Pure, Victoria Sue
Rating: 4 Stars
Publisher: Dark Hollows Press
Genre: Gay Romance
Tags: BDSM (light), Contemporary, Romance, Age Difference
Reviewer: Cindi
Purchase At: Dark Hollows Press, amazon.com
Blurb –
Callum hasn’t the time to take on a new sub for training. He has his BDSM club – Pure – to remodel and open on Friday. He certainly doesn’t have the time to train Lee in all the nuances of submission, even if the boy seems to be a natural. But someone else wants him. Another Master who has no limits and doesn’t believe in safe words. If Callum doesn’t wake up and accept the gift of Lee’s submission, someone else will take it – forcefully.
Review –
This is a very sweet romance. You saw the BDSM tag and thought “Sweet? Seriously?” Well, yeah. Sure, it’s a BDSM story, but this is mostly about two men who come together under unusual circumstances and become a very sweet couple.
Callum is a Dom who is in the process of remodeling and reopening his BDSM club, Pure. When he meets Lee, it’s not exactly under the best of circumstances. Callum is forced to rescue Lee from a violent Dom, Haines. In very poor shape (Haines really did a number on him), Lee is taken by Callum to a private room in the club and doctored and cared for. But there’s more to it than adding a few bandages. Callum is completely taken by the sub-wannabe. I say ‘wannabe’ because while Lee may seem like a natural to Callum while he’s caring for him, he’s totally clueless in the BDSM lifestyle. There’s actually one part of the story where Lee asks “What’s a safe word?” Hmm… that’s BDSM 101.
Callum takes Lee to his home to continue to care for him and things heat up rather quickly. There are few problems, though. One, Lee is twenty-one, quite a bit younger than Callum (I can’t recall if his age is actually given in the book). Two, Callum may be a Dom, but he doesn’t do emotions. Sure, he takes care of and is very protective of his subs, but he doesn’t allow himself to get too close to them.
Then there is the matter of Haines. Haines is still in the background somewhere and he’s not too keen on Lee getting away from him. There are also Lee’s parents – his mother and his stepfather. The stepfather is a piece of work, to put it mildly. The mother? Let’s just say she’d never win a mother-of-the-year award. Neither parent is in the book much and when they were (toward the end), it was a bit rushed and I found myself a little lost over their role in the story. I’ll come back to that.
Callum’s “protection” quickly turns into a sexual relationship with the much younger man. I have to say that the sex scenes in this book are off the charts. There’s a bit of BDSM play before, during, and after the sex, but it would never be called hardcore. If you’re looking for hardcore BDSM, read another book.
Lee moves in with Callum and the relationship (not just the sex) happens very quickly. The big, bad Dominant turns to mush (so to speak) when “his boy” is anywhere around. There were a lot of “Aww…” moments.
With the remodeling of Pure comes decorating and everything else involved in opening a new place. Lee, a college drop-out (due to his family), is very knowledgeable in design, so Callum sets him up to pretty much take charge of it all. He also pushes him to enroll again at the local university. All of this (from meeting to what I just mentioned) literally happens in a matter of days.
There is also a bit of drama, though not overly done. And here lies the reason why this book is only getting 4 stars from me instead of 5. I adored the story, with the exception of a couple of things. Lee, while extremely naive, was adorable and I loved him from his introduction. I even loved Callum who was supposed to be this total bad-ass, but basically turned into a love struck man at the sight of Lee. These two guys together could only be called sweet. However, I found myself extremely confused in regards to the drama aspects of this book. First, there was Haines, who was not really explained. He’s this bad guy who wants Lee, but there’s not much of a background for him and I felt that his obsession with the other man was a bit out there considering that I wasn’t really told why he was so obsessed. Second, we have Lee’s mother and stepfather. While I could see where the author was going with both of them, I didn’t feel it. Lee tells his story to Callum early on and his family makes a quickie appearance later, but I was totally lost as far as they were concerned. The stepfather shows up at a specific time in the book (I won’t give spoilers) and there’s some talk between Callum and Lee’s mother, but that was it. There obviously was some behind-the-scenes drama with the parents, but what was it? It was alluded to, but nothing more. In other words, I feel that details should have been added to that particular section and to the Haines thing. I felt that the resolution of the story (Haines, the parents) was extremely rushed and could have benefited with about five or so more pages.
Overall, though my previous paragraph may make it seem otherwise, I loved this book. It was a very sweet romance between two very different men. I admit that Lee’s naivete got tiring and he had a major TSTL moment at one point, but I still found him to be adorable. Callum was charming in his own way. Had certain things been explained more and not rushed, this would have been an easy 5 stars for me. I loved the premise and the story as a whole. I am not a fan of rush, rush resolutions and endings. Unfortunately, those took away from the story for me. I thoroughly enjoyed everything else in Pure. There are a couple of other characters who were introduced that I hope will have their own story someday. If so, I definitely look forward to reading it. If you’re looking for something overly realistic, this really isn’t for you. The way things come together in regards to Lee and Callum is beyond unrealistic. Keep that in mind before downloading this particular book.
A very entertaining read. I look forward to more by this author.
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As a first time author, I am beyond impressed with the thought and detail that went into this review. Your advice was exactly what I needed to hear. As a reader, I will take note of your other reviews and understand and appreciate the honesty behind them.
You’re very welcome, Victoria… and thank you for your kind words.
If this is your first time writing gay romance, I am extremely impressed. The sex scenes were some of the best I’ve ever read and I’ve read hundreds of gay romance novels. I really look forward to reading what I hope will be the next in this series. You can’t leave those guys hanging. 😉
I would a sequel with Callum and Lee, great characters and great first book by Victoria!
I couldn’t agree more, Ella. I definitely want more of these guys.
sorry I meant I would love a sequel with these two characters.
Great review Cindi. And Hello!! Great GIFS….with words on them. You are too clever now, lol.
I’m all for the insta thing and this sounds like a really nice book.
Thanks, Kazza. It’s a very good book and I know you’d love Callum and Lee.
My GIFS are nowhere near as good as those of my blog partner, but I’m learning. 🙂 Google has been my friend today.
Victoria, It doesn’t seem as if a member of the BDSM community has chosen to weigh-in on the review of Pure. Allow me to rectify this by sharing a male submissive’s take on your book. The obvious thrust of Pure suggests that it is two-fold. On one hand, you have a seasoned BDSM dom. On the other, you have a love story. Allow me to address the former before tackling the latter. The synopsis of your book suggests that it’s basis is the BDSM lifestyle. It is obvious to any BDSM “lifer” such as myself that you have a less… Read more »
I think you added some insight through your personal experiences, Gareth. It’s always nice to hear other people’s perspectives and thoughts.
I haven’t read this book, but here’s something Tymber Dalton posted recently (not about this book). It’s only a part of what she said, but I’ll add it because so many people think differently about it/feel they have the key to the BDSM lifestyle. Apart from being safe, and with someone who cares in one way or another, what Tymber Dalton expressed boiled it down to some sensible and easy rules. Here’s the gist of it – ‘There are only THREE “rules” to BDSM: 1) everyone’s a consenting human adult; 2) everyone’s having fun/getting what they need out of the… Read more »
I saw this post from Tymber. Good sensible advice.