I am giving this a 4.5 stars. I loved most parts, didn’t like some, but for a book that was published almost 8 years ago, I think I had a wonderful time ( )

I really don't know how to rate this. I liked it and I didn't like it. It was so far out in left field from the traditional BDSM stories. It's a story about a fledgling relationship with a foundation that is anything that could remotely be called solid, between a 37-year-old doctor, who is a sub, and a 19-year-old Dom. Toby met Laurence, (Laurie), at a London club...and described him as the 'sub of his dreams". I think Laurence was the first sub that had ever kneeled for him, so Tobey's inexperience came to light fairly quickly. Oh, Toby knew what he wanted to happen but was almost clueless and uncertain, just how to accomplish it. Laurence Dalziel...the sub of Tobey's dreams, is what I would call a mess that has found somewhere to happen. He's bitter, unhappy, and still pining over a relationship that ended years ago. When he sees Tobey in the club, he isn't sure if the young man is even old enough to be inside a BDSM club...in spite of that uncertainty, he decides to try and help the “kid”. If anything, he wants to get him out of there because he really believes that he doesn’t belong. Once they get to talking Laurence is blindsided by an attraction he wasn’t expecting and offers Toby something that is priceless to those in this lifestyle...his total submission. This now turns into something that "rocky arrangement" only begins to describe. They have passion, lots of lust, care, dominance, submission, but not a shred of commitment. Then things appear to be shifting somewhat. Toby is so young that he literally wears his heart on his sleeve...but the word "shy" is nowhere to be found in his vocabulary...certainly not about how he feels or what he wants. It takes Laurence by surprise, and you can see that he isn’t in any way prepared to defend his heart from Toby’s selfless advances. I read a lot of this genera and I know that sex sells almost anything, but this story was built almost entirely on sex with no, or at least, not much, love in sight. I think the age difference was a great deal to blame as well as Tobey's lack of experience with his dominate side. It wasn't by any means, a badly written book or a bad storyline...it just didn't come across like I think the author wanted of the characters. ( )

This book is not on any sliding scale - you either connect and it is 5/5 or you do not and it is 1/5. This is not about writing style, flow, or development - it is down to the gritty emotions under the skin. ( )

In retrospect it really bothers me that a lot of what Toby does and says is straight up emotionally abusive. I was able to ignore that when I first read it, or suspend my disbelief? But now it’s super squicky for me, especially as it just gets worse and worse as the book goes on. Will have a special place in my heart though, and I’ll always adore Laurie and Jasper. ( )

I shouldn't be surprised, by now. In Glitterland it was a terribly damaged, depressed man confronted by a shockingly out loud glitterboy. In Waiting For the Flood it was a fellow so hurt and repressed that the kindest man in the universe nearly doesn't get through to him. (That one is close to poetry.) Alexis Hall has a track record with this series. For Real does not disappoint.

It is a May - December pairing, but with D/s, kink, and terribly mismatched baggage. The tangles are intensely personal to each man, confusing to the other. Figuring out how to talk is often the hardest part of any relationship, and these two have that problem in spades. I adored that the Dom's smaller and way younger and brand new to it, although he knows what he wants. I adored how much older the sub is, how resistant he is to any feelings, because of course this kid won't stick around. Why would he? I loved that each sees the other's physical flaws and it just feeds into the attraction in this intrinsically sweet way that is the underpinning of the entire relationship. Neither knows it. But we readers see it pretty quickly. I love how smart each guy is and I love how that sometimes just doesn't help at all, but other times it is at the very heart of how they please each other.

If you skip kinky sex scenes, this one won't work for you. Every scene counts toward the resolutions and character arcs, including those scenes. ( )