Title: Tough Love
Series: Special Delivery Book 3
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Genre: Contemporary/BDSM/Drag
Length: Novel (408 Pages)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (April 8th, 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts
Blurb: Special Delivery, Book 3
Crescencio “Chenco” Ortiz pulled himself up by his garter straps after his father’s will yanked the financial rug from under his spank-me pumps. He doesn’t need anyone, yet when Steve Vance steps into his life, the prospect of having a sexy leather daddy on tap begins to take on a certain appeal.
There’s a hitch when he learns Steve is friends with Mitch Tedsoe—the half-brother Chenco never knew except through his father’s twisted lies. Despite his reservations, soon Chenco is living his dreams, including a performing gig in Vegas. Now if only he could get Steve to see him as more than just a boy in need of saving.
Steve’s attraction to Chenco is overshadowed by too many demons, ones he knows his would-be lover is too young to slay. Yet as he gets to know the bright, determined young man whose drag act redefines fierce, Steve’s inner sadist trembles with need. He begins to realize Chenco’s relentless tough love might be the only thing that will finally set him free.
Warning: This story contains glamorous drag queens, exhibitionist secondary characters, and no-holds-barred BDSM play, including water sports. Readers advised they may well leave this novel feeling uncharacteristically fierce.
Product Link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/tough-love-p-73306.html
Reviewer: GiGi
Review: I’m going to begin with the end, and that so much happened so abruptly that it left me wanting more, and that’s a good thing! Being that this baby was already 408 pages. I understand the poor author didn’t want to make us read an encyclopedia, but damn, there are so many new directions, so much drama, just so damn much!!!
Okay, enough with my rant. Tough Love fits beautifully in this collection of Special Delivery stories. Mitch and Sam were mouth-watering, we all knew Randy needed something special and Ethan fit that bill, but what I didn’t see coming was how very special Mitch’s unknown little half-brother would be. Chenco, Crescencio, Ortiz, is a hot little package of stress, survival, angst, and the strength of a queen. His alter ego, Caramela, a strong as steel drag queen, is a very interesting illustration of the alter ego and strength in us all. Only Chenco gets to let her out physically instead of just figuratively. Only even with the strength of Caramela within Chenco, his life is going to hell and he’s about to reach a breaking point when he learns he’ll become homeless after the long-awaited death of his hideous father.
Enter a big Papi with the need to help, the need to control, the need to direct Chenco, to help him free his pain and give it to him. Oh yeah, did I mention big Papi Steve is a sadist, oh, that first release was pulse pounding, hot, and just, yeah. What also fits this book into the series are the very hot, very edgy, very kinky erotic scenes. You will not be disappointed if this is what you’ve come to expect from Cullinan.
Problem is, both of these characters have problems, big problems, big flaws, and even though we see them overcome them, there are plenty of issues left unresolved, at least for me on Steve’s part, by the end of this story.
Tough Love illustrated two main needs, both taboos in most social circles, the lifestyle, and persona of a drag queen, and the very real needs of sadists/masochists or those taking the BDSM lifestyle seriously. Through her words, and the characters actions, we see the needs, and the execution, the resolution of that need in both areas. Drag isn’t about a man in a dress, and those living the BDSM lifestyle aren’t playing spank me please games, they’re venting a need in a way that is productive, and safer for the world at large.
We also get to see more of Crabtree in Tough Love, and I grow to like him and fear him more and more. Though I feel he failed here, I think that peek into his past and look at his present could lead to a much bigger story. Can’t’ wait to find out!
I could not put this book down. In fact, I had a death grip on my poor Kindle. When my hubby suggested I turn it off and get some sleep, the crazed look in my eyes made him back away slowly, roll over and accept defeat. As long as you enjoy kink, I highly recommend Tough Love, I know I’ll be rereading it again soon!