Title: Jared’s Fulfillment (Jared & Kieran: Book Two)
Author: Riley Hart
Publisher: Self-Published/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 255 Pages
Category: Contemporary, BDSM
At a Glance: Though there were times during which I felt Jared and Kieran were trying too hard to justify themselves to me, Riley Hart tells a sweet story, firmly rooted in building a believable and mutually beneficial relationship between its protagonists.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Kieran
My relationship with Jared has lasted too long. He’s mesmerizing, beautiful in his devotion, pure in his need. He reaches parts of me I thought no longer existed, places I’d never known were there. His submission is a gift. His cries of pleasure and pain call to the most primal parts of me. I want to inhale him, own him, mark him as mine. He’s my boy and I need to be his Daddy, but my fear holds me back. I’ll fail him like I’ve failed everyone else I’ve loved. Before that happens, I’ll walk away.
Jared
I’ve never known security, love, or true pleasure before Kieran. With every touch, every command, every second of blissful, torturous pain, my heart grows and my soul is at peace. He protects me, spoils me, gives me what I need. Still, in some ways, he’s closed off and won’t let me in. But Kieran’s given me strength. I’ve evolved, and won’t accept less than I deserve…and I won’t let Daddy accept less than he deserves, either.
It’s a delicate balance: give and take, pleasure and pain. Together we can break each other down to our purest forms and build each other up again. Kieran always says I’m stronger than I think, but I know that together we’re invincible…if only he’d believe me.
We have two choices: say goodbye or fight for what’s always been out of both our reaches…fulfillment.
Warning: Jared’s Fulfillment contains BDSM elements, domestic discipline, spanking, and daddy kink–without age play–between two consenting adults. If any of those things offend you, reading this book might not be a good idea.
Review: In some ways, Riley Hart’s Jared’s Fulfillment reads like a primer for the uninitiated. Whether or not you ‘get’ Dominance and submission, whether or not you understand Daddy kink or the concept of pleasure through pain, pleasure and satisfaction through obedience and structure and domestic discipline, this is a book that will make you give some thought to all the different ways relationships work, and that there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to sex and commitment. And, I like the way the titles of both books in the series—Jared’s Evolution and Jared’s Fulfillment—held dual meaning. Yes, the titles can be taken literally, but they are also each a representation of Kieran too—Jared’s evolution and fulfillment are also Kieran’s evolution and fulfillment—and his involvement in Jared’s progress and ultimate gratification works because of the way these two men interconnect in a true exchange of power.
Jared and Kieran each came to their relationship with unresolved issues and emotional turmoil from the past that led to moments of introspection throughout this novel. Those introspective moments were illuminating, though felt somewhat instructive at times, as if Jared and Kieran were each trying to convince me that what they wanted and needed was healthy. I’m not sure the justification was necessary, but I appreciated the sincerity and conviction behind it. Kieran’s backstory provides a plausible foundation for his lack of confidence in embracing Jared as his forever boy, and is grounded in a potentially triggering event that informs the progression of their relationship. It’s important to the overall development of both the plot and in the building of Kieran’s character, though, and is handled both subtly and sensitively.
It’s not easy to relate to something one has never desired or experienced—the pain, the denial, the structure and discipline, the complete giving over of one’s physical and emotional wellbeing, or the need to claim that responsibility—but the author did a nice job of communicating why Jared yearned for and thrived in these conditions. His longing to submit is exposed in the evocative language of each scene and in the clarity of Hart’s prose, especially in stressing that BDSM was not a fix-all for the issues expressed in the story. The fact that Kieran is not only a Dom but a psychologist, who is human and imperfect, added legitimacy to the experiences Jared needed to encounter and resolve, to discover his own strength through his submission and need for pain.
Not having read Jared’s Evolution, I can say that this novel reads well as a standalone in spite of the fact I was warned it wouldn’t. There’s plenty of detail offered that allowed me to understand the histories and desires of both men without any gaps in the understanding of how and why they’d come to love and care for each other, even if Kieran fought against his need to own and love Jared. Theirs is a compelling romance, and by the time I got to their happily-ever-after, I not only believed in it but was glad for it.
Riley Hart tells an effective story here, erotic and romantic through and through, so if you’re looking for something on the raw and gritty side of D/s, this is not that story. Kieran is a different sort of Dom than I often see in the BDSM sub-genre—unquestionably in control and the Daddy Jared needed in order to come to terms with and to embrace his own needs and strengths, but not the ‘Alpha’ as is often presented. Kieran is sensitive to and intuitive of Jared’s needs, he’s commanding and, at the same time, gentle and tender, and Jared needed that calm authority and intuition to give him the strength to overcome his problems. Kieran’s dominance and the couple’s power exchange was firmly established in addressing their needs along with providing the necessary guidance for Jared, in both a cognitive and physical way.
Riley Hart tells a sweet story in Jared’s Fulfillment, rooted in building a mutually beneficial relationship between its protagonists. I liked getting to know these men, during their scenes as well as in their quieter domestic moments, and in building an understanding of what made them tick and why, after overcoming some hurdles, they were the right fit for each other.
You can buy Jared’s Fulfillment here:
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