviews will be similar.
I liked the romance side of the story with Dustin and Landon and I understand where the author was going with the ASL but I found I kept getting distracted from the romance by the ASL descriptions so felt like I kept getting thrown out of the story.
I enjoyed seeing Lena come out more as the book progressed and Dustin's growth as a Daddy the more he understood his and London's kinks.
This is can be read without reading book 1.
I liked the romance side of the story with Dustin and Landon and I understand where the author was going with the ASL but I found I kept getting distracted from the romance by the ASL descriptions so felt like I kept getting thrown out of the story.
I enjoyed seeing Lena come out more as the book progressed and Dustin's growth as a Daddy the more he understood his and London's kinks.
This is can be read without reading book 1.
zachzakku's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really liked Dustin, our main character; he's a baby Dom with good instincts, but he's also made mistakes (and makes some with Landon, too). I feel like we rarely see Doms make mistakes in scenes (the only other example I can think of is Sebastian in All Tied Up (highly recommend that book!)), and of course you'd expect someone still learning to make them, so this felt believable and necessary.
Also, I always love a romance with adorable side characters! Looking forward to reading more about Ash and Zhong in the next one :]
Also, I always love a romance with adorable side characters! Looking forward to reading more about Ash and Zhong in the next one :]