Fettered

What a surprising read this was!

I went into it expecting something different, I was not ready for Dylan's struggles, but I am so happy this is the direction this novel went to. Dylan is a kid, he's just trying to make sense of what's happening to his family as well as trying to understand himself, his desires. He's just trying to be.

When he meets Vin, Dylan seems to be getting a lot of answers, but he is still unsure. Luckily, Miss Dolphinia sees all and she is not shy of meddling in other people's lives. Thanks to her, Dylan (formerly known as Dili, yuck) is pushed into Vin's life who is quick to tell Dylan what to expect. Vincenzo (what a great name) is possessive, he gets obsessive and he's not trying to hide that from Dylan. He knows exactly what he's going into. I loved Vin's honesty and warnings so much! He was nothing but honest, aware of his flaws and made Dylan aware of those too.

What I was a little iffy about was the short time span of the novel. Most of the action takes place in around a week. At first I found it a little weird, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, everything is perfectly plausible. Life does get complicated and tricky and a lot can happen in a really short period of time.

Needless to say I liked most of the characters, I was so anxious for Dylan at some points, I was unsure about Vin for a bit, but just a bit, and Miss Dolphinia is an icon.

Okay ... I evidently have issues. How did I not know this was a BDSM novel? I probably just chose it because of the gorgeous cover. Clearly I need to rethink my life choices i.e. in reference to reading blurbs or maybe not? This turned out to be a Happy Surprise.

This is the story of how Dilly becomes Dylan. He's 19, working as a waiter, he's probably not cut out for higher education, and his family is imploding through the bad deeds of his psycho brother. He's also wondering if his kinky desires are valid and obtainable which leads him to Stonewall, an old school BDSM club. It turns out he's about to find so much more than he knew about or expected in a totally awesome way: Vin!!!

For fans of SSC this might not work. The bulk of the story takes place within a week and safe words, negotiations, or contracts don't come into play. And I like it. It's not that I want people putting themselves in danger, but it seems that all of these almost clinical conversations in “correct” BDSM make the relationship almost clinical and devoid of reckless passion which is the heart of romance. IMO.

Dylan knows, has known for a while, that he's attracted to BDSM but hasn't had the opportunity to explore because he still lives at home. Plus he and his sister Carmine are trying to protect their parents who are dealing with the fallout from their oldest son's, criminal actions. While I commiserated with the parents, I did feel that they, and Dylan's mother in particular, are doing the ostrich thing and hiding from what they don't want to know. Avoidance of everything uncomfortable which has lead to nothing good and caused hurt along the way.

At Stonewall, through the auspices of the owner/resident Queen Miss Dolphinia, Dylan meets Vin, who is the oldest 25 year-old in history. Vin is an absolute and uncompromising Dom, even if he chooses to bottom. He considers it using his sub. He's not interested in pushy bottoms, topping from the bottom, or any kind of negotiation because he's confident that he can gauge what will give his sub pleasure and in Dylan's case he's not wrong. Dylan is a bit of a damsel in distress and he wants nothing more than to be tied down and ordered around. He doesn't want to have to make decisions or think too much beyond obeying. In other words he's perfect for Vin, whose dominant streak verges on the stalkerish. What ever makes you happy. However after a relationship gone wrong Vin claims to not want to get involved once again. It takes some not-so-subtle elbow twisting from Miss Dolphinia to get him to take on Dylan, but he's not sorry afterwards. Dylan and Vin fit each other's kinks and civilian life perfectly.

“But I don't want you going in and playing nice. I like that you do your own thing and don't change for anyone. I like that you're so unbending that maybe there's room for me to fit myself in the cracks of your life because I like your cracks a lot more than the cracks I have been living in.”
What I really found endearing and touched me in the feels was how the story dealt with this passing generation of the LGBTQ, subset BDSM, community who are aging-out and being swept away by age and the new kids on the block. It's sad, but real, and maybe that's how it always is but I do think that folks tend to forget or belittle the shoulders they're standing on. Vin & Dylan's story is certainly centered around their BDSM relationship and not what people would traditionally term romantic, but it works for them and I liked them exactly as they were. I don't think there's even an “I love you” moment, more like “that's what he loved about ... “ yada yada, and I didn't mind one bit. I also liked that though Vin was super confident in his Dom persona he was wobbly and aware of his lacking interpersonal skills and that Dylan could perfectly shore that up. I liked that there were no millionaire Doms. Just working class people living their lives and doing the best they could.

I really feel like these two, given their age, deserve and could do with a short dealing with them somewhere down the road. If wishes were horses ...sigh