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Leather!
Elisio Cuero has worked hard to rise from Serf to Shopkeeper caste in a world based on social status. A master leatherworker with a sharp tongue and no patience for the powerful, he’s earned his place -- and will fight to keep it.
Nyx Banks is the privileged son of the Banks Senators who run the banking system and control all the finances across the planet. When Nyx crosses paths with Elisio, sparks fly, and not necessarily the good kind. The problem is, Elisio despises the ruling caste so Nyx lies about his family, denying he is a Senator. When the truth comes out Elisio is furious and banishes Nyx from his life.
They come from different worlds. They want different things. Neither man can ignore their attraction to each other, but in a society built on caste and control, love is never simple.
Can they forge a future together or will Nyx’s lies tear them apart?
Nyx Banks is the privileged son of the Banks Senators who run the banking system and control all the finances across the planet. When Nyx crosses paths with Elisio, sparks fly, and not necessarily the good kind. The problem is, Elisio despises the ruling caste so Nyx lies about his family, denying he is a Senator. When the truth comes out Elisio is furious and banishes Nyx from his life.
They come from different worlds. They want different things. Neither man can ignore their attraction to each other, but in a society built on caste and control, love is never simple.
Can they forge a future together or will Nyx’s lies tear them apart?
280 pages, Paperback
Published March 16, 2026
About the author
Fyn Alexander
21 books215 followersI love to write and I always welcome comments from readers.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 29, 2025
I don’t mind a difficult main character. I don’t mind a repugnant one. I have read the Thomas Covenant books and I would rather read that entire set of trilogies again than read this book a second time. Nyx is a terrible person, and by the end of the book I didn’t want him to have a happy ending. I wanted an ending where everyone else in his life got the hell away from him leaving him to sob to himself in some small, dark corner until he died. I wanted Elisio to find someone more stable, more sane, and more worthy of his love.
We are introduced to Nyx as he stands there, watching as two of his brothers try to rape a woman. That’s when Elisio comes in to save her, and Nyx looks at this and thinks … Yeah, I want him. He proceeds to track down Elisio and force his way into the man’s shop, demanding and begging to be taken in as an apprentice. He flirts constantly. He obsesses over Elisio, makes advance after advance, and when he’s told no … he ignores it.
He’s just going to lie to Elisio and force his way into his life until Elisio loves him. He also lies about his age, and in so doing, causes Elisio to be jailed for sleeping with an underage boy. (Nyx is 20; age of consent in this world is 21). When Elisio is out on bail, Nyx tries to slither his way into the man’s life, begging to stay in his house, in his bed, begging to be fucked by the man who is going to be on trial for having slept with the *still* underage young man.
He’s entiled, selfish, spoiled, and indifferent to everyone else. He whines that his brothers get a bigger allowance when they actually do their jobs, and he runs away from work. He sulks, whines, sneaks out of the house — even when told by his father that his father will beat his mother if he does it again. Guess who sneaks out again? (The mother was not beaten, not that Nyx cared.)
Nyx is a predator. He’s dangerous, and creepy, and I will not recommend this book to anyone.
We are introduced to Nyx as he stands there, watching as two of his brothers try to rape a woman. That’s when Elisio comes in to save her, and Nyx looks at this and thinks … Yeah, I want him. He proceeds to track down Elisio and force his way into the man’s shop, demanding and begging to be taken in as an apprentice. He flirts constantly. He obsesses over Elisio, makes advance after advance, and when he’s told no … he ignores it.
He’s just going to lie to Elisio and force his way into his life until Elisio loves him. He also lies about his age, and in so doing, causes Elisio to be jailed for sleeping with an underage boy. (Nyx is 20; age of consent in this world is 21). When Elisio is out on bail, Nyx tries to slither his way into the man’s life, begging to stay in his house, in his bed, begging to be fucked by the man who is going to be on trial for having slept with the *still* underage young man.
He’s entiled, selfish, spoiled, and indifferent to everyone else. He whines that his brothers get a bigger allowance when they actually do their jobs, and he runs away from work. He sulks, whines, sneaks out of the house — even when told by his father that his father will beat his mother if he does it again. Guess who sneaks out again? (The mother was not beaten, not that Nyx cared.)
Nyx is a predator. He’s dangerous, and creepy, and I will not recommend this book to anyone.
August 6, 2025
A Joyfully Jay review.
2.75 stars
This book takes place in the same world and is in the same series as Gold!, which I reviewed last year. In that review, I praised the world building, but did not like the power dynamics within the relationship (one of the characters owned the other). My review for this book is much the same.
This is a world where caste lines are somewhat flexible; a Serf can buy his way to the middle class and become a Shopkeeper, but a Shopkeeper, no matter how rich, can never become a Senator, the highest caste on this world.
I’m on the fence with this book. There are things I think are decently done, and ideas that I’d like to see explored. But I hate Nyx as a character, I dislike the toxic nature of the relationship, and the characters are all somewhat flat and uniform. Overall, I think the previous book was better than this one, but if a third book comes out, I would still probably pick it up.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
2.75 stars
This book takes place in the same world and is in the same series as Gold!, which I reviewed last year. In that review, I praised the world building, but did not like the power dynamics within the relationship (one of the characters owned the other). My review for this book is much the same.
This is a world where caste lines are somewhat flexible; a Serf can buy his way to the middle class and become a Shopkeeper, but a Shopkeeper, no matter how rich, can never become a Senator, the highest caste on this world.
I’m on the fence with this book. There are things I think are decently done, and ideas that I’d like to see explored. But I hate Nyx as a character, I dislike the toxic nature of the relationship, and the characters are all somewhat flat and uniform. Overall, I think the previous book was better than this one, but if a third book comes out, I would still probably pick it up.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews