Demanding Discipline: Love & Care Book 3, Silvia Violet

When does play become more, a facet of a happy life?  And how much would you be willing to change to make it permanent?  Sean is a little like a duck.  Feet furiously moving this way and that to stay afloat and facing the right direction.  When he gets a chance to play with a seriously hot SEAL at the club he occasionally enjoys it comes with the possibility of more strings than he's comfortable with.  His customary sass combines with his nervous pride and he ends up ruining a chance with the man that just might be his best partner.  But second chances happen, even for silly boys with more snark than sense.  Along the way he'll have to decide if those strings are the kind that strangle and chafe to the point of suffocation or if they guide and comfort all the way to stability and happiness.

I like that this story jumps right into Sean and Blake's scene.  When we left Avery and Graham in After the Weekend we got a glimpse into Sean's situation and then here we learn very quickly just how complicated Sean has made things.  There's a struggle for Sean to adult, or at least he thinks so.  He's got the basics down, but it's the discipline he lacks and we don't learn the reason until well into this story.  I would have liked for that to feel more conquered by the end.  We get a brief explanation for his actions but aside from his "epiphany of acceptance" near the end, it's not exactly resolved.

Now, it's not that I wanted more conflict or angst.  What I was hoping for was more like a coming-to-terms with his past, maybe a visit with the foundation of his scatter-brained behaviors...a true settling of circumstances, feelings, and decisions.

With Sean every step along the way (well, more like every step Sean allowed) was Blake.  Large, tough, commanding, tender, sweet, seriously hot.  From the very beginning it was Blake that saw more for Sean and for them together.  He's the ideal partner for everything that Sean is.  That he didn't want to tame him but rather give him confidence, discipline, and freedom, was the best.  So much tenderness framing every moment of punishment and pleasure.  Through Sean's observations and a few basic facts we come to know Blake as an individual.  But I have to say that I felt quite let down that I didn't get to know him better.  He's someone I could completely fall in love with but with so little about him I'm just left feeling approving rather than enamored.

Things are coming together for this little group of awesome.  Avery and Graham are sickeningly in love and happy, Sean and Blake are starting their own parallel journey, and now we've gotten some excellent glimpses into the drama and angst surrounding Wren and Leo.  The series name, Love and Care, is really apt for these couples.  It's not just about the kink, BDSM, or physical passions they share.  It's more about tools used in passion to guide and support life outside the bedroom.  I really enjoy this series and if I had any doubts that this follow-up would be a smooth addition, they've been cleanly wiped away.  Sean and Blake are both entertaining together as well as interesting as individuals.  Such a lovely, quick read full of heart and seriously hot steam.

*$2.99 on Amazon!