Between his body and his kinks, Nate has always had a difficult time with romance. But when he meets the new assistant library director James Albright, things in that department quickly heat up. Unfortunately, James has never been exposed to BDSM beyond the erotica section and Nate has always been more comfortable lying about his body and his sexuality. But James has a secret of his own and clues begin to appear behind the detective crime novels he reads every night.
Armed with handcuffs and a thrill for the chase, Nate sets out to uncover their dream power dynamic – and true love.
HEA. Standalone. M/M romantic/erotic pairing. M/F kink pairing. Bisexual male main character.
It's no secret I'm Southern. Ordinarily I try to mask my hickness with the fancy words but sometimes when a Southern colloquialism says it all I have to go with it.
This is one of those times.
The colloquialism in question is: Bass Ackwards.
What I mean by that is these two put the kink before the horse. There's an attraction between them, sure, but the BDSM 101 overshadowed their relationship. I applaud how forthcoming all of these characters are about their wants and needs but in so doing the whole narrative felt stiff and clinical. The connection between Nate and James wasn't fostered so not a lot of chemistry is built between them as people instead the focus was on their compatibility as a possible dom/sub pairing. As it happens their kinks do match up and it seems James has been considering exploring kink. A little coincidental but I overlooked it easily enough.
Nate is an experienced sub, writer and part time bartender. He spends a lot of time at the local library doing research and because his best friend and Mistress work there which is where he meets James, the newly hired assistant director and kink neophyte.
Booked is a slice of life story told through Nate. It has virtually no angst or dramatics. He and James are adults who discuss things, ask questions, negotiate and accept one another. Nate has nerve damage that crops up periodically and levels him which was the thing I found most compelling about him. I liked his reasons for needing sensation and some pain despite not being able to feel much of his body.
I think the framework of this story is sound it just needs some window dressing in the form of emotionality so it reads more like a romance rather than a textbook. Both of these characters could've been fleshed out more above and beyond their kink preferences. I think the time jumps were an attempt to show their longevity but it felt like telling.
As far as the kink, there is some (mostly impact and bondage) but not a lot. There is some sex too. Again, not a lot and I found it a little tame.
Lastly, it could've used an edit because the words "hadn't have had" should never occur together in written form, in my opinion. Plus the whole Gladys thing was strange and didn't go anywhere.
A review copy was provided.
No comments:
Post a Comment