Another Way

November 13, 2013 by Pip

Title : Another Way

Series : Book #1 of 2

Author : Anna Martin

Publisher : Dreamspinner Press (BUY IT HERE)

Genre : M/M, Contemporary, BDSM/kink

Length : 230 pages (e-book)

Published : September 30, 2011

Rating : ★★★

Blurb :

On the surface, Jesse Ross is an average guy in an average relationship with his college sweetheart, Adele. But what his girlfriend doesn’t know is that he’s having an affair—with a man—and exploring his sexuality in ways she never could imagine. His compartmentalized life suits Jesse just fine, and he has no intention of coming out of the closet either as a bisexual or as a submissive.

However, Jesse takes a tumble when his Master, Will, admits to wanting more, wanting Jesse as his partner, not just his submissive. Suddenly Jesse’s conveniently pieced-together life isn’t quite so comfortable. In the end, Jesse has to lay it all on the line—for his girlfriend, for his lover, and for himself.

Review :

This is a really tricky review to write. My romantic side absolutely loved this story, Will and Jesse were a beautiful couple. Well.. if I’m being honest Jesse was a bit of a dick, but together they were lovely ♥ HOWEVER… if the author focuses so intently on BDSM then it kinda becomes a BDSM book, right? Right. Only the “S” in BDSM does not stand for Sweet, and (for me) it was just too sweet. 😛

Jesse has been with his girlfriend, Adele, for 5 years. They live together and their relationship is totally vanilla. Jesse however knows he is lacking/needing something and he meets Domme Laura, who takes him on as her sub. Things are good, and Jesse is able to keep both parts of his life separate.

When Laura gets married, everything is still fine but then she has kids, and is no longer able to fulfill her obligation to her sub so she introduces Jesse to Will. Will is not much older than Jesse but is quite well-respected and relied upon within the BDSM community. Also…. he is gay.

The relationship between the two guys slowly becomes more than just D/s sessions, especially on Will’s side. Jesse is still not gay. The cheating aspect of it was a grey area for me. Well greyish. As Jesse insists he is not gay he feels he is not cheating on Adele, per se. But as the feelings between him and Will grow, so too does his guilt. Something has to give and Jesse eventually cops to his feelings for Will, the end of his relationship with Adele and the fact that maybe he is actually gay.

As you can see it makes for really good angsty premise. What I also found really good (potentially) was the burgeoning love affair between Jesse and Will, and how the dynamic of D/s could change or adapt to the guys being boyfriends and living together. Sadly for me it just didn’t work.

There are a number of things that didn’t click for me, firstly Will was just not Dom enough. There is nothing I love more than a Dom that is also gentle and caring with his sub – but when the Dom curls up on the subs lap saying how much he needs that; and then also says there is not a submissive bone is his body – it just didn’t marry up for me. Then Jesse was just too bratty. And probably the worst for me was that I felt like I was wading through a BDSM check list where every kink was ticked and crammed into the story. Yes. A fisting too. I love BDSM stories, and while I don’t live the lifestyle (nor do I know anyone that does) I feel I have read enough books to know what works for me. This one didn’t.

Again though, I want to say the romance was very sweet, so on that count I recommend the book. If, however, you are wanting a compelling BDSM story with a Dom and his sub that really get to you, than this is not that book.

Rated 3 stars by Barb