Title: Just Here for the Pain
Series: The Underdogs: Book Two
Author: K.A. Merikan
Publisher: Self-Published/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 240 Pages
Category: Contemporary, BDSM
At a Glance: Trust KA Merikan to make you like an unconventional character! 5 star read – highly recommended!
Reviewed By: Ky
Blurb: Whips and chains not optional.
Sid. Drummer for The Underdogs. Secretly yearning for pain and submission.
Asher. AKA Stan. Stalker. More than meets the eye.
It’s hard to find good hookups while on tour. Sid wants pain, humiliation, and the kind of sex that isn’t easy to get from one-night stands. So for now, he’s given up, settled for an online Dom to get his rocks off, and focused on his band instead. The Underdogs are getting increasingly popular, but there is one fan who has followed Sid since before he even joined the band, and he’s driving Sid mad! Rich, spoiled hipster brat looking for the bad boy experience. If he knew what Sid was really into, he would run for the hills.
Asher is convinced that Sid is The One, his One True Love, his endgame. Years ago, Asher lost his virginity to Sid, and from that moment on, he knew it was meant to be. They had a spark, that honest connection that couldn’t be faked. The members of Sid’s band call him a stalker, but all he wants is to offer Sid his love. When Sid finally chokes out what he wants, Asher is more than ready to unleash it on him.
But the last time Sid was out as gay and submissive, he got badly burnt when his former band kicked him out, and the doors to many opportunities slammed in his face.
Asher wants the whole world to know that he’s dating Sid. Problem is, Sid would much rather keep the relationship as pain-with-benefits.
Review: Just Here for the Pain, the second book of The Underdogs series, is even better, even hotter, even kinkier than the first!
We met Sid, the drummer of the band, and Asher—or Stan as everyone had dubbed him—in the first book, and it was very much obvious that there was something between them under the whole famous-person/stalker relationship. In Just Here for the Pain, we learn about their pasts, what they have gone through in their lives, what they have suffered, how they met, what happened between them, and why Asher is so obsessed with Sid that he is following him around on tours in an effort to win his attention and his affection.
The title couldn’t be more perfect for the story. Their relationship starts off as exactly that for Sid. He needs something he can’t get while on tour, out of fear of being outed, and Asher is able to give it to him, so they start a casual thing. It’s the perfect solution for Sid to get the pain he craves from a person he somewhat trusts, since he’s already known Asher for many years, while at the same time not risk the danger of discovery or having his sexuality or kinky side outed.
It’s obvious from the start that Asher wants more—and, how couldn’t he? He was trying to get Sid to notice him for years, but he is willing to play along for a little while if that means that Sid lets him in, even if it’s just during their scenes. Asher is determined to prove it to Sid that they belong together, and Sid is determined to keep their connection strictly in the bedroom.
As the weeks pass they become closer, and Sid’s protective walls start to crumble. Even though the two of them were communicating and talking about their scenes, about what they wanted, what worked and what didn’t, their ability to discuss things and be open and honest with one another started and ended there. Neither of them was comfortable discussing their feelings for the other, either out of fear that they wouldn’t be reciprocated, or out of discomfort with the sense of vulnerability that came with talking about feelings in general. Inability to talk about how they felt aside, these two were the perfect match. They were so good together! I was sad when the story ended and yet, at the same time, I was happy with how we left Sid and Asher. I can’t wait to see those two again in the third book!
Now, about that third book. It’s going to be Mage and Dawn’s story, and even though there was something that hinted about a connection between them in the first book, here it’s apparent that there is definitely something going on between them.
Dusk and Lolly of course make an appearance here. It was good to see them again, though Dusk irritated me at times. I didn’t remember him being so annoying in the first book, but maybe that had something to do with the fact that now he is in couple-heaven, so he feels free to tease and torment his bandmates about their relationship troubles. I still like Dusk and Lolly very much, but Sid and Asher are by far my favorite couple. Even though Asher starts off as a stalker, I liked him a lot from the beginning of the book, and this held firmly till the end of it. Trust KA Merikan to make you like an unconventional character! 5 star read – highly recommended!
You can buy Just Here for the Pain here:
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