A Double-Header Review of Heidi Belleau And Amelia C. Gormley’s “The Professor’s Rule” Series – Reviewed by Tina

“This is a love story. I never knew there were so many kinds of love or that love could make people do so many different things.” – Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule #4)

Author: Heidi Belleau & Amelia C. Gormley

Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Pages/Word Count: 45 Pages

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb: Satish Malhotra is in over his head. What appeared to be the hookup of his dreams turned out to be another man’s kinky sex game, and thus ended his relationship with sweet, submissive James Sheridan before it’d hardly begun.

Or so he thought. Being used in someone else’s domination/submission play should have been a deal breaker, yet James—bruises, boyfriend, and all—is too compelling to let walk away. But James has needs Satish isn’t sure he can fulfill, and it seems his mysterious Professor isn’t willing to share.

Can Satish keep James happy in bed and in life, or will James be forced to choose between his dominant and his burgeoning vanilla romance with Satish?

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Review: Every Inch of the Way is the fourth installment in the popular Professor’s Rule series. It centers on the relationship between Professor Evander Carson and his former student James Sheridan. A previous entry in the series introduced us to Satish Malhotra. Satish works in a men’s clothing store and is unwittingly drawn into the Professor and James’s sexual games.

Satish had thought he and James could have something real, but as soon as he found out he was a pawn in the couple’s kink, he dumped James. But it hasn’t been that easy for Satish to forget about James. He really wants to. He also wants to be disgusted by the BDSM relationship James and the Professor share. He can’t help but find the marks on James’s body sexy. He is turned on by the evidence of the type of relationship James has with Evander. He also can’t help but be curious about it.

Satish tries to be a sadist for James and isn’t able to do it. While he finds the marks that cover James incredibly sexy, he is unable to put them there himself. This poses the question so many couples face: Will Satish be able to keep James happy and in love with him if Satish is unable to meet that need in James’s life? The need one partner is unable to meet isn’t necessarily a kink. It could be anything; one partner’s love of opera or need for emotional intimacy, the acceptance of one another’s physical or character flaws. In the case of James and Satish, it just happens to be BDSM.

The dilemma in Every Inch of the Way is whether or not James will be satisfied with his “vanilla” relationship with Satish or if he needs the kinky edge that only the Professor can provide him. It is a fun read on the way to finding out. These characters seem more developed than they have in previous stories. After reading Every Inch of the Way, I feel like I know all the players better. I understand their motivations, to a certain extent.

I am looking forward to the next and final book in the series, To The Very Last Inch, to see how the three men in this convoluted relationship resolve their differences and embrace their likenesses.

Strongly recommended.

You can buy Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule #4) here:

“No relationship is perfect, ever. There are always some ways you have to bend, to compromise, to give something up in order to gain something greater… The love we have for each other is bigger than these small differences. And that’s the key…Love can make up for a lot.” – Sarah Dessen

Title: To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5)

Author: Heidi Belleau & Amelia C. Gormley

Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Pages/Word Count: 57 Pages

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb: Just days after their scorching reunion, Professor Evander Carson has kicked his one-time pupil James Sheridan to the curb—and tried to sabotage James’s new relationship with Satish Malhotra. Something isn’t right here, but James isn’t sure he should bother trying to figure out what. Carson isn’t good for him and will never change. He needs to accept that and move on.

Satish knows something is up, too, but he thinks the relationship between Carson and James is worth saving. To do the right thing, Satish will have to make James and Carson confront the secrets they’ve hidden for years and help them to overcome the pain and mistrust they’ve caused.

But if Satish succeeds, where will that leave him and his intensifying romance with James? Will the three of them be able to find the right balance, or will James be forced to choose between the pain and submission he craves with Carson, and the sweet, vanilla stability he’s found with Satish?

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Review: To The Very Last Inch is the fifth and final story in The Professor’s Rule series. It has been so gratifying to read all five of these stories and see the characters grow and evolve. They have shown a more human and truly emotional side than seen in the early stories. The relationship between Dom Professor Evander Carson, his sub James Sheridan, and James’s vanilla lover Satish Malhotra continues to develop in this story.

Satish has realized that he is unable to meet the need in James for a BDSM relationship, but doesn’t want to lose James. Both men are shocked at the Professor’s cruel and heartless dismissal of James shortly after they reunite. They can’t figure out what is going on, but Satish isn’t giving up. He knows James needs the Professor’s type of love in his life and that he can’t ever truly be happy in his relationship with Satish without it.

Until now, we have seen very little of the Professor’s humanity. When confronted by Satish, Evander is cagey and non-committal about his reasons for his shoddy treatment of James. While Satish makes it clear to Evander how much James is suffering without the submission and pain which comes with his relationship with the Professor, he refuses to verbally confirm Satish’s suspicions regarding the reason for his behavior.

Satish acts as a kind of mediator for James and Evander to try and find a common ground that will make them all happy. He doesn’t want to lose James, but the James he has without Evander in his life is a shell of his former self. James is missing the Professor and it is deeply painful.

The journey the three men take is a controversial one. It works very well for them. Even myself, who is an all monogamy, all the time kind of gal, likes the resolution of their problems. There needs to be a way to keep everyone happy, to keep them all from losing someone they love.

This final book in The Professor’s Rule series was the best for me. I loved seeing more humanity in the Professor. Very little about him had been previously revealed outside the BDSM play. I’m glad I stuck around for the whole series. The books are best read in order, but are all okay as stand-alones. I really recommend that you read them all!

You can buy To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5) here: