Designation: Overload

Designation Series #4

by Jamie Kassel

Colton Berringer is a private in the army, and he's a good shot. So, he's got that going for him. He's also a Dominant, but his only skill seems to be having an easy going personality. While he doesn't think he's anything extraordinary, Whitestone does.

Whitestone might be funded by DOD slush money and staffed by former military men, but it's their employees with designations that make them invaluable.

Graham Knox is one of those valuable assets. He's a high-level submissive and key to a lot of missions, but his designation is so unmanageable that Whitestone is willing to bring anyone in so long as they can dominate him and get his designation under control.

Enter Private Colton Berringer. And what does Graham Knox think of all this? Nothing he wouldn't get written up for if he said it aloud. He hates Dominants, hates being submissive, and his entire existence as a submissive has been a disaster. Fortunately for him, Colton isn't easily scared off.

This is a 70,000 word, high-heat biological kink story with a guaranteed HEA! Please read at your own risk as these boys have some mental health issues... though that does get solved with non-medically approved solutions (ie, sexy times). While this book is a standalone, it is part of a series. It is my strong advisement you read them all for funsies.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Omegaverse, Military Fiction, Paranormal

269 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 10, 2025

About the author

Jamie Kassel is a pen name for C.H. Roquel, author of Lesbian BDSM fiction. She lives in California with her family and is obsessed with fictional characters who get their happy endings... and lots of perfect-for-them sex. (Source: Amazon.com)

Reviews

[Aleja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Fue un poco más de lo mismo que los últimos libros. Me gustó, claro, pero sentía que algo me faltaba.
Le doy 2⭐ porque yo,tomo a los libros de esta serie, como short stories y nunca le doy más de 2-3 ⭐ a una historia corta.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the complexity

I really enjoyed this book from the series. Graham was so different from the other submissives in the series that it was nice to see a very different style of submission. There were points at which I wasn't sure things would work between Colton and Graham. Or I couldn't figure out how it would work because it was so difficult for them to understand each other and their needs. And I totally love that ride! It was nice to be on the roller coaster to their happy ending with them and get to see how much work needed to be put in before they got there.

I'm really loving this series and cannot wait to get stories for, hopefully, Mack and definitely Dimitri. Can't wait to read more!

[Emilyrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to get stronger and stronger. I wasn't sure initially at some of the hesitancy in Colton when dealing with Graham because it just felt like he was losing his way with his designation and needing others to reaffirm it. However, as they learned more about each other their chemistry set the pages alight and it kept me hooked from start to finish. I always love how, near the HEA, we get a glimpse of who might potentially be the next story and this one was no exception. I'm excited to see what direction book 5 goes in and I only hope it won't be too long until it releases!

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Book three is still my favorite but this is definitely my second favorite. Oh my goodness my emotions! I wanna hug Graham so bad my poor baby. He’s submissive but he’s a very different type of submissive and he likes a lot of pain. Colton is a dominant and damn is their relationship intense and heavy. Kassel made it work in the end but I’ll be honest I was worried for majority of this. I didn’t see how they were gonna get to their HEA, it’s definitely a hard earned HEA for them but it was so good. Stressful, but good. I hope we get more books in this series.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

read all day long cause it’s that good

Jamie, you’ve done it again! I love the premise of this series. The combinations of characters and personalities are endless. The writing is great. It sucks you in immediately and I love how authentic the characters feel. I understand the reluctance. The not knowing if your behavior is what you truly desire or a product of the designation. Love all that. Plus beefcake military hotties. What more could I want in a book?

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is number two for me! My only issue was after the phone call where the alpha seemed to know himself but then didn’t when he got on the plane with his dropping omega 🤷‍♀️ Didn’t make sense…

I think I’d like to see some more unique physical features that were present in book one in book 5 😉

(I recently binged this whole series 1-4 and while I also enjoyed 3, I didn’t much care for 2)

[Jane Andelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another smutty masterpiece.

[Pen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Jamie Kassel book is an instant read for me, and this one did not disappoint. Favourite one so far

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jamie Kassel is an insta read for me. I’m not a big smut reader but the push and pull of the characters of her books is always such a delight. Also the sexy scenes are my kind of spice 100%

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the subversion of the normal dynamics and the characters were way more interesting than the other books.