Review by Shelley

TITLE: The Good Boy
AUTHORS: J. A. Rock & Lisa Henry
PUBLISHER: Loose ID publication
BLURB: Introverted college student Lane Moredock is in a bad place. His mother has been arrested for securities fraud, his father is on the run, and everyone, including the SEC, suspects Lane knows where the missing millions are. Lane, with no money and nowhere to live, makes a desperate deal that lands him in trouble and leaves him unwilling to trust a so-called Dom again.

Photographer Derek Fields lost money to the Moredocks, and is as sure as anyone that Lane is guilty despite his claims. A chance meeting with Lane shows him there might be something more to the young man than arrogance and privilege, and Derek wonders if Lane might be just what he’s been looking for: a sub with the potential to be a life partner.

As Lane slowly begins to open up to Derek and explore his needs as a submissive, the investigation closes tighter around him. Lane might be everything that Derek wants, but first Derek needs to trust that Lane is innocent–and Lane needs to trust Derek with the truth.

REVIEW:

An admirable collaboration is the first thought that comes into my head. Yes, admirable.

It is obvious that the authors complement each other very well.  I am not familiar with J.A Rock’s individual work (yet) but I am familiar with Lisa Henry’s work, namely The Island: her writing is beautiful, raw and dark but always balanced with hope and love. She excels at capturing the essence of a tortured soul, and The Good Boy is no exception.

There is much to admire in the well-constructed plot and the distinctive characterisation, especially the more, er … colourful ones like Mr Zimmerman – a Macaw parrot with Tourette’s and Brin, a bratty Hanna Montana trapped in a gay man’s body.  Lane is a character you won’t easily forget; his sweet painfully shy nature is set up to endear him completely to the reader – I defy you not to shed a tear for him, even just a tiny one for the injustice aimed at his arse, uhm … I mean his character.

Derek is not your stereotypical Dom as featured in most BDSM novels, he’s older yes, but not rich and not without his own insecurities and problems. It’s acommendable take on a Dom persona for which the reader benefits from a refreshing perspective.

Mostly I found the mood of this book quite sad.  Lane is constantly beaten down and Derek’s poor me, I’m lonely and broke and I’ll end up alone voice rather tiresome.  There is some great comic reprieve whenever Mr Zimmerman’s squawking things like “I used to bend like a Vietnamese hooker, “and “ Fuck it, baby.”That bird cracked me up every time! Brin offers his own sort of entertainment;but let’s just say … he’s an acquired taste. {I’ll insert my best smirk here} You love him or hate him, either way I just want to bitch slap him and call him fat to see him react.

I felt rather ambivalent with regards to the BDSM element in this novel. BDSM as a healing process is all fine and dandy if that’s your kink, even the puppy play doesn’t raise my eyebrows (much) I may or may not have giggled at this point. There is a too obvious metaphorical link with doggie rescue which would have served to justify quite nicely.But when the authors go on and on about the reasoning and psychology of it all – it reads like a politically correct how to handbook, all too carefully scripted so as not to cause offense. This really distracted me from the romance and eroticism. The tenderness and heartfelt emotion is what dominates the sex here, not the smouldering physicality of BDSM.

Overall, this is a sad story, a healing journey where love and trust must conquer all. It wasn’t as raw and dark as I thought it would be. In fact it’s rather sweet and fluffy in spite of Lane’s graphic reflection of abuse.

Do I recommend it? Yes, of course. I can see why this is a favourite for many readers, just not this reader.

Shelley’s Rating:

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Shelley is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love
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