Review: Enjoyed the characters - growth, exploration, and love!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2013
I'm a huge fan of these authors and this story does nothing to change that view. What I most especially like is the smaller touches that bring the story home. Always the characters are flawed - but not fatally and not in any way that prohibits the love from growing. The way actions are described makes them very visceral to me. In the beginning half there is a point when they are going upstairs for the first time and Owen grabs Sterling's hand and he holds it tight and in that moment I was back at a time where my Dad did that with me before we did something important. That slight squeezing of the hand that tells you someone else is there, cares, and you are not alone. Those types of things mean that I really feel the characters.Although Sterling is a bratty sub to some extent you sense it is not out of a need to be contrary but a need to know. That let me treat and see it differently. The relationship develops slowly (sometimes painfully so) but it never left the station in spite of the issues. I didn't find this hardcore at all but then everyone has a different version of hardcore. As a masochist this fell pretty squarely on the mild to moderate side of the spectrum. It did have deeper D/s undertones than other stories - and those were well played. Very well done!