Sam Singer

As much as I love the occasional BDSM book describing a sub’s journey into submission, the ones that move me even more are stories of subs recovering from abuse, or Doms dealing with loss. This short story has both with Kenneth having escaped an extremely cruel Dom, and David taking on a new sub after his partner of five years has died. There isn’t much more to the background than that, but it was more than enough for me to set up the emotional journey both embark on when Kenneth makes his first big mistake after being taken in by David.

Kenneth has come far in his new relationship with a loving Dom, but old ghosts die hard, and when he breaks one of his Dom’s favorite vinyl records, he is devastated. More than that, he is paralyzed with fear. Never mind that his brain knows David will never punish him as cruelly as Kenneth’s old Dom did, his fear runs away with him and he ends up lying to try to cover up. Yes, I knew that was no good, but I could so understand where Kenneth came from.

David, of course, being sensitive and an excellent Dom, knows something is wrong, and his dilemma in terms of what to do is just as palpable as Kenneth’s fear. He spends a good deal of time and effort thinking about exactly what to do – and what he eventually comes up with is very clever. It was interesting to see that he suffers almost as much handing out the punishment as Kenneth does receiving it. But the best part is the ending and what David does next.

If you like D/s stories with a major emotional component, if you enjoy reading about the trust between a dominant and his submissive and how it holds up in a crisis situation, and if you’re looking for a read focusing on the sweeter side of BDSM, then you will probably like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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