Gray Andino is a Denver cop with a pain kink and a history of falling in love with the wrong people. He’s jealous of his friends’ newfound happiness, but with a brain that won’t shut up and a need to argue everything, finding his own soul mate seems impossible, so he settles for meaningless sex and doling out pain with willing subs.Subs like Avery Barron. When Avery asks to stay with Gray for a … stay with Gray for a few weeks, Gray reluctantly agrees. Avery may be the perfect sub, but as an accidental roommate, he sucks. The younger child of rich, indulgent parents, Avery is an entitled slob with a disdain for rules, a lack of ambition, and an obsession with social media. Gray tolerates his presence, but when Avery breaks one of Gray’s ground rules, he punishes him and takes away his phone.
Deprived of his usual echo chamber, Avery feels lost until he discovers a local Tap House, a piano, and his buried love of music. The more Avery plays, the more the community around him blossoms. For the first time in his life, Avery has a purpose and goals for the future. But the thing he longs for most—Gray’s love and respect—may be forever out of reach.
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I was really looking forward to Gray’s story. It started out so well, but large portions of the book were given to addressing social media, political parties, protesting, and mainstream media. It is totally unlike the first two books in the series. The author must have been grappling with the divisions of our country and though to use the book’s platform to inspire readers to be less polarized in their thinking. There is a lot of moralizing about fair debates, coming from a place of love and respect, and taking time to understand all sides of an issue. Those are all good things. However, there were also comments about explaining your side of the issue and if the other person doesn’t eventually agree or come to respect your opinion, you haven’t explained yourself sufficiently. The reality is that it would be difficult to pinpoint any society’s evolution in civil rights by the marginalized asking nicely to be treated equally. I’ve found it easier for people to talk about love, understanding, and civil discourse as the solutions when they haven’t experienced these things first-hand and when it hasn’t happened to them or their loved ones personally. Of course, there is no excuse for violence, such as occurred in this book, but it is definitely looking at the world through rose-colored glasses to think that dialogue alone will cure bullying, discrimination, and other of society’s ills. For those who experience extreme harassment, the book should actually have trigger warnings. For myself, I read romance novels to escape, not to be pseudo-educated.
I loved this whole series and quickly devoured each book I’ve read so far. I loved gray and avery and I went into this worried i would never warm up to either character but luckily they won me over in the end and all i could do was feel heart broken for both characters and was very glad both got their very hard earned HEA. This was my first time reading a book with this sort of kink and enjoyed it way more than I thought i would. The book left me wanting more of the chapters at the end and I loved all the side characters as well and the way they all interacted and bonded with one another. The story was very well written and so were all the characters. I only wished so much of the book wasn’t over take by politics.
As beautiful as this story is, it’s even lovelier when read by John Solo. His performance is simply spectacular. There’s boatloads of emotion in each of the books in this series, and the way he captures it and conveys it just through his voice…, well it is an incredible experience and I highly recommend it.
Folks, if you’re turned off by the S&M part I get it, though Marie Sexton does a great job explaining why and how it works for these characters. If you’re turned off by the political statements (especially those early in the book) PLEASE stay the course. There’s a solid reason why Avery’s character starts out like this – and to follow his journey all the way through is imperative. Then you’ll understand why Ms. Sexton starts this story out the way she does.
Each of the books in this series could be read as standalones, though the four gents around whom the series revolves play a part in each other’s books.
I would rate this 4 stars.
This is the third book in the series and by now, I feel like they need to be read in order for the full emotional experience because much of the information about each of the doms is layered into each book, weaving a greater whole. This book focuses on Gray, who is way more interesting than I’ve seen previously, yet less time is spent with him. The majority of it feels like this is Avery’s story as a spoiled, ungrateful, selfish brat; his character development is forced as he is finally having to be responsible for himself, beholden to Gray instead of his parents. Even with what he’s seen as a veteran and working as a beat cop, Gray still has things to learn too–the age gap doesn’t seem all that large when gauged by emotional maturity. When his trying moments come, they are devastating. As they traverse the issue of trust between a masochist and a sadist, they learn the hardest parts are sharing more of themselves than just their bodies.
This series is so rich in main characters, it doesn’t need much from its secondary characters. Information about Charlie has been building in each book and he will get his story soon. As the advice giver, peace maker, and heart of the group, his character is frequently the bridge that connects everyone. Avery’s friend Derik is a good mirror for Avery–the more he grows and changes from the way he was, the more he sees how shallow, vain, and cruel his life used to be. The author did set up situations that I felt deepened the friendships of all the men, and yes, that includes more shared sex scenes. The sex between Gray and Avery at the beginning and the sex at the end are completely different with the added intimacy gained on their journey.
Large parts of this are a huge indictment against social media and against people who don’t educate themselves so they are well rounded citizens. While it is couched in terms of Avery’s character development, and Gray’s upbringing, there are times when the pointed social commentary subsumed the narrative. I support the positive message, about building the world you want to have, even as I think the way the story all fell into place was too pat. That made this relationship less realistic to me than the ones in the previous books. I enjoyed Avery and Grey moving through their story together, I just felt like it wasn’t Avery who was meant to be learning the life lessons, but the reader and that made their love story take an occasional backseat to the larger themes.
My favorite book of the series. Ms.Sexton does an excellent job of weaving current social issues into her stories.