Review: A- rating....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2014
My Review:In my opinion, this is not a book that you can just sit down and read. This is the third book in the series following this group of guys who all work at a BDSM club called Diadem. There's a lot of backstory that leads into the story in this book so to fully understand all that is going on, you need to read the others in this series beforehand. It would also be helpful to read Don't by Jack L. Pyke (which is AMAZINGLY good so you'll just want to read it anyway.) And the second part of this warning...this book (and the entire series) is hardcore erotica involving BDSM practices.This book really starts with Trace as the central character. Trace is the guy within this group that binds them all together. He's the top Dom and guy who started Diadem. Trace has a past from his time in Europe that he's buried, but in this book it's caught up to him. And there are lots of past ghosts out there for all these six characters. The fact of the matter is that they ended up in this lifestyle for a reason...they all have some serious mental scars from their pasts. In book two, those all flared to life and the guys truly fell apart. This book is the healing of all that and I enjoyed getting to see them finally overcome it all and become the really strong guys they are at their core...made even stronger by the ties that bind them all together.And that truly is the heart of this book. The ties between these guys. They are a family...a highly dysfunctional and sexual family (lol), but family nonetheless. When something goes wrong for one of them, they are all there to make it right and support each other in EVERY way possible. (Yeah, you should probably know going into it...these guys have very committed partners, but they ALL sleep with each other at some point in time...it's a very open group of guys.)This book also creates the beginning of the cross-over with Jack L. Pyke's world that she created in Don't (one of my absolute favorite books from last year). I loved getting to see Jack, Jan, and Gray in this story and love what they add to the tension and suspense. And there is a touch of suspense and drama to this one too. Although I see MUCH more of that to come with the story line they had going on in the background with the videos. The two worlds are incredible apart, but together...LOVE! Lynn Kelling did a great job writing Jack L. Pyke's characters. It will be interesting to see how the reverse goes for Jack....because let's face it, Lynn's characters are really messed up. But I do love them with all their dysfunctions.I know this isn't the end for these guys but this is the third book in the series and it wrapped up this particular set of story lines really well. I liked the way it was all concluded and was very happy with the outcome on all the various threads of harmful relationships these guys have had along the way. Kudos to Lynn Kelling for tying it all up VERY well!!