Title: A Dom and His Artist
Series: Club Whisper: Book Two
Author: Xenia Melzer
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 200 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: This book is a contemporary romance, not a hardcore BDSM offering, but at the end of the day, it is a pretty good contemporary romance.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Sometimes the perfect man can be found in the most unexpected place….
Martin Carmichael owns a security firm and is part owner of Club Whisper. He’s a Dom in search of the right guy, and when his car breaks down on a lonely stretch of road, he thinks he might have found him.
Artist Collin Malloy is talented, easygoing, but somewhat insecure. Still, he has a big heart and is quick to offer help when he sees Martin in need. To thank him, Martin invites Collin to dinner, where the attraction between them becomes harder to resist.
But what will become of their budding relationship when Martin reveals that he likes his men bound, submissive, and in pain? Is it something Collin can accept… and possibly enjoy exploring? Even if he can, Collin has a secret of his own—a secret he doesn’t even realize he’s keeping.
Review: A Dom and His Artist is the second book in the Club Whisper series. At the time I read this one, I hadn’t read A Dom and His Writer, but this book prompted me to go back and grab the first book in the series—not because I needed it to understand this novel but because I enjoyed it that much. There is a steady pace to this book. It reads easily and can only be called BDSM-lite, because while one MC has years of experience in the lifestyle, the other MC does not.
Martin Carmichael is an imposing man. He owns a security firm which he started with his sister. He also is a co-owner in a BDSM club known as Club Whisper. Everything about the man, from his size to his demeanor to his very aura, screams control and complete domination over everything in his life. The persona has almost become a trap for him, keeping him from making simple human connections because of his intimidating factors. The glimpses we see of him, in interactions with his friends and his sister, give us a second side to him, though. We see a man who longs for someone to love, to take care of and make his life fulfilling. Martin is portrayed on paper as being very set in his ways, a strict Dom who doesn’t suffer young fools lightly. But, in reality he is a man looking for love and has the presence of mind to stop and see the beauty in Collin, not just dismiss him for his lack of experience. I appreciate when a character breaks their paradigms, and Martin certainly does this with regards to Collin.
Have you ever smelled a color? Collin can. Collin’s newness to any and all parts of romance and the lifestyle appeals to Martin on an almost visceral level. Collin is a clean slate, a new piece of putty that Martin can mold to fit all his wants and needs. He HAS to protect Collin and be the man’s first in everything. Only, he needs to find the patience to let Collin come to him. I appreciated that Martin was a toned-down version of his regular self with Collin. He had to be. No way could he have been the strict, aggressive Dom he was purported as being and have any kind of a future with Collin. He knew that, though, and his ah-ha moment was a good one when he discovered he didn’t need all the BDSM trappings he had gotten caught up in over the years, that he could be flexible and pull back. Collin meant more than the submission, especially when Martin figured out the submission would come, but it would just take time.
Collin Malloy is a very young twenty-five-year-old. He lives for his art and when his best friend growing up seemed to come up with the perfect plan for him to do it full time, he jumped at the chance. But Collin is very naïve and he doesn’t question why his old friend has him so isolated and alone. If he has money for sandwich meat and can do his art 24/7, then he is happy. Collin longs for love and happiness, a boyfriend and someone to care for, someone to share his life and his art with. His only companion is Dog, the 120 pound attack dog that walks around with stuffed animals in his mouth and whines for treats. He inserts himself into the story as a secondary character would, and he’s adorable. My problem with Collin is that his innocence goes almost to the disability realm. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if you told me Collin had autism, especially with the way he thought in circles and experienced color in everything around him. I almost wish the author had embraced that possibility, or made Collin more aware of himself and the world. My brain kept trying to pin exactly where Collin fell on the spectrum, and that was frustrating.
The angst, big plot twist, whatever you want to call it wasn’t very big when it was all said and done. We have this specter of threat to Collin hanging over the whole book, and in the end, it didn’t go away with the grenade I hoped it would but with more a flash-bang. This book is a contemporary romance, and at the end of the day, it is a pretty good contemporary romance. It was good enough to get me to go back and read book one, which I also enjoyed and recommend. The chemistry is there between the main characters. The secondary people are interesting and bring interest to the storyline. It’s well written, on the whole, and I will read the third novel, A Dom and His Warrior, when that is released. It is not a hardcore BDSM offering; it’s a romance first and, foremost, with MCs who enjoy each other and who are learning to enjoy the lifestyle. I recommend it.
You can buy A Dom and His Artist here:
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