Review: Broken Boy (Atlanta Daddies #1) by Skyler Snow

Layne has the Daddy of his dreams. Hot, strong, loving, and possessive. At least some of the time. But when the doors are closed and they’re alone, everything changes. Layne can’t figure out how to fix his Daddy's problems and insecurities. He’s resigned himself to a life of fear when he meets the younger Branson. Smart, sweet, and endlessly patient, he’s drawn to him. But what does that mean for his current relationship?

Branson doesn’t have dating or dynamics on the brain. After a messy breakup with his boy, all he wants to do is work and meet some like-minded friends. Kintan and Layne could be that for him. However, after he finds out the dark, twisted secrets festering beneath the surface, he begins to realize that things aren’t what they seem.

Can Branson pull Layne out of the fire?

And what happens when an arrangement as just friends turns into so much more?

Broken Boy contains triggers including domestic violence. Please do not read if you are sensitive to the subject.

 Another solid freebie find for me!

Broken Boy (Atlanta Daddies #1) by new-to-me author Skyler Snow was a pleasant surprise. It's been on my radar for a while and had a lot of tropes that caught my attention: daddy kink, hurt/comfort, older boy/younger daddy, age play.

Let's get the trigger warnings out first: there is an abusive dom/partner on page. Layne is abused in the beginning but it's not extremely graphic.  His ex is a nasty, manipulative piece of work and if reading about this topic ain't your jam, you've been warned. 

Layne is a sweet boy whose world world is his dom. They've been together for his entire adult life (yes, he's been with his partner since 18) and now he's in his early thirties. And he is an abusive relationship with no way out, no family, limited contact with friends. You know the type. He meets someone who cares int he form of younger dom, 27 year old Branson. Branson recognizes the signs of abuse, as a survivor himself. He becomes a listening ear for Layne, encouragement when he needs to learn to love himself and a refuge in his time of need.

I really liked Branson for Layne. Their age difference didn't play a major plot device for the story. (I'm not so keen of authors harping on larger age gaps and saturating the plot with it) Branson was sweet, patient and took care of Layne. They didn't immediately jump in bed and took their time healing, especially Layne.

Don't get me wrong, the sexy times are there and inventive. Plus, the age play and kink were intertwined without reading like an intro manual to kink.

What stopped me from rating this a solid four? The villain/cray-ex arc resolved way too quick and neat to me.  Layne's ex has been a piece of shit through out the book. The harassment and petty acts needed just as equal response to get revenge. People like him always retaliate. *squints* The author explains the reasoning enough but I'm just tolerating it for the decent HEA. 

Would I read the rest of the series? Yeah, I'm curious enough about the rest of friends the author created. 

The story overall was solid and engaging read.