Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Pursuing your best friend's dad is never a good idea, but Cameron Motel is feeling reckless. His life is about to change, and Luke is older, attractive... and he represents something Cameron has never had before.

Stability.

Luke didn't mean to get involved with his son's best friend, but Cameron needed a strong hand and Luke was willing to deliver on his promises.

This thing between them is supposed to be a secret, but something as big as love can't stay hidden for long. Then a single phone call sends Cameron farther away from home than he'd ever planned to go, and Luke's subconscious keeps him grounded in the past unable to move on.

Cameron is gone, and to get him back Luke needs to do something big, something bold, something...reckless.


Reckless is #1 in the Room for Love series. It is a 65,000 word romance that explores an unexpected love and survives unexpected distance. Reckless has EVERYTHING you would expect from a Kate Hawthorne book...and more.

Book Review

A new author to me, Kate Hawthorne surprised me with this sweet, gentle exploration of a young man’s desire for submission and an older man’s response with his own need for domination. Cameron finds older men attractive, silver foxes in particular, and he’s not afraid to go after what he wants. In this case, it’s his best friend’s dad, Luke, who is single after his long-term partner and sub left the year before.

 

When Cameron finally decides to take flirting with Luke to a new level, a very reluctant Luke finds he can’t resist the boy and gives in to what each plans to be a summer together before Cameron leaves for college.

 

Cameron is an eighteen-year-old high school senior when the story opens. His father is a very wealthy entrepreneur who travels the world in his business dealings and is absent both emotionally and physically in the boy’s life. Cameron has five older brothers, but there are close to twenty years between his oldest brother and Cameron and that brother, Charlie, has taken on a fatherly role over time. I appreciated the way the author introduced the dynamics of his family relationship and his special bond with Charlie. Each of the brothers have page time and I assume they will ultimately have one of the stories as this series progresses.

 

As the story evolves, Cameron’s plans for college change when he and his brothers suddenly need to spend a year managing a hotel if they want to retain their trust funds, and Cameron’s and Luke’s relationship is tested by the distance this creates. The author uses alternating points of view throughout the story to capture both main character’s reactions to the issues they face. Complicating their relationship is Cameron’s friendship, or lack thereof, with Luke’s son, Eddie, who shuns Cameron when he realizes what’s happening. Eddie is portrayed as a typical eighteen-year-old in his actions and reactions throughout the time of the affair but was surprisingly mature when he realized what the separation caused by Cameron’s move to the hotel was doing to his dad. To be honest, I found the situation with the hotel, his brothers, their inheritance, and the need for isolation to be somewhat unbelievable. This plot device separated the couple for months and yet at one point it becomes obvious they were still in the same state. I had questions galore as to why that created such a huge divide.

 

For a Dom, Luke was quite aggressive in word and deed during the face-to-face time with Cameron, but once the young man moved, Luke became less and less sure of his role and was plagued with self-doubt about the age gap. He became one of those characters I wanted to slap “upside the head” to jolt him out of his ridiculous self-defeating thoughts. As this went on, I also wondered why this mature man wasn’t taking action to see Cameron in person.

 

Those who enjoy D/S dynamics, age gap, and hot as fire sex scenes may enjoy this story. The sex does light the e-reader on fire and the push-pull of their dynamic makes for light drama. I would have preferred a more assertive dominant character for Luke, but Cameron was exactly what I expected and I appreciated the author allowing him to have his teen moments. One other thing I found very quirky: Cameron’s last name was Motel and much of the story revolved around he and his brothers running a hotel. Freudian? Or on purpose? This was a bit too bizarre and pulled me from the story a few times. Between that and the geographic distancing plot device, my brain didn’t let my heart completely enjoy this book.

 

One more note: this may be classified as BDSM but focuses on D/s relationships, and though there is some spanking,  there are no whips, restraints, or other “heavy” BDSM in this story.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 280 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	03-March-2020
Price	$3.80 ebook, $12.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Room-Love-Book-1-ebook/dp/B085GM1BWB