Author: SJD Petersen
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 200 Pages
Category: BDSM, Contemporary
At a Glance: I totally enjoyed this book. My only beef was the ending; it ends rather abruptly.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Even within the context of the Underground BDSM Club, Joshua’s desires are dark and extreme. Hopelessly addicted to pain and the high it gives him, he has no limits. Joshua would quite literally rather die than use a safeword, and he accepts that might be his fate. As much as he depends on others, he has yet to find a man who can gain his trust, and he has little hope that he ever will.
For Nash, acquiring Joshua from another Dom at the club is only the first step in what will be a long and arduous road to lure the young man back from the brink of self-destruction. He must do the impossible and win Joshua’s trust, and he must be the one to set limits in their exploration—something he’s unaccustomed to as a Dom. But Nash knows dominance doesn’t always mean pushing a submissive’s boundaries. It’s about establishing a bond and fulfilling another man’s needs. In Joshua’s case, he’ll have to strike a balance between meeting the young man’s expectations and drawing firm lines that will save Joshua from himself.
Review: Limitless is the second book in The Underground Club series, and while the first was a much lighter read, this second book is filled with angst and troubled main characters. There really isn’t much overlap from book one to book two, so if you haven’t read the first book in the series, no worries, you can read this one first.
Joshua and Nash are introduced only briefly in the first book, Override, they are not together as Dom and sub at that point, as Joshua belongs to another man. At first, Nash’s only concern is to get Joshua away from this other Dom, a man who he is afraid is abusing Joshua. The first part of the book is Nash’s journey to “free” Joshua and discover his secrets. It is a journey where he begins to discover that Joshua is an extremely troubled young man, and that there is quite a bit more to Joshua than the sub Nash sees at the club. Joshua grew up in foster care, an experience so horrendous he began cutting himself for the mental and emotional release it offered to him. Finding a seedy BDSM club at a young age, his background and low self-esteem left him vulnerable to the darker side of the lifestyle. His first contracts with Doms were all about pain, Joshua’s pain and whatever abuse those so-called Dom’s could make him endure—his last Dom leaving him for dead in the emergency room. All this background on Joshua paints a picture of a man who still uses pain as his drug of choice; instead of cutting himself, he uses BDSM as a way to cope with his addiction. Joshua’s needs are for not just a Dom but a man who will help him heal.
Nash hasn’t had a full-time sub in several years. His obsession with Joshua begins to overwhelm him as he discovers more about the man’s background and his needs. I really appreciated the way that Nash is portrayed in this story. He is an incredibly responsible man and Dom, and he goes about systematically learning all he can about Joshua before taking him on as a sub. On several occasions he admits to being in over his head with Joshua’s needs, and SJD Peterson does a fantastic job tackling the mental health issues portrayed in this book. The addition of a kink friendly counselor, and the small but significant ways Nash uses control over Joshua to help Joshua gain control over himself, are refreshing.
I totally enjoyed this book. My only beef was the ending; it ends rather abruptly, like the author thought, “Well, that’s all they need to know for now,” so be forewarned. We get a HFN with Nash and Joshua, and that really is the most we can expect with the issues both men have yet to face. We leave them at the end, working on those issues and on their relationship, so I really hope we will get glimpses of them again in future books as I really need to know that things work out for them both.
Limitless is not your typical romance; it is about the establishing of a BDSM relationship between two men who need each other and, as such, that takes a firmer foundation. The sex is hot, the BDSM elements satisfying, and the story stays above the subject line—it doesn’t get bogged down by the weighty elements involved in it. I enjoyed this book as much as the first, and I am looking forward to the next in the series.
You can buy Limitless here:
[zilla_button url=”http://bit.ly/2gKFxQf” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Dreamspinner Press [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://amzn.to/2gDwIos” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon US [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B01N92DSOL?d” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon Int’l [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://bit.ly/2gKGqZ5″ style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] All Romance eBooks [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://bit.ly/2gKIL6l” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Kobo [/zilla_button]