Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Breaking the Rules

SERIES:  The Triskelion Series Book 1

AUTHOR:  Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga

PUBLISHER:  Tygerseye Publishing LLC

LENGTH:  452 pages

RELEASE DATE: September 22, 2020

BLURB:

Saul Reynolds manages a busy bicycle shop in downtown Boulder, Colorado. A recent CU graduate, he’s also a Dom, and has many friends his age in the scene. Saul’s an old soul, and even at twenty-five, he’s had enough experience to understand his own desires. He’s had plenty of lovers and he’s played the role of part-time Dom, but he’s never found the perfect combination of lover and sub in one man.

Troy Finch lost his lover in a rodeo accident twenty years ago, moved to Boulder, and has worked as a line cook in his friend Carter’s diner ever since. He’s attended many parties at Carter’s home with couples in the BDSM lifestyle and feels comfortable in a submissive role, but without a Dom of his own, Troy hasn’t explored what that really means to him. He has needs he doesn’t entirely understand and finds his only outlet at the hands of Carter’s husband, Geoff, a tattoo artist who has used Troy’s skin as a canvas for as long as they’ve known each other, covering Troy in colorful, intricate triskelia.

Troy doesn’t know what he was thinking accepting a dinner invitation from a kid half his age, but everything feels right about their evening together, including Saul’s Dominant side. The rules for a twenty-five year old gay cowboy from years ago, though, are totally different than for a twenty-five year old college grad in Boulder now, and despite Saul’s confidence, Troy isn’t sure whether they can make it work.

Saul and Troy manage to bend a good many rules in the name of caring and compromise, but in the name of love, there are some rules they’re just going to have to break.

Note: This is a “true series” and should be read in order.

REVIEW:

Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga’s Breaking the Rules begins The Triskelion Series, where we meet Troy, an ex-rodeo cowboy and older sub who no one wanted for twenty long years (god knows why … the man is absolutely adorable and delectable) until he meets the lovely Saul, an old soul but young Dom twenty years younger than Troy.

Ms. Payne and Ms. Tortuga spin out a story that’s one percent action and ninety-nine percent relationship.  But what a relationship it is. Through Troy and Saul, we get a deep and unusual exploration of the Dom/sub dynamic in its many and varied forms, but not in the way you would expect.  There’s undoubtedly BDSM (although less than you’d think especially given the description), and the sex scenes are indisputably hot.  But all of that simply provides the canvas to paint a picture of two men growing into a relationship of love, respect, trust, and prioritizing the needs of the other in a way that makes them whole.  

You will connect with Troy and Saul.  Truly, you’ll swoon just a little, or maybe a whole lot (like I did 😍).  Troy is broken, but so open and wanting to serve the needs of a partner.  Saul is wise beyond his years with remarkable maturity and insight.  He embodies a steadiness and sincerity uncharacteristic of someone so young.  

Breaking the Rules features this power writing duo’s distinctive writing style, including their  “cowboy cadence”, which is what I call the rhythm of their prose.  Ms. Payne and Ms. Tortuga intersperse long sentences with short little phrases.  For example, Troy providing a lengthy description of what Saul is wearing, followed immediately by a cutesy comment like, “Pretty baby”.  They also liberally sprinkle throughout short exclamations and cowboy slang, all said with a cowboy twang.  My personal favorites:  “Lord yes”,  “oh sweet fuck”,  and “Well, damn”.  I adore the cadence of their storytelling and the authenticity of the language and delivery.  When it’s delivered from the mouth of an absolute sweetie pie like Troy, it’s just perfect.  

Not only is the writing style distinct, but so is the way Ms. Payne and Ms. Tortuga conceptually approach a story.  BDSM in a Dom/sub relationship is a fairly common trope but here is told in a unique way.  The story is told primarily through the communication, introspection, and interaction between Saul and Troy, and to a lesser extent, their friends Carter and Geoff.  The book progresses at a slow pace, reflecting the careful development of Troy and Saul’s relationship.  However, over the course of a 450-page book, it does, admittedly, become a bit tedious especially as it approached the end. 

On the whole, Breaking the Rules is thoroughly enjoyable, especially in the refreshing way it breaks the rules about how to tell an M/M romance based on a Dom/sub trope.  I highly recommend you give this a read.  There’s more of Troy and Saul’s story to tell in the next book, Making a Mark, and I am eager to see how it plays out.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

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