David wanted a nice trip to the Argentine wine country with his new boyfriend, Jazz. He wanted some new contracts for his import business, maybe a good tan, and a lot of kinky sex.Instead, he gets an uncomfortable reminder of the difference in their ages, a stiff dose of irrational jealousy, and the realization that his feelings for Jazz are much stronger than he thought they were.He tries to … were.
He tries to keep it all to himself and let Jazz enjoy the trip, but his withdrawal, founded on old insecurities and the memory of loss, is the real threat to their new relationship.
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This review is for the first 3 books in the series.
The first novella opened with a bang and I loved it, as I expressed exactly that in my review.
But the second book was less exciting for me, it kind of petered out. I honestly expected more BDSM, which didn’t really happen because… well… it’s hard to explain. There are a lot of reasons, first of all because even though both David and Jaxx was getting off on weird stuff, David decided not telling Jaxx about the lifestyle was a good idea, because he didn’t like the rules, he wanted to be scared, he felt it exhilarating when he didn’t know if he told Jaxx to stop, he would actually stop, or ignore his request; he liked the unknown, liked it when it was dangerous.
But then Jaxx was hesitant, cause he didn’t want to actually hurt David, even thought he liked hurting him, but he needed to know where was the limit.
So anyway there was more guessing on both of their parts, cause they refused to communicate, well David refused.
It wasn’t the fuckfest I was expecting and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It was almost like the author wanted you to feel ready for the heavy BDSM, and all the feels. But it still seems I have to wait for that. Maybe in the 4th and 5th book?
It also turned out in the second book, that there’s a big age gap, like 20 years. I would’ve liked to know that sooner. Usually I can tell how old are the MCs and maybe I should’ve this time too, but I honestly thought David acting like a cranky old man is just in his nature. He’s in his late thirties though. Jaxx is 21, and it shows, but I guessed his age around 25.
The third book brought the smexy. Not heavy BDSM, but pain/pleasure manipulations and a bit of humiliation. Awesome! But they also started to fall in love with each other, so there was cuddling too. <3
This installment was written in dual POV, and it felt unnecessary at first. But then as the story progressed I felt more and more, that I need to know Jaxx better. He isn't the fun, laid-back guy he appeared to be in the first book. I think he has some anxiety from his past.
One thing I'm not sure what to do with, is that we don't know much about their past. They talk rarely about their parents. Daddy issues with Jaxx for sure. Not sure what's the deal with David though. I want more background story. But I'm not viewing this as a negative thing yet, because their relationship is in the early stages, they know each other for... like... 2 months I think, and they were apart for 1 month. And these are shorter novels, so there's still time to get that information in the next installments.
3.5 stars from me, overall it's really enjoyable.
Triggers: cheating (though they weren't really together yet, so I'm not sure it counts); jealousy (a lot); pain/pleasure manipulations; a little humiliation.