Review: Well-written, but just too short to pull me in
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 12, 2011
I picked up this short after readingBreakdown Motel (Gay BDSM Erotica), which was one of the hottest M/M reads I'd found recently and which I gave 5 stars. It's a clever little story, but just doesn't have the scorch factor of the other book. The writing is solid, but I just didn't care for the main character as much as Danny in "Breakdown" - I think, in the end, this was because the story was just a bit too short for the author to develop Michael's characterization.VERY MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW:Michael Baines is a closeted BDSM sub who has just scratched the surface of the local scene. Happily married (okay, this was a bit of a stretch for me, since we're talking the gay BDSM scene...) and successful at his day job, he receives a note at work from someone who knows about his kink. And thus ensues a bit of a mystery as the blackmailer orders Michael about, drugs him, etc. Without spoiling the end, which is clever, suffice it to say that Michael's life will never be the same again.Again, my real complaint about the story was that I never grew to care about Michael. He was fine, in a ho-hum way. I didn't "get" why the kink was so integral to Michael's psyche. I didn't "get" why his marriage was so great. I got that he liked being a sub, but that was about it.  I just never "got" what made Michael tick.So overall, solidly written, but nowhere near as hot as "Breakdown."