Feel My Love

I remember pretty clearly being 9 or 10 sitting in church while the sermon was being delivered, usually something to do with damnation for all non believers, questioning and ultimately doubting the possibility that our small congregation would be the only saved people by God. Ever since then I've been pretty firmly in the camp of the non believers or in the “does it really matter?” group. Paradoxically I'm a sucker for religious music and am fascinated by stories of people of faith. One of my favorites is [b:Flowers from the Storm 360259 Flowers from the Storm Laura Kinsale https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1275622146s/360259.jpg 788122] and [b:Aftercare 35054591 Aftercare Tanya Chris https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493780867s/35054591.jpg 56343944] weirdly reminded me of it. People reconciling faith and everyday life.At first blush this may seem like just another MM, D/s, BDSM story but it's so much more. It's a story of loss, grief, regret, second chances at life, rebuilding, questioning one's beliefs and not just religious ones, about cultural integration or assimilation. [a:Tanya Chris 15067939 Tanya Chris https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1477705931p2/15067939.jpg] is a new to me author and I have to thank Cupcake for gifting me with this goodness. Here's her review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2004049855My relationship with BDSM stories and Doms in particular is sometimes fraught as I have a pretty high internal bar as to their worthiness of submission and in this aspect Aayan passes with flying colors. “He couldn't imagine dominating someone not strong enough to resist, but that wasn't Garrett. He didn't lie passive to Aayan's will out of weakness. He chose to submit, to be this perfect creature open to whatever Aayan would have him do.”He doesn't do things just because they make him feel good, he wants and needs his partner's happiness. Aayan is a complex character and a breath of fresh air. Like the intelligent man he is he changes and revises his opinions: how he viewed his brother Syed's relationship with his boyfriend, Jaime, how he realizes the difference between what Garrett wants and needs in the bedroom and what he had thought of as abuse or weakness: Garrett wore a suit like it was armor, hardening himself into the other half of the man Aayan adored. It was that dichotomy he loved—the iron shell that softened to a molten core when his clothes came off. If Garrett had been only softness, Aayan didn't think he'd be so entranced. Anyone could bend, but it took someone like Garrett to yield, to intentionally, consciously, joyously give way, not because he couldn't overcome the force being applied but because he chose to sway with it, to own it by becoming one with it.” Aayan learns to reconcile his desires with what Islam will allow and achieve some a level of peace knowing that in the words of our modern sages:“You can't always get what you want // But if you try sometimes well you just might find // You get what you need”I like that the fact of Aayan and Syed being attracted to light skinned men is laid out in the open. It's not a shameful thing. It's a predilection like any other. I like redheads. ;) I like that Muslims are central characters in a love story that has nothing to do with current world politics but with human emotions.On a technical level I must say that the whole layout of the legal system and how a trial works is pretty accurate except for two little things that bugged me: the use of the word barrister at one point, too British to be in Garrett's voice and the seating arrangement at the trial for the identifying witness, wouldn't happen.I'll stop now because I pretty much liked everything. I loved Dharini and Madeline and am hopeful of maybe a Dashiell/Syed story down the line? fingers crossed