Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Evan Nichols likes his nice, quiet life in Boston. An established and respected Dom in the BDSM scene, he isn't looking for a sub, a slave, or a 24/7 relationship. Then a phone call from his best friend and fellow Dom, Rhys Calhoun, shakes up his comfortable routine. Rhys needs Evan’s help to rehabilitate an abused sub ~ a sub Rhys has fallen in love with. Evan has misgivings, but he could never say no to Rhys, any more than Rhys would ever refuse to help him.

Before he knows it, Evan finds himself at Rhys's home in Las Vegas with a sub who can barely stand to be in the same room with him and a Dom whose emotional involvement threatens his control. Add in the sexual attraction that's always simmered between Evan and Rhys, and it's a situation that has the potential to go very, very wrong. Determined to heal both Takoda and Rhys, Evan doesn't realize how many assumptions about his own life will be called into question as he tries to help them find their way forward together.

BOOK REVIEW:
The blurb for this book is great and I couldn’t wait to read this book. In the beginning it started off strong with Takoda described as severely abused although when Evan meets him he seems more gun shy than anything else. He had been kidnapped and held hostage by an abusive Dom for 10 days. He was an employee of Rhys’ at his BDSM club where he met his kidnapper.

Rhys had a crush on Takoda and Takoda had a crush on Rhys but neither knew it or would act on it because Rhys forbids employee relationships. When Takoda is kidnapped somehow Rhys is there when the police find him in the dungeon and somehow ends up with the physically and mentally broken man living with him. In the time it takes Takoda to heal physically (it’s been 5 weeks or so) he doesn’t do so well mentally. Rhys calls in his best friend Evan to help him. Evan and Rhys are long time friends, past lovers and Doms that occasionally submit to each other as well. Evan realizes right off that Rhys is in love with Takoda and that is why Rhys can’t be objective enough to help Takoda. Evan joins him in his home to try and help.

At first the book seems like it might end up a menage story but Evan quickly realizes that what he is feeling is envy for the relationship growing between Rhys and Takoda. They bring Takoda around quickly, really. Once Evan gets there, things move fast and soon Takoda believes that he does want to be a sub for Rhys ... mostly because that is what Rhys wants.

The first half seems to go all right until Evan decides he is in love with a sub he has played with back home a few times named Patrick. Once Patrick enters the book it starts to crumble. Patrick is such a strong and domineering personality himself that he overshadows both Evan and Rhys. He manages to change their plans, makes suggestions about things the minute he walks in the door without any understanding of the dynamics between the group and generally tops from the bottom from the moment you meet him. The only time Evan seems to have any control is when they are in a scene and if there is a promise of pain if he behaves. After that Evan seems more like Patrick’s sub than the other way around. Rhys makes strides but also seems weak next to Patrick once he is invited to join them in Las Vegas.

The sex and BDSM scenes were good. I just think the book didn’t quite know where it wanted to go and that Patrick, although he started out a sub, really didn’t want to fit into that mold once his character was fleshed out in the book.

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