Book Reviews

Book Blurb

An abusive Dom robbed Orion Gordon of his love of BDSM, destroying his confidence and leaving him unsure he’ll ever find peace through submission to another. Still, deep inside, his longing continues. 

 

Marcus Sadir loves Hunter Dixon, yet he can’t be the one thing Hunter truly desires: a sub to control. And Hunter can’t find satisfaction in the sadistic aspects of the BDSM lifestyle, while Marcus thrives on inflicting and sharing pain. When Marcus convinces Hunter they should find a third on a permanent basis, they discover Orion might be the key to bridging their differences and joining them on a deeper level. 

 

But they must help Orion move past his trauma enough for him to enjoy new facets of BDSM and kink again. Their journey toward becoming whole—together—won’t be without challenges. Can Orion trust enough to try again?

 

Book Review

Three-way relationships are never easy, and most of them face many complications on the way to becoming a lasting triad – if they ever make it at all. But there is complicated and then there is complicated. ‘Secured and Free’ fits into the complicated category and while it took me a while to figure things out, the characters and their story makes a lot of sense. Just don’t expect everything to be crystal clear from the start – not the issues, and even less their solutions. It did make this novel very rewarding for me to read though!

There is no easy way to start a review of a complicated book like this – at least I haven’t found it. I’ll start with talking about Orion – which is also how the author begins telling the tale of these three men. And even though Marcus and Hunter get a voice in the remainder of the novel, Orion’s point of view is pretty central to what is going on. Orion has been badly abused by an abusive Dom, making it impossible for him to hand over power to anyone else ever again. The fact that he wanted rough play and got abuse from a Dom refusing to play with a safeword, then told himself it was his fault for asking, only makes things worse. Orion keeps failing and has pretty much given up on trying, but the fundamental need for love and trust and submission just won’t go away. Orion’s issues with self-esteem also mean he beats himself up for his inability to submit – a mantra that has been instilled in him by the abusive Dom: he is not worth anything if he can’t obey.

Marcus and Hunter are in a committed relationship, and the fact that they are still together despite the mismatch between some of their fundamental needs proves how much they love each other. They have made things work despite Marcus’s inability to sub for Hunter, and Hunter’s inability to enjoy the pain that Marcus wants to give. I think both of them realize they need a third man to add the pieces of the relationship puzzle Marcus and Hunter can’t provide, and they have discussed it, but there is a world of difference between understanding that they need a third – and finding the right guy.

When Hunter meets Orion at Entwined, he is intrigued by the man who looks a lot younger than he is. Marc joins them and immediately assumes Hunter has found them their third – and while nothing is as easy as that, fundamentally, that is what happened. It takes them a lot longer to figure out exactly how well they fit, that each of them wants the other two, and how to deal with the emotional involvement without hurting either the existing couple or the “new guy”. It’s an intriguing, complicated story with more than one misunderstanding and disappointment, but there is hope from the beginning that they will be able to work out what they want and how to make it happen.

If you’re looking for a complicated triad, this is your book. If you want to see real issues and a relationship that needs to be built from the bottom up if it is to last, give this one a go. And if you enjoy stories with multilayered characters, deep emotions, scorching love scenes, and a well-deserved happy ending, then you will probably like this novel.

 

 

 

 

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

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 226 pages/70869 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	26-May-2017
Price	$6.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback, $14.99 bundle
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/secured-and-free-by-z-allora-8511-b