Review: Excellent
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 8, 2014
When I discovered that Samhain Publishing was re-releasing new, re-edited versions of Heidi Cullinan's 'Special Delivery' series, I had no words. Those two books, 'Special Delivery' and 'Double Blind', had touched me in very intense ways and the opportunity to read them, newly re-edited, was enough to have me shivering in anticipation. None of that, however, came close to what I felt when I found that this incredible author had written a third book in the series. Sitting down to read 'Tough Love' was everything I had hoped it to be and feared it wouldn't. Visiting with old friends while making new ones was a wonderful gift and I owe the author, at the very least, a ginormous hug when I meet her someday.I loved Chenco from the moment I met him and felt his sorrow and pain over what his father had done to him. And from the grave, no less. Cooper Tedsoe used Chenco for everything he could get and then denied him the one thing he wanted. I'm not surprised. Mitch never had anything good to say about his dad, either. When I met Caramela, Chenco's very glamorous alter-ego, I fell even more in love, and now I had two of them to adore, as was their due. If things had been different, however, Chenco might never have met Steve that day in the lawyer's office, which led to Steve and Randy finding out about Caramela. Of course, knowing Randy, and loving him the way I do, I knew he'd figure out Chenco's relation to Mitch. Mitch had no clue he had a half brother and Cooper always told Chenco that Mitch would kill Chenco because he's gay. Father of the Year, right?"BDSM isn't about surprises. In the lifestyle, consent is king. Even if play is about taking away control, none of it happens until the submissive gives the control up. What it can do, though, is offer a safe place to escape, to be."Steve is a Dom and a sadist. Chenco knows very little about that lifestyle, but I loved the way Steve answered all of his questions, and the way Chenco really listened and tried to understand. Steve is pretty much bowled over from the first moment he lays eyes on Chenco. When he meets Caramela, it just intensifies the thoughts and emotions Steve doesn't want to have for this young man. Steve won huge, gigantic, enormous, points from me because he respected the difference between Chenco and Caramela and addressed him/her accordingly. Steve has a whole ton of his own baggage that he's carting around, though, and I was waiting for something to implode.'Tough Love' is very different from the first two books in the series in that Steve is very entrenched in the BDSM lifestyle. To the point where he and Chenco go through a formal contract before anything serious occurs between them. Mitch, Sam, Randy and Ethan are not as hardcore followers of the lifestyle, but, then again, I would never view any of them as a sadist or a masochist. Steve is a true sadist and Chenco is discovering his inner masochist. It was sometimes excruciating to watch scenes between Steve and Chenco, especially in the beginning, to see Steve pull all the buried pain, fear, anger, and hurt out of Chenco, and let him soar. It's no wonder Steve is in awe of this young man and his strength. I was too.The whole crowd heads to Las Vegas where Caramela is going to showcase at Ethan's casino. Steve packs up his house because he is staying with Chenco for as long as the younger man will let him. Unfortunately, a part of Steve's past comes to Las Vegas with them, albeit under the care of Crabtree, and until Steve deals with it, he'll have no future with Chenco. Steve wants that future, he needs it, more so than he ever guessed he would when he first saw Chenco. Steve is realizing, though, that Chenco doesn't need Steve, he would have made it to Las Vegas on his own, eventually. It is Crabtree who forces Steve to see what he's been hiding behind and from for so many years, and as terrifying as it is, Steve will either face it or he'll go back to Texas, alone. Luckily for Steve, Chenco loves him and he wants to face the monster with Steve and battle it back, together. And Chenco is fierce in his love!Darn you, Heidi Cullinan, not five pages into this book and I knew, I just knew, you were going to eviscerate me and then walk through my intestines and leave me bleeding and raw on the floor. Thanks, girlfriend. Really. On the other hand, you gave me more Randy, whom I love madly, along with Mitch, Sam, Ethan, and oh my goddess, Crabtree, that old gangster. I have a special place in my heart for Crabtree.When I absorbed everything I possibly could from Steve and Chenco's story, it was stunningly easy to see that this entire book was about family. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of a hot, erotic love story, but the foundation of their book is rooted in family. What we'll do for our family, what we'll suffer for them, how much we need those roots, how harsh the world is when the roots are ripped from our grasp, and how beautiful life is when they are cared for and loved. Thank you, again, Heidi, for showing me this love. I won't forget it.NOTE: This book was provided by Samhain Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews