Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Finding His Boy
SERIES: Safe Harbor
AUTHOR: K. D. Ryan
PUBLISHER:
LENGTH: 351 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 25th 2021
BLURB:
Finding his way in life all on his own hadn’t been easy for eighteen-year-old Elliot Hedrick, but he’d managed to hold it all together so far.
Even though it was just by the skin of his teeth.
Between his warehouse job and pursuing a career as a professional ballet dancer, he’d been working sixteen-hour days and was still barely making ends meet.
He was fraying at the seams. And he was so damn lonely.
There was nobody for him to lean on, nobody to come to his rescue when things fell apart—it was all up to him to achieve his dreams.
Then suddenly Grant Weston charged into Elliot’s life, his knight in shining armor—literally and figuratively—and despite their twenty-year age gap, Grant couldn’t seem to leave the boy alone. Even though Grant knew he should.
There were too many obstacles between them—and not just their ages. Grant had secrets of his own, ghosts from his past that made him hold back from taking what he really wanted from Elliot.
And what Grant wanted was to make Elliot his boy.
To have a true partner.
But Grant was afraid to trust himself–afraid that history would repeat itself and leave him with a broken heart yet again.
Is age really just a number, or will the years between them end their relationship before it can even start?
Finding His Boy is the first book in a duet taking place in the Safe Harbor universe but can be read as a stand-alone and has an HFN ending. This book is a 90+K word slow burn, steamy romance that features a Daddy/boy relationship between two consenting men. No age play. Dual POV. There are explicit descriptions of sexual acts, so this book is intended for a mature audience (18+).
Trigger Warning: on-page physical assault (not between MCs), mention of sexual assault.
REVIEW:
Elliot is a young lad in need. He needs both financial, and emotional support, and is still processing the grief surrounding his real father’s early passing.
Grant had been Elliot’s teacher in high school, and has since become a college professor. Elliot never even got his GED, but has started working in the school’s warehouse unit, in order to supplement his meager earnings as a troop member in the local ballet. Though Elliot does not attend university, his job allows him to use their gym & pool facilities. When Grant rescues Elliot from a sexual assault in the university showers, the two cross the m/m event horizon. Neither can control it, they are just drawn toward each other.
There is an element of fantasy fulfillment in age gap tales that I, as an aging gay man, can easily understand. But this book also showed some glimmerings of what might motivate a younger guy into being interested in a daddy-boy relationship. In some ways, I guess, I was extraordinarily lucky growing up. My dad worked long hours but there were never any doubts that he’d not rather be spending time with me and my brothers. Having always had a father figure when I most needed it, I’ll never fully appreciate the need for a “daddy” that some men feel throughout their lives. This tale gives those who might not understand it, a peek behind that curtain.
First-time author K. D. Ryan does a wonderful job of reflecting the points of view of both main characters, making this a bit more than just fantasy fulfillment. But the presence of a plot here doesn’t preclude some very erotic sex scenes. This is the portrait of a loving daddy-boy relationship – with some elements of dominance and submission and an emphasis on edging. It includes a wide range of erotic firsts for the initially virginal Elliot, and the duo’s bedroom activities grow increasingly more intimate as their relationship grows. The sex is not only consensual but contextual. It’s clearly not a Tom of Finland style fantasy read.
I can highly recommend this to anyone who’s a bit curious about the whole Daddy-Boy dynamic. It does a good job of showing us how and why some folks would find that appealing, and is even hot for those of us less enamored of that particular bent. It’s an engaging read, with likable characters who are easy to come to care about. It’s sexy hot in spots and laugh out loud funny in others. I think I’ll have to award at least one extra heart just for the character of “Sex Toy Expert Grandma” alone. Plus, Elliot’s chagrin after trying to use the product “Granny” recommended actually triggered some pleasant memories of adolescence for me. The whole joy of discovering I was beginning to have a man’s body and the freedom to enjoy it was both liberating and a bit scary.
RATING: 
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