Reviewed by Elizabetta
SERIES: FIT Guys #1
AUTHOR: Kim Dare
PUBLISHER: Self published
LENGTH: 147 pages
BLURB: When Colby earned a swimming scholarship to the Falcon Institute of Training, he expected to spend all his time either training or studying, but that was before he looked out of his living room window and straight into the dance studio opposite.
It’s taken Noah years, but he’s finally got his life in order. He teaches dance classes all day, hits the clubs every night and he’s not looking for complications—especially not in the form of overly-innocent swimmers who like to spy on him from across the street.
The first time Colby approaches him, Noah has no trouble turning him away. It’s only when Colby returns years later, to collect on a casually delivered promise, that Noah finds himself incapable of keeping Colby locked out of his carefully re-constructed life.
Their kinks may match up perfectly, but their lives and their pasts couldn’t be more different. Years have passed, but will what they have together turn out to be worth waiting for?
Author note: This story contains ***strictly non-sexual*** flashbacks to when one character was under 18.
REVIEW:
Colby wanted Noah and for three years he waited for him.
Noah, beautiful dancer, beautiful loner, had told him, ‘come back when you’re eighteen’. So Colby obeyed, waited and watched Noah from afar. He’ll do whatever it takes.
Colby may seem a little obsessive when it comes to his sexy neighbor across the way, but he wants Noah the minute he sets eyes on him. He bides his time, all those years (a life-time when you’re fifteen!!), living with his older brother, Tony, and dedicated to his swim training at FIT (Falcon Institute of Training), an athletic facility.
So determined.
The day he turns eighteen, Colby returns to Noah, his yearning for him still strong. But this time he’s older, bigger, a little wiser. He’s been watching the dancer and he believes in him, trusts him. He’ll do anything to get and keep Noah… even playing into Noah’s need for control and dominance. Colby is sucked willingly into the sexy power play that uncovers hidden kinks. And, all along, he quietly peers into Noah’s heart, trying to suss him out, then hands his heart over, no strings attached. It leaves me breathless to witness it.
So delicious.
Noah is a harder sell, a complicated guy. Cynical and hardened by a rougher younger life, he’s a player. He had sold himself cheaply to an abusive, older ex-lover, Sam, who had no scruples about taking an under-aged lover, forcing him into a kind of cowed submission. Older now, Noah has left Sam but still seems caught in his thrall. He wants to get out from under it if he only knew how.
When Colby returns, those years later, hot to cash in on the ‘come back later’, Noah gives into his own version of a no-strings attached fuck buddy arrangement with lots of steamy erotic bondage sprinkled on top.
Who is Noah, really? This is, for me, the weakest part of the story, trying to work this out. True, he didn’t take advantage of Colby’s under-age infatuation at the beginning, so he’s a good guy, he has principals. But when they finally have sex, the very first time, he ties Colby up. It’s early in the relationship for this, and Noah knows that Colby is a virgin; he knows that Colby, inexperienced and trusting, will do anything for him. Is Noah trustworthy?
It’s the inevitable, climactic break-up scene that gives insight into what’s really going on with Noah. And Colby, sweet heart, figures it out, recognizes the anger for fear, and opens Noah’s eyes and heart to other possibilities.
So worth waiting for.
I love the duality in the two guys. Colby’s sweet yearning over quiet strength and Noah’s accepting his own softness beneath the tough exterior… I love how the guys shift between these different colorings.
I remember Dare’s Duck (a paranormal fantasy) for its moments of charged erotic intimacy. I think this author does this very well. For me, it’s those moments in the story that really shine. It’s not just about finding pleasure but fulfilling need through darker kink. I think it’s a harder sell in the contemporary genre, though here, it’s very well done.
There is a satisfactory resolution (though the ending seems a bit scattered, I think, in setting up for the sequel), but of course I want more of these guys. Luckily, this is the start of a series featuring the FIT athletes and, hopefully, Colby’s bi-curious brother, Tony, who also piqued my curiosity.
Elizabetta rates it – 
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Elizabetta is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.
To read all her reviews, click the link: ELIZABETTA’S REVIEWS
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