Una mano forte

An erotic romance that just didn't quite work for me. The characters were appealing but never quite became real to me, and I never really got invested in the story, that is the bits in between the sex that should make me care. Written well, and the sex writing is decent, so YMMV.

I started re-reading this for the second time in November 2013 but was disillusioned at about 50%. It wasn't living up to the 5 stars from my first reading. I felt like I was reading a shifter book. The MC's were marking each other and growling "mine" and talking about being "mates." I decided to put it down for a bit and re-read at a later date. My original rating will remain for now.

Can I get an amen for this cover? The book was a little cheesy, OK maybe a lot cheesy. Its about a cute guy wanting a hot Dom but is uncertain in more ways than one.Very erotic BDSM M/M play so be warned. Worth a quick read.

Oh this is a frustrating and bad story. How anyone can grade this book so high is beyond me, as A Strong Hand features one of the worst doms I've yet had the pleasure to encounter in an erotic romance novel, gay or straight.

Damian, our famous photographer dom, shows right from the start that he has all the charm of a cranky and capricious diva. He's downright mean and cantancerous and how Nicholas, the sub, can be attracted to him is beyond my reach. The first scenes show a lot of interaction between Damian and a fellow dom, whose BDSM products are being photographed for a high-end catalogue. Although Damian is called an alpha dom, there's nothing in his behaviour that proves it. The two doms together more or less make fun of Nicholas, thereby totally lossing my respect.

Damian is straight in the beginning and just discovers his bi-curiosity during the shoot. He's never been naked with another man, let alone kissed, but all but falls to his knees in the perfect submissive pose when Damian wants to talk about rules with him. WTF? How can I respect a submissive who shows so little self-respect that he honors a dom in this way, a person who has shown little to no regard for him?

And what dom worth his salt pushes a submissive new to the lifestyle AND new to his bisexuality so fast that he puts during their second scene a cock cage on him for several days, but never encourages the boy to talk about his desires to explore his homosexuality? That he doesn't give him any instructions regarding the safety and handling of the cockcage, I don't even what to consider.

The last gay BDSM novel I read, An Unlocked Heart, too, featured a virgin hero, but there ends the similarity. Here we have a bulldozing, charmless, cartoon-like dom, which makes me all the more appreciate the other story.

Damn, it really makes me angry having paid seven dollars for this ebook. A DNF for me!

This has to be one of my favorite BDSM novels.

Nicholas Sayers works part time for famous erotic photographer, Damian Wolfe. He is attracted to Damian and the modeling of the erotic gear, but still unnerved because his shyness and his attraction to a man. Damian, is a Dom who has not had a partner or sub for many years and returns his attraction to Nicholas. They work out an agreement for Nicholas to model for him and for Damian to show him the way of submission. Fun ensues.

What I liked about this book was the seriousness of the scenes of submission. So often when I read BDSM novels, it feels as if the author does not understand the power and psychology of submission and just shows us sexy, kinky sex.

What the author does effectively do is show the range of the BDSM, that it's not a "one size fits all" environment. Nicholas' horror at the club is honest and realistic, but it also shows how some D/s relationship have different levels that work for those partners.

But Catt shows us how powerful and deeply freeing submission can be and how both Damian and Nicholas find peace within themselves and each other.

This is a very moving novel and I can now put it in my pile for favorites.

It's not that this is a bad book, far from it. I just feel the head hopping detracted from any tension the author was trying to build. It was almost omniscient view with comments about what the character wasn't seeing or didn't know while in his viewpoint.
If this had been true omniscient with some narrator musing, that might have carried the style, but as it was, it distanced me from all characters.
The sudden shift from straight and never been fucked anally to loving it all within the one scene didn't ring true either. Highly romanticised.
Kassa's review says it all. Like her, I felt that Damian at time read more like a 45 year old or even older. And I didn't buy the five years celibate line.

This was a solid m/m, BDSM story. It takes place for the most part in Damian's studio, where he is photographing BDSM toys worn or held by sexy models for a catalog. I loved this setting as it introduced so many interesting characters into the mix and there was always something erotic or surprising going on.Nick is much younger than Damian and works part-time as his assistant while finishing his last year of college. He tends to be shy and is often blushing as he is introduced to the world of Doms and subs, and even models some of the clothing and toys for the catalog. It was fun to watch the relationship develop and follow it to the somewhat mushy, but satisfying ending. Well worth a read.