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The Manse #2

Learning from the Master

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Most things in life come easily to eighteen-year-old Jenner Parrish, who’s on track to inherit the family business, and is popular, well-liked and good looking. He has everything he could want, except when it comes to love, and sex. Closeted, lonely and desperate, he acquires an invitation to an event at a nearby private gay club, Manse. Feeling out of his element and for the first time quite shy, Jenner is unable to play the wallflower when he captures the attention of the suave, seductive owner of Manse, David Davenport. David is used to getting what he wants, and what he wants is gorgeous young Jenner, who begins to realize every fantasy and wild desire could be his for the taking, if only he dares to ask and obediently serve. (M/M/M)

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2015

4 people are currently reading
205 people want to read

About the author

Lynn Kelling

29 books390 followers
Lynn Kelling began writing in order to tell stories that aren’t afraid of the dark, don’t hold anything back and always strive to be memorable, forging lasting attachments between character and reader. Her inspiration comes from taking a closer look at behaviors and ideas lurking at the fringes of life—basically anything that people may hesitate to speak of in mixed company, but everyone wonders about anyway. Her work is driven by the taboo in order to expose the humanity within it. Lynn is an artist, designer and lover of any form of creative self-expression that comes from a place of honesty and emotion, whether it's body art or opera. She has had multiple novels published, has written over fifty works of erotic fiction of varying lengths, and always has several novels in progress.

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5 stars
21 (17%)
4 stars
54 (45%)
3 stars
28 (23%)
2 stars
12 (10%)
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4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for ~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~.
3,556 reviews1,099 followers
April 25, 2015
~4.25~

This is a short prequel to Bound by Lies that focuses on Jenner's training under Master David to become a Dom.

"Control," David whispered by Jenner's ear. Both hands found each of Jenner's nipples and twisted sharply, pinching, making Jenner release a thunderous groan of pleasure. "Always control, no matter what."



When Jenner first arrives at David's mansion, he's a small town football hero, an all-American boy who hides behind a facade. Jenner is deeply closeted and scared to explore his own sexuality.

Master David's tutelage helps him break out of his shell.

This book is HELLA HAWT. So HAWT, my darlings.



Prepare for sexy group play, voyeurism, slutty subs, partner sharing, bondage, and STEAM galore.

This is only the beginning of Jenner's story. He yearns for a sub and love of his own; he finds both in:

Bound By Lies (Bound by Lies, #1) by Lynn Kelling

(I am appalled that I haven't read this book yet, because I'm a total fangirl for Lynn Kelling. Now that I've gotten a glimpse of Jenner, I want to see him come into his own.)

I think this can be read as a standalone OR as a delicious beginning if you've already read Jenner's story.

Regardless, don't miss it!
Profile Image for Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~.
2,221 reviews260 followers
June 21, 2015
A nicely written, hot prequel to Bound By Lies. Having already read that story, I liked seeing where Jenner started as a shy 18 year old, which is a far cry from the bad ass Master he becomes. His submission and loyalty to David and his taking to heart of the instructions he is given for his interactions with Shea, gave me a different view of what I saw as an almost obsessive need for his slave Brayden.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading David and Shea's book in the future.
Profile Image for Vivian.
2,919 reviews484 followers
June 25, 2015
You know nothing, boy.

Two vignettes loosely told to set the scene for the upcoming full-length novel. The two scenes give the reader a clear idea of the trajectory of the next book with one scene revolving around Jenner's submission and the second demonstrating that his desire to grow into a Master. Unfortunately, it lacks detail in characterizations and is more telling than showing. That said, there is hot sex with a voyeuristic leaning. Also, I feel a TEASER warning is advised. The sex is abandoned before complete and thus feels half told.

This is definitely a nice dime bag to get one interested in the first book of a new series. On the other hand, $2.99 for 50 pages and two incomplete scenes seems a bit unsatisfying. Having been provided a review copy it's not an issue, but if I'd purchased this I don't know if I would feel like I got my money's worth.

2.5 Stars

Favorite quote:
“Control,” David said with a squeeze and a twist. “Stop thinking and be present.


~~A copy was provided to me for a No Glitter Blown review~~
~~~Reviewed for Hearts On Fire Reviews~~~~
Profile Image for Kazza.
1,547 reviews174 followers
June 10, 2015
NSFW review at http://ontopdownunderbookreviews.com/...

Sexy little prequel to Bound By Lies, which I must now read.
Learning From the Master is all kinds of (deliciously) naughty - including multi-partners and voyeurism, but is isn't a romance, rather a precursor of things to come - which will be a sexy romance. Nice introduction to the enigmatic David Davenport and the conflicted Jenner, to name a few. On to Bound By Lies.
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Profile Image for Trio.
3,594 reviews204 followers
March 24, 2016
Very good - nice prequel to Bound By Lies which I can't wait to read. I love Lynn Kelling's writing style, she has the best way of presenting her characters - I always get a real in-depth feeling for them. Wonderful author :)
Profile Image for JustJen "Miss Conduct".
2,376 reviews156 followers
June 16, 2015

A review by The Blogger Girls.

I really enjoyed this short story prequel to Bound by Lies. It shows us how Jenner was able to find himself and really come to terms with his wants, needs and desires.

Jenner was closeted and kept up a good front taking over the family business. But, he was really desperate to experience what he truly longed for. He took a big leap going to the private party, but it totally paid off for him after he caught the eye of David, the owner of the club. David is much older, more experienced, etc., but he took Jenner under his wing and it was truly beautiful to watch.

I loved how Master David was with Jenner and how he helped Jenner realize his dreams were within reach. He basically trains Jenner to be a good dom while making him experience it through submission to him. And that he shared his own loving sub with Jenner was beautiful and very well done.

There are so many wonderful scenes in this short story that only left me longing to go read Bound by Lies to see how Jenner makes out on his own. This was a well written BDSM tale that really just sets the stage for the main story. Another fantastic job by Ms. Kelling.
Profile Image for Amy.
1,030 reviews100 followers
September 13, 2015
Very well written and incredibly hot! Reminds me of how much I loved Bound By Lies. I think it may be time for a re-read :)
Profile Image for Monique.
1,105 reviews377 followers
December 22, 2015

I have been reading Lynn Kelling’s books for three years now, and of all the authors I have read in the dark erotic, BDSM, M/M genre, Lynn is the one that excites me the most. The reason being; the growth and development in her writing that I have experienced as a reader. How with each new book she publishes, the depth of emotion she evokes has evolved, and my connection to her stories intensified. She just get’s better and better… With Learning from the Master being the latest addition to that list.

I don’t know what Lynn Kelling was on when she wrote this novella, chocolate, wine, coffee or maybe some kind of aphrodisiac, ‘cause holy hotness, I might need to ship it out to her in crates because I want more! This book is HOT as frickin hell, but not in your face porny hot or sugary kink, it’s classy BDSM, a powerful, yet subtle seduction, with erotic undertones that create an air of sexual tension that literally had me tingling all over! I’m not kidding… I was tingling!

If you have read Lynn Kelling’s Bound by Lies, you will already be familiar with Jenner and if you are anything like me, totally lusted after the tall, dark, handsome and intimidating Dom. However in Learning from the Master we see a very different young man.

Please visit the blog to check out the rest of my review... thank you <3

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Profile Image for Kristie.
1,170 reviews76 followers
June 17, 2015
My review for Learning from the Master is up on Boys in our Books. Check it out... check out the book. I loved it.
Profile Image for Caroline Brand.
1,755 reviews68 followers
June 16, 2015
REVIEWED FOR PRISM BOOK ALLIANCE

4.5 Stars

If you have read Bound by Lies you will have already met Jenner Parrish. This is a prequel to Bound by Lies and the Jenner we meet here is very different.

Outwardly he has it all. A good looking guy who is popular with his peers and is set to inherit his family business.

Inwardly he is a mess. Afraid to admit to who he is sexually attracted to he is lonely and stifled by his fear.

Until he swings an invitation to an exclusive party at a gay club which caters to all tastes. Jenner’s fear is palpable and he has just about enough courage to walk through the door without running for the hills. It doesn’t matter that every man in the place is gay and looking for the same things Jenner is – his fear of being outed or recognised rules his life.

When David, the owner of the club, approaches Jenner he may be the only man there with the charisma, charm and gentle patience to persuade Jenner to stay and explore his options. Once the decision to stay has been made things hot up!

Jenner is introduced to the world of BDSM and he may well just have found his niche in life. I think even David is surprised as Jenner proves to be stronger than he first thought and is very sure of the role he wants to take and under David’s careful guidance Jenner flourishes.

There is the usual Lynn Kelling heat within the pages and as always at the end you are left yearning for more. I am very much looking forward to reading more about David and Shea.
Profile Image for Claudia.
1,140 reviews
June 29, 2015
What a great prequel to Bound by lies - I loved to see Jenner training with David and Shea (now I want to read their story also)

a great read
Profile Image for Jay .
107 reviews38 followers
July 7, 2015
Lynn Kelling awesome sauce. Nuff said
Profile Image for Joyfully Jay.
9,029 reviews514 followers
June 19, 2015
A Joyfully Jay review.

3.5 stars


Learning from the Master is a prequel to Kelling’s Bound by Lies and introduces us to Jenner at his start. The author indicates this story works as a standalone, and I think for the most part it does, sort of setting up the next book (which I have not read). I really liked the concept of this story, getting the origins of Jenner’s interest in domination, learning about the Manse, and seeing how he gets to the point he is in Bound by Lies. I think Jenner is an interesting guy, sort of the always popular, golden boy who is hiding a big part of himself. I like that Jenner isn’t just this totally insecure wallflower; we know that he is popular and was successful in high school, yet he still struggles living in the small town and finding anyone to be with.

I think the hardest part for me here is that so many areas just didn’t feel developed enough. This story is short and there are a lot of ideas being conveyed, and there is just not enough time to get them solid support. We get a lot of telling of people’s feelings or reactions, as there isn’t time to really show them adequately. So often I felt like I had to just accept things because I was told, without actually feeling it. For example, Jenner meets David that first night, then we jump to months later after they have been seeing each other. Jenner feels total loyalty to David, a sense of being owned, and he adores him. But we don’t see any of that development, we are just told how he feels, so I couldn’t really feel the connection between them as a reader. Other times things seem to just happen super fast. We are told months have passed and Jenner has only been to the mansion a few times at this point, yet he acts as if it has had this long, in-depth relationship with David. When Jenner meets Shea at the manse, he basically falls for him in seconds. He has these huge emotions almost immediately, and again because there is no time to develop anything, we are just told how he feels and must accept it. I don’t want to knock short stories, because it is a format I enjoy, but in this case we just needed more time to establish things. I would have loved to see more of Jenner’s training, for example, or watch him work through that learning curve of becoming a Dom. Or understanding how he likes to submit to David, but his instincts are toward being a Dom himself with other partners. I just think we needed more time to explore so many issues, and as a result, I just felt like it was too much telling and not enough time to show things happening.

Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
3,522 reviews38 followers
July 6, 2015
How Many Slaves Can a Master Have?

This was a good read with interesting characters. Since it was short there wasn't much character development, just enough to pull you into the story and want to see how it ended. Too bad a threesome wasn't in the offering.
Profile Image for Love Bytes Reviews.
2,529 reviews38 followers
June 27, 2015
2.5 Heart Review by Dan

This book is billed as a prequel to the book Bound By Lies which was published in 2013. I’m guessing there was a demand for more back story on the MC, Jenner Parrish, since from reading the blurb of Bound By Lies it is apparent that Jenner is one of the MCs of that book as well.

As a standalone novella, this one didn’t really do it for me. The story and writing were OK, but the details were just vague, and that is being generous. Eighteen year old gay kid who at first sounded like he had no experience at all, sends in an application for an invite to a gay club called Manse, gets his invitation, goes, and suddenly is the chosen one of the billionaire owner of the club?

I didn’t get it. I didn’t get how Jenner progressed from a recent high school graduate to being trained to be a Dom by the Master. If you’ve read the other book, maybe it would make sense to you, but not if you haven’t. I wouldn’t recommend this book, unless you do need the backstory for the other book. If this were a longer book, with a LOT more details, it would be a much better read.

This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
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Profile Image for AussieMum.
1,393 reviews56 followers
March 30, 2016
This short story about Jenner being introduced to David and BDSM had a few sweet and sexy moments but never really took off for me. Once I got to the end I felt like we hadn't even scratched the surface of where Jenners story could have gone. It seemed to be full of a few half moments.

This book was way too short for the price of $2.99 AUD -for the length and content it should have either been a free teaser for Bound By Lies or included as a bonus scene in the first book.

The saving grace, for me, about this book was that it settled a few issues I had with book 1.

In Loving the Master I hated how David had sex outside his relationship with Shea but having Shea discuss their dynamic here with Jenner made me understand and accept it as normal and natural to them. Whereas before I had felt Shea had no choice about it, in this book he explains that there is no jealousy and it satisfies one of his kinks. Their master/slave relationship is shown as highly reverential and David's devotion to Shea is really beautiful.



Profile Image for Calathea.
273 reviews
March 27, 2016
The blurb and some reviews made me curious. Now I'm disappointed. There is no story to speak of, the characters are like wooden puppepts that are pushed around by the author and I found no appealing atmosphere. The whole novella is a good example for telling where the reader should have experienced. While I thouht that worked quite well in the beginning to set the stage of quite a short story it never changed and so I never really got into it. The only reason why I read the whole novella was because I was convinced there would be more, but... there wasn't. It feels unfinished, detached and doesn't even build the atmosphere of PWP.
Profile Image for Antisocial Recluse.
2,711 reviews
May 9, 2016
I've already read Bound By Lies, but I just read Loving the Master. This was an interesting tie between the two books. I was surprised to see David sharing Shea after how adamant he was about not sharing in book one. But it's supposed to be five years on and Shea understands the lifestyle and David training new Doms. I'd have liked more complete scenes and I'm going to reread Bound... Because I honestly don't remember Jenner being all that caring or sensitive.
Profile Image for Wendy❤Ann.
1,757 reviews48 followers
April 2, 2016
David and Shea are one of my all-time favorite couples. I would have been thrilled to have a more full-length version of this story since they were featured so prominently, but instead of an entrée, I got a lovely appetizer and I can’t complain in the least about that! With this little glimpse of Jenner in action, you can bet that book three will be queued up for reading as soon as possible!!
Profile Image for Ea_reader.
1,048 reviews3 followers
March 4, 2016
Read as a continuation of Bound by Lies (well, a pre-continuation). I thought it might be off-putting to see Jenner with someone else, but it wasn't really like that at all and I thought it was a wonderful extension (pre-extension?) of the character I came to know and love in Bound by Lies.
Profile Image for ♥~♥❇ ★~Lyne~★ ❇♥~♥.
346 reviews5 followers
November 8, 2015
A quick short novella. Although by BDSM standard I think it was a little to light. No enough raw power for me. I wanted to more... I felt the author held back a little. I was left a unfulfilled.
Profile Image for Rayne.
872 reviews29 followers
March 10, 2016
So many of the BDSM books I read are about a sub learning the ropes. So I find it very refreshing to read about a Dom in training learning to be in control and to take care of his sub.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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