DUO REVIEW BY SARINA AND CINDY
TITLE: Jack of all Trades
SERIES: Box of Nails Book Four
AUTHOR: Sean Michael
PUBLISHER: Torquere Press
LENGTH: 137 Pages
Blurb:
Brad is crashing in his cousin Stephen’s room while he tries to sort out his life. A perpetual student, he still hasn’t settled on a major after a half dozen years at University. He loves learning, but so far that’s the only thing that’s been a good fit.
Dill is a full-time Dom who hasn’t found the right sub yet. He’s not worried about it — he figures it’ll eventually happen and in the meantime, there’s plenty of boys at the Hammer Club who are eager to share a scene with an experienced master.
When Brad and Dill meet at a party at Barney and Devon’s house for subs, the attraction is immediate and undeniable and Master Dill feels that Brad is the perfect sub for him. He also believes that as his submissive, Brad will learn the focus he needs to fulfill his potential and find satisfaction with his life. Now he just needs to help jack-of-all-trades Brad see they belong together.
Review:
Sarina:
Brad is the ultimate student; he loves learning but hasn’t quite figured out what he wants to do with himself yet. Dealing with the constant student loans as he keeps going back for more degrees hasn’t left him with much left over and he finds himself ‘couch surfing’ until he lands on a cot in his cousin Stephen’s room. Living in a house with a bunch of other boys, all of them subs, kind of makes him feel like the odd man out until he meets Dill. Dill and Jeff have been friends since they were kids and like his friend, he wasn’t actively looking for a sub until he sees Brad at a barbeque and falls hard. The attraction is instant and mutual but there’s one problem: Dill is a Dom but Brad isn’t into the lifestyle and doesn’t know if he ever wants to be.
Let me start out by saying that I’ve read a great many of the books in the Hammer Series and I’ve also read the first three books in this one, which falls into the Hammer Series even if it isn’t labeled as such. I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read so far and gone back and read several multiple times but this one just didn’t rate as high for me. The set up worked for me and I could believe the instant attraction but the characters themselves just didn’t have any of the depth that I was looking for. Sex was pretty much the majority of the book, which was expected, but the interactions outside of the bedroom (or the backyard or the couch) left a lot to be desired. I’d hate to say that Brad came off as a little ditsy but I’m having trouble finding the words to describe him any other way. I mean, for someone who has had so much schooling, and apparently been good at it, I just wasn’t really seeing any of that intellect. I also didn’t really feel as though I learned much about Dill either aside from his height and what he did for a living.
I did enjoy the book for what it was but I was still hoping for more. There are a couple of other secondary characters that have been introduced in the series that showed more depth than the main characters in this book so I still have hopes that I’ll get to see them in their own books in the future. In the meantime this one was okay but I’ve read better by the same author.
Rating: 
Cindy:
Dill is a man who definitely knows what he wants and he wants Brad from the moment he lays eyes on him.
I wanted to love this book, I really did. BDSM interests the hell out of me and I am always one the look out for a story that will sweep me away but this one fell a little short.
Brad is a sweet man who has had a lot of education, so it seems to me that him being reduced to finding things “cool” all the time and calling Dill “man” is a little hard to take.
My biggest issue in this story though, is the fact that Dill just seems to run roughshod over Brad at every turn. Apparently Dill always knows best, and while it seems to work out for them in the end, I didn’t like how he pushed Brad constantly, never letting him have the time to think that he asks for because he’s so concerned that Brad might not see things the way he does. Brad has a right to the space he’s asking for and it made me feel like Dill was just this much too much on the side of controlling jerk.
I didn’t know this was book four in a series until after I read it and so, I understand now why it feels like we are thrust into the middle of a story instead of starting at the beginning.
The sex scenes, however, are brilliant and the main reason this story is getting a 3 star rating from me. They are extremely hot and well written, even if the “overly pushy” elements I mentioned before.
I have read other books by Sean Michael that I have adored so it was a little disappointing that I couldn’t fall in love with this one and I’m willing to admit that reading the other stories in the series might have made a difference in the way I fell about it, but I doubt it. Dill came across as a little too manipulative for my liking and I would have liked to have seen a little more backbone from Brad, who always started standing up for himself, but caved under Dill’s pressure every time.
Rating:
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