Derek and his sub Lane are getting ready to celebrate their first Christmas together, and perhaps the only one who is more surprised than Derek is Lane. The much younger Lane was someone Derek was prepared to hate on sight. His parents cheated Derek and hundreds of other people out of their life savings in a Ponzi scheme. For a while it looked like Lane himself was involved, but it eventually turned out that he, like Derek, was simply used and duped by his own parents. When they are sent to jail, Lane is left with nothing, and at the mercy of those seeking vengeance for what his parents did.
Derek takes Lane in and finds in him a submissive with a strong desire for pain, in large part because Lane thinks he deserves it. Just as Lane is starting to get his life together, his mother reaches out from prison and tries to use him to help her get her sentence reduced. Lane is torn between wanting to finally earn his mother’s approval and his desire to bury the past so he can make his own future.
“The Boy Who Belonged” is a surprisingly fresh take on the evolution of a D/s relationship. It was no doubt inspired by the Bernard Madoff scandal, but the scam isn’t at the center of the story, it just provides the drama. This is much more about a Dom coming to terms with the needs of his sub, and trying to help him realize his potential.
Ordinarily, I’m not a fan of weak, needy subs, but in this case the author has managed to make Lane a very sympathetic character, with good reason to need pain and a dominating presence in his life. Both Lane and Derek acknowledge Lane’s emotional dependence, and even question it. Over the course of the story, Lane even matures in his understanding of himself and what his relationship with Derek really means.
With the added dimension of humor, injected mainly by the macaw Derek and Lane are watching for Derek’s sister, this is a really enjoyable read. It didn’t really hit me on an emotional level, which is why I’m not giving it five stars, but it is a pretty flawless tale. There are a few scenes, including a sounding, that are described in quite vivid detail, so this may not be a book to everyone’s taste, but if you like realistic BDSM scenes, and relationships, then this may be a book for you.
“The Boy Who Belonged” is available from Amazon
