Finding Love

by Simone Anderson

Time may heal their wounds, but not their hearts.

When Special Response team member, Nick Jackson learns that his submissive ex-boyfriend is missing, fear sends him racing home, and re-ignites feelings for the man he never got out of his heart.

Trying to save the life of the man he loves, Tristan McTavish leaves Harbour Springs, only to wake up in a hospital with Nick standing guard and no memory of how he got there. As the pair race to find out who is terrorizing Tristan and why, they are forced to confront their fears and feelings and learn that they have found love with each other.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Contemporary, Novella, Romance, M M Contemporary, Gay

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Simone currently lives in west Michigan with their family and three cats. They have lived in and traveled to dozens of states and countries, including four years in Japan. They have been writing all of their life, seriously only after returning to Michigan. A lifelong learner, they still takes classes in a variety of subjects and an ever expanding list of hobbies and dreams of having their own library one day. When not writing they can be found sewing, quilting, reading, cooking, baking, trying their hand at gardening and canning, traveling, genealogy research, and photographing anything that looks interesting or inspiring.

Reviews

[Elisa Rolle]

This is the first book I read by this author, and as first impression is a positive one, but I have some trouble in following all the aspect of it. I had almost the impression that this was a story inside a bigger contest, that some characters were already known to the authors and her readers and so she didn't present them. The good point is that, for being a BDSM story, it's very light on that side and so it could be right for a wider audience, also maybe someone who wants to have a taste on the theme, without going too deep into it.

Nick is a police officer in Chicago. When the story starts he is barely out of a forced leave due to an injury and he wants to come back work as soon as possible. But then he receives a phone call from home, a place he left months before: his former boyfriend and submissive, Tristan is missing. From Nick's reaction we understand that his feelings for Tristan are not vanished yet, and Nick runs back home. Shift in time: Nick is at Tristan's home and he was found chained in a cabin near home. Why and who did that is not clear, and Tristan doesn't remember anything. It was quite strange to not having any details in those days while Nick was searching for Tristan and the days of his recoveries, plus I would have liked to see Tristan's reaction to Nick coming back home. From what we can collect from conversation and personal brainstorming of the two men, Tristan and Nick didn't have a breakup since they were not good together but for different reasons and due to both men's insecurities.

Nick saw his parents marriage fails due to his mother's mental unsteadiness. Coupling this with his work, Nick wants a reliable partner by his side, someone who can stand the tension and the fear to be a policeman's partner. And Nick is also weary to express his feelings, in a way he is convinced he doesn't love anyone, but probably he doesn't want to love anyone since he is not ready to loose that one. Plus being a dominant lover, Nick tends to be overprotective of his partner without giving him any chance or info useful to understand Nick's actions. On the other hand Tristan is not the usual submissive; he has a business, he is independent, he likes to submit in bed but not in life. He is strong enough to be a policeman's partner, but Nick doesn't believe it. Plus Tristan doesn't pretend too much from a partner if not commitment, and those three words, I love you, that Nick never said.

So no, Nick and Tristan, even if good in bed, are not a perfect couple, at least not till they decide to put aside the too many unsaid "IFs" in their life to give a try to their love.

As I said, for a first time author, at least for me, I did find the story nice, but I wouldn't have minded some connection points between all the events, sometime I felt like I was lost in a labyrinth; most of the story is played inside the two men's mind and the events depend on their inner decision... that's right, it's as it should be, but the two men change idea soo often that also the story is sometime in a buzz: Nick does not love Tristan but cares for him, Tristan does not want Nick with him without commitment, Nick loves Tristan but will leave, Nick loves Tristan and will remain, Tristan loves Nick but will let him go, Tristan loves Nick and will let him stay... In a way maybe it's right like that, we are in the middle of the focal point of a love story, when all is unsteady and the result is still not very sure.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/81...

[xbmbgrl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nick and Tristan had a long history together in a D/s relationship that ended abruptly when Tristan demanded true emotional commitment from Nick. Nick refused to give that to Tristan.

This book has a ton of holes that are never plugged or explained. There is a lot of assumption going on that we know who certain people are to these men when they are spoken of. I actually went looking to see if this was a sequel but I don’t see anything else by this author.

Tristan is kidnapped and left to be found by his ex lover/Master Nick. The kidnapping plot and the reason behind it made no sense to me. I never did understand the reasoning of the kidnapper once the Sheriff solved the crime.

I have so many other questions about the plot that I don’t even know where to begin. The sex was hot but the D/s was not well researched or used to its best advantage for the two. These seemed much more like roles they played then needs they met most of the time.

The attitude of the Sheriff toward the crime was unpardonable. He didn’t have time to make it a priority in their little, apparently, crime ridden town of Harbour Springs. If this is Harbour Springs, MI it only has 2000 people or so. This would have been the biggest thing to hit the town and should have been of the highest priority to everyone on the force.

Nicks attitude was just as appalling. He questioned if he wanted to remain involved with Tristan because he would be damaged after the kidnapping and Tristan knew this would be a problem since Nick demanded perfection from everyone. At one point Nick actually says to Tristan: “I think, you obey.”

Tristan, it turns out, is also an uber-karate expert that owns a Dojo. He does get in a few great punches and kicks to Nick at one point but even that is not satisfying and comes out of nowhere.

Of course, eventually Nick comes to his senses and begins to realize what real love is. With lots of sudden epiphanies for Nick, Tristan gets to hear what he has been waiting so long for.

The sudden character introductions, missing back-story, convoluted reasoning and holey plot were mistakes that should have been addressed before this reader did.

[Suze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear. I didn’t get on with this one at all really. I felt I’d been dropped in the story mid way and I found it very disjointed and jumpy.
Both Nick and Tristan were very hot and cold - yes I want him, no I can’t have him, yes I want him - it got very tiring very quickly.
This was written in 2009 so maybe an early effort but I did find the telling quite simplistic and overly dramatic. The plot idea was fine though I did clock the main stalker as one of 2 possibles quite early.

[Aethena Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a quick read with plenty of angst, action, a dash of romance, some BDSM, and a tiny bit of mystery, this will be a decent read. There is a bit of plot mixed in with steamy scenes. The story had the feel of something that could have been fleshed out more but works well as a quick read.

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

've never read this author before. Nick gets a phone call that his ex Tristan has disappeared. He is on medical leave from the Chicago PD after being shot. He rushes home and they find Tristan chained in a shed wearing a mask. Seems someone has been sending Tristan messages saying they are going to kill Nick which is kind of weird since they've been split up for a year after Nick couldn't admit to loving Tristan. (BDSM relationship) So they spend a lot of time screwing around and getting more freaky threats in the mail and trying to figure out who the hell is doing this. Some things that weren't really made clear were the fact that Tristan's brothers and sister seem to hate him because he's gay I guess, they make reference to it but you don't really find out the whole thing and then there is reference to Tristan's "body sensitivity" issue which makes him less than perfect and the reason Nick couldn't love him? Huh? I wasn't sure. But if you have an overly sensitive body, would you be into getting whipped? Wouldn't that be too much? And he's a martial arts teacher. You take some hits to the body. So they just made reference to this body thing but didn't explain what it was or why it was a problem. Nick was a bit of an ass, must have you and fuck you stupid, push you away and say it was wrong, must have you and you fuck me stupid, push you away .... Sigh. I must say the person I suspected of being behind it wasn't. Surprise. Usually I guess. So that was okay.

[blub · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really like the ending. I thought it was a bit anti-climatic and simple. The bdsm aspect of the story wasn't too bad and I could actually stomach reading through it (something that doesn't really come too easy for me sometimes). I liked the reunion between Nick and Tristan and how they kind of tried to fight the attraction. The air of mystery of "whodunit" was great until the author kind of blew the whistle by having Nick name the two people who could have committed the crime.

[Coffee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate giving low stars/bad reviews but I couldn't even get through to the end of chapter two with this book. The writing felt so rushed that I felt like I was reading a rough draft, and the two main characters did nothing for me. Disappointed.

[Raevyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

There were a lot of WTF moments that didn't clear up as the book went on. I actually went back and read the beginning because I thought I had missed something... nope just a big old plot hole.