Great story with some smokin play scenes. I definitely would not allow my dick to be tattooed though. Dan and Tom have a solid D/s relationship on several levels from being lovers to a tenant, an employee and finally Dan caring for Tom's ailing father. Not a relationship with easily defined lines but it works until Tom, our drunken Dom screws up. I wanted to shove that pencil up his ass because neither man could remember what they were angry about. A little communication and things slide back into hot play. ( )

I guess I am getting lazy, but other people usually say it before me, so I am not going into lengthy explanations. Check out Loe's review. It's perfect.

I think I missed about a third of the story because I couldn't get through the sentences. Few times I was so lost, I had to skip paragraphs.

This one, for example. What does this even mean? (Unless it's my English, which is not my native.)

"After hanging up his tattoo machine for paint and airbrushes, it was always the same when he worked body art at different venues away from the tattoo studio."



And then another thing, the kidnapping. Another big WTF? Den didn't know, couldn't have known about the knife. He also had a gag on. Could he cry Monday? I don't think so. Tom fails as a Dom in this book on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin.

2 stars. ( )

Yes, the warnings are true, this story contains some strong/dark BDSM. It doesn't start out that way, though. The first two thirds of this novella gave me time to get to know both Dan, the sub, and Tom, who is a rather controlling but extremely caring Dom. By the time catastrophe hits this very loving couple, and Tom loses control for very understandable reasons and only very briefly, I trusted the depth of their love enough to kind of see why Tom chose to act the way he did.

It made for some very intense moments as I followed their final scene of the story, glued to the pages and half-horrified what Tom had come up with and half-fascinated. It certainly made for some very hot reading - all with the understanding that Dan may have struggled, but that what Tom needed to do was send a very strong message. I wouldn't call the BDSM extreme, there is no slavery involved, no permanent harm done, and Dan, the sub, has every opportunity to use his safeword. Yet. he doesn't and that goes to show the depth of his trust despite all the crap Tom has put him through.

If you like emotionally intense stories about men who play hard, if you enjoy reading about a sub and his Dom in deep crisis and want to know how they manage to work their way through it, and if you're looking for a read that is as hot as their love is deep, then you will probably enjoy this free novella. ( )

Excellent addition to the Love's Landscapes series, but the non-consensual aspect of the BDSM relationship with too harsh for me personally. ( )