Liam is still mourning the loss of his former master, who died suddenly. Submission is something the young man needs, so despite his sorrow and with the encouragement of Jordan, Liam is determined to get back out into the scene. There are too many memories at Club Consequence, so Jordan’s sub Chuck agrees to accompany Liam to Kiss of Leather. As soon as he enters the club, Liam is taken with Neal. The youngish dom is so happy and handsome, he’s everything Liam could hope for, although he doubts the man would have the patience to deal with Liam’s issues. For his part, Neal is quite taken with Liam but he isn’t sure he’s ready for a 24/7 power exchange with a full time sub.
Like the previous book in the series (Gaining Trust), this one is strongly focused on the developing relationship between the two main characters. The series’ connecting theme about a human trafficking ring preying on young men is just sort of book-ended onto the beginning and end. Still, the blurb for the next book promises some kind of conclusion to the mystery.
The “troubled sub” is a common archetype in D/s stories. One this series has already used a few times before. Whether or not these somewhat cliché characters work is up to the writing. Go too far and the you’re rolling your eyes at how big a drama queen the person is, but if it’s underplayed too much the reader is wondering why the sub just doesn’t get over it. Liam is an entirely believable and sympathetic person. You can definitely empathize with all he’s been through. I think it helps that Neal is not without his own doubts about whether or not he’s the Dom Liam needs. That sets up an interesting dynamic between the two that you don’t often find.
We don’t see much of the other characters aside from Chuck, so the bulk of the story is just Liam and Neal. While the story may have a predictable arc, it’s still a quite enjoyable read with realistic characters and situations.
“Cutting Cords” is available from Amazon.
