Trusting Thomas (Collars and Cuffs #2), K.C. Wells

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: BDSM, Contemporary, Age Difference

Length: 282 Pages

Reviewer: Steph

Purchase At: Dreamspinner Press, amazon.com

Blurb:

Collars and Cuffs: Book Two

Christmas is a time for goodwill to all, but Collars and Cuffs co-owner Thomas Williams receives an unexpected gift that chills him to the bone. A Dom from another Manchester club asks Thomas for his help rescuing an abused submissive, Peter Nicholson. Thomas takes in the young man as a favor to a friend, offering space and time to heal, but he makes it clear he’s never had a sub and doesn’t want one.

Peter finds Thomas’s home calm and peaceful, but his past has left him unwilling to trust another Dom. When Thomas doesn’t behave as Peter expects, Peter’s nightmares begin to fade, and he decides he’d like to learn more about D/s life. A well-known trainer of submissives, Thomas begins to teach Peter, but as the new submissive opens up to him, Thomas finds he cares more for Peter than he should. Just as he decides it’s time to find a permanent Dom for Peter, they discover Peter’s tormentor is still very much a threat. With their lives in danger, Thomas can’t deny his feelings for Peter any longer. The question now becomes, can Peter make it out of the lions’ den alive, so that Thomas can tell his boy that he loves him?

Review:

Even though this book is the second in the Collars & Cuffs series, it can definitely be read as a standalone too.

I have to say that this book didn’t work as well for me as the first book did. I think I just connected to Leo and Alex more. Also, even though I loved the romance, the first 60% of the book was very slow moving. Sometimes there were chapters just all about Peter’s new responsibilities. I mean there’s only so much you can read about a character cooking and cleaning and ironing. I started to get pretty bored to be honest. However, the last 20% of the book is what won me over, seeing Peter and Thomas finally both admitting what they want was worth the wait.

We had already met Thomas in the first book. We know that he is an older man, 56, and that he had trained Doms and subs to the highest standard for decades. But what we didn’t know was just how lonely he has become. I don’t think he even realised he was lonely until Peter was moved into his home – until someone needed him again.

Peter is a really wonderful character too. We meet him at the lowest point in his life. He was a young man, a virgin trying to find his way in the Dom/sub world after being abandoned by his family when they realised he was gay… he was targeted by a wolf in sheep’s clothing and has been held captive ever since. He has been held hostage, mentally and physically abused, and all of it has been labelled as what a Dom/sub relationship is all about. His mind has been conditioned to think that this is all he will ever be worth…

”How can you say that? Of course it was important. You hurt yourself.”

“But I don’t matter, Sir.” Thomas caught his breath. That simple statement brought him to a swift understanding of his new submissive. The boy thought himself worthless. Of no value. To anyone.

So when Peter is rescued and taken to Thomas to be cared for and shown what Doms and subs are really all about, he flourishes, knowing that this is the life he had been seeking and that it’s been out there all along.

He lifted the boys chin with his hand and cupped his cheek. “You are beautiful, boy. Inside and out. When you believe that, it will be the greatest gift you can give to me, because it means I will have trained you well.”

Thomas definitely struggled more with the thirty year age gap. It was hard for Thomas to accept that Peter could ever want him, seeing as he was old enough to be his father. He felt selfish for thinking of keeping Peter, he wanted to send him to another suitable Dom, one that could give him a fuller life. But in the end they both discovered that nothing could keep them apart…

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a really touching, slow-burning romance, with a lovely HEA to sweeten the deal.

This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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