Guest Post and Giveaway: Sex in C Major by Matthew J. Metzger

We’re so pleased to welcome author Matthew J. Metzger to TNA today on the tour for his latest release, Sex in C Major. He’s here talking BDSM in romance, and there’s also a giveaway, so be sure to check out the Rafflecopter widget below.

Welcome, Matthew!

The Part-Time Dominant

While there’s a lot of BDSM in Romancelandia, it tends to be the same type. It tends to be D/s, it tends to be bondage-oriented, it tends to be physical rather than sensual or mental, and it tends not to feature switches.

That last part is what I want to talk about today.

I’ve written switches (What It Looks Like) and versatile (Thicker Than Bone) partners before. What I haven’t done before—and indeed haven’t seen much of—is that greyer area between switch and exclusive.

Daz, or Darian, is the dominant player in Sex in C Major. But this is a triad novel—he is breaking in the submissive hero of the book, Stefan, and already has a long-term partner in the form of the acerbic Yannis.

With Stefan, Daz is unquestionably the master.

But with Yannis, there’s a haze over the matter.

Yannis is asexual, so there is very rarely a sexual side to their relationship, and what there is, isn’t kinky. The one time that Stefan witnesses them having sex, Yannis is the receiving party, but it’s so vanilla that it doesn’t much matter.

Domestically, there are hints of domination from Daz. Yannis is commanded to eat and, though he swears in Turkish and slams about like a kid in a tantrum, does as he’s told. To the point where Stefan once and only once prepares food for Yannis, and threatens him by snitching to Daz if he won’t eat it. There are edges to the way Daz speaks to him sometimes, and two incidents of grabbing where Yannis is pinned down and thoroughly kissed. There is a shadow of dominance, lurking around the edges.

But then there’s Yannis. Who won’t yield.

Yannis is dry and sarcastic, and seems to regard Daz with same kind of exasperated fondness one would regard a puppy. Suddenly, the gears have shifted. Yannis, too, exerts a vibe of dominance. Daz cooks and cleans, generally playing carer and housewife to this severe, serious genius living in his house, and Yannis remains very aloof and above the sex games that Daz and Stefan are playing. He speaks of ‘Darian’ (never Daz) being a hoarder, ridiculous, daft and uncontrollable. He doesn’t speak of him like a master—more, indeed, like a plaything.

And so there is Daz, someone who is simultaneously unquestionably a master to one man, and something very undefined to another.

These gear changes will be within seconds, as well. There is a scene of Daz attempting to get some loving out of Yannis. Yannis laughs at him and says he’ll be late for his lecture—if Daz wants to play, he has other toys. Daz is then firmly rejected. Within seconds, Daz does exactly that: he turns on Stefan, and makes use of him instead of Yannis.

Daz is a dominant capable of massive behaviour changes within seconds, depending on the subject. And this is something I’ve not seen much of in Romancelandia—despite its prevalence in the kink community.

And it is common there. There are many different types of master, and those who can have, have had, different types of dominant relationship with different partners are common as dirt. Even those who’ve pulled it off at the same time are not rare.

Sex in C Major evolved partly from an idea of one sub with two masters. It didn’t quite turn out that way. There is one sub.

But Daz and Yannis remain forever harder to fit into boxes.

About the Book

Stefan has … fantasies.

He knows chasing those fantasies is only going to end in disaster, but he can’t seem to stop his self-destructive spiral. He’s a transgender man struggling to come to terms with the intersection of his identity and his sexual fantasies as a submissive. He needs someone to take control before he loses it completely.

Daz can take control. He can teach Stefan everything there is to know about sex and submission, but for some reason, he can’t get inside Stefan’s head. Daz can stop Stefan’s self-destruction but not the fear that fuels it.

Stefan needs to know who he is before he can accept what he is. And it’s Yannis — Daz’s aromantic, asexual, stern, and sarcastic partner — who has the answer.

Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK | JMS Books | iBooks 

Find Sex in C Major on Goodreads

Tour Excerpt

Other people wanted vanilla sex and dating out of a hookup in a gay bar. But Stefan wanted— this. He wanted to jump from nothing to Daz bending him over the end of the bed and fucking him like he was nothing but a sex doll.

What was he doing?

And yet he kept walking, step by step by step towards the house. A jogger had to go around him; a car hooted angrily as he walked out in front of it. He didn’t care. The house was calling. The man inside was calling. The promise of his fantasies becoming real was calling.

And it was terrifying and stupid and utterly crazy… but Stefan just couldn’t say no.

At exactly eight fifteen, the terror enough to make him throw up and the arousal so intense he could barely walk, Stefan knocked on the door.

Footsteps.

A key in a lock.

Then the door was jerked open, and a hand fisted in Stefan’s coat and hauled him inside.

“Upstairs,” Daz said, slamming the door. “Now. Nobody sees you.”

Stefan scrambled to obey, almost running up the stairs, still in his coat and shoes. He was shoved back into the small bedroom from the night before, and the door slammed behind them.

“Strip,” Daz said.

About the Author

Matthew J. Metzger is a twenty-something British author of queer novels, primarily focusing on relationships, be they familial, platonic, sexual or romantic. He was dragged up in London, but currently lives in West Yorkshire, where he carves out a living in an office crunching numbers before going home to write books at night. Matthew particularly writes working-class queer life, and queer people who exist outside of the standard M/M romance fare written by and for well-educated, middle-class sensibilities. There be nasty words ahead, children. Better buckle up.

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Patreon

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Follow the Tour

May 27th: Alpha Book Club | My Fiction Nook | Hearts on Fire Reviews
May 28th: Nerd Girl Official | Boy Meets Boy Reviews
May 29th: The Novel Approach | A L Boyd
May 30th: A M Leibowitz
May 31st: Happily Ever Chapter
June 1st: MJs Book Blog and Reviews
June 2nd: Bonkers about Books | Joyfully Jay
June 5th: Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter
June 6th: Making It Happen | Outrageous Heroes
June 7th: BFD Book Blog
June 8th: Triple A
June 9th: Love Bytes Reviews
June 12th: Stories That Make You Smile | Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
June 13th: Loving Without Limits | L M Brown
June 14th: All in One Place | Dawn’s Reading Nook
June 15th: Bayou Book Junkie
June 16th: Drops of Ink | Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!