Reviewed by Danielle

TITLE: An Unlocked Heart (Book #1)
SERIES: Collars and Cuffs
AUTHOR: K. C. Wells
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 314 pages
BLURB: Since the death of his submissive lover two years ago, Leo hasn’t been living—merely existing. He focuses on making Collars & Cuffs, a BDSM club in Manchester’s gay village, successful. That changes the night he and his business partner have their weekly meeting at Severinos. Leo can’t keep his eyes off the new server. The shy man seems determined to avoid Leo’s gaze, but that’s like a red rag to a bull. Leo loves a challenge.

Alex Daniels works at Severinos to scrape together the money to move out on his own. He struggles with coming out, but he’s drawn to Leo, the gorgeous guy with the icy-blue eyes who’s been eating in his area nearly every night.

Leo won’t let Alex’s hesitance get in the way. He even keeps him away from the club so as not to scare him. And as for telling Alex that Leo is a Dom? Not a good idea. One date becomes two, but date two leads to Leo’s bedroom… and Alex discovers things about himself he never realized—and never wanted anyone to see.

REVIEW:

The story starts with Leo dining with his business partner Thomas in the restaurant where he used to come with his deceased lover and partner Gabe.Hesitant to be there, his eyes catch new young waiter Alex and that is where their story begins.

Attraction is immediate for both of them. Blushing virgin Alex doesn’t understand his almost overwhelming response to Leo, and Leo instinctively senses a submissive streak in the young man.

Alex lives with his parents and is constantly bullied by his brother Rob. Having being looked down on and belittled all of his life, Alex can’t wait to save enough money to get out of the house.

His job is the only place he is comfortable and he works with some genuinely nice people. Here we meet Sev, the owner of the restaurant and therefore familiar with Leo’s occupation. We also meet Pietro who becomes a great friend to Alex and the two men find out that they have some important things in common.

It has to be said that this story is HOT! If you don’t like to read a lot of sex then you aren’t doing yourself any favors by reading this, because when i say hot I really mean scorching! *fans selfs*

We travel through this story in both Leo’s and Alex’s points-of-view and as a reader you experience their different struggles as the men explore their growing relationship. Leo has to deal with how he feels about Alex and his natural submissiveness while Alex has to figure out how to handle his attraction to Leo and the way he responds to the authority that Leo displays.. He also has to deal with the fallout from his family as he comes out to them.

The slow process of carefully getting to know each other as they spend time together is never boring. The gentleness, the getting more involved with each other is well paced. We are never rushed into accepting their relationship.

In this story we also explore the sometimes delicate subject of bdsm and the lifestyle that comes with it. I personally loved the easy way the writer mixes this into the story from different points of view. You see the Dom’s side through Leo’s eyes and you feel his want and need to make Alex his and to help him accept his natural submissiveness.

Through Alex’s eyes we see so much more. We follow his struggle to break free from his family and to gain self-confidence by learning to stand up for himself. He also struggles to believe in and trust his own judgement and to learn go with his feelings. The reader gets to see his first steps into BDSM and to experience what living the lifestyle means and these are the baby steps Alex takes in becoming his own person.

I really want to mention the side couple, Miles and Pietro. For some reason they touched me deeply. The trust Pietro has in himself and the life he leads is inspiring to read. The love Miles and Pietro share and the way K.C Wells mixes them into this story adds wonderfully to the whole atmosphere she’s created.

At the end of the story the author goes a bit deeper into the bdsm lifestyle and you will read some possibilities and experiences that I imagine might be more difficult for some readers to process if you aren’t into these kind of stories.

In general, however, I can’t deny that this story includes so much more than that. It is a journey of coming out, in learning to accept and believe in yourself, and figuring out how to stand up for what you want and love. All of this is written in a brilliant, honest, and openly sexy way, that for me makes it a story I will want to re-read and has me anxiously waiting for the next part in what’s sure to be an interesting series.

A definite 4.5 stars for me and a thank you to the author for a fantastically sexy and interesting reading experience.

Danielle’s Rating:

BUY LINK: Dreamspinner Store

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