“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.” – Philip K. Dick
Title: Inch by Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #3
Author: Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Pages/Word Count: 50
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Blurb: After two long, kink-free years apart, James Sheridan has reunited with his Professor: the sexy, dominant Evander Carson. But this time, things will be different. James is older, more sure of himself, and confident that he can draw the line between Carson’s demands and his own principles.
One of those lines is gorgeous menswear salesman Satish Malhotra. After their steamy dressing room encounter, James feels an unexpected connection to Satish, and he wants to explore it further. But Carson’s involvement—in James’s life, and in James and Satish’s budding relationship—complicates things.
Carson’s penchant for using other men in their sex games has always troubled James, and he’s adamant that Satish not be just another notch in their whipping post. But when Satish learns what prompted James to pursue him in the first place, will James’s new ability to draw the line even matter?
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Review: In Inch by Inch we again meet up with James Sheridan and his Professor, Evander Carson. Two years have passed. James is older, wiser and knows what he wants. He is confident that he will be able to meet his needs and those of Carson without crossing a line he doesn’t want to go near.
Carson has, in the past, wanted to involve other men in the power games he plays with James. One of those men was Satish Malhotra, a menswear salesman. Carson engineered a steamy dressing room sexual encounter between James and Satish. Afterwards, James feels a connection to Satish and wants to see where it may lead, but Carson’s involvement in James’s life, and also in how James and Satish first came together, throws a wrench into that exploration.
Carson’s desire to involve other men in their “relationship” has always bothered James. This time, though, James is insistent that Satish isn’t just another notch in their sexual whipping post. But when Satish realizes why James was drawn to him in the first place, it just may be too much for him to overcome in pursuit of a real relationship with James.
This addition to The Professor’s Rule collection wasn’t as satisfying as the first two for me. It was seemingly about James putting his foot down with his Dom regarding his desire to explore an actual relationship with one of the unwitting players in Carson’s sexual games. James tries to take back some of his power while still remaining in the submissive role in his relationship with Carson.
This book was very sexy and centered more on the BDSM aspect of James’s and Carson’s relationship. The dichotomy between James trying to remain submissive while asserting himself enough to “date” Satish was hard to grasp. It didn’t seem to me as though those two sides of James’s personality could co-exist.
Instead of handling Satish’s rejection on his own, James goes to Carson. I’m not sure that was the smartest move. It seemed as though James was slipping back into old patterns instead of making new ones. It looked to me as though James was using Carson as a pawn in his relationship with Satish this time. Carson is smart enough to realize this, and I’m not clear what he really wants and why he doesn’t say or do more. Carson and James’s relationship could benefit greatly from a healthy dose of honesty between them. It looks like James may have opened that dialogue this time.
I am interested to see where Heidi Belleau and Amelia Gormley take these men in the next installment. I recommend this with the caveat that you read the first two in the series, Giving an Inch and An Inch at a Time, first. They all make much more sense read that way.
You can buy Inch by Inch (Professor’s Rule, #3) here:
