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Dr. John Fell: Lost & Found #23
Pink: Dolorosa
Charlie, fondly known as twink, is on the loose in Dolorosa, and he’s finding the single life tougher than he expected. Ben wouldn’t agree to be a dad, so Charlie is pursuing his dreams of fatherhood alone. Dr. Fell keeps a stern eye on Charlie as he juggles his roles as potential papa, leather-slut, and career boy. Events come to a head at Dr. Fell and Dave’s commitment ceremony!
46 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2009
42 people want to read
About the author
Syd McGinley
74 books111 followersI'm a writer of queer erotica -- mostly m/m and D/s.
I live with Beloved Joe and the evil kitten clan.
I fled Thatcher’s England in the late 1980ies, and have lived in the American Midwest since then. Frying pan and fire come to mind. Back in the UK, I ran a record store (ah vinyl!). Since coming to America, I've taught college, edited at a small publishing house, researched and written background reports, and been a professional thank you letter writer.
I live with Beloved Joe and the evil kitten clan.
I fled Thatcher’s England in the late 1980ies, and have lived in the American Midwest since then. Frying pan and fire come to mind. Back in the UK, I ran a record store (ah vinyl!). Since coming to America, I've taught college, edited at a small publishing house, researched and written background reports, and been a professional thank you letter writer.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 8, 2012
Enjoyed this one quite a bit. I always had a soft spot for Twink :)
November 10, 2009
I really enjoyed this short addition to the Dr. Fell series. However, I was a little disappointed to see this story was meant to take place over six months after "Attitude Adjustments" which isn't out to the public yet. I hate reading things out of order.
November 13, 2023
Re-read on 12 Nov 2023. Lol, I bumped up my rating from 4 stars to 5.
Love, love, love these stories. It's been ages since I've read any Dr. Fell, and I forgot, Delorosa is when Dave and John get married 😍🥰. Amazing.
And I forgot how much I adore Charlie.
Love, love, love these stories. It's been ages since I've read any Dr. Fell, and I forgot, Delorosa is when Dave and John get married 😍🥰. Amazing.
And I forgot how much I adore Charlie.
November 8, 2009
I am definitely a Dr. Fell series junkie. If you haven't read others in the series, this may not be the best one with which to start. But I loved it! And ... it didn't end as I expected. Syd McGinley rocks.
Here's my review from Rainbow Reviews if you want to know more.
Those of you who are fans of Syd McGinley's Dr. Fell series will already have purchased this much-awaited tale that takes place about six months after the end of the previously published stories in the Fell saga. If you haven't read any of this series, then reading this story will be something like reading the epilogue of a book first -- wonderful and heart-warming and full of characters about whom you wish you knew more.
The primary protagonist is Charlie, fondly called Twink, who has left Ben, the man he loves and is now living out on his own. Charlie and Ben had been together for several years in a D/s relationship, but they split six months ago over the issue of fatherhood. Charlie wanted it, Ben didn't.
Charlie is doing okay now, but he misses Ben, misses having a master, and, even though he is, for the first time in his twenty-eight years, actually living as a responsible adult, he's lonely. He's walking the Via Dolorosa, grieving for Ben, on a pilgrimage, in a sense, to find the rest of his life. He wants, he needs to be a father, and if Ben can't live with that, then he can't live with Ben, no matter how much he loves him.
Charlie still has his silly, twinky moments (pink is still his favorite color and he still has his Hello Kitty keyring!), but he's got a job, he irons his clothes (but without starch, so there!), his apartment is neat enough for Dr. Fell, and while he may not be an expectant father just yet, he has hopes -- and he's been celibate since he left Ben. Hard as it is to think about it, it's time to move on.
All of this is set against the backdrop of Dr. Fell's own upcoming happy ending, his commitment ceremony with Dave.
This is a more complex story than I've made it sound, in plot as well as emotionally, but especially more complex in character development. Syd McGinley's characters never take the easy path, and that is what makes them so interesting. That is why legions of Dr. Fell fans wait not-so-patiently for more of the story.
If you have not read any of the Dr. Fell stories (a series called 'Lost and Found'), you can buy the first half conveniently in paperback, rather than searching for the dozens of stories individually: The Complete Dr. Fell Volume 1: Lost. (I have heard that the second volume, presumably to be called Volume 2: Found, will be out later this year.) If you love Pink: Dolorosa, you will want to go back to the beginning and read this series.
As always in McGinley's writing, the end is not a pat 'happy ever after'. It's all about potential and possibilities. Her characters are called to make the best of themselves. And that is what makes her writing so readable. Charlie may be the most endearingly needy character she has ever created, but while he may often be accused of BEING trying, no one can accuse him of not trying at all. I adore Charlie. And I adored Pink: Dolorosa. I think you will, too.
RE: the title: those of you who do not follow Torquere Press may not realize that this is part of their 'Color Box' series. Authors take a color and write a story -- this one is Perfectly Pink for Charlie!
Here's my review from Rainbow Reviews if you want to know more.
Those of you who are fans of Syd McGinley's Dr. Fell series will already have purchased this much-awaited tale that takes place about six months after the end of the previously published stories in the Fell saga. If you haven't read any of this series, then reading this story will be something like reading the epilogue of a book first -- wonderful and heart-warming and full of characters about whom you wish you knew more.
The primary protagonist is Charlie, fondly called Twink, who has left Ben, the man he loves and is now living out on his own. Charlie and Ben had been together for several years in a D/s relationship, but they split six months ago over the issue of fatherhood. Charlie wanted it, Ben didn't.
Charlie is doing okay now, but he misses Ben, misses having a master, and, even though he is, for the first time in his twenty-eight years, actually living as a responsible adult, he's lonely. He's walking the Via Dolorosa, grieving for Ben, on a pilgrimage, in a sense, to find the rest of his life. He wants, he needs to be a father, and if Ben can't live with that, then he can't live with Ben, no matter how much he loves him.
Charlie still has his silly, twinky moments (pink is still his favorite color and he still has his Hello Kitty keyring!), but he's got a job, he irons his clothes (but without starch, so there!), his apartment is neat enough for Dr. Fell, and while he may not be an expectant father just yet, he has hopes -- and he's been celibate since he left Ben. Hard as it is to think about it, it's time to move on.
All of this is set against the backdrop of Dr. Fell's own upcoming happy ending, his commitment ceremony with Dave.
This is a more complex story than I've made it sound, in plot as well as emotionally, but especially more complex in character development. Syd McGinley's characters never take the easy path, and that is what makes them so interesting. That is why legions of Dr. Fell fans wait not-so-patiently for more of the story.
If you have not read any of the Dr. Fell stories (a series called 'Lost and Found'), you can buy the first half conveniently in paperback, rather than searching for the dozens of stories individually: The Complete Dr. Fell Volume 1: Lost. (I have heard that the second volume, presumably to be called Volume 2: Found, will be out later this year.) If you love Pink: Dolorosa, you will want to go back to the beginning and read this series.
As always in McGinley's writing, the end is not a pat 'happy ever after'. It's all about potential and possibilities. Her characters are called to make the best of themselves. And that is what makes her writing so readable. Charlie may be the most endearingly needy character she has ever created, but while he may often be accused of BEING trying, no one can accuse him of not trying at all. I adore Charlie. And I adored Pink: Dolorosa. I think you will, too.
RE: the title: those of you who do not follow Torquere Press may not realize that this is part of their 'Color Box' series. Authors take a color and write a story -- this one is Perfectly Pink for Charlie!
Read
April 4, 2010Charlie, or Twink, is for sure the other main character in the BDSM series by Syd McGinley; it’s strange since he is not Dr. Fell’s partner, Dave is, but in this case the main characters are not the duo in a relationship, but are the epitome of who they represent: Dr. Fell the perfect Sir, and Charlie the perfect boy, or at least, both of them try so hard to be that they win for commitment more than result.
Charlie is indeed the first boy, the one who launched Dr. Fell’s career. In a good love relationship with Ben, they did not have though a good D / s’s one, and Ben in particular wanted it. Charlie wanted what Ben’s wanted, and so there he was, following Dr. Fell’s lead. Again, even if there was sex between Charlie and Dr. Fell, I have never felt like they were a missed couple: Charlie was clearly happy with Ben, who was strong enough to give him balance, but “soft” enough to also indulge in Charlie’s faults.
When Dolorosa starts, Charlie is trying to adjust to his life without Ben and he is miserably failing; Charlie is not made to be alone, he can’t really take good decisions for his own good, he is not playing at being a boy, he is a boy, and like that he needs a Sir to tell him what to do. Trying hard to be a good boy alone, he is not doing wrong, he is doing even too much, arriving to deny to himself everything related to pleasure, like food or sex. Even Dr. Fell doesn’t recognize him no more, and the reader is all for him to give up and call Ben. But also this is not the right thing, and Dr. Fell corrects Charlie and the reader both: Charlie needs to find his away, not alone but with someone else; Charlie needs to decide if his dream of having a child is more important of his relationship with Ben, who doesn’t want to be a father; Charlie needs to take a right decision on his own, at least for one time.
Going out, finding someone else, trying to see if he can have a life without Ben, are all steps Charlie needs to take, to develop not in a boy without a Sir, but in a boy who is able to understand what is good for him. This story is all about Charlie and his path towards independency, obviously with everything pink coloured, from the nails, to the cocktails, till his perspective on the world, and from that perspective, from Charlie’s perspective, the world is simple but scaring, and in the end, a better one.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/10...
Charlie is indeed the first boy, the one who launched Dr. Fell’s career. In a good love relationship with Ben, they did not have though a good D / s’s one, and Ben in particular wanted it. Charlie wanted what Ben’s wanted, and so there he was, following Dr. Fell’s lead. Again, even if there was sex between Charlie and Dr. Fell, I have never felt like they were a missed couple: Charlie was clearly happy with Ben, who was strong enough to give him balance, but “soft” enough to also indulge in Charlie’s faults.
When Dolorosa starts, Charlie is trying to adjust to his life without Ben and he is miserably failing; Charlie is not made to be alone, he can’t really take good decisions for his own good, he is not playing at being a boy, he is a boy, and like that he needs a Sir to tell him what to do. Trying hard to be a good boy alone, he is not doing wrong, he is doing even too much, arriving to deny to himself everything related to pleasure, like food or sex. Even Dr. Fell doesn’t recognize him no more, and the reader is all for him to give up and call Ben. But also this is not the right thing, and Dr. Fell corrects Charlie and the reader both: Charlie needs to find his away, not alone but with someone else; Charlie needs to decide if his dream of having a child is more important of his relationship with Ben, who doesn’t want to be a father; Charlie needs to take a right decision on his own, at least for one time.
Going out, finding someone else, trying to see if he can have a life without Ben, are all steps Charlie needs to take, to develop not in a boy without a Sir, but in a boy who is able to understand what is good for him. This story is all about Charlie and his path towards independency, obviously with everything pink coloured, from the nails, to the cocktails, till his perspective on the world, and from that perspective, from Charlie’s perspective, the world is simple but scaring, and in the end, a better one.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/10...
May 1, 2012
My god, twink is facing 30! I liked this story, but it kind of wasn't the book I wanted. With twink single again I guess I wanted him to party hard and play with dozens of new Doms, but this isn't that book. I did enjpy it though, it fits well into the series, although there's a sense this is the final book. I hope not.
Did I miss a volume where Dr Ronne meets Rinnie or Rinnie goes back with Dr Ronne to live with him? I wanted to read that and I can only find stories with right before this, or afterwards.
Did I miss a volume where Dr Ronne meets Rinnie or Rinnie goes back with Dr Ronne to live with him? I wanted to read that and I can only find stories with right before this, or afterwards.
December 12, 2011
I love the intelligence that pervades McGinley's books, while managing to avoid any indication of pomposity. This book maintains that standard and gives the next part of twink's story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews