Review: 

Brandon is a handsome and overtly sexual young man who has had to endure a lifetime of abuse. He was first raped when he was seven by a family friend. He was then sent off to military boarding school where he was further beaten, raped, humiliated and physically tortured for years with the most heinous of objects, culminating in necessary surgery to “fix” damaged parts of him. He then flees the cold looks of his family and continues to be raped, beaten and used in various ways for numerous years. After all of this, which continues through almost the entire book, Brandon is an incredibly broken and damaged young man who ends up with Daniel, an ex-marine with an anger control problem.

Although the premise of a severely emotionally and physically damaged man who meets someone who truly loves him and cares for him is one with tremendous possibility, sadly this story is nothing like that. Unfortunately Daniel and Brandon’s relationship reads almost like a warning of what kind of relationship never to get into. Daniel not only has anger problems, he also clearly has emotional and physical scars as well. His relationship to Brandon is completely and utterly unhealthy for the majority of the book. There is absolutely no communication whatsoever. They beat each other, they scream, say horrible things to each other, cheat and after each scene, they fall asleep without talking about what happened, only to wake up feeling better and great.

Daniel is supposed to be seen as this ultimate strong, handsome, god-esque character who alternates between screaming fits of rage and weeping tears of vulnerability. Neither of which are handled well by Brandon or Daniel. Daniel has no idea how to handle the emotional and mental problems of Brandon’s and thus ends up compounding them severely and repeatedly. The scene where Daniel has violent sex with his ex-boyfriend, the “whore” while Brandon watches unannounced is perhaps detrimental and falling asleep is not exactly the appropriate response. Daniel comes across as confused, angry, and lost. Leaving aside his porn-like, magnificent equipment, he offers very little to Brandon in the way of understanding or support. He does, however, offer great sex and lots of it.  

Their dysfunctional relationship problems seem to culminate in a bizarre and somewhat horrifying BDSM scene where Daniel forces Brandon to beat another man, letting him exorcise tremendous anger onto a stranger with an approving smile. The author goes into some detail talking about Daniel’s well known past as a BDSM Master and how he sent numerous men to the hospital as he used the club and activities as an outlet for his unrelenting anger regarding his military past. Thankfully Daniel is said to feel shame about this but it’s really questionable as he uses and abuses young men because “he has to.”  What anyone has to do, is call the police.

Unfortunately, this relationship is so far from what a healthy BDSM relationship is and instead lets the lifestyle be used as an excuse for abusive and unhealthy behaviors. Furthermore, the complete reversal of Daniel and Brandon’s relationship after that scene is almost laughable. They do not talk about what happened, instead three days later, a completely over sexed and crazed Brandon desperately needs to be screwed and begs Daniel to have sex with him. Daniel then, in tears, explains he can’t do it unless they will be equals without any sort of power play coming into their relationship. In a response that can only typify the absolute absurdity of the book, Brandon asks:

“You really don’t want to fuck me anymore Sir?”

Happily Daniel relents after a truly horrifying tale of Brandon’s past in which Daniel repeatedly begs Brandon to stop talking, he simply couldn’t take it and as a reader, I found myself agreeing with Daniel. The abuse is so prolific and extensive that decades of therapy are unlikely to make a dent in the problems Brandon has. However, Daniel is there to love Brandon and from then on, the purple prose and filled love tunnels finish off the story with no need to deal with the messy affects of the abusive pasts and current problematic relationship. Thankfully both men have incredibly impressive dicks so there is enough sex, angry and otherwise, to keep the prose and the men, coming.

There are unfortunately several issues on top of the poor characterization and relationship problems. Some of which were that the author rarely spoke of the characters, Daniel and Brandon, by name. Instead, they were always the sexy young man, the handsome marine and other such descriptive phrases. These two are almost Mary Sue with their brilliance and perfection, yet still flawed given the substantial and impressive abuse they’ve suffered and inflict on each other. It’s amazing how healthy Brandon is and how he can smile, laugh, fall in love and only occasionally have clear emotional breakdowns. But no worry, he’ll be fine with a good night’s rest. That also doesn’t touch how these two can have really painful anal sex with intense pain that’s ok because they can “take it". Lube is not a bad thing.

This unfortunate offering was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. I hesitated seriously in writing this review as I acknowledge the work it must have involved in writing the story and the imagination. I’ve never quite seen so many euphemisms for someone’s love tunnel outside of a poorly written regency romance. However, the relationship was so clearly unhealthy and the characters themselves were beyond flawed, they needed serious therapy that I almost want to warn people reading the book that this kind of relationship is not ok. Nor should it be seen as romantic.

Thankfully the author dialed down the intense abusive past and present for the final part of the book, giving a happy ever after ending to a bizarre relationship. I actually found myself laughing towards the end and very kindly suggest the author think of writing comedy? I can see the author’s voice working with much more light-hearted material. On a positive note, I truly couldn’t put the book down. I’m considering buying the author’s next offering just to see what they can possibly do next.

If you want it… here you go.
http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=242

EDIT – Just to show that I am just one person and not everyone agrees with me. Here is a review that loved this book.

You gotta read this book
(were they on drugs?)