Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Making Repairs

SERIES: Box of Nails #3

AUTHOR: Sean Michael

PUBLISHER: Torquere Press

LENGTH: 116 Pages

BLURB:

Something terrible happened to Mike, and he’s been living in the attic of Devin and Barney’s house ever since. He’s shy, he’s scared and he cuts. Paul and Jeff do what they can to make sure his razors stay clean and that he’s fed, but they’re both worried that it’s not enough.

When Barney’s friend, police officer Angus, attends a summer party at the house, he catches sight of Mike in the shadows and is immediately drawn to the young man. Mike is clearly in need of help and that’s what Angus does best.

Will Mike let Angus in? And if he does, is there anything Angus can do to help Mike out of the nightmares of his past?

REVIEW:

When Angus first spots Mike, creeping silently through a dark room at a party he knows instantly that the terrified young man has been abused. When he bolts back upstairs after being frightened by some rowdy partygoers Angus follows after him, unable to resist the lure to help. Though the man refuses to answer the knock on his door, Angus vows that he’ll return the next day, and the next until Mike allows him inside to talk.

Mike has spent the last three years living in the attic in Devin and Barney’s house. No TV, no phone, no radio and as little contact with other people as possible. This has been the only life he could tolerate since the night he was beaten and gang raped at a frat party. In fact he plans to die in that house because there is no possible way he will ever be able to go outside. So, if he’s so afraid even inside the house that he only leaves his attic every few months…wtf was he doing wandering around during a party? I get that he was apparently thirsty, since he was clutching water bottles when Angus sees him, but my take on Mike is that the boy would drink out of his toilet before he would even contemplate walking into the middle of a party.

I love reading BDSM, but if that’s why you’re considering this story, then don’t. To be honest I probably wouldn’t classify it as BDSM despite being a spinoff from the Hammer Club series. When I read in a few other reviews “blood play” I was intrigued because it kinda creeps me out. When I read those books where brand new subs are reading through their list of limits, blood play always makes me shudder. Which makes me want to read more about it, naturally! I was disappointed that all the blood play we got in this story was four little slices on Mike’s already scared body. Angus talks about turning Mike’s scars into art and I was a bit let down that that’s all we got.

The idea that Angus should take Mike’s need to self harm and turn it into a “scene” to make it acceptable? Yeah, that’s all kinds of wrong but at the same time it didn’t bother me like it obviously has some other readers. It’s just one more thing to add to my list of – things that I think are ok in fiction. In reality Mike would desperately need therapy but the whole “dick can cure anything” theme that tends to run through this genre does tend to be even more prevalent in BDSM books.

I thought the ending left something to be desired. I wanted to know about Mike’s parents. I wanted to know how Mike coped with the huge change he made in his situation. I’m a fan of epilogues, and, just sayin’, I think one would have been a nice way to finish up this story.

I find Sean Michael’s books hard to review because while I acknowledge that they’re not great I find them strangely addictive, so I guess I’ll just keep on reading them!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

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Torquere