Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Deeper: A Hammer Novel
SERIES: Hammer #21
AUTHOR: Sean Michael
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 212 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2016
BLURB:
Johnny diMarco is a spoiled, rich brat who has made his way through almost every Dom at The Hammer Club. None of them can handle him. Even Oliver has tried and has sadly had to admit defeat.
Dolph Waters is a newcomer to the Hammer, but he’s been a Dom at a club up north for quite a while. When he hears about Johnny, he’s intrigued and agrees to meet the sub and give it his best shot.
It doesn’t take long for Dolph to realize that Johnny needs far more than a simple blistering spanking, the sub needs attention and intense focus from his Dom. The more he gets to know Johnny, the more Dolph falls for him and wants to be the one to give Johnny what he needs. His biggest obstacle is Johnny himself who has decided that BDSM is a lie, one he isn’t interested in anymore.
Can Dolph convince Johnny that they can not only be friends, and lovers, but also Dom and sub? Or is he doomed to have his heart broken?
Previously published by Torquere Press.
REVIEW:
I think Deeper will have to go in my top five favorites for this series. Johnny DiMarco is a spoiled, self entitled, bratty little rich boy that the owner of the Hammer Club, Oliver, is about ready to give up on. Damn near every Dom in the place has tried working with Johnny and all have given up for various reasons. When Dolph hears about Johnny, however, he’s intrigued and determined to try and help the younger man; he feels he’s up for the challenge and Dolph has the time necessary to give Johnny all the attention he needs. After spending a little time together, its pretty obvious that there is much more going on than just someone that’s terribly spoiled; Johnny is practically crying out for help and Dolph is determined to give it to him. Getting Johnny to trust him enough to open up is only half the battle, however; the other half is Johnny’s family…and they aren’t willing to relinquish control so easily.
Hmmm…this was a really good installment to this series! Johnny had a boat load of problems that mostly came from his family and how he was treated and I really felt for him. With how he grew up and the ‘rules’ he had to live by, if I’d gone through the same thing, I’d be lashing out, too! Dolph was the very picture of patience; he wasn’t willing to put up with any bullshit but he also wasn’t going to go running in the other direction when things didn’t immediately go the way he wanted or expected. Nearly the entire first half of the book deals with Dolph trying to unravel the mystery that is Johnny and why he’s so desperately unhappy and I really enjoyed that; it was great getting to see a slower build up to intimacy. The sex scenes were nicely done and the care Dolph took with Johnny was palpable; there was also very little kink in their interactions until later in the book when Johnny was more comfortable and open to it.
I think the only minor disappointment I had was in that I expected Johnny’s family to make more of an appearance than they did; I was really looking forward to a good old fashioned smack down with Dolph laying down the hurt. I did smirk a little at the ending though; it may not have been exactly what I wanted but Johnny did get to show just how little his brother’s opinion mattered to him at that point. This was great read; I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions and I’m hoping I’ll get to see them, at least as a cameo, in later novels. If you’ve enjoyed Sean Michael’s works in the past, this is another good one and if you aren’t familiar with this series, you could still read it as a standalone just fine.
RATING: 
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