Review: Another winner for Kim Dare!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2013
Bret is an inexperienced sub who is hugely attracted to Marcus. He recently joined the club Marcus frequents and at just one look at him Bret decides that Marcus is the one he is submitting to. He doesn't want anyone else unless it is Marcus, so he goes to great lengths to capture his attention to see if he could get him to play.Marcus is an experienced dom who is frustrated by Bret's attention, he is exasperated but he can't help but be curious about the boy too. After a couple of weeks of making his presence known to Marcus, Bret's efforts are well rewarded when Marcus suddenly decides that he wants to be the one to make Bret submit.And what a scene THAT was!!! It was hot, enlightening, sexy and did I say HOT? Because it was.Bret isn't sure if he really is a sub and it isn't until that first scene he has with Marcus that he realizes that he was made to submit - to Marcus and only him. He has no desire to follow typical protocols within the club unless it leads to Marcus' pleasure, for his main goal is to please Marcus with his submission. He controls himself when he wants to comment or ask questions hoping that the reward is as amazing as he thinks it will be. He doubts his actions, his feelings and his thoughts and only Marcus can free him of this. It is only while submitting to Marcus that Bret feels the rightness of being a sub. He learns to let go of his need to talk, to challenge and fill in the silence.Marcus on the other hand learns to let go in a whole different way. He sees Bret as a challenge and although he feels Bret has a long way to go in learning how to be a submissive, he is amused and charmed by his ways. He is especially pleased to know that he will be Bret's first dom and takes great care in making their first scene memorable. Little by little he lets go of some of his control and starts feeling something for the bratty sub.Once a Brat is exactly what I have come to expect from author Kim Dare. With a strong, dependable dom in Marcus and an adorable, bratty sub in Bret, Kim Dare brings to the page a sensual, funny story. Their interactions are entertaining as well as insightful. We get to learn bit and pieces of the characters, which really helped me cheer them on and endeared them to me all the more. I loved Bret's honesty and the self-doubts that surfaced because it added to his character and made him seem real. I admired Marcus control, but I have to say that it was a joy to read the moments when he let his control slide and offered Bret the same honesty he handed out.This was a light, funny and sexy novella with interesting characters that won my heart and an engaging story that left me grinning well after I was finished.I received this title from Riptide Publishing though NetGalley in exchange of my honest opinion.