“You still mess me up after all this time, Luc.”“Not my problem.”Court’s forceful brand of dominance pushes Lucan’s buttons like nothing else, but he can’t forget how badly Court hurt him in the past. Their romance six years ago was heady, intense, and sizzling—and left Lucan with deep emotional scars. When he runs into Court at a fetish party, the spark is still there. But so is the pain.For … there. But so is the pain.
For Court, Lucan is the mindfuck he never got over. He still doesn’t know why Lucan ended things, and when he sees Lucan in the flesh again, the desperate need to dominate comes rushing back. Court would do anything to have a second chance, but he won’t let Lucan mess with his head and break his heart again. Or so he tells himself.
“I’ll do it all right for you this time if you just teach me.”
When Lucan agrees to show Court how to be a good Dom, the two headstrong men toe a delicate line between restraint and uncontrolled passion. Will the same sick love that consumed their past destroy their future?
Making It Better is a standalone novel with an HEA ending.
Buy this contemporary BDSM romance filled with emotion and heat today!
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Lyss Em’s Making It Better is a powerful look at how two men reconnect after a messy breakup, and the work that’s involved to give their love a second chance.
There are some unique factors at play here, especially after all the damage both men sustained during their initial, toxic affair. Making It Better is seriously intense, but watching Court and Lucan work through it all, and come back stronger than ever, is a fantastic story!
For Lucan, recovering from the trauma he suffered at the hands of Court’s inexperience and callousness has been a journey. Therapy and education have helped him rebuild his life, and when Lucan plays now he sticks to a firm set of guidelines. Even though these rules aren’t getting him what he needs as a sub and a masochist, he’s doing what he can to move on.
Six years after the breakup Court’s back in town. Having realized that hookups outside the lifestyle haven’t come close to giving him what he found with Lucan, Court is looking to make a connection. When he ends up at the same play party as Lucan, it’s clear the chemistry between the two men is still just as passionate… and if they’re not careful, just as unhealthy.
Lyss Em goes deep into the hearts of these guys and keeps up the intensity throughout the whole novel. We see their thought processes, and get a firsthand view of how the wounds they inflicted affected each of them. With profound scenes, they work through the wreckage and try to forgive each other for what happened in the past.
Court and Lucan truly need each other, and finding a way to move forward is a work in progress. But if they can both commit to “Making It Better”, the rewards are worth it.
Lucan and Court had an intense relationship built on dominance and submission when they were in their early twenties. Neither knew the rules or protocols of BDSM, and that ignorance caused mistakes on both parts. Lucan ended things without explaining why and cut all ties with Court. Both were damaged emotionally and unable to find something with anyone else that came close to what they had with each other. This book began six years later, when the former lovers met up again at a BDSM play party. Despite the grudges each still held, the attraction and extreme desires were still there.
I have to say, I was worried about these guys for a big part of the book. Even with the knowledge regarding safe, sane, and consensual behavior Lucan had gained and began to share with Court, these two were a mess. There was tremendous push and pull over just about everything with them. But, hot damn, when they came together there were fireworks!
I really liked both men, and I wanted them to get things right. I felt nervous when they had edgier scenes, because I worried about how both would react if they went too far. I often thought one or the other was being immature, and I cringed at the things they said to each other at times, but I never once doubted their feelings for each other.
There was blood play and breath play here, which might be a hard limit for some readers. These two men liked extremes. There was also a lot of love. I liked Lucan and Court, sometimes against my will. This was an intense, engrossing, difficult romance, and I think it was pretty damn good.
4 stars
Heat Level: 5 (features hot but hardcore BDSM scenes, some violence, cutting and humiliation, not or the faint-hearted)
Intense and detailed gay BDSM romance and devotion story.
I’ll be very honest here and say I had read the Fifty Shades books and was interested in the BDSM scene, but the reality and nature of true BDSM is very different from these books and not for the faint-hearted. I’m not sure it’s for me, as parts were a little too intense, but objectively this book is great for any true BDSM fan.
This book follows Lucan and Court as they rekindle their sexual relationship after 8 years apart. Their relationship is now based in the BDSM scene and over the 8 years apart they have learnt so much more about the kink and how to better take care of each other. After 8 years they realise they still love each other and can give each other what they crave. However, their initial relationship was unhealthy and they still hold onto resentment and various fears and insecurities which must be addressed. The story follows Lucan and Court as they navigate their way back to each other, address their concerns and fears and find the love and devotion they’ve been looking for.
This book is heavy on BDSM sex scenes and does feature some hardcore and possibly dangerous BDSM related scenes that people could find confronting. After the initial confrontation/introduction to high-level BDSM play, I found the underlying love story intense, yet wonderful. The changes in these characters over the course of the book is remarkable and shows that when people communicate properly and acknowledge their feelings they can thrive together! I love characters that communicate!!! This is a hard road to forever for Lucan and Court but once they get there, it’s wonderful!
A great and very detailed read for the hardcore BDSM fan!
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Making It better is a second chance romance with a kink by Lyss Em. Lucan and Court are sometimes infuriating… they love each other but have so much to work out… it’s sad that they didn’t communicate enough in the past and had so much pain because they didn’t research or communicate needs. They could be beautiful together and some scenes were amazing. I was engrossed in the story the whole time and wanted a HEA. I felt the story was well written, entertaining and satisfying.
I received an advanced reader’s copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review and recommendation.