Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Shaken Up
AUTHOR: Nicole Forcine
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 74 pages
BLURB:
Tim Myers is the flamboyant and overly fastidious owner of the adult shop Little Earthquakes. In his spare time, he moonlights as a sub for his friend’s BDSM classes, and while he’d love to find a Dom to cater to his domestic servitude kink, he’s wary of exposing his body and his heart. When Jae Seong comes into Tim’s shop and asks him for help with a wax play demo, Tim is turned off by the idea. Jae is nothing if not persistent, though. He’s a skilled Dom and soon finds out why Tim is so protective of his body, his neck, and his heart. Over a series of play dates, the two grow close, and it dawns on Tim that he might be looking at a match made for collaring.
REVIEW:
In the past few months I’ve noticed that I’m really starting to enjoy BDSM books. There’s something so beautifully satisfying reading these extreme partnerships. The love and care combined with the trust involved to do these scenes is quite breathtaking. This story had all of those elements which made for an enjoyable read.
Tim Myers is an eccentric, out and proud sex shop owner. Even though he is on the mend/rebound from an abusive DOM, he’s very comfortable in his submissiveness and practices regularly with his trusted friends. He is not, however, looking for a new DOM. On top of the fact that he is an abuse victim, he also has several health issues that make him feel less than.
Jae Seong is a Korean American instructional writer. He’s also an experienced Dom. Wanting desperately to meet the sub he’s witness do several demonstrations, he gets some close friends to smooth the way for him.
When Jae and Tim meet you do feel a spark of attraction and flirting. Jae works very hard to put Tim at ease. He knows Tim is the sub he wants, he just has to make Tim believe he won’t hurt him. These two were able to hold out sexually for what seemed like forever. Their will power was amazing considering they had a whole scene where Tim was naked. I’ve never read a BDSM story where sex didn’t accompany a scene. That threw me a bit.
My biggest issue with this story was how clinical the scenes seemed, almost cold. I do realize these two men were really hot together once they got more comfortable but about 75-80% of the story there was no real spark, and I truly missed that. It lacked that primal, “need to have you now” feeling. I do feel that if I were more knowledgeable in the BDSM lifestyle these little idiosyncrasies would have made more sense to me.
Overall, like I mentioned previously I enjoyed this book. I would recommend this book, for sure, especially to readers who usually gravitate towards BDSM books. Also, the cover was pretty awesome too!!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: