Title: Someone to Keep Me
Series: Collars and Cuffs, #3
Author: K.C. Wells & Parker Williams
Genre: BDSM, D/s
ISBN: 978-1-62798-433-1
Length: Novel (246 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 10th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3~3.5 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: Eighteen-year-old Scott Keating knows a whole world exists beyond his parents’ strict control, but until he gains access to the World Wide Web, he really has no idea what’s out there. In a chat room, Scott meets “JeffUK.” Jeff loves and understands him, and when he offers to bring Scott to the UK, Scott seizes his chance to escape his humdrum life and see the world. But when his plane touches down and Jeff isn’t there, panic sets in.
Collars & Cuffs favorite barman and Dom-in-training, Ben Winters, drops his sister off at the airport, and finds a lost, anxious Scott. Hearing Scott’s story sets off alarm bells, along with his protective instincts. Taking pity on the naïve boy, Ben offers him a place to crash and invites him to Collars & Cuffs, hoping his bosses will know how to help. Scott dreams of belonging to someone, heart and soul. Ben longs for a sub of his own. And neither man sees what’s right under his nose.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4555
Review: Oh my God, what a disturbing, distressing, and utterly frustrating read. I finished this yesterday, slept through the night thinking about it, and still feel frustrated with so many things. I know half of them were intentional from the authors to awaken reactions, but I fear, what made the worse impact with me was not deliberate. You got no idea what I’m talking about right? Let’s see:
This is the story of eighteen-year-old Scott who’s lived a sheltered life, the life his parents has dictated for him. He’s been homeschooled, kept away from society, literally a prisoner of his parent’s whims. Through sheer luck, Scott gains access to internet and a new world opens in front of his eyes. He is naïve, beyond anything you might have as a comparison, but I was okay with that, it happens and when a child is in that manner abused, it is probably a norm.
In his naivety, Scott falls pray of a man from England, who buys him an A’ class ticket there. And after being nearly desperate to get away from his parent clutches, Scott finds himself on a plane and in a new country across the ocean.
Cringe-worthy I ensure you and this is only the beginning scene. The story itself is not so much explicit, it doesn’t affect you with horrors or cruelty per se, and it’s rather the what-could-have-been that makes you reel from it.
At the airport, Scott is not claimed by Jeff, the guy who told him he loved him. He sits there in near panic thinking over and over how not worthy he is, how no one wants him, no one will ever take care of him, and how no one will love him enough to care. Yes, you got it right. This character suffers from a huge deal of low self-esteem. He is prime victim material. Honestly, I didn’t very much like him. He was so, so needy and the fact that the phrase “he needs a keeper” was repeated more than twice in the book makes you understand just how much this character needs. Yes, in the long go he rises, blooms, and flourishes, but still Scott never made a lasting impression to me. I don’t think I ever found this one the least lovable. Nevertheless, he was quite developed as a character and the initial impression (it was NOT favorable) did change for me by the end of the story.
Now, what happened to Scott is that Ben showed up. Ben works as a bar tender at Collars and Cuffs, and is a Dom in training. He also is in the middle of so, so many things. He pays for his mother’s health care, pays for his sister, pays for himself… All he seems to do is pay around and never making ends meet. Ben has just said his goodbyes to his sister at the airport when he notices Scott’s distressed appearance. The Dom in him awakens and feels the need to help the poor creature, and so he does, taking him back at the club and together with Leo and Thomas, they take it upon them to help the needy boy. But of course, Scott will have to stay with Ben.
So, you see where the story goes and how the beginning of feelings/emotions will happen. There are aspects of the story that did so not sit well with me. One is the fact that Scott is a virgin. Totally a virgin… For me that fact is huge, because at some point he decides that he is submissive (that was obvious the way the story went) and he trains for one even as he’s still a virgin. His virginity is not downplayed though; it’s rather a huge deal and takes a big, big part of the plot/scene there. But still it somehow unnerved me, the blend of submission/virginity. I could not picture it. I simply read it and was trying to wrap my head around it. In the end, I did wrap my head around it, and whew, did I like the result. It was hot, surreal, but hot.
Ben though, while he made one heck of an impression to me, managed not only to fail, but also to really, really piss me off as a character. I think this was the one weak (really weak) point of this book, the fact that this main character did not manage to redeem himself in my eyes. Perhaps the authors though it would be enough for him to go claim Scott like a knight in shining armor, but no. Just. No.
In my eyes Ben is, was, and will be a bloody idiot of a man. The trust was broken, not once, not twice, but goddamn it, what freaking trust? He was one lucky son of a bitch to have such a naïve and needy boy, because a more seasoned sub would have dumped him to the curb. I wondered how the hell Thomas (his trainer) let him go with the shit he pulled. Ben was effectively the chinking link. He never managed to make a connection with me, and the frustration he caused me, dear me, I’m still breathing heavily from all that. He should not have gotten what he got, the jerk.
Yeah, excuse my rant. I thought I had relaxed enough today to be able to write this without seeing red with Ben. Apparently, I’m not. Authors, I really hate this character of yours.
Overall, it was a very nice book, quite enjoyable. The writing was easy in the eyes, the pace flowed like silk, and even though the characters frustrated me, the story itself held my interest throughout the read. The erotic scenes such as they were, heh, they appealed to me a lot. I found the edging a bit surreal mind you, because he was a virgin and come on, there is no way a young boy not trained to hold his orgasm, could possibly hold his orgasm like that, but damn, it was so, so hot anyway. And fun, yeah, when things finally took their path, the story became quite fun as well.
So, do I recommend it? Yep, I do. Bear in mind all the above and if you’re fans of the genre you might find this read as enjoyable as I did. Just don’t let Ben’s stupidity catch off guard. God that character. *groans*