Noah loves his husband, Tobias, but he isn’t afraid to admit that Valentine’s Day isn’t his favorite holiday. Showing Tobias how much he loves him isn’t the issue, but Noah isn’t sure Tobias is going to see how perfect his surprise is. But everyone thinks puppies are cute, right?
Tobias has always known when his gentle giant of a husband is hiding something. The Valentine’s Day surprise is no different, except that it seems to be making Noah a nervous wreck. But since their holidays have always been low-key, he’s not sure what there is to worry about…unless his sexy husband is hiding something a lot more interesting than a bouquet of roses.
Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about flowers and cards, not puppy play and sexy secrets, but sometimes perfection involves looking a little outside the box.
28k words Story Contains: mild BDSM and puppy play
I ended up reading the rest after all. But I can’t say it got much better.
This is not a bad short story, but I didn’t feel connected to the characters at all. I also thought the first half was filled with all kinds of unnecessary events that didn’t hold my interest.
It was good to be surprised finding out . But overall I was pretty bored.
I still love M.A. Innes and I will keep reading their books, this was just a mis for me.
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DNF at 30%
I didn’t think it was possible to be this bored in a short story. But if I’ve already had to read about two separate sex scenes when I’m at 30% in a short story, that don’t have anything to do with the plot (introducing puppy play in the relationship), then I think it’s time to accept defeat and move onto a new book. I kept thinking, OMG they're having sex, AGAIN?
A shame, because I normally really like M.A. Innes, and their last short was a huge hit for me..
Very sweet and original puppy play romance. I loved the unique take this couple had on the puppy play aspect of their relationship.
I’m not normally a fan of love stories with an established couple, because you miss out on the part where the characters fall for each other and all the romance of those initial moments. However… that being said, I loved this story and I think it was really wonderful to see how these two men, already in a clearly deeply loving relationship, discovered something new to try together and in doing so their love became even stronger. What I found especially inspiring was their acceptance of each other and their willingness to try new things and get out of their comfort zone.
It’s a short story, but it left me feeling completely convinced by this couple’s love for each other and I very much enjoyed their story.
The book also ties in to other characters from earlier books by M.A. Innes and I especially loved reconnecting with Cooper, Sawyer and Jackson!
I’ve read this author before. This is a mm contemporary novella featuring Noah and his husband Tobias. This story covers the introduction of pup play into their relationship and marriage. Great emotions and never a forgone conclusion. I’ll read more from this author.
(Maybe 2.5/75 stars, I can't decide lol) The book wasn't bad, per se, but I was ready for le puppy play and it was just like one chapter of it ... So yeah, this was not really what I wanted :)
This was a new author to me and I truly enjoyed the story. Loved the dynamic between the two and considering it was a novella there was a great story being told.
Way too many gratuitous sex scenes in the first half of the book before the kink is even introduced. And then when it was, the author introduces a ~twist~ with the dom partner being the one who's a pup? I know some people love that kind of subversion, but I find it frustrating when I get invested in a relationship dynamic that the author sells you on for the first part of a book, only to try and be clever and completely flip it. Obviously just a personal preference/quirk of mine, but I was already feeling bored by this book, and that was the push I needed to put it aside.
This is a cute holiday freebie with an established couple, one who is nervous about his gift for his more dominant partner who works in a stressful job and needs to find a way to get out of his head. A lot of the time is Noah stressing over the equipment he ordered for Tobias to try puppy play. They do quite a bit of kinky stuff although Tobias refuses to admit it's kinky and Noah is nervous about his reaction.
It takes Tobias a while to kind of open his mind to the idea as puppies are usually submissive and he's definitely not, but it all works out in the end because they are an adorable couple. There is a cute little side story of the seniors residence where Noah works and how they help out and elderly couple live out their fantasy on V-Day.
I've recently become more interested (in an academic way) in puppy play after finding a YouTube channel run by a pup (but it's not just about that) and once Noah and Tobias run into a trio with one extremely bouncy pup at the end of the book, I had to run out and get their story.
So if you are interested in puppy play and more of the whys and what the pup gets out of it along with the handler this seemed to be handled pretty well based on what I've been watching. Not that I know but I enjoyed it a great deal. Definitely glad I picked up the freebie.
Noah loves his husband Tobias but Valentine's Day is not his favourite holiday and this year he is not sure that Tobias is going to see how perfect his surprise will be this year. Tobias has always known when his gentle giant of a husband is hiding something but this year Noah is a nervous wreck which surely means it is something more interesting than a bouquet of roses. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about flowers and cards, not puppy play and sexy secrets, but sometimes perfection involves looking a little outside the box.
I enjoyed this novella with Noah finding a great way for Tobias to relax and stop working so hard and being so stressed. Even with the solution he came up with it did flip the roles around as the handler was not the dominant one. I loved the reference to the Leashes & Lace series by Shaw Montgomery. Easy to read, feel and understand. This is an MM story with mature content with a BDSM-like D/s relationship with puppy play.
*spoiler at the end of the reviiew* I really liked this free Valentine story. The only downside was when the story really started, it was over! Did the guys enjoy the club? How did Toby feel as a pup? I hope that there will be a second book. I loved to see Cooper Saywer and Jackson for a brief moment, Cooper being his adorable self of couse! And a Dom pup, I didn’t kow it existed! It was a real plot twist because I assumed Noah bought the stuff for himself. It absolutely made more sense that it was for Tobias. I would love t read more about such a dynamic!
The author manages to even make short stories feel long-winded, but I was happier with it than with the last full length one I read. All the worrying and fretting was still rather repetitive and a bit much. I would have prefered more on page puppy play. There is very little, just their very first scene at the end and a tease of a puppy meet, where they meet the cast from Accidental Master, but never even make it through the changing rooms.
I obviously need to read more puppy play books! I had no idea what I've been missing.
I liked that Noah and Tobias were an established couple. Seeing how comfortable they were with each other and how they toed the line of kinky, made the introduction of the puppy gear less jarring It was easy to see them playing this way even if I was surprised by the dynamics. I honestly didn't expect Tobias to be the puppy but it definitely makes sense. I'd love to see more of these guys.
While I’m usually not a fan of stories about established couples, I AM a huge fan of MM stories and I adore M.A. Innes, so what the hell. And boy am I glad I gave it a try! What a lovely portrayal of a couple trying out a new dynamic. Sometimes awkward, always sweet and kind, and very, VERY HAWT, this is another great tale (tail? 😜) from a masterful storyteller.
Toby and Noah are an adorable pair. I like stories sometimes on a more established couple. These two guys have been together for a few years. Toby is having a hard time with admitting his Fetish side. I also enjoy when the Dom is the bottom. I've only read a couple of stories where that takes place. I like how these two work together to surprise each other for Valentine's day.
I enjoyed getting to know about Toby and Noah. I was left with plenty of questions, but as this was a short story, I’m not surprised. I’m hoping there will be another book, where my lingering questions will be answered. It was wonderful to see Ben, Cooper, Sawyer and Jackson in this book. Having those characters appear, helped to round out the ending ina fulfilling way.
And this wasn't a disappointment. I love how she had other characters from other books incorporated.. I also like that it took time to explain the why and how of puppy play....Someone new to puppy play book would enjoy the I've and caring that was put in to this book
I love M A Innes books . Even though this is a short story it's brilliantly written and she includes characters from her other books . Noah is such a sweet guy and totally in in love with Tobias that puppy play seems perfect for them to explore and a way to relax even though the rolls are reversed with the Dom being the pup x
This just read really weird for me and I couldn't grasp who was who quick enough to enjoy it. The whole sub as Puppy master was outside the norm. There was a lot of talking and sex but not a lot of actual puppy play going on. The story failed to entice me to want to read more unlike some other of Innes' books.
This is a well thought out book about two men married and happy. But one looking to relax the other in an unusually awesome way. Its also awesome that some of the characters from the authors other books are in this one. I hope to see more of all the other characters but especially Jackson, Sawyer and Cooper . They would be perfect friends for them. Great book
Cute little story that I really wish had been expanded upon. I was pretty shocked with it was Toby that ended up the pup, I would really have loved to see how both Toby and Noah folded this side of themselves into their lives.
And getting to see the Dom be the puppy was great. I was also glad to see this was an already established couple that explores something new. So happy to see Cooper!
I absolutely love how easily the author takes the less well known kinks and skillfully crafts them into a sweet, adorable, charming, engaging, lovely, smoking hot, and totally awesome story guaranteed to keep you hooked from beginning to end.
This is why I love this author. Great characters with true emotional depth in a story you get swept up in. We get another type of puppy play with Tobias and Noah. The dynamics of their relationship shows how the kink doesn’t define you, you define the kink. Be you. Embrace you. Love you.❤️
This story was absolutely adorable! I love reading books by this author. This one was a bit of a surprise. It definitely went in a slightly different direction than I was expecting! Toby and Noah have great chemistry.
M/M puppy play novella. It’s not terrible but not to my taste. The kink is written well but I wanted more emotional depth. There’s a lot of descriptions of what the characters think and do but not much emotional development.
This was a sweet story about husbands which one is a Dom pup and the other is his Human sub! Though the beginning was a bit dragging for me, it was still sweet! It has a few cameos from a few other series like mentions of Leashes and Lace, and the trio Jackson-Cooper-Sawyer from Accidental Master!
A tender relationship between two delightful already-married characters, and a Valentine's present it will be impossible to beat. Tangentially connected to two other series by the author. Highly recommended.
I love trope inversions, and this sweet yet sexy novella did an excellent job of both making me swoon from the sweetness and be absolutely delighted with how things worked out between the characters. I highly recommend this to readers interested in checking out this author.