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Trust and Obey
For the past few years, Landry has been able to tuck the horrors of his past into a nice, neat compartment inside his head. He’s been focused on his future instead of dwelling on a past he can’t change. All this changes when Jericho Brookes struts into his life. Piece by piece, Brookes tears down the walls surrounding Landry’s heart – leaving him raw and vulnerable. Every time they’re together, Landry opens up more…gives more. Can Brookes be trusted with Landry’s heart?
When Landry’s past comes calling, will Brookes be friend or foe?
When Landry’s past comes calling, will Brookes be friend or foe?
- GenresM M RomanceBDSMDark
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 18, 2017
9 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 20, 2017
Okay: it is no secret that I have a special place in my heart for T.S. McKinney.
I know that my friends here at GR have VERY differing opinions on her stories, and that's cool, because we can't all agree on everything (said in the least condescending way and tone:-)
But her humour and her *cool* characters make me laugh every time, and Overtime was a really important book for me. I can't really pinpoint why, just that Jagger did something for me!
(Though not in a sexy way, you pervs...)
So, the"bad" things first, or: why this is not a 5-star read:
- The 'EVIL' guys... *sigh*
This happened in Gasping for Air as well. The 'EVIL' guys are REALLY evil and sadistic, and they leave a HORRIBLE ache in my stomach, because at both instances, I was not prepared for it.
In this one we have: slit throats, the 'EVIL' guy casually talking about getting rid of his toys (PEOPLE, we're talking about FUCKING, people) in his basement, to have room for Landry and the casual way abuse is mentioned, though not specified-specified.
And it's not that I have anything against 'dark' reads as such, it is just...
Mckinney writes a REALLY good, horrible character, BUT sometimes it is unnecessary cruelty, and I read to escape the cruelty of this world (amongst other things) AND
- The 'bad' guys don't get what I feel they deserve!
In this one Naaaaaaah, I need me some revenge for this shit...
- We skipped a scene towards the end, that I felt we needed, where Brookes had a chance to redeem himself. Not that he did something horrible, but this dude was sketchy-ish *still side eyeing him*
- There was a LOT of sex in this one. In my mind I would have loved to experience some of the dates instead, since the 'dark' stuff got heavy, and even though the sex was SIZZLING, I think I needed something light to balance the heavy dark issues and the heavy sex scenes.
BUT now for the good stuff:
- Mckinney is definitely developing as an author, and she is getting better and better IMO. There were a few editing-things (missing words and minor spelling-things) and at one point 'Jade' was mentioned, which I think might be a name, it was definitely a mistake?? But as for the rest of it, it was tight.
- The HUMOUR was great, and Landry had so much SASS and SPUNK (of the personality-kind), that I couldn't help but adore him<3
- And a heads-up for those of you who hate differing POVs. We weren't in "I-form" but we got to see things from both Jagger, Colton, Riley, Rory, Brookes and Landry's POVs, which I loved.
Especially visiting with Jagger and Colton again... Maaaaaan, those two make me laugh and smile like an idiot, because they are still figuring stuff out, but in the BEST possible way<3
I loved the friendships and the bickering and the love amongst the good guys. This definitely made everything 'lighter'...
So a fun read, with a few things that made me uncomfortable, but not so much that it dragged the whole story away from the SIZZLE and the laughs.
I know that my friends here at GR have VERY differing opinions on her stories, and that's cool, because we can't all agree on everything (said in the least condescending way and tone:-)
But her humour and her *cool* characters make me laugh every time, and Overtime was a really important book for me. I can't really pinpoint why, just that Jagger did something for me!
(Though not in a sexy way, you pervs...)
So, the
- The 'EVIL' guys... *sigh*
This happened in Gasping for Air as well. The 'EVIL' guys are REALLY evil and sadistic, and they leave a HORRIBLE ache in my stomach, because at both instances, I was not prepared for it.
In this one we have: slit throats, the 'EVIL' guy casually talking about getting rid of his toys (PEOPLE, we're talking about FUCKING, people) in his basement, to have room for Landry and the casual way abuse is mentioned, though not specified-specified.
And it's not that I have anything against 'dark' reads as such, it is just...
Mckinney writes a REALLY good, horrible character, BUT sometimes it is unnecessary cruelty, and I read to escape the cruelty of this world (amongst other things) AND
- The 'bad' guys don't get what I feel they deserve!
In this one Naaaaaaah, I need me some revenge for this shit...
- We skipped a scene towards the end, that I felt we needed, where Brookes had a chance to redeem himself. Not that he did something horrible, but this dude was sketchy-ish *still side eyeing him*
- There was a LOT of sex in this one. In my mind I would have loved to experience some of the dates instead, since the 'dark' stuff got heavy, and even though the sex was SIZZLING, I think I needed something light to balance the heavy dark issues and the heavy sex scenes.
BUT now for the good stuff:
- Mckinney is definitely developing as an author, and she is getting better and better IMO. There were a few editing-things (missing words and minor spelling-things) and at one point 'Jade' was mentioned, which I think might be a name, it was definitely a mistake?? But as for the rest of it, it was tight.
- The HUMOUR was great, and Landry had so much SASS and SPUNK (of the personality-kind), that I couldn't help but adore him<3
- And a heads-up for those of you who hate differing POVs. We weren't in "I-form" but we got to see things from both Jagger, Colton, Riley, Rory, Brookes and Landry's POVs, which I loved.
Especially visiting with Jagger and Colton again... Maaaaaan, those two make me laugh and smile like an idiot, because they are still figuring stuff out, but in the BEST possible way<3
I loved the friendships and the bickering and the love amongst the good guys. This definitely made everything 'lighter'...
So a fun read, with a few things that made me uncomfortable, but not so much that it dragged the whole story away from the SIZZLE and the laughs.
September 22, 2017
I feel terrible for not liking this more. I have loved other books by this author, but this story felt messy somehow.
First let me start by saying that I had no idea this was a sequel to Overtime, which I’ve read. But since that was some months ago I was completely lost with this one. There is no introduction to the characters and it it only mentioned shortly where the MCs met previously.
I think it would have been a good idea to give the reader a bit of background for each character even if they did read Overtime. Because for most of this book I was completely lost. I like to get my memory refreshed just a bit with a sequel. Well, not here. And since we got EVERYONE’S POV (except the one I wanted) it was confusing as shit.
I think the blurb is somewhat misleading. This focusses on BDSM mostly, and I had no idea about that from the blurb alone. But while I do love BDSM, I didn’t like this book.
We get thrust into the story and that feeling of me trying to catch up never left me. Brookes and Landry spend hardly any time together besides the BDSM scenes they do. I was really missing something here.
And while Landry got somewhat of a background story, Brookes gets nothing. We only get his POV for a couple of paragraphs to tease the readers about his secret. He felt like a hollow caricature of a man. While there was too much Landry at times. His emotions were all over the place, we get his feelings about his past, we get descriptions about how he looks, and about his panic attacks. I felt there was no room for Brookes left at all.
And I really have to say something about the big secret Brookes was keeping. I had a REALLY hard time believing that Brookes’ parents No. Just no.
Jagger and Colton (from Overtime) got a their own POV’s in this too and I totally skimmed the parts with them in it. I just wasn’t interested in them since I can’t really remember much about Overtime.
What also really pulled me out of the story was that chapters were cut at the high point of a scene and then totally skipped when the next chapter started. Like the rescue scene. They were about to enter the house and then all of a sudden they were in the hospital. Not cool man. Not cool.
So I’m very sorry I didn’t like this more. The author can write some amazing hurt/comfort, but this was just not the book for me.
-----------------------------------------------
This review has been cross-posted at Gay Book Reviews.
First let me start by saying that I had no idea this was a sequel to Overtime, which I’ve read. But since that was some months ago I was completely lost with this one. There is no introduction to the characters and it it only mentioned shortly where the MCs met previously.
I think it would have been a good idea to give the reader a bit of background for each character even if they did read Overtime. Because for most of this book I was completely lost. I like to get my memory refreshed just a bit with a sequel. Well, not here. And since we got EVERYONE’S POV (except the one I wanted) it was confusing as shit.
I think the blurb is somewhat misleading. This focusses on BDSM mostly, and I had no idea about that from the blurb alone. But while I do love BDSM, I didn’t like this book.
We get thrust into the story and that feeling of me trying to catch up never left me. Brookes and Landry spend hardly any time together besides the BDSM scenes they do. I was really missing something here.
And while Landry got somewhat of a background story, Brookes gets nothing. We only get his POV for a couple of paragraphs to tease the readers about his secret. He felt like a hollow caricature of a man. While there was too much Landry at times. His emotions were all over the place, we get his feelings about his past, we get descriptions about how he looks, and about his panic attacks. I felt there was no room for Brookes left at all.
And I really have to say something about the big secret Brookes was keeping. I had a REALLY hard time believing that Brookes’ parents No. Just no.
Jagger and Colton (from Overtime) got a their own POV’s in this too and I totally skimmed the parts with them in it. I just wasn’t interested in them since I can’t really remember much about Overtime.
What also really pulled me out of the story was that chapters were cut at the high point of a scene and then totally skipped when the next chapter started. Like the rescue scene. They were about to enter the house and then all of a sudden they were in the hospital. Not cool man. Not cool.
So I’m very sorry I didn’t like this more. The author can write some amazing hurt/comfort, but this was just not the book for me.
-----------------------------------------------
This review has been cross-posted at Gay Book Reviews.
September 28, 2017
3.5 stars
Notes:
- Heads up. This is a continuation from 'Overtime'. This is not standalone.
- Great chemistry between the characters.
- The BDSM scene bored me out. :(
- I love seeing Jagger and Colton again in here. Yay!
- I liked the mystery plot.
Notes:
- Heads up. This is a continuation from 'Overtime'. This is not standalone.
- Great chemistry between the characters.
- The BDSM scene bored me out. :(
- I love seeing Jagger and Colton again in here. Yay!
- I liked the mystery plot.
January 3, 2020
3.5 Stars. There were a few things I really liked in this book and a few things I didn't. The plot was interesting and although I figured out what was going on with Brooks early on I was still interested. I liked the characters but wish we got a bit more of Brooks. It seemed like the author was trying to keep him mysterious for obvious reasons but for me that just meant we really didn't get to know his character. The romance was a bit too instant - maybe if we had seen a bit more of the dates they went on that would have balanced the sex. Speaking of which I'm good with BSDM scenes but honestly the ones in this book mostly bored me and I ended up skimming them.
I liked the relationships between all the characters and this is definitely a sequel to Overtime so I recommend you read it first or you will be a bit lost. It had been quite awhile since I read it and I was a little lost on the characters until I went back and read the synopsis of Overtime and refreshed my memory.
The villains are very evil and I wish the big action scene hadn't faded to black - I missed reading about it. I also wanted a bit more revenge/justice for the villain of this book. All in all it wrapped up nicely and the next 2 stories are obvious from the end of this one if the author decides to write more.
I liked the relationships between all the characters and this is definitely a sequel to Overtime so I recommend you read it first or you will be a bit lost. It had been quite awhile since I read it and I was a little lost on the characters until I went back and read the synopsis of Overtime and refreshed my memory.
The villains are very evil and I wish the big action scene hadn't faded to black - I missed reading about it. I also wanted a bit more revenge/justice for the villain of this book. All in all it wrapped up nicely and the next 2 stories are obvious from the end of this one if the author decides to write more.
April 17, 2018
Trust and Obey by author TS McKinney is a fast pace but really intense read. I loved the connection and love the characters have. There is a depth here and the bdsm just brings them closer.
Landry is a submissive he uses it to escape his demons inside. Goes to a dark place in his life. He uses sex to hide from the pain. He has panic attacks it has been years since he has felt as helpless as he does right now. Opening the club is scary for him.
Brookes is dominate enough to scare Landry. He wants to make Landry pay for taking the man he considered his. But the more he gets to know Landry he is finding he might not know what he thinks he knows and he is falling for the submissive.
Really great well-written story. Had me from page one. I loved the characters and wouldn’t mind this being a series. I can see man other characters I would want more from as well in the future in this story. This is a story for the keeper shelf.
Five Shooting Stars
Landry is a submissive he uses it to escape his demons inside. Goes to a dark place in his life. He uses sex to hide from the pain. He has panic attacks it has been years since he has felt as helpless as he does right now. Opening the club is scary for him.
Brookes is dominate enough to scare Landry. He wants to make Landry pay for taking the man he considered his. But the more he gets to know Landry he is finding he might not know what he thinks he knows and he is falling for the submissive.
Really great well-written story. Had me from page one. I loved the characters and wouldn’t mind this being a series. I can see man other characters I would want more from as well in the future in this story. This is a story for the keeper shelf.
Five Shooting Stars
September 22, 2017
I don't know what happened....
Gasping for Air by this author was one of my favorite books this year. That whole series is great. So I know she writes amazing characters. But sadly this book didn't work for me at all. I started reading this thinking it was a stand-alone. I don't know if the GR librarian forgot to connect this book with Overtime or not cause obviously these two books are connected. And now it felt like I was supposed to know backgrounds of story lines and characters. It was confusing and therefor messy.
Quite frankly, I just wanna forget about this..
#sad
Gasping for Air by this author was one of my favorite books this year. That whole series is great. So I know she writes amazing characters. But sadly this book didn't work for me at all. I started reading this thinking it was a stand-alone. I don't know if the GR librarian forgot to connect this book with Overtime or not cause obviously these two books are connected. And now it felt like I was supposed to know backgrounds of story lines and characters. It was confusing and therefor messy.
Quite frankly, I just wanna forget about this..
#sad
September 22, 2017
Wow! I have been waiting for Landry's story since meeting him and the rest of this rambunctious group of friends in Overtime, and man, T.S. McKinney does NOT disappoint with this book! This story grabbed me from the very beginning and would not let go until I finished it. Seriously, couldn't put it down. It is unpredictable, sexy, emotional, suspenseful, and did I mention sexy? I refuse to give any spoilers here, as this book really does need to be experienced first-hand with its twists and turns, but trust me - you do not want to miss this one. I was THRILLED to get more of Colton and Jagger too! I will admit that this book put me through the emotional wringer - but in the best way, because no matter how many tears I shed, I finished it with a huge smile I could not wipe off my face. And after that ending? I cannot wait for the next book. (And no, it is not a cliffhanger! She just sets up the next book brilliantly, which is something that seems to be one of T.S. McKinney's strengths - I never finish a book from her without that "oh god I need the next one NOW" feeling!)
Please, please can I have Rory and Riley now? ;)
Please, please can I have Rory and Riley now? ;)
November 1, 2017
She-Sighs-A-Lot
So ... I have a feeling that people who know more about BDSM than I do might have a few things to object to in this title. To be fair, that's just a hunch on my part. I don't really know squat, but I'm getting a vibe on this one. Those of you more in the know will have to judge for yourselves.
I. Could. Not. Stand. Landry. I am tired of these weirdly over-the-top characters. I dislike shitty attitudes as ineffective self-defense mechanisms, and we had that here in spades. The plot was decent. There was a whole lot of things going on simultaneously which felt confusing even though it wasn't actually confusing. In other words, I got a good sense of why all the characters were confuzzled, but I didn't have a hard time following along as a reader. Jericho being job-relatedly stalkerish made the insta-connection on his end a little more believable, but still people! This shit doesn't happen in real life.
The overall pacing was okay, but the relationship flew along a little too fast given Landry's hangups and all the half-truths and bullshittery floating around. As it seems that's a common trend in romance these days (one I abhor), whaddya gonna do? It gets to where it's kind of pointless to continue complaining about insta-love, i.e., Sage and London. EYEROLL. I don't even have to read the next related book to see where that's going.
There was some suspending of disbelief on this one for me for sure. It wasn't that anything that was going on was completely inconceivable, it was all just ... overblown in a very typical kind of way for the genre these days. There were some hot moments, some sweet moments, some whatthefuck and whatthefuckever moments. The characters were well-developed enough that some of them irritated me while others piqued my interest. I don't know what else is worth mentioning.
All in all, it pushed some of my pet peeve-y buttons but was a solid 3-star read on balance. I don't think I would go back and read about previous characters, and I'm on the fence about reading any future ones in this particular story arc, but this title wasn't a waste of time or overly infuriating so ... this week, I'm calling that a win.
Other reviews by NeRdyWYRM can be read here.
Images may be subject to copyright
Galley copy of Trust and Obey provided by Painted Hearts Publishing in exchange of an honest review.
So ... I have a feeling that people who know more about BDSM than I do might have a few things to object to in this title. To be fair, that's just a hunch on my part. I don't really know squat, but I'm getting a vibe on this one. Those of you more in the know will have to judge for yourselves.
I. Could. Not. Stand. Landry. I am tired of these weirdly over-the-top characters. I dislike shitty attitudes as ineffective self-defense mechanisms, and we had that here in spades. The plot was decent. There was a whole lot of things going on simultaneously which felt confusing even though it wasn't actually confusing. In other words, I got a good sense of why all the characters were confuzzled, but I didn't have a hard time following along as a reader. Jericho being job-relatedly stalkerish made the insta-connection on his end a little more believable, but still people! This shit doesn't happen in real life.
The overall pacing was okay, but the relationship flew along a little too fast given Landry's hangups and all the half-truths and bullshittery floating around. As it seems that's a common trend in romance these days (one I abhor), whaddya gonna do? It gets to where it's kind of pointless to continue complaining about insta-love, i.e., Sage and London. EYEROLL. I don't even have to read the next related book to see where that's going.
There was some suspending of disbelief on this one for me for sure. It wasn't that anything that was going on was completely inconceivable, it was all just ... overblown in a very typical kind of way for the genre these days. There were some hot moments, some sweet moments, some whatthefuck and whatthefuckever moments. The characters were well-developed enough that some of them irritated me while others piqued my interest. I don't know what else is worth mentioning.
All in all, it pushed some of my pet peeve-y buttons but was a solid 3-star read on balance. I don't think I would go back and read about previous characters, and I'm on the fence about reading any future ones in this particular story arc, but this title wasn't a waste of time or overly infuriating so ... this week, I'm calling that a win.
Other reviews by NeRdyWYRM can be read here.
Images may be subject to copyright
Galley copy of Trust and Obey provided by Painted Hearts Publishing in exchange of an honest review.
September 27, 2017
Review by The Blogger Girls.
This story is a follow up to Overtime where we met most of the characters at play here. Brookes came onto the scene at the end of that book, and this one picks up shortly where that left off.
Landry is the crazy friend who definitely had a story to tell, and he gets to tell it here. He has had a pretty rough past, escaping from gay conversion therapy camp, only to find himself on the streets and having to work the streets for money. Rory and I believe Riley, convinced him to leave that life and find a new one in Florida and their safe place, Haven. He is now opening his own BDSM club, with the support of his friends, though none of them are really into the lifestyle. They all know Landry is missing something and believe Brookes is the man for the job. They don’t know much about him, other than he has a good reputation as a dom.
Landry has his own idea of what BDSM is. He has been involved in some fashion since his days on the streets. He prides himself on being the perfect sub and performs exactly the way he believes a perfect sub should be. But he has never been able to find what he truly desires – someone to put him into subspace and let him fly – something he believes is the answer to his problems. He has pretty poor self esteem believing he doesn’t deserve any type of love or relationship due to his past. So, when Brookes comes in and sees right through him, he is thrown for a bit of a loop.
Meanwhile, the past comes knocking when there is a murder that seems to be tied to the club, then a kidnapping, and all the time, we are unsure of whether Brookes is really a bad guy or not. He is definitely keeping secrets, but at the same time, he seems to be genuinely falling for Landry. And Landry finally lets someone in, finally finds someone who can give him what he needs, even if that isn’t exactly what he thought it was, which was a little heartbreaking until it all played out. Landry was full of piss and vinegar, and Brookes loved that and wanted more, definitely not the meek little sub that Landry always acted with other doms.
This story read a bit better for me than the previous one. I’m not sure if it was because we were revisiting characters or if it was just fleshed out better. Either way, the writing and storyline felt smoother, and I enjoyed it a bit more than the last. I love this misfit family of friends and loved that we got to see more of them, from Jagger and Colton still working through some of their issues, to Rory and Riley still fighting for dominance. It was fun seeing them all again and pull together to get through this story. It looks like Riley and Rory may have found the answer to their who’s on top problem, and I’m really hoping we get to see that play out in the next installment.
October 2, 2017
What a read. What a read!!!! This was a really good book that left me wondering who was the good guy and who was the bad guy.
Landry is one of those people that does not let others in easily and those that he does let in are his chosen family. As far as a personal life goes, Landry is one of those people that uses sex as a way to block his emotions or better yet, uses his emotions to try for what he is trying to firget about himself. He uses it as a weapon but in a way most are not aware. He is amazing a faking it and making Doms believe that they are making him fly high even though he has never been able to reach that status with anyone before. Or at least he hadn't until he met Brooks.
Brooks is this man that makes Landry feel. He feels attraction. He feels list. He may also feel love. But Landry is not about to let Brooks close enough to him to find out for sure.
Brooks is not a man to give up. He wants Landry more then he has ever wanted anything. The problem is what will happen once he does have him and Landry finds out the truth about him. Will Brooks lose Landry or is Brooks the enemy from the start?
This was a very suspenseful read that you on the edge of your set questioning just who is good and who is bad. The fact that someone is out to hurt Landry is the only thing that is obvious in this story. The rest you are ill have to figure out on your own. I really hope that there will be more books in this series because I believe that there is a lot going on at the end of this book that needs to be written about. I look forward to more books by T.S. McKinney in the future that is a given.
Was given this galley copy for free for an open and honest review
Landry is one of those people that does not let others in easily and those that he does let in are his chosen family. As far as a personal life goes, Landry is one of those people that uses sex as a way to block his emotions or better yet, uses his emotions to try for what he is trying to firget about himself. He uses it as a weapon but in a way most are not aware. He is amazing a faking it and making Doms believe that they are making him fly high even though he has never been able to reach that status with anyone before. Or at least he hadn't until he met Brooks.
Brooks is this man that makes Landry feel. He feels attraction. He feels list. He may also feel love. But Landry is not about to let Brooks close enough to him to find out for sure.
Brooks is not a man to give up. He wants Landry more then he has ever wanted anything. The problem is what will happen once he does have him and Landry finds out the truth about him. Will Brooks lose Landry or is Brooks the enemy from the start?
This was a very suspenseful read that you on the edge of your set questioning just who is good and who is bad. The fact that someone is out to hurt Landry is the only thing that is obvious in this story. The rest you are ill have to figure out on your own. I really hope that there will be more books in this series because I believe that there is a lot going on at the end of this book that needs to be written about. I look forward to more books by T.S. McKinney in the future that is a given.
Was given this galley copy for free for an open and honest review
August 21, 2018
Trust and Obey by TS McKinney
Key ingredients for a good book in my humble opinion are romance, intrigue and great friends in which TS MKinney brings to the table in the writings of all of her books. Five stars is well deserved. Definitely a fan.
Key ingredients for a good book in my humble opinion are romance, intrigue and great friends in which TS MKinney brings to the table in the writings of all of her books. Five stars is well deserved. Definitely a fan.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews