Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The last of four stories in The Subs Club series, this book deals with Gould, the sub most affected by the death of their close friend, Hal, and Gould’s desire to submit full time to his new lovers Kel and GK (Greg), the owners of Riddle, the club where Hal died three years before.
The other members of the Subs Club are settling in with their new life partners, and all seem to have forgotten Hal’s death and their plot to revenge that death against Bill, the Dom who caused it. In fact, it’s almost as if they’ve forgiven him as they move on with their lives—the same way GK and Kel forgave Bill and allowed him back into their club.
Throughout this story, Gould is torn between his long-term love for Hal and grief over his death, and the love he’s starting to feel for Kel, and to a somewhat lesser degree, for Greg. The more time he spends with Kel, the more he wants to submit to her. She makes him feel safe, and sometimes he even forgets Hal for a while when he’s with her and Greg. Among his favorite scenes with them are the ones in which he feels humiliated, and the ones in which they place him in “the box,” an area where he finds he can find peace.
When he overhears some club members making fun of the way Hal died and talking about the new way to get your kicks by doing “Bill Hensoning”—breath play that might lead to suffocation—he realizes he can’t forgive Bill, and he’s still resentful at Kel and Greg for forgiving him.
Throughout this story Gould is so messed up, it’s difficult to follow his meandering thoughts. But the bottom line is that he is indeed maturing, and he is indeed coming to terms with his relationship with Hal and with Hal’s death. It’s just happening very slowly. He’s also always found it difficult to verbalize how he feels, so although Kel is willing to try a master-slave dynamic, Gould’s reticence to be honest is a major hurdle and ultimately leads to a crisis in their relationship.
It’s not until this crisis is faced, and Gould begins to accept that each of the original Subs Club members is moving forward and it isn’t bad to need to ask for help, that he finally begins to heal and can look forward to pursuing his relationship with Kel and Greg without a heavy heart.
This story is very, very emotional, and very, very sad. There are also a number of hardcore BDSM scenes, including scat and urine play, which could trigger readers, so use caution and read the blurb and maybe even a few reviews before you start to read this one. Gould is so broken that it’s difficult to witness. I found myself putting the book down between chapters because I was so sad. It’s heavy and emotional, and yet it’s very necessary to be that way for the series to play out the way it should. It’s not a book for the lighthearted, and yet, as I said, it’s very necessary to bring closure to Gould and to the series.
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Cover Art by Kanaxa is just like the others in the series with an argyle patterned background, in this case, the color is dark red. This one has a bird cage on the cover, indicating Gould’s desire to be put into his box. The covers for the entire series were very cleverly done.
Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon coming soon
Book Details:
ebook, 283 pages
Published June 4th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original Title24/7
ISBN 1626493499 (ISBN13: 9781626493490)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Subs Club
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 