Shaken Up by Nicole Forcine

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I surprisingly enjoyed this one. It’s a surprise only because the author is new to me and it’s from DSP, so I didn’t have a lot of faith or hope. I keep trying with DSP though and it’s books like this that keep me on that crack. This is a pleasant and well written little novella with some interesting characters. It kept my attention from the very beginning and my only compliant is that it ended too soon and felt too abrupt. I would have liked the couple to have more time together before their HEA, considering all the obstacles between them that were washed away with insta-love. This was a minor issue though as the story creates a cast of intriguing characters that feel fleshed out and does a good job with the main couple and even with their instant love I could see them together and why it worked. I’d recommend this one for BDSM fans that want a quick, enjoyable read.

Tim owns an adult sex shop and occasionally works as demo submissive for two good friends of his. He was treated horribly by a Dom in the past and was pretty much run out of town in the fallout. So he’s understandably very wary about his playmates and trusts almost no one. When a new Dom comes into his shop asking for his help with a wax demo, Tim is annoyed and frustrated that his friends gave his information out. However, he soon learns why his friends think he and Jae may be a match made in heaven as the two men feel each other out over several evenings.

The story is short and sweet but I never felt the lack of depth. It was only at the end when I suddenly realized how short the story was and that I wanted a bit more of the couple once they were truly together. Part of this is because the story does a really great job in fleshing out the main narrator, Tim. Tim is a fussy submissive but he’s not bratty or difficult at all. He’s just … fussy. He likes this neat and tidy and likes domestic kink the most, something he feels content and incredibly happy to perform. He’s clearly submissive but in his own way and it works really well with the story. I liked that there were a lot of details about the more practical side of BDSM – preparations, classes, aftercare – as well as the gossip and seedy side with unsafe and dangerous partners. Tim’s abusive Dom is a little too classically evil but I’m sure someone exactly like that actually exists so I let it go.

Jae and Tim work well together and there’s an instant chemistry. Their sex scenes are more BDSM scenes involving wax play, I can’t remember if they actually have sex, but it’s clear the two are well suited. Given Tim’s destructive past and his logical overabundance of caution, it would have been nice to see the couple together and how they mesh in everyday circumstances. Instead there’s a scene of everyone happy at a bar, but it’s an abrupt ending, The scene doesn’t give a sense of how the two men really are on a daily basis and how Tim’s kinks play out. Maybe there’ll be a follow up story, which I’d be interested in reading.

For a short and sweet BDSM story from a new to me author, I’m pretty happy.
Damn DSP, this is why I can’t quit them!