Group Review: How to Train Your Dom in 5 Easy Steps by Josephine Myles

Sometimes the little head really does know best.

Jeff White’s needs are simple. All he wants is a submissive to help him explore the dominant side that his ex-girlfriend couldn’t handle. Problem is, inexperience in both dating and domming has resulted in a string of rejections.

What he needs is an experienced sub willing to show him the ins and outs of controlling a scene. Unfortunately, the only one willing to take him on is male, and Jeff is straight. One hundred percent, never-gonna-happen straight.

Easygoing painslut Eddie Powell doesn’t care that Jeff is younger, working class, and shorter. Eddie likes a bit of rough, and Jeff fits the bill perfectly. The trick will be convincing him to follow Eddie’s five-step training programme—which would be easy if Eddie wasn’t starting to have feelings for the rough-around-the-edges landscaper.

Once Jeff lays his hands on Eddie, things definitely get out of hand. But it’ll take more than hot, sweaty, kinky sex to persuade him to come out of the closet—especially to himself.

Warning: Contains a happy sub, a confused Dom, a high ratio of sex to plot, misuse of root ginger, and a suitcase of kink. Written in Jo’s usual exceedingly “English” English.

There are some authors who ask for reviews and we end up with a stand off in the stable, Josephine Myles is one of those authors. Now Unicorns are, on the whole, quite a peace-loving bunch so instead of Uni-Horns at dawn and a UN peace keeping brigade being sent to the stable, we decided a group review was the way to go. And, do you know what? It was soooo much fun buddy-reading this story!

Anywho... here's what the unicorns thought:

Whip Wielding Wench
BREAKING NEWS: JEFF IS A BEAR AND HE'S NOT, I REPEAT, HE IS NOT HOOKING UP WITH A TWINK.

*GASP*

I felt a great disturbance while reading this. Isn't this a sign of the Armageddon?

The first couple of chapters I kept thinking, 'You shouldn't be liking this guy. He's kind of douche-y'. But I did. I always did. Jeff's a working class dude (sorry, bloke) who's blunt, crass, unpolished and exceedingly preoccupied with society's view of him. He's socially awkward and, I admit, I felt sorry for him. Poor thing. Realizing he's attracted to another bloke blows his worldview out of the water. What will the blokes down the pub think? (Look how English I sound!) But Eddie is a force to be reckoned with.

"Was it possible for your dick to be gay, even if the rest of you wasn't?"

Ordinarily, I'm not a fan of topping from the bottom but this is for training purposes, so Eddie gets a bye. Eddie, in contrast to Jeff, is completely comfortable in his skin. He knows who and what he is and isn't ashamed. He slowly shifts Jeff's perceptions sensibly and with humor. Actually, they both made me chuckle frequently.

The kink to relationship ratio was perfect, in my opinion. Woof! I could read about them ALL DAY, BABY! Eddie's masochism and Jeff's sadism are a beautiful (and oftentimes awkwardly humorous) sight to behold. Jeff has sadistic compulsions but lacks confidence and his previous attempts at being "Sir Bastard" have… not gone well. He's gruff, a bit standoffish and doesn't take criticism well which has not endeared him within the local kink community. Still, I was a bit disappointed that his dominant friends didn't volunteer to mentor him. I was also fussy that neither of these two kinksters were into chastity. I think Jeff in particular would like this sort of control.

*inappropriate and enthusiastic eyebrow waggle*

There was a minor continuity error early on and possible spelling errors. Do the Brits spell judgment with two 'E's? Hell, I don't know. It's like their English is a foreign language with their extra 'U's, H-erbs, posh birds and pork scratchings. I like the usage of 'bird', by the way. I should probably be insulted, but it's kinda cute at the same time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and would rec this to fans of GFY and romantic kink. I'm swimming in the 4-4.5 Hearts range. Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Smacktastic-Spankerific Sunny
Jeff was a complete wanker. Rude, arrogant, so concerned about being "manly" that I could barely stand him on page.
But, then...then Jeff started getting feelings.
Sexy feelings. He started thinking about Eddie and the things he'd like to do to Eddie or make Eddie do to him.

:P

Oh, yeah. *nods*

Hot. Hot. Hot. *fans self*

Yes, Jeff took to kinky bed play with Eddie like a duck takes to water and the more into he got, the more I liked him. It was like he found his place and didn't want to leave it. Ever. He gave Eddie exactly what he needed, and loved every minute of it. His awe at having a partner who matched him so well, and who trusted him so much, was sweet. He knew how special that was. He wasn't perfect by any means, and there were a few stumbles on the way, but that made it even better.

That said, humiliation isn't for me, so this was an uncomfortable read at times, but there was no denying how much Eddie got off on it. His reactions definitely got me going.

I heart Eddie.
So much.

Lots of pervy deliciousness in this one. I was happy :)

Anal-Bead Annie
So, Jeff knows what he knows and that’s all that he knows. Poor guy can’t help that the only real exposure into the world of kink that he loves is via the internet. I mean really, what kind of reality is that? I’d love to believe that all the beautiful scenes I see in porn are all real, but when you take off the rainbow glasses it has very little resemblance to reality. 

Jeff’s pride may keep him from admitting he needs guidance out loud, but he knows. He may be uneducated and prideful, but he isn’t stupid. And that’s what I really liked about him. He’s really a pretty simple guy who says what he feels. It may end up awkward and not come out quite right (I could totally see why he had trouble talking to women) but, regardless of his kink, he wouldn’t hurt someone on purpose. You know what I mean. 

It’s a good thing Jeff’s friends know what he needs and they know he needs Eddie. Eddie knows Jeff needs Eddie. He just has to convince Jeff. Eddie is a complete charmer and a total sweetheart so it doesn’t take him long to convince Jeff to literally take a crack at him, which Jeff enjoys very much. His dick especially enjoys it and as their lessons continue, his dick gets more and more enthused and then WHAM -------> feeeeeeeeelings. I really couldn’t blame either of them for speaking up about said feelings sooner, they basically had a pinkie swear agreement about the lessons and who wants to be the guy to broach the subject of busting up a pinkie swear?

So, this book has two unique and likable (in their own evolving way) MC’s. It also has some of the most delicious filth I’ve read. Damn, the lessons are steaming hot and they got hotter as the story progressed. You know why? Feeeeeeeeeeelings. Feelings always make the sex better. Not that I don’t enjoy a good PWP, but when an author can bring the dirty and marry it with a great story and memorable characters, you’ve got yourself an excellent read with LOTS of highlighting.Jeff’s inner musings and bargaining amused me greatly.

“No, touching another man’s arse was definitely gay. No two ways about it. Unless he was just experimenting. Yeah. Experimenting was okay. That didn’t mean anything, did it? Lots of people experimented with stuff. Jeff had once had a guitar lesson, but that didn’t make him a musician, did it?”

Oh Jeff. In this case, yes it does. But, what can I say I’m a sucker for an enlightened everyman and the beautiful man who enlightens him. 

Told with wit and style, this is a highly recommended sweet and dirty read.


Dominatrix Downton 
Where do I start? Well actually I'm going to dive right in and tell you what I loved most about this story and that was Jeff. Jeff our Dom who needs to be trained. I loved him.

This man is a blokey bloke. He's a manual worker who calls a spade a spade (yep, right up my street) and freshly out of a (straight, vanilla) relationship and wanting to explore his dominant side. Unfortunately for Jeff he has a bit to learn in the ways of being a dom - manners and etiquette anyone? - and he's having a hard time finding a sub to practice with. The females he knows, even from the fetish club, just aren't digging him. And that's where Eddie comes in (and I'll talk about him more in a minute), he offers to be Jeff's sub and teach Jeff how to be a dom.

Of course there is a catch, Jeff isn't gay. A mantra he says repeatedly for a good portion of the book - and this is why I loved him so much. No, not because of the claiming not to be gay, but because his actions didn't always follow what he was saying. He fell for Eddie hook, line and sinker (or cane, rope and dildo) and we got to watch him ....ssshhh....fall in love. Be still my beating heart. This man, dominant and gruff was actually as soft as marshmallow on the inside. He cared about Eddie. He listened to what Eddie was telling him - be it him needing a hug, spank, cloth or food. He LISTENED. *Swooning* Even when it went against his ...well, not his instincts, but what he thought he wanted, he still listened.

The bit that really got me about Jeff? When he realised he was miserable without Eddie, he didn't try to second guess, he didn't try and deny, he admitted his feelings and went with it. I absolutely loved this man.

That's not too say that Eddie wasn't an equally wonderful character. He was, he really, really was. Patient, funny, and absolutely adorable. He was also hot and submissive and so damn yum. Eddie was the perfect sub to Jeff's dom. The perfect teacher. The perfect partner.

Josephine Myles is an amazing author. There is nothing stereo-typical about her characters and for that I am supremely grateful. Jeff is a bear of a man, who likes to dominate in his sex life. That didn't mean he was a leather-daddy blah, blah, blah. He was a normal bloke who liked a certain type of spice in the bedroom. The same goes for Eddie. He could easily have been a stereotypical gay twink submissive - yet he was anything but. Cheeky and endearing, he was the kind of chap you'd meet up the pub and want as your mate. I loved all the characters in this book...not a stereotype in sight (thank you muchly Ms Myles).

I'm sure every other review of this book has told you how hot the hotness was. Well guess what - it was HOT! Caning, kilts, humiliation, pin-wheels, ropes, cock-rings and dildos...they're all there. But they're all there with feels and though this book is about a sub and his dom - it is about so much more than a sub and a dom.

My advice to you is to read it. READ IT NOW PEEPS. And guess what - you can, because today is release day!! Whoo hoo!!!

Find out more on Goodreads.

A copy of this arc was given to us in exchange for an honest review.