Okay, the premise that this could be / should be read as a standalone book is ludicrous. You need to know and understand these characters' past to really connect with their future. I thought everything progressed in an agreeable and conceivable way. Rhys and Darius and the entire band of players are front and center. In fact, Amelia Gormley did an excellent job integrating Zach & Nico's relationship into the story. There's not much I can say that's not a spoiler so I'll say the pacing was good, questions were answers and all the characters developed well. I had a strong sense of place and ... I'm glad I read this bad boy!

Review originally posted at Sinfully.

While I’ve read other BDSM stories where one of the men has a disability to be considered, this is the first time I’ve come across a disability that, if not handled correctly, could actually kill the sub. Amelia C. Gormley did a fantastic job of presenting this issue and not treating the situation as a side story. She managed to educate the reader without overwhelming and provide an interesting and HOT take on this precarious relationship.

Robin has recently left New York City to settle in Saugatuck, Michigan after being badly burned by his now ex-boyfriend/sub. That incident was bad enough that it cost Robin his job and has had him reconsidering continuing with the BDSM lifestyle. Geoff has known he wants pain and rough sex, but has assumed he will never get it due to his hemophilia. He has settled for porn and anonymous hookups to get off, never having had a real relationship. Geoff resents having to do prophylactic infusions and often puts them off, raising his risk of injury. His mother’s overprotectiveness growing up has resulted in him never really living his life for himself, something his sister is trying to make him understand and change. The two men meet at a leather event at a club while Geoff is on vacation and the result is several hot encounters and wondering if it can be more than a vacation fling.

Geoff isn’t so much a submissive as a masochist. Robin considers himself more of a dominant than a sadist, but he is willing to change the way he does things. He sees the hemophilia not as a weakness (as Geoff often does) but just another risk to be take into consideration and accommodated when they play. Geoff has quite a list of kinks he’d like to explore and Robin is very attentive to each and every one. The BDSM scenes were amazing and intense. I was exhausted after reading their first real session. The dirty talk is off the charts hot and Robin is very inventive with the ways he stokes Geoff’s desire for pain, fear and danger. The kinks explored include sensory play, humiliation and mind games using verbal “violence” and emotional pain as an alternative to physical pain.

It is quickly clear that the two are sexually compatible and enjoy spending time with each other, but there are so many other obstacles in the relationship that push them apart. Geoff has a hard time accepting that his condition doesn’t make him weak in Robin’s eyes and his instinct is always to hide it. Robin educates himself and is adamant about Geoff including him in all aspects of it, from prophylaxis to injury potential, to symptoms of a bleed. While Robin demands Geoff’s trust, he fails to be completely open himself and Geoff is so focused on his own issues, he’s never considered that maybe Robin has things he’s dealing with as well. Robin is very tough on himself, fearing that once again he may not be able to see what’s happening and catch onto things before they go bad as they did in New York.

I thought the relationship developed naturally moving from just sex to an intimacy neither has experienced before. Both men really grow during the story; Geoff struggling to accept that he can have a full life that isn’t defined by what he can’t do because of his condition and Robin needing to realize that he can’t control everything. The men of course, eventually pull it together and their strength as a unit really becomes evident when they see firsthand the possible implications of their play when outsiders become involved.

This story is a prequel of sorts to [b:Saugatuck Summer|20648477|Saugatuck Summer (Saugatuck, #1)|Amelia C. Gormley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390963056s/20648477.jpg|39942295] where Geoff and Robin play a pretty substantial secondary role. If you haven’t read that one and want a look into Geoff and Robin’s future after Risk Aware ends, you should definitely pick it up.

I really enjoyed this story. The kink was top notch and the struggle of the men to trust and communicate was done just right without too much angst. I don’t think the author could have gone easier on their struggles and maintained a feel for the real danger of them not being on the same page at all times. Putting the kink and medical condition aside I enjoyed the love story and liked seeing the men just being together and building a level of comfort with each other. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves a BDSM romance and wants to experience one that is just a bit different from the norm.

While the story was hot and the writing was good it felt very shallow to me.

So it's nice but forgettable.

I don't know if I'll read the next instalments...

Beebs' Review

 

I requested this book because the premise intrigued me, a haemophiliac who is also a masochist, how was that going to work? Well, I'm happy to say that it did.

Robin is not looking for a relationship after a major betrayal form his ex-boyfriend but he is intrigued by Geoff from the minute he sees him. He is furious when he finds out that Geoff has been hiding his problems from him and explains forcefully how much danger he would have been in had he hurt Geoff unawares. Geoff was a very naive in that respect and it nearly ends them before they begin. They both have major issues with trust and although the problems with Geoff's haemophilia was a major issue, it wasn't the only issue they had to work through and it takes some time for them to get to their hea.

I'm no expert on any of the issues raised here but the way the author had them work through the problems with Geoff's haemophilia and their lifestyle felt plausible to me. I get the impression that these characters are connected to another story so I'm off to check that out now.

*Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Well, this one covered a lot of complex issues in just a few pages.


Chris, a young and promising athlete, needs a scholarship in order to not leave college with a debt as high as Mount Everest. But a sports scholarship and coming out just doesn't seem to go together, no matter how much you're wishing for a loophole. Add the pressure of a man-ly man as a father and the guy you're in love with (and just can't shove back in the closet as if it's nothing),and Chris has more than one full plate to deal with.

And shit happens. And everything comes to a head. And we get to watch it all.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Chris' desperation on so many levels - career, money, love - felt real and understandable to me. Matt was a sweatheart, he tried so hard to do the right thing again and again without losing himself. Watching these two struggling through real life problems of new adults was heart-breakingly real. Plus, the whole story line with Chris' parents was a great illustration of the power of words & the power parents' actions and casual remarks have over their children and their inner strenght or strife.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and was very happy with the way things worked out. It definitely got me interested in reading the next Saugatuck story.