Wyatt Findley is an up-and-coming artist, attending a prestigious art institute in St. Louis. His mentor, Lukas Callahan, has snagged a sweet house-sitting job for him in a gorgeous home in a well-to-do part of town. Wyatt can’t help but notice two men who live just across the street.They make an odd couple, since there must be a good twenty years difference between them. And yet there is something about the younger man that calls to Wyatt.
Shylor Lind has been living with Randy Grant for fifteen years, ever since Grant hired Shy’s mother as his live-in housekeeper. But five years ago, their relationship changed when Shy’s mother sold him to Grant and took the money and ran. Since then, Randy has been training Shy to be his submissive, dominating him in every way. There is nothing Shy can do about the situation, and he has nowhere to go, no one to turn to.
And then Wyatt enters his life… and nothing will ever be the same, as Wyatt engages in a battle for Shy’s very soul.
The author is donating 10% of the royalties from this book to No Kid Hungry. Visit https://www.nokidhungry.org/
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon
Cat gives this one 4 Meows 2 Purr heat index...
I almost passed this one up because the cover was so dark I could barely make the images out. The blurb, however, hooked me and I am glad I took the chance.
Since I don't give half stars I am rounding up to a four mainly because of the beautiful way this story is handled.
Warning: This story is about slavery. not really BDSM consensual, one person likes it slavery but A young man that has lived in a house since he was 5, sold by his mother at fifteen and known nothing else. He was homeschooled and not let out unless with Randy so he has no friends and no one knows him but the other men in the club they go to. Shylar lives in fear of not pleasing Randy or having to take the brunt of anything that upsets him. Here is what I liked, though we know Shylar is abused and every time we see the storm in Randy's eyes I would flinch... yet the actual punishments were off the page, though we know that Shylar endured a lot.
Wyatt was ok as a character. I love that he saw something, checked it out, couldn't quit thinking something was just wrong and kept going after it. There are few characters in the story and it is short and to the point.
I do wish the end had been a bit more. I will say it's at least a happy for now. I would have liked to see more justice since what Randy was doing was illegal as h#@! but hey maybe we will get another story. I'd be up for it and I would love to see Lukas get a story. (HInt, HInt)
Excerpt...
THE SILVER rims gleamed. The afternoon sun bounced off the highly polished surface, directly into Shylor’s eyes. He never flinched, never showed his discomfort in any way. The muscles in his arms ached, and his shoulders threatened to spasm if they didn’t receive a little relief from the relentless effort he’d been expending all morning.
But Shylor refused to give up. Failure was not an option with him. Failure came with its own consequences, and not of the pleasant variety. Was there a pleasant variety anymore? If so, that was so long ago he’d forgotten how good it might have felt. At the moment, all he could focus on was the potential for pain. The possibility of being reprimanded. And damned if he was going to let that happen. Especially over something as trivial as how he washed Randy’s expensive set of wheels.
He wasn’t aware he’d stopped moving until a cold voice from behind prompted him. “Don’t stop until I tell you to.” Icy fingers traveled down Shylor’s spine—or what passed for one. He would have been hard put to find that anymore. Zoologically speaking, he could probably be classified as an invertebrate, something belonging to the order of cowards. Was there a special species known as weaklings? If so, he must rank somewhere pretty high among them, he figured.
He never turned, never acknowledged the rebuke. He knew it wasn’t expected of him. He also knew what he would see, should he do so. Randy Grant. Six foot, silver hair that matched his expensive luxury sedan. Eyes of a changeable gray that reflected his mood and his pleasure. Sometimes they were tranquil seas that seemed almost an icy blue, and at those times Shylor could almost… but not quite… believe that Randy cared about him.
It was the other times, when the gray turned into dark and turbulent clouds, that Shylor knew he was in for a world of pain, and at those times there was nothing he could do to ameliorate the situation. All he could do was grit his teeth and bear it, wait for the storm to pass.
Randy Grant was forty years old, twice Shylor’s age. To the business world, he presented the image of a successful entrepreneur as the founder and driving force behind one of the city’s most creative marketing agencies: Granting Your Wishes. They called him the Silver Fox, because of his prematurely gray hair, but on Randy it looked good. He had a smile that charmed the pants off everyone he met—figuratively and literally. And he had a body to die for. Well, he should—he worked very hard at maintaining it. Having the money for an expensive personal gym couldn’t hurt anyone, and neither did having a personal trainer who supervised his exercise regime and a dietician who made sure he ate very well and very healthy. Shylor wasn’t fooled, though. Randy controlled every move. He knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way, and he reveled in his control.
Inside the bedroom and out.
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But Shylor refused to give up. Failure was not an option with him. Failure came with its own consequences, and not of the pleasant variety. Was there a pleasant variety anymore? If so, that was so long ago he’d forgotten how good it might have felt. At the moment, all he could focus on was the potential for pain. The possibility of being reprimanded. And damned if he was going to let that happen. Especially over something as trivial as how he washed Randy’s expensive set of wheels.
He wasn’t aware he’d stopped moving until a cold voice from behind prompted him. “Don’t stop until I tell you to.” Icy fingers traveled down Shylor’s spine—or what passed for one. He would have been hard put to find that anymore. Zoologically speaking, he could probably be classified as an invertebrate, something belonging to the order of cowards. Was there a special species known as weaklings? If so, he must rank somewhere pretty high among them, he figured.
He never turned, never acknowledged the rebuke. He knew it wasn’t expected of him. He also knew what he would see, should he do so. Randy Grant. Six foot, silver hair that matched his expensive luxury sedan. Eyes of a changeable gray that reflected his mood and his pleasure. Sometimes they were tranquil seas that seemed almost an icy blue, and at those times Shylor could almost… but not quite… believe that Randy cared about him.
It was the other times, when the gray turned into dark and turbulent clouds, that Shylor knew he was in for a world of pain, and at those times there was nothing he could do to ameliorate the situation. All he could do was grit his teeth and bear it, wait for the storm to pass.
Randy Grant was forty years old, twice Shylor’s age. To the business world, he presented the image of a successful entrepreneur as the founder and driving force behind one of the city’s most creative marketing agencies: Granting Your Wishes. They called him the Silver Fox, because of his prematurely gray hair, but on Randy it looked good. He had a smile that charmed the pants off everyone he met—figuratively and literally. And he had a body to die for. Well, he should—he worked very hard at maintaining it. Having the money for an expensive personal gym couldn’t hurt anyone, and neither did having a personal trainer who supervised his exercise regime and a dietician who made sure he ate very well and very healthy. Shylor wasn’t fooled, though. Randy controlled every move. He knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way, and he reveled in his control.
Inside the bedroom and out.
My name is Julie, and I am an author. I've been writing for over forty years and can't think of anything I'd rather do. Creating worlds inside my head and putting them into words is my passion. I live in the Midwest with my daughter Sarah and my 17-year-old cat, Ramesses. My daughters introduced me to the world of fanfiction and yaoi, and m/m romance. I took to it like a duck to water, and began to write my own, starting with the Harry Potter fandom. Eventually I progressed to original characters and stories. When I'm not writing or working, I watch TV shows and movies, and enjoy a few crafts: crocheting, cross stitch, knitting and crocheting. I try to keep up with all my children, who have scattered to the winds, other than Sarah. I write in different genres within the m/m category: paranormal, contemporary, humor, mystery, science fiction, supernatural, historical, bdsm, and anything else I can think of. I like to try new things and push the envelope as much as I can. If I leave someone with something or something they remember after they finish my book, or something to think about they've never looked at like that before, then I consider that I've done a good job.
great excerpt
ReplyDeleteThank you for the excerpt!
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