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Yield

A Sequel to Forged in Trust
Bay Area Professionals #5

A promising encounter takes a dark turn.

Captain Sami Soros and Father Jay Blackstone cross paths at a major European hub. When systems shut down due to a cyber-attack, flights are delayed and the resulting chaos is unprecedented.

After having served three tours in Afghanistan, recently discharged Sami struggles with his new civilian status. Emotionally depleted, and dangerously edgy, he views most of his fellowmen with utter contempt.

Jay is returning to his parish in San Francisco after a month-long retreat meant to shore up a crumbling vocation. All vestiges of spirituality melt away when he sets eyes on Sami.

They begin a clandestine affair fueled by a shared addiction to extreme forms of BDSM. Their relationship goes off the rails, and Jay reaches out to Rino Duran, a former seminarian. With the help of Dr. Ethan Marshall, Rino’s full-time Dom, the established couple attempt to separate truth from lies to give Jay and Sami a shot at happiness.

This novel can be read as a standalone.

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2018

2 people are currently reading
48 people want to read

About the author

Mickie B. Ashling

51 books346 followers
MICKIE B. ASHLING is the pseudonym of a multi-published author who resides in a suburb outside Chicago. She is a product of her upbringing in various cultures, having lived in Japan, the Philippines, Spain, and the Middle East. Fluent in three languages, she’s a citizen of the world and an interesting mixture of East and West.

Since 2009, Mickie has written several dozen novels in the LGBTQ+ genre—which have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, and German. A lot of her backlist is “Under Construction” as she slowly transitions from traditional publishing to representing herself. Her goal is to have most of her novels back in the universe by the end of 2023.

CONTACT INFO:
Email: mickie.ashling@gmail.com
Website: mickieashling.com
Blog: mickiebashling.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mickie.ashling
Twitter: @MickieAshling
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/micki...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickieashling/

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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Fabi NEEDS Email Notifications.
1,038 reviews152 followers
April 25, 2019
A well written, respectful look at the various different types of couples in the BDSM lifestyle.

I read it as a stand alone novel without having read any of the previous in the series. I think I would have been much more involved in the plot if I'd been more familiar with the other characters. Even so, our MCs are complex layered characters. The story was as much seeing them overcome their past and heal as it was about them coming together as a couple.

Very well done.
Profile Image for Trio.
3,627 reviews209 followers
February 2, 2019
I’m enjoying the edgy story lines in Mickie B. Ashling’s Bay Area Professionals series; and the wonderfully taboo plot in this newest edition, Yield, just adds to my pleasure. It’s my favorite so far.

The characters in each novel have to work through some intense issues, but they have a strong support network to help guide them. Made up of friends and co-workers, this tight knit community grows throughout the series. That said, Ms. Ashling does a wonderful job of keeping us in the loop, and you can read each book as a standalone.

I didn’t expect to get so wrapped up in the lives of these men so quickly, but from the moment Jay and Sami meet their chemistry is compelling. An Army interrogator suffering from PTSD and a priest questioning the very foundation of his vocation… what a combination.

Jay tries to ignore his desires but no amount of prayer or penance can absolve him. As his feelings of self-loathing and failure become overwhelming, this masochist depends on pain to distract and refocus him. Once he gets a taste of Sami’s sadistic brand of pleasure, it’s too alluring to resist.

An interrogator in the army, his questionable methods led to Sami being dubbed “the Hun” by his fellow soldiers. After three tours in Afghanistan his rage is intense. Between his explosive anger and the abuse he heaps on Jay, I wasn’t sure these two could make a relationship work.

As their relationship progresses, both men have serious emotional damage to overcome, and call a time-out for some healing. By Ashling moving the focus off the pair, we get to check in with the main characters of Forged in Trust (book 4 in the series). Three years later Rino and Ethan are involved in a loving D/s relationship and we’re treated to some beautiful scenes. Rino is an adorable submissive and watching Ethan guide him is extremely hot. Together this established couple uses their experiences to help guide Jay and Sami to a healthier place.

Mickie B. Ashling’s novels always push boundaries and she amazes me with her insight. Yield is no exception. Tackling subjects like discrimination, self-harm, abuse, and organized religion, she explores these aspects of our society and the human experience. As the Bay Area Professionals series continues to expand, and the relationships develop, Ms. Ashling always leaves us with a hopeful message: We’re all entitled to acceptance and internal peace, and with the right community to support us, we can all find love.
Profile Image for Jason Bradley.
1,102 reviews317 followers
November 13, 2018
So a priest and a sadist sit beside each other on a plane... yeah, it isn't the start of a joke. DAYUM!

Just sayin'... this is freakin' HOT!!
Profile Image for True Loveislovereview.
2,876 reviews1 follower
April 14, 2019
5+++ Jay and Sami (and actually Rino and Ethan too)

What an incredible layered story this was. Stunningly written with memorable scenery, extraordinary circumstances, and a baffling good plot.

A story about a priest and an ex-military. Every turn in this read was unpredictable, I got somewhat delirious by it, all this awesomeness on my screen!!

Jay and Sami meet each other at the airport, continuing their delayed flight together.
Jay isn’t honest about who and what he is, and he just goes with the temporary flow called Sami.
Sami is lethal and strong; he has a military past where he interrogates the enemy. Ending up with PTSD and a lot more, his life takes unwanted turns and he struggles to handle those.
Also with Jay’s life getting out of track, their time is up. Their actions with extreme forms of BDSM is something they can’t handle.
Their connection has no ground to survive, it’s unmanageable, harsh, cruel, and destroying.

“my stubborn soul refused to give up”

As a fallen angel, Jay has no one he can reach out to but Rino.

Besides Jay and Sami there is a story with Rino and Ethan, respectively sub and Dom 24/7.
Rino, as a novice, has trouble obeying without questioning. Ethan is quite the right Dom and he is honest with so much unconditional love! To watch them compromise and work through every bump in their road is magnificent. They are of enormous help to Jay and Sami.

Both men, and a network of competent people, are the saviors for Jay and Sami to see the light. The healing process was heartbreaking, devastating, and worrisome.

The proficiency of writing was excellent. The profoundly worked out characters were breathtaking. A deep look in their beautiful minds let us understand them. We are witness to extremely complicated behavior, disturbing lies, deception, despair, damaged souls and strong furious language, and at the other side we see hope, light, submissiveness, dominance, redemption, rising above themselves, and love with a capital L.
An intriguing, intelligent, consistent, and respectfully written expedition, taking us to the utmost corners of the human mind and their behaviors. This was quite a masterpiece!!

Highly recommended

Read and reviewed for Diverse Reader
Profile Image for Stacey Jo.
633 reviews202 followers
December 6, 2018
This book is really intense, both with the subject matter and the emotions the characters face. Both MCs had a lot of deep dark baggage. The story does deal with things such as rape, abuse, masochism, PTSD, and some major kinks. What adds an extra twist here is that the characters are a priest and one who is retired military and trained in interrogation. There's a lot of struggling with inner demons at the start, which creates some strain. But two damaged characters are finally able to deal with issues enough that they make a great couple, each feeding off the other.

The writing is very well done with really nice character development. If kinks are your thing, this one is definitely for you.

This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Ed Davis.
2,912 reviews101 followers
February 29, 2020
Wow, this was really different. This book was like a car wreck for me. You know what I mean. You don’t want to look, but you can’t look away. This book is dark and heavy, but I couldn’t walk away. Jay’s fighting his religion was so close to home for me. It’s something I dealt with most of my life. That was my only problem with this book. They seemed to move from totally broken to mostly fixed a little too fast.

This is really hardcore BDSM, but it’s mostly off the page.
Profile Image for Reflection.
355 reviews63 followers
December 9, 2018
A richly complex and interesting story that touches on issues that I have no direct experience of and yet I feel drawn to both deeply flawed men.

Jay is a priest questioning his vocation, and Sami an army interrogator trying to reaclimatise to civilian life. Both have experience of institutionalisation and have much to overcome as they wrestle with issues of freedom, conformity and personal growth.

It is an intriguing conundrum that a book this gripping, starts rather monotonously with airline delays. I wonder if perhaps it is a metaphor for the blockages both real and imagined that the protagonists endure before they reach their goal of a more positive and fulfilling life.

Sami and Jay are dealing with serious issues that impact their respective mental wellbeing. They are both damaged individuals and underlying their connection is the concern about whether their respective issues will be too much for the other to cope with whilst they wrestle with their own demons and vulnerabilities.

The spark between Jay and Sami is like a beacon of hope, guiding their endeavours to be a worthy partner for the other.

It is never a foregone conclusion that these guys will be able to stay together and find the happy outcome that I and they so desperately hope for.

What I particularly enjoy is their disparate philosophical opinions. As a pacifist and a humanist my worldview is clearly in contrast with much of theirs. I would genuinely have little sympathy with either religious conviction or warrior as hero tropes particularly in contemporary fiction.

Yet on a human level I have no diffculty empathising with Sami and Jay. Interestingky their differing perspectives adds extra depth and complexity to the story. It provides insight into what may have contributed to forging each man's philosophical and moral codes.

It is fascinating read, unpeeling one layer at a time to discover what makes Sami and Jay tick, not least their compatability in kink and their own musings and self reflections on freedom and repression.

I appreciate the depth of the story and its celebration of the complexity of human experience. Yield provides an enriching and thoughtful read with a cocktail of interesting juxtapositions without the moralistic overtones that can otherwise leave a bitter taste.

Let me for a moment consider the kink ratio. There is not a lot of sex, but when these guys get down and dirty it is passionate, instinctive and animalistic and hardly for the faint of heart.

I thought the BDSM elements were sensitively covered, with role models and a supportive network within their local BDSM community offering support, guidance and ultimately friendship for Sami and Jay as they navigate the concept and their own ideas around intimacy and independence.

Despite the graphic nature of some events that these guys cope with both on and off the page plus the harshness of a few of the topics covered, not least of which is addiction, self-harm, resilience and recovery, this book feels to me more like a romance, albeit one that is not always an easy read but provides plenty of food for thought.

I only realised on conclusion of reading that this story is part of a series. I am guessing that some of the supporting characters must already have stories of their own that I would be interested to read more about. Clearly, Yield can be read as a stand alone novel as well.

The only thing I didn't much care for apart from the rather pedestrian beginning, is that the story switches between first person and third person narration, which I find rather jarring. Admittedly I am not a fan of first person storytelling, but I don't ever remember reading a story where both types are intertwined, and frankly it is not a format I am keen to repeat.

Having said that, I grew accustomed to it and found the mild irritation it provokes for me is offset by the rewards of reading one of the most interesting contemporary novels I have come across for some time.

This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review
Profile Image for Elizabeth Noble.
Author 44 books195 followers
December 8, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. The main characters have some serious issues, and it's difficult to take characters like that, turn their lives around and end on a happy note. However, that's exactly what happens! There is real depth and growth for both men during the story.

I would've liked to know a little more details about Sami's time in the military, from his point of view, otherwise I thought he was very well portrayed. I'm not a religious person, so Jay's life and dilemma didn't offend me and I understood it about as much as Sami did. That didn't detract from the story in the least, I was just able to connect with Sami and understand where he was coming from a little more easily.

This book is classified as gay romance and erotica. I think it's less erotica and more romance since there isn't a lot of sex. When there are sex scenes they're done very well. The reader gets good look at one side of the BDSM world and I loved how Sami and Jay became part of a community willing to assist and guide them to a safe, consensual BDSM life without being preachy or playing to stereotypes. Even during a phase where Sami and Jay aren't together, Sami does a good job of trying to do what he thinks is right for he and Jay as a couple, as any good Dom should! Jay is a classic 'does the right thing for the wrong reason' sort of person, but eventually comes to realize he needs to make changes for himself, not someone else. Even though there are no drug or alcohol problems, this story is very strongly about addiction and recovery. It was refreshing to see this scenario play out sans the inclusion of mood altering substances and shows a side of addiction/recovery not often addressed.

There are important supporting characters from previous books in this series. I haven't read those books, but I had no problem following along with their lives. Yield can be read as a stand alone, but I'm sure followers of the series will enjoy seeing characters from earlier books.
Profile Image for Kazza.
1,560 reviews174 followers
March 17, 2019
Mickie B Ashling goes to the darker and taboo side, pairing a questioning priest with a sadist.

Review to come
Profile Image for Kelly.
442 reviews23 followers
December 1, 2018
This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review.


Yield is fascinating. I was very off kilter initially. Jay buried his masochism under pathological lies. 


Yield deals with serious topics like rape, and vivid descriptions of war and interrogation. Sami feels like he's lost his humanity. He's buried himself in war biased hatred of Muslims, and self-loathing over his own sadism. 


The early novel has some very unsafe practices until Ethan sets Sami up with a psychiatrist who is a part of the local BDSM scene and a PTSD specialist. 


Jay finally walks away from the priesthood, and things take a turn for the better. 


I really grew to like the dynamic and clinical writing style, but I find certain taboo topics interesting. 


Topics: Extreme Sadism, Extreme Masochism, Edge-play, Knife Branding, Nail Gouging, Public Play, Self Flagellation, Rape (Not between the MCs), Puppy Play, Bigotry, Racism, Ptsd, Mention of interrogation including pissing on and lighting a Quran on fire during a therapy session. 


4/5 
Profile Image for Elin.
938 reviews8 followers
May 17, 2019
While I liked the premise of the story and had high hopes for it, the start was choppy and confusing and with the jump between four different characters, it didn't do much good.

I would have loved to have the story solely on Jay and Sami because there were so much story that was surpassed and just mentioned after.

I'm confused as to why Rino and Ethan's story had so much room when the previous book was of them.

What we had of the chaotic and hot mess Jay and Sami was, was very good and I needed more of their out of control mess.
Profile Image for Wendy❤Ann.
1,757 reviews48 followers
November 16, 2019
I like the tight knit community that makes up this Bay Area Professionals series of stories, because it seems to take some of that community to assist the hot mess that is Jay and Sami. In as much as this story is about them coming together as a couple, it’s even more about them having to overcome issues from the past and the things that stand in the way of their future. I think it’s pretty key to have read the prior books before this one in order to appreciate the full depth to the story. I enjoyed some of the prior books a little more than this one, but still liked this addition.
Profile Image for Olivia.
1,329 reviews73 followers
July 7, 2021
dnf @30 percent umm not the book for me yeah. Geuniley like made me sit there and go “wtf is this”. Everyone in the book needed long long long hours with therapists.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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