Title: Tag Team
Series: Guards of Folsom: Book Two
Author: SJD Peterson
Genre: MMM / BDSM-Kink
Length: Novel (220 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 4th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5~4 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: Following the death of their sub, the former owners of the Guards of Folsom, Robert “Bobby” Alcott and Rig Beckworth, were left to pick up the pieces as best they could. After seven years, these two Doms are ready to move on and find the boy who will complete them. Their painful past comes crashing back when they meet Mason Howard, a submissive who just weeks ago lost his Doms in a car accident.
Reeling from overwhelming grief that’s complicated by a severe social anxiety disorder, Mason can barely leave his home. When Rig and Bobby find him, he’s hit rock bottom, believing life is no longer worth living. Bobby and Rig set out to prove the younger man wrong. Fate has brought the three men together, but they’ll have to face the pain of fear and loss head-on before they can all truly live again.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4241&osCsid=nrolehq1a3rnrtepqd29beknv3
Review: This is quite an interesting read from many perspectives. It deals with loss and the effort it takes to move on after it. Bobby and Rig have already deal with the loss of their sub seven years ago and now they find themselves ready to try to have that relationship again. They find they need to have a sub not only for play, but also to love and care for. In their vacation in Florida, they stumble upon Mason. Mason is a very peculiar character as he suffers from social anxiety disorder. His former Doms held him quite secluded and after their death, Mason is slowly sagging deeper into darkness. He reaches the lowest point of his life, believing all would be over soon, not counting on Fate throwing Bobby and Rig on his path.
So right, here you might think it’s a bit of a big enough coincidence that a sub who has lost two Doms finds two new ones. Truth be told, I was wary of this fact, too. But, it worked fine for me the entire read. What made an impression though and made me quite love this book was the way the author dealt with this idea. So, if you expect the “magic” to suddenly make Mason’s entire life change, magically fall in love again and be perfectly happy ever after with his two shinning knights, then I suggest you leave this book well alone. Because, what you’ll find here is a mostly realistic approach in the way people deal with loss and pain and overwhelming emotions.
I loved how this book starts with a serious blow to your emotions the opening scene being a funeral, and after it has made it a point to shred you to pieces it transport you onto South Florida heaven. What a marvelous contrast of setting and emotions this one was. It manages to swipe you off your feet in a matter of minutes and in only a few pages. Afterward it’s a slow build as the two Doms try to help Mason stand on his feet. The journey is a big one, the understanding and silent support the Doms give Mason, taking care of him without any expectations from him comes a great deal into building a confidence inside the sub he had lost. The guilt that came when Mason finally saw that he could go on living without his former Doms, and that he can feel new emotions for new people was absolutely stunning. Everything in this story, the plot, the pace, the approach on human emotions was wonderfully executed. The erotic scenes between the three of them were more than satisfying, the eroticism, and sensuality ricocheting high.
However, I did expect a bit more when it came to the kink part and I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get that. While the “air” might have been D/s and all, I would’ve preferred some deeper scenes that I had been fantasizing Rig would dish out, what with him being all Alpha Dom and all. Furthermore, while the end of this novel lacks nothing, and was quite hand in hand with the entire theme of the book, I suddenly felt empty when it ended, as if waiting for something to happen which didn’t.
All in all, though I liked the book a lot. If romance between three people exists then this book gives you a great deal of it, along with a good journey of fighting ones way to live. Strongly recommended.