Beginner's Luck

by Ivy Glaze

Aaron is ready to give up control.
After a quiet divorce and a fresh start in a new city, Aaron is done pretending he doesn’t crave submission. He’s spent years being the strong, assertive one—and now it's time to explore the part of himself he’s kept locked away. Stepping into the BDSM scene for the first time is overwhelming, but with the support of the Kink Talk chatroom, he’s finally taking the leap.

Jay has given up on love.
At the club, Jay is a confident, authoritative Dom with no shortage of scene partners, but the real Jay is laid-back, hesitant, and far more sensitive than he lets on. Years of failed relationships have taught him not to hope—until Aaron walks in and turns everything upside down.

Aaron knows exactly what he wants.
Jay will do anything to please him.

But when a protective sub wants to take care of an indecisive Dom, control isn’t the only thing at stake. Trust, vulnerability, and the possibility of a real connection hang in the balance as they discover what dominance and submission can truly mean.

Beginner’s Luck is book 1 in the Kink Talk series, but can be read as a standalone. It's a low-angst, contemporary, BDSM-adjacent MM romance featuring first times, flipped expectations, plenty of steam, and a guaranteed HEA.

331 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2026

About the author

Ivy Glaze is the author of Beginner’s Luck, a contemporary MM romance and the first book in the kink talk series. Her work focuses on low-angst, emotionally driven MM romance.

She loves reading and writing across all genres, but after discovering romance at the tender age of 36, she became hooked on powerful emotions and guaranteed happily-ever-afters.

These days, she spends all her free time crafting cozy, low-angst queer romances about real people finding love, connection, and the confidence to want what they want—with plenty of spice along the way. After a fair bit of traveling in her youth, she looks forward to revisiting all her favorite cities by setting a book in each one.

Ivy prefers writing in the morning while guzzling coffee and sharing her workspace with several unimpressed cats.

Reviews

[Ju · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC received from author

This is an easy read, low angst story with a HEA. Aaron and Jay meet at a BDSM club, a Dom who wants to be looked after outside the scene and a Sub who is strong and assertive when not being a sub. The characters are well written and likeable. The Kink Talk chat room brings a light hearted element to the story. This is an enjoyable book with a light BDSM touch. I look forward to the next books in this series.

I received an ARC from the author, this review is given freely and without influence from the author

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

-ARC Review-

I thoroughly enjoyed these two. Aaron and Jay were just so sweet. Their personalities complemented each other in the best ways and they were exactly what the other needed.

I loved Jay instantly. He was so kind and caring. His lack of confidence broke my heart in the beginning, thinking he wasn’t good enough for the kind of relationship he truly wanted. But I’m so glad Aaron helped him find and build that confidence up.

Their story was low-angst which I enjoyed. The little hiccups they had with communication, they solved them very quickly and I appreciated that so much. It felt very mature and was enjoyable to read.

The spice was good too. There was a good amount of variety and it was entertaining to read. I just wished there was more of it! 😍

I enjoyed reading the story of Jay and Aaron and definitely recommend it to anyone interested in a low-angst, mature, MM story with spicy BDSM activities mixed in.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaron fresh from a divorce is looking to start over. He is done being assertive and is ready to have someone take that control away from him - he has hidden it for so long he is ready to just let go. Stepping into a BDSM he never expected to find a connection like he did the second he met Jay.
Jay only likes to be dominant in the club, in his every day life he struggles with confidence and feels like he could never been good enough to love.
Jay had my heart from the beginning he is so kind and caring to Aaron, his family is amazing. I love how they became friends first and slowly developed feelings for each other and their scenes were especially hot. Thoroughly enjoyed the low angst/HEA.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this! I’m not often a fan of low angst, but Aaron and Jay’s relationship grew at a nice pace and never felt boring. I also think the author hit the perfect balance between romance and kink — I feel like a lot times when people attempt to combine the two, it either comes off as pure erotica or too vanilla, but the scenes here were realistic, hot and romantic.

[Sarah☀️ Somerville · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I thought it had a perfect balance of BDSM, relationship development and individual life/issues. It was a bit too low drama for me and the characters were a bit too perfectly complementary, but still a great read. Looking forward to the next in the series later this year.

[John Soleimanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If youre looking for a low(to no) anxiety enducing M-M romance, this should be on your 'to read' list.

[A.D. Sano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story! Very hot, but sweet too. The dynamic between the MCs was fantastic. Highly recommend!

[Howabout_Emily]

Didn't capture my attention from the go