Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Jack Harris, a tattooed auto mechanic with roguish good looks, prides himself on being impervious to love. When challenged to reconnect with the one that got away, Alexei was the first to come to Jack's mind. It's been years since Jack walked away from the traditional leather scene, its rigid rules and conventions too confining for a man used to taking who and what he wants. Though they've lost contact over the years, he's always maintained respect and affection for his old mentor and scene partner, Alexei, the only man he ever trusted completely. Alexei hones in on Jack's anger and restlessness, with the same uncanny knack he always had. Alexei says he has the cure, but Jack isn't so sure.

Marcos Savakis watches with disdainful amusement as Jack boasts of his sexual conquests at the monthly meetings of the Solitary Knights. Marcos has spent years in the scene, training submissives to serve others, his heart insulated from the process. At the request of a dying friend, he reluctantly accepts a new charge to train. The man he discovers waiting on his knees is the last person he would have ever expected, and the first person to touch his heart.

BOOK REVIEW:
This story is intriguingly different from the first two in the series. It involves two solitary knights, one of whom doesn’t meet their previous love, and while the other does, he finds out he has a partner. One might think from the above description this would lead to an unhappy ending but, no. Alexei, Jack’s previous lover (though I use the term loosely), had more up his sleeve than was first apparent.

The other difference with this story is its BDSM content. I have read some of Ms. Thompson’s other stories where this trait is explored, and "Shifting Gears" is just as hard-hitting, if you’ll forgive the pun. I confess to not fully understanding the D/S lifestyle, but the author does a magnificent job of convincing me it’s right for Jack and Marcos.

Ms. Thompson skillfully allows us to see into Jack’s complex emotions. He says of himself, “Jack Harris submits to no man. I'm not some sniveling sub boy, groveling at his master's feet.” I was intrigued and a little disturbed by Jack’s fiery temper. I winced when he repeatedly hit his hand against a wall. Ms. Thompson’s prose describing how out-of-control he felt at that moment was both compelling and disturbing.

Marcos was harder to like, but then I always go for the underdog and as the dom, it’s not as easy for me to empathise with him. However, again Ms. Thompson did a first-class job of getting inside the character’s head and showing us what made him tick. I could appreciate that Marcos didn’t just want a subservient doormat ~ he needed constant challenging. Which is where Jack comes in.

I saw a mile off the situation that brought Marcos and Jack together, but maybe it was more a case of the destination being more important than the journey. And what a destination. This book is powerful. It will not be to everyone’s taste ~ personally I found it hard to accept the assertion that whipping someone can lead to pleasure for both parties. But devotees of this genre will relish in the web of physical and emotional pleasure/pain the author has spun.

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