Review: Incredible story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 19, 2013
Strong 4.5 ~This story evoked a strong emotional response from me, which to be honest, surprised me. The plot wasn't an unfamiliar one, but, perhaps the fact that it took place in England instead of the US is what affected me? I'm not sure, other than Tyler resonated within me and I couldn't let him go for quite a while. 'With or Without Him' is about so much more than a college guy selling himself to pay off his student loans and the wealthy man who rescues him. Mainly because both Tyler and Haris need to be rescued from the things in their past that continue to drag them down and meeting each other turns into the miracle they both needed it to be.Tyler does once a week sex parties for Prescott for five hundred pounds each week, cash. Considering his student loan debt will run into the mid-thirty thousand pound mark per year, Tyler needs the money. Granted, he could wait to pay off his loans until he's graduated and has a job, but Tyler hates being indebted, in any way, so when Prescott lured him in, he couldn't say no. It's been a long time now and the only way he can survive is by shutting all his feelings away and simply getting through it. Not to mention that once Prescott has you, getting away from him is almost impossible. When Prescott "asks" Tyler to appear at a mid-week engagement for double the money, Tyler has no idea that he's going to be forcibly restrained in BDSM with no way of safewording and no one listening. Except for Haris.Haris is a wealthy, hardworking stockbroker who accepted an invite to the music college for a benefit concert for donations. One look at Tyler playing the piano and Haris wants him more than he's ever wanted anyone else. He follows Tyler when he leaves, ends up at the warehouse to find Tyler hanging from a St. Andrews's cross with multiple clamps attached to his body. Thinking this is what Tyler is into, Haris initially is going to leave, until he gets a good look at the young man's face and realizes he's terrified. Tyler is tied at wrists and ankles with a ball gag in. No possible way to safeword and be let down, not that Prescott or his flunkies listened to Tyler before the ball gag was in place. Haris makes some initial protests but backs off before he can be thrown out. Instead, Haris calls his butler, Wilson (who is hysterical, by the way), and once he arrives and is waiting out front with the car running, Haris is able to whisk Tyler away by turning off all the lights and flipping the fire alarm. Haris is furious when he discovers everyone exited the building but left Tyler hanging.The next thing Tyler knows, Haris has found him at the college, taken him for coffee, and proposed a business arrangement. If Tyler lives with him for four months Haris will pay him twenty thousand pounds and an additional ten thousand for clothes. Except for his school obligations, Tyler's time will be spent with Haris. Haris has his own motivations here. He wants Tyler desperately and figures four months will prove that Haris is incapable of a relationship, he can get Tyler out of his system, they both get what they want and walk away. No harm, no foul. Watching Tyler and Haris meet for dinner the following night is almost magical. Inside Tyler's sarcastic and mouthy self is a very witty young man who can banter back and forth easily. Haris is more than charmed and Tyler is equally impressed, although feeling very inadequate next to Haris's social skills and knowledge.This story could proceed along fairly predictably, but instead, the author intensified the drama and the mystery. Someone is stalking them and trying to kill them. But, are they after Haris or Tyler? Or both? Whose past is coming back to haunt them? Haris is thinking he might need to hire a private detective to get to the bottom of the mess. All of this intrigue is going on while Tyler and Haris are trying to figure out what they are doing and they're slowly moving from a business arrangement to something more, Prescott is threatening Tyler constantly, and Wilson is positive they're being tailed when they are out in the car.I fell completely for Tyler. Something about him just broke my heart. To have lived through what he did at such a young age and still retain some semblance of sanity is remarkable. Tyler tries so hard to not feel anything, to never, ever be vulnerable again, to never love again. When, in truth, Tyler has a giant heart and so much love to give. It's the trusting he has a tough time with. Amazingly, I fell just as hard for Haris and for many of the same reasons. Haris was a little older when his childhood imploded, but it surely happened in a most brutal fashion and I wasn't surprised that Haris had become a control freak and never wanted to let anyone in. The two men shared some definite characteristics in that they were both sullen and moody, but also scared, vulnerable, terrified of trusting, and oh so lonely.This was a wonderful story and my first experience with the author but guaranteed to not be my last. I adored the main characters and the secondaries were just as good. The entire plot and the resulting whodunit came as a big surprise, which I greatly enjoyed. All in all this was a fabulous story and I'm adding Tyler and Haris to my list of favorite characters. Thank you, Barbara Ellsborg, for an amazing story.NOTE: This book was provided by Samhain Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews