Cherished, Sara York
Rating: 1 Star
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Genre: Gay Romance
Tags: BDSM, Controlling MC, **Trigger Warning Forced Sexual Situations/Dub-con, Past Sexual Abuse
Length: 157 Pages
Reviewer: Cindi
Purchase At: Wilde City Press, amazon.com
This review is one massive spoiler where almost everything (good and bad) is laid out for all to see. Do not read any further if you do not want the entire book spoiled for you.
My apologies for the length of this review.
When I saw the blurb for this book I was interested immediately. A shy college student. An experienced Dom. BDSM. I was so eager to get my hands on it and start reading it. Unfortunately, it did not take long into the book before I knew that it was definitely not for me.
Scotty Fuller is a librarian. For weeks a group of young college kids have been at the library where he works, shyly watching him. One young man sticks out to Scotty immediately, a man who he later learns is Wesley. Wesley looks real young for his age (his age is not given in the book but he’s described as a senior in college) and Scotty has always had a thing for young looking men (the reasons why come out later and saying they were disturbing would be an understatement). When the shy Wesley finally makes his move after watching Scotty for weeks, he asks Scotty on a date as a dare from his friends. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Wesley is definitely interested in Scotty but he never would have had the courage to approach him without the dare from his friends Dustin and Jesse. And this, dear readers, is when the book took a quick nosedive for me. Watching shy Wesley approach Scotty was sweet. Scott’s reaction? Not even close. Scotty agrees to a date under one condition: Scotty is to dictate everything about the first date, from the clothing Wesley wears (or doesn’t wear) to where they will go. Wesley is scared but quickly agrees.
“Actually, he didn’t want another lover. He wanted someone who would submit and never give him a moment’s trouble. Questions and musings had their place, but in the bedroom, he was the master.”
Date night arrives and where does Scotty take young, shy Wesley? To a hardcore BDSM club. Scotty’s reasoning is because if he and Wesley hope to have any type of relationship, then Wesley’s reaction to the club will tell him more than a quick dinner and movie ever could. That was warped in my opinion.
The club is not like most BDSM clubs I’ve read about. You know, the kind where the patrons are actually taken care of and if anyone gets out of line, they are kicked off the premises and taken off the membership list? Barringer’s is the type of club where anything goes. If a Dom wants to get too rough with his sub? Fine. No security will come running. If someone wants to grope a collared sub, again no problem at all! What happens happens and no big deal, right? Yeah well, I didn’t buy that for a second and taking an innocent like Wesley into that place immediately set my opinion of Scotty – an opinion that continued to deteriorate as the book played out.
In the club the reader is introduced to Aaron. Aaron is a real piece of work. He’s huge. He’s a jerk. He has no problems trying to force himself on Wesley even though Scotty is right there. Scotty knew Wesley was terrified but yet he turned his back on the young man long enough for Aaron to grab him and almost hurt him. Scotty had given Wesley a temporary collar so others would know he was with someone. This collar did not matter at all to Aaron or really anyone else in the club.
For some reason after the fiasco of date one, Wesley wants to continue seeing Scotty. A relationship of sorts (a weird one) starts with Scotty being all about CONTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL! Yes Scotty, we know you want control. We get it. Seriously.
Scotty has a past that is supposed to explain his controlling behavior. Some of the details come out later. I know I was supposed to feel sympathetic to the character but in all honesty I didn’t. You know why? Because of how the author used his past to make him a bastard throughout all the book. I have sympathy for ANYONE who suffers what Scotty did when he was a child but I feel that the author did a major disservice by using it the way she did. She did not make Scott sympathetic. She made him to be a jerk who I hated early on and by the time he shared his horrific past with Wesley? I was beyond caring. At no time did I feel one bit of emotion from Scotty about his past. None. I was told what Scotty went through and what he was feeling. I never felt any of it.
Other things that either bugged me or angered me about this book:
– After a few dates with Wesley, and enough for feelings to be involved between the two, Scotty can’t handle his loss of control with his feelings for Wesley. What does he do? He goes to Barringer’s and does a scene with a hot, young guy named Kevin. He does this for all to see, knowing that it would devastate Wesley if he ever found out about it. Scotty doesn’t have sex with Kevin but he doesn’t have to. He states very clearly that he is very horny and got off on the experience. Afterward? He shows up in the middle of the night at Wesley’s place and without a word, forces himself on Wesley in the dark apartment. No words are spoken. The minute Wesley wakes up and stumbles to the door, Scotty is forcing himself into him without any type of warning and zero prep for his lover (this zero prep thing is a common theme throughout the book…… there is NEVER any prep before sex).
Kevin batted his eyelashes, his fingers slowly grazing over Scotty’s waist, teasing and tempting him. His cock grew harder, his body warmer. Kevin ducked his head, leaning his forehead against Scotty’s chest. He took Scotty’s hand and placed it on his ass. The man was small, like Wesley, his body tight with muscles. Scotty groaned as building heat raced through him.
Kevin flinched, his breath sped up, and he leaned into Scotty. The warmth and comfort of Kevin’s body twisted through him, making him horny as hell.
Scotty stared down at the man at his feet; his dick throbbed, his balls drew up tight against his body.
“Kevin.”
“Would you allow me to take my fat cock and shove it up your ass, pounding you into the wall tonight.”
“Yes,” Kevin hissed.
“He wasn’t cheating, because he hadn’t touched Kevin–well, not really. He had held him after striking him several times with the long whip, kissing his near perfect ass with the leather, barely leaving a mark.
Maybe I’m old fashioned but what I listed above? Maybe Scotty didn’t actually penetrate Kevin as he alluded to, but he damn sure wanted to, so yes, this is cheating in my opinion.
– Dustin and Jesse (Wesley’s friends) are invited to a “hot” club. Wesley almost goes with them but instead stays home to spend time studying and with Scotty. This “hot club” ends up being the apartment of Aaron, the man who harassed Wesley (and later Kevin) in Barringer’s. What starts as rough sex later turns into Dustin being brutally raped, with him and Jesse forced to stay with Aaron for two full days. When Dustin tries to question everything, Aaron backhands him, leaving a big mark on his face. A mark that Wesley later notices.
Yes, Dustin, you were raped. You were raped more than once and forced to do things to Jesse in front of Aaron. Just because you liked the sex the first time doesn’t mean that it was okay for Aaron to force himself on you later… more than once even. And just why was Dustin backhanded? Because Dustin, the good friend that he is (not), had dared asked Aaron why he was forcing himself on him (Dustin) and not Jesse.
– Out of everything that angered me in this book, nothing, NOTHING angered me like the following did. It takes a lot for me to get furious while reading a book but this did it.
Wesley decides to spend an evening at home without Scotty so that he can get some much-needed studying done. The night before, he had attempted to cook Scotty dinner and there was a little fire in the kitchen (that triggered memories of Scotty’s past). They ended up staying at Scotty’s for the night. This is the first time Wesley is back in his apartment to stay and Dustin is there as well (this is when Wesley notices the mark on Dustin’s face that he refuses to explain). While on the phone with Scotty, Wesley hears a commotion in the other room and rushes in to see Aaron over Dustin raping him and beating him where it is later discovered that he receives a head injury. Aaron immediately turns on Wesley (remember? He wanted him at the club the night Scotty took him there) and starts to attack him. He throws Wesley around, beats him, rips off his clothes and is seconds from penetrating him when the police barge in.
That was sad and I felt for Wesley. The fear is written well, as is the violence of the situation. So what happens later? When Wesley is released from being checked out at the hospital? They go back to Scotty’s place and Scotty makes it all about him! Wesley had been brutally attacked and almost raped by a man who (it’s later learned) is HIV positive. He had just suffered one of the most traumatic experiences that anyone could experience. Instead of being there for “his man” (two words used entirely too much in this book), he turns it all around to be about Scotty, who had been molested as a child. Did he comfort Wesley? Did he try to help him with what he had just gone through? Did he put his own issues aside in order to offer comfort and security for the man he claims to love? No, he does not. He gets angry and acts like a child because HE needs to be in control, damn it!
He opened his eyes, connecting with Wesley.
“Soon, I just need time.”
Wesley didn’t understand. What could he possibly need time for? He’d been the one to be attacked, and yet here he was, trying to console Scotty.
All about Scotty. Keep in mind that Scotty was not the one attacked a mere few hours earlier. His attacks happened when he was a child. When he should have been helping out Wesley, he was whining about his own issues…. issues that he has never dealt with. As a result of not dealing with his past issues, Scott lashed out at Wesley when he needed him most. Again, this is not me being unsympathetic to what Scotty went through. This is me thinking that Wesley seriously needed comfort at that particular moment and he got none.
If only he could do a scene, force some control on himself, he could come to terms with what had happened tonight. But Wesley wouldn’t want to do a scene (ya think? He was almost raped!) . The man could hardly stand his touch.
Eventually, Wesley has enough. He’s angry and he decides to walk away from Scotty (yes! The young man has finally grown a pair). This, of course, doesn’t last long because Aaron has bailed out of jail and Wesley needs Scotty’s protection. At this moment, Scotty confesses his indiscretion from the club (Kevin) and Wesley forgives him instantly. I’m saying “Keep running!” but Wesley is saying all is forgiven because Scotty had not actually had sex with Kevin and later he and Wesley had had rough, hot sex against the wall. I guess that forgives everything. This leads to Scotty offering to allow Wesley to control HIM by being a Dom for an hour or so. Was this done to help Wesley get over his traumatic experience? No, it was not. It was done to help SCOTTY deal with the issues of his own past. Wesley was also able to be penetrated very soon after the almost-rape of days earlier.
– Dustin wakes up from the coma that Aaron had put him in and asks to see Wesley. While at the hospital, the police detective rushes into the room and tells everyone that Jesse had been found brutally raped and murdered. Aaron was out on bail and couldn’t be found remember? What? No protection for the other guy that he had held captive? This was sad and I expected the author to go into a little more about Jesse but it was not to be. Instead of Wesley getting sad for his dead friend, he and Scotty have a sweet and sappy moment in the hospital room and go on to (I assume) live their happily-ever-after.
I need to say this again. Jesse, one of Wesleys’ best friends, was raped and murdered and Wesley had just been made aware of it. There is zero emotion about the death of his friend from anyone other than Dustin, who breaks down crying. Wesley turns it into a lovey dovey moment with Scotty.
– Nothing is resolved at the end. NOTHING. There is no talk about Scotty and Wesley’s future. Aaron is still on the loose. Dustin is still in the hospital. Wesley and Scotty walk out of the hospital room (again, minutes after learning of Jesse’s murder) laughing and joking about Wesley tying up Scotty, the big bad Dom.
Overall, I think my thoughts of this book are pretty obvious. The BDSM is not written well because well, there isn’t much of it. There is a bit of spanking and a few restraints but that about sums it up. Scotty did not come across as a Dom to me. He was whiny and had this inner dialogue going about control. Wesley, I liked in the beginning, but that disappeared later on when he bowed down to Scotty and his controlling ways. This was not done as a sub. It was done as a weak character. While a lot may have been left undone, I know that I will not be reading any future books in this series. I don’t believe I could sit through another page of Scotty Fuller.
This book was provided by Wilde City Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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This book is irresponsible fiction. I can’t begin to tell you what I think of it and I don’t need to because you have done it very well. Great, honest review, Cindi.
Thanks, Kazza. I hate doing bad reviews. You know this.
No way. Not nice at all.
It was disturbing to me, Blaze, for sure.
Cindi. Apparently YOU don’t understand this book. You little dumb blonde, you *SMH*
Yes, dumb blonde that I am. 😀 I assure you, I do know a hell of a lot about BDSM. That made me giggle.
This book sounds pretty unpleasant. A resounding no from this reader. Thanks for the quotes, they helped me decide to stay away!
Thanks for saying that, John. It most definitely was not for me.