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Club
A student in search of a gay fight club uncovers a hidden community of kink-- and the ringleader is the hottest professor on campus.
Nick isn't just another rich kid partying away his senior year of college. He's ready to prove he's tough enough for Brayden's twisted games, if only the mysterious professor will give him half a chance.
Brayden is well aware of the rumors that follow him all over campus and beyond-- rumors that are only a pale reflection of the kinky reality. Nick has no idea what he's asking for. When he learns the truth, will he decide Brayden's too hot to handle?
This steamy gay romance novel includes a smokin' hot professor with plenty of ink, a town's most shocking secret, and a student of BDSM who won't quit until he learns the truth about his own desires. Absolutely no cheating and always a happily ever after.
Nick isn't just another rich kid partying away his senior year of college. He's ready to prove he's tough enough for Brayden's twisted games, if only the mysterious professor will give him half a chance.
Brayden is well aware of the rumors that follow him all over campus and beyond-- rumors that are only a pale reflection of the kinky reality. Nick has no idea what he's asking for. When he learns the truth, will he decide Brayden's too hot to handle?
This steamy gay romance novel includes a smokin' hot professor with plenty of ink, a town's most shocking secret, and a student of BDSM who won't quit until he learns the truth about his own desires. Absolutely no cheating and always a happily ever after.
- GenresBDSMM M RomanceRomance
146 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 6, 2017
38 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 26, 2017
Uuuuuhhhhhmmmmm.... I took a chance on this one since it was dirt-cheap and I was in the mood for a 'dom'-type-thing.
And to be honest is wasn't bad-bad, BUT there were quite a few scenes making me go back again and again to double-check details, because things weren't adding up.
And it's not like it was BIG things. But it was enough to yank me out of the story and make me question the course of events.
It was things like the handcuffs being in the back, then the front, then the back again.
Things like James having a party at night, but then it was day.
It was things like Brayden cutting off Nick's shirt when Nick was in handcuffs, but suddenly his arm was free.
So yeah, not BIG things, but enough to make me irritated and make me go back to double-check.
Then we had a few times where we were in the middle of a scene --> new chapter --> jump in time. And it didn't make any sense!
I would rather have had a few more pages, and the story in between, since I am still left with a feeling of 'scratching the surface' of their relationship, and I wasn't totally convinced of their connection.
Brayden got sort of condescending at one point, acting like he was talking to a dog, when IN FACT he was talking to Nicky. And it had me, wanting to find my frozen fish (especially handy for smacking douchebag-MCs!)
Then we have their smexy times, and yes, some of them were quite hot -for those interested, some pony-play was described between other characters.
BUT then we had "dirty talk" (and I am using that in the LOOSEST possible description) like this:
Making me:
cringe -->
facepalm -->
look between my fingers -->
hide away again
Seriously I get that Nicky was supposed to be contrary, and bad at saying 'what he wants', but THIS... *yikes*
There were also a few times where the words: "A real man" were used, and a few times where some quite ridiculous generalisations were made, that had me rolling my eyes (and sideeyeing my freezer, considering getting out the frozen fish again.)
I do have to give the authors props for having -seemingly- done their psychology research and I loved the discussion on a dom/sub-relationship.
Nicky was sort of funny, I kind of liked their relationship (even though the development was sort of superficial) and in the end it was an 'okay' read.
And to be honest is wasn't bad-bad, BUT there were quite a few scenes making me go back again and again to double-check details, because things weren't adding up.
And it's not like it was BIG things. But it was enough to yank me out of the story and make me question the course of events.
It was things like the handcuffs being in the back, then the front, then the back again.
Things like James having a party at night, but then it was day.
It was things like Brayden cutting off Nick's shirt when Nick was in handcuffs, but suddenly his arm was free.
So yeah, not BIG things, but enough to make me irritated and make me go back to double-check.
Then we had a few times where we were in the middle of a scene --> new chapter --> jump in time. And it didn't make any sense!
I would rather have had a few more pages, and the story in between, since I am still left with a feeling of 'scratching the surface' of their relationship, and I wasn't totally convinced of their connection.
Brayden got sort of condescending at one point, acting like he was talking to a dog, when IN FACT he was talking to Nicky. And it had me, wanting to find my frozen fish (especially handy for smacking douchebag-MCs!)
Then we have their smexy times, and yes, some of them were quite hot -for those interested, some pony-play was described between other characters.
BUT then we had "dirty talk" (and I am using that in the LOOSEST possible description) like this:
... and then I heard the words coming out. “Feel me bloom for you. Feel me open.”
Making me:
cringe -->
facepalm -->
look between my fingers -->
hide away again
Seriously I get that Nicky was supposed to be contrary, and bad at saying 'what he wants', but THIS... *yikes*
There were also a few times where the words: "A real man" were used, and a few times where some quite ridiculous generalisations were made, that had me rolling my eyes (and sideeyeing my freezer, considering getting out the frozen fish again.)
I do have to give the authors props for having -seemingly- done their psychology research and I loved the discussion on a dom/sub-relationship.
Nicky was sort of funny, I kind of liked their relationship (even though the development was sort of superficial) and in the end it was an 'okay' read.
July 7, 2019
My first problem with this book was I never felt I got to know Nicky or Brayden very well. It was like there were gaps in their personalities, so often their actions didn’t make sense. But that weird epilogue was so unexpected that I hated it and it ruined the book for me.
June 20, 2017
Alec Stark and Parker Avrile write Club: A Gay BDSM Romance as a compliment to the famous book/movie Fight Club, assessing Palahniuk’s themes from a gay perspective. Though Club hits and misses exactly as Fight Club did, Club made me think, and thus earned four hearts.
After putting little effort into his Senior Thesis, which examines the mythos of Fight Club, Nicholas, may fail college. The spoiled son of a mogul, Nicholas is too busy arbitrarily proving his “manhood” with extreme experiences like ice water baths, to test himself with something he considers boring - like learning from his thesis.
When his instructor gives Nicholas a second chance, he interviews Brayden, an adjunct professor who supposedly leads a secret fight club. Except, it’s a front for a BDSM club.
Nicholas becomes Brayden’s sub. Brayden teaches Nicky (as he nicknames his sub) about masochism, which Stark and Avrile imply is the basis of much machismo. In so doing, Nicky gains important life lessons.
Nicholas and Brayden’s lives are initially empty. They find value in their BDSM community’s rites of passage, as these rituals create trust, the basis for relationships.
The book is written smoothly, favoring verbs over adjectives, actions to emotions, imbuing the story with the language of masculinity, a la Hemmingway another “manly” icon.
The plot has a good arc, and a poignant epilogue demonstrating its core values. Each value is experienced, not explained. It is up to Nicky/the reader to interpret the conclusions themselves.
Club shows readers how to accept and use both our power and powerlessness. And it does so with humor, sexiness, thoughtfulness, and a quirky tenderness.
There were too many excellent quotes to convey them all:
“The catch is, because I’m ordering you to do it, you’re going to tell yourself you don’t want to do it. That contrary instinct of yours is going to kick in, and you’re going to react by telling yourself you don’t want what you want.”
“My limits were of my own making.”
“What is trust? Is it a form of voluntary insanity? Is it a choice we make to turn off the head and open the heart?”
“All tests are artificial by their nature.”
And yet at the same time the book left me conflicted. I disagree with its premise - that much of life is banal, hypocritical ritual. The rites of passage which Brayden and Nicholas found empty, like the college thesis, added a great deal to my existence. And BDSM enlivens them, not me.
By accepting others’ behaviors and values which we may personally find tedious, people find compassion. And it is for exactly this reason that I ended up liking Club. Because, to each his own, and this book makes me care about characters I considered narcissistic, even after their “growth.”
After putting little effort into his Senior Thesis, which examines the mythos of Fight Club, Nicholas, may fail college. The spoiled son of a mogul, Nicholas is too busy arbitrarily proving his “manhood” with extreme experiences like ice water baths, to test himself with something he considers boring - like learning from his thesis.
When his instructor gives Nicholas a second chance, he interviews Brayden, an adjunct professor who supposedly leads a secret fight club. Except, it’s a front for a BDSM club.
Nicholas becomes Brayden’s sub. Brayden teaches Nicky (as he nicknames his sub) about masochism, which Stark and Avrile imply is the basis of much machismo. In so doing, Nicky gains important life lessons.
Nicholas and Brayden’s lives are initially empty. They find value in their BDSM community’s rites of passage, as these rituals create trust, the basis for relationships.
The book is written smoothly, favoring verbs over adjectives, actions to emotions, imbuing the story with the language of masculinity, a la Hemmingway another “manly” icon.
The plot has a good arc, and a poignant epilogue demonstrating its core values. Each value is experienced, not explained. It is up to Nicky/the reader to interpret the conclusions themselves.
Club shows readers how to accept and use both our power and powerlessness. And it does so with humor, sexiness, thoughtfulness, and a quirky tenderness.
There were too many excellent quotes to convey them all:
“The catch is, because I’m ordering you to do it, you’re going to tell yourself you don’t want to do it. That contrary instinct of yours is going to kick in, and you’re going to react by telling yourself you don’t want what you want.”
“My limits were of my own making.”
“What is trust? Is it a form of voluntary insanity? Is it a choice we make to turn off the head and open the heart?”
“All tests are artificial by their nature.”
And yet at the same time the book left me conflicted. I disagree with its premise - that much of life is banal, hypocritical ritual. The rites of passage which Brayden and Nicholas found empty, like the college thesis, added a great deal to my existence. And BDSM enlivens them, not me.
By accepting others’ behaviors and values which we may personally find tedious, people find compassion. And it is for exactly this reason that I ended up liking Club. Because, to each his own, and this book makes me care about characters I considered narcissistic, even after their “growth.”
July 24, 2022
I was sure that this would be one of the more masculine mm books that I will read this year. I thought that I had hit the mother lode of mm heat when I started reading this new to me author with their descriptions of the earthy boxing gym and its members. Professor Brayden Brent was the intense center of this mysterious campus ‘Fight Club’ world that spoiled rich kid senior, Nicky, was seeking to write about for his senior thesis. Yes! I promise to never talk about fight club! Bring on the sweaty guys going all primal beating the crap out of each other with some sweet f’ing mixed in! And, well, the book wasn’t quite like this. It had an interesting twist that started out fairly hot and well written and then sort of devolved into losing a depth that never happened between the MCs because the writing seemed to slip over moments and scenes where it should have lingered with incendiary heat. I’m looking at you, ‘filthy town’ scenes, letting the reader hear the nasty goings on, but muffled through a hood-that damn hood! We didn’t get to see the nasty going ons, either, again with the hood. It’s not nice to keep the readers in the dark.
This was one of the few BDSM scenes between Brayden and Nicky and they all seemed to fizzle out. The writing didn’t let me know why professor Bray flipped his Dom switch for student Nicky. There was too much vagueness for me in their relationship when I wanted some hard, very hard, facts, and sex, lol. The book offered some steamy goodness with the one dom and his pony boy and a brief voyeurism scene. I hoped for more. Sex wasn’t even primary, just some emotional and honest dialogue. This is a one person POV book from student Nicky.
The reunion scene between the MCs at the country bar showcased the awkward writing and no depth. It was a silly and cringey scene. The scene after this where they finally talked was too talky. I knew the story was going to go from there to a D/s scene in the mysterious town, I stayed with it a little bit, but the writing had me giving up.
This was one of the few BDSM scenes between Brayden and Nicky and they all seemed to fizzle out. The writing didn’t let me know why professor Bray flipped his Dom switch for student Nicky. There was too much vagueness for me in their relationship when I wanted some hard, very hard, facts, and sex, lol. The book offered some steamy goodness with the one dom and his pony boy and a brief voyeurism scene. I hoped for more. Sex wasn’t even primary, just some emotional and honest dialogue. This is a one person POV book from student Nicky.
The reunion scene between the MCs at the country bar showcased the awkward writing and no depth. It was a silly and cringey scene. The scene after this where they finally talked was too talky. I knew the story was going to go from there to a D/s scene in the mysterious town, I stayed with it a little bit, but the writing had me giving up.
June 10, 2017
I would have liked for Nicky to have been a bit less smoothly submissive to Brayden when they first got together. I felt that it went beyond simply being naturally submissive a couple of times, which didn't really fit into the narrative that Nicky was completely untrained.
Beyond that one, small point, I loved the trust and power exchange that grew between Nicky and Brayden. The fact that Brayden wanted Nicky to be able to stand on his own, and to know his own strength, rather than rely on his master for everything was powerful. More than anything else, I found that to show Nicky that Brayden valued him as more than simply a possession. That action showed Nicky that Brayden had faith in, and trusted him - it was beautiful.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
Beyond that one, small point, I loved the trust and power exchange that grew between Nicky and Brayden. The fact that Brayden wanted Nicky to be able to stand on his own, and to know his own strength, rather than rely on his master for everything was powerful. More than anything else, I found that to show Nicky that Brayden valued him as more than simply a possession. That action showed Nicky that Brayden had faith in, and trusted him - it was beautiful.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
October 18, 2018
I read this book as part of an arc program. I liked this story about Nick, a young, rich man who is about to graduate from college. He writes a thesis paper about a fight club rumored to be in the area and it is rejected, but he is given 2 weeks to rewrite it. When he sets out to do research on the club, he encounters Brayden a music professor who is rumored to belong to the club. Brayden decides to take Nick to the club, but it nothing like he expects and he will have to challenge himself if he can actually proceed. Brayden brings Nick to a secret BDSM club and wants to be his Dom and Nick to submit. Even though Nick has always fantasied about this, facing it and doing it may be harder. I liked this story, I liked Brayden. He knew what Nick needed and wanted Nick to figured it out for himself. Nick had a lot of soul searching to do and he has to sort out his feelings for Brayden. I thought the men were a great couple and had great chemistry. This was a really good book about a man who sets out to find out who he really is and where he will belong now after changes in his life. Great book
June 24, 2017
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book for my honest opinions. I loved reading Parkers books, I don't know Alec but will certainly read more from him. Both authors did a great job of portraying the BDSM lifestyle in a sexy and romantic way. Brayden and Nicky together was beautifully erotic, I loved how Brayden got Nicky to really delve into what he needed. I can honestly say I recommend this book.
December 5, 2017
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. There were details that should have been caught in the editing process that made things a bit confusing at times (placement of hands, etc), but if you're looking for a quick and dirty read this fits the bill nicely. Despite the editing annoyances, it was refreshing to find a satisfying kinky book by a new-to-me author.
February 19, 2018
This was an interesting read A different take on the BDSM scene, while there was some physical bondage, the kink in this story seemed to be more mental than physical. I liked the look into the quieter side of the the life.
June 25, 2017
Games Very Private
Started shy and afraid of feelings we never talk about. You explore this in yourself and find what's missing in your life. Happiness knows no bounds.
Started shy and afraid of feelings we never talk about. You explore this in yourself and find what's missing in your life. Happiness knows no bounds.
August 15, 2017
Growing up is hard to do
This is a book about finding yourself. A book where you are free to discover yourself along the way if you dare.
This is a book about finding yourself. A book where you are free to discover yourself along the way if you dare.
October 3, 2018
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. There were details that should have been caught in the editing process that made things a bit confusing at times (placement of hands, etc), but if you're looking for a quick and dirty read this fits the bill nicely. Despite the editing annoyances, it was refreshing to find a satisfying kinky book by a new-to-me author.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews