Title: Heart Thief
Author: Claire Thompson
Series: Serving His Master (#5 in the series)
Genre: Contemporary Wester M/M Romance
Publisher: Romance Unbound Publishing (July 8, 2011)
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating: ☕☕
Synopsis: Caught in the snare of a cruel Dom… Only a cowboy’s love can set him free…
Sawyer Croft has been through hell and back, and come out the stronger for it. A cowboy to his core, he’s determined to help his father save their horse ranch. At the same time, he dreams of one day finding a man who understands the passion of sensual domination and the transcendence of erotic pain.
After a stint in the Army, Luke Malone meets a powerful billionaire who offers him a job…with benefits. He’s intrigued by Glenn’s dominance and experience with BDSM, but Glenn’s penchant for rough sex and extreme control, as well as his reputation for the catch and release of sub boys, takes a toll. When Glenn sends Luke to an East Texas ranch to scope out a business deal, Luke knows he has been dismissed and replaced.
While his connection with Sawyer sparks blazing need between them, deep emotional scars make Luke slow to trust again. Sawyer knows Luke won’t get past his anger and pain unless he can move through the feelings and then let them go. Together, they embark on a D/s journey that opens both their worlds in ways neither had ever imagined.
That is, until Glenn decides he wants his boy back. And what Glenn wants, Glenn gets.
My Thoughts: I really wanted to like this book, but it was seriously a bad example of the BDSM lifestyle.
The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: We have Luke, who realized he was a sub when he was approached by Glenn. Glenn is a really wealthy jackhole who pretty much uses the BDSM lifestyle to abuse his Subs. We weren't supposed to like Glenn but we were supposed to like Sawyer. The author was heavy handed with the way she "guided" us readers to those conclusions. Glenn = Bad. Sawyer = Good. I'd rather draw my own conclusions thank you very much. Also, not once did either Doms discuss limits, safe words, or after care (even though Sawyer did provide after care he didn't discuss this with Luke before any scenes started.) As Luke was new to the entire lifestyle all of this should have been number one with Sawyer after realizing Luke was pretty much a newbie even after spending a few months with Glenn. All Sawyer wanted to talk about was some weird pain equals a spiritual experience that could transcend the sub while deep into a scene. It reminded me of some sort of weird stuff a hippie would spout while high on 'shrooms.
Besides all that there was an issue with the romance itself. we spent 1/3 of the book reading about Glenn's abusive tendencies (3 months in Luke's time) and only one week with Sawyer, where they jumped right into Luke being hog tied and hanging from a support beam on the day they met. Somehow, in that week, they fell in love. Of course, when their eyes met that first day birds sang their song of love, butterflies danced, and fireworks burst only for them. Just kidding but almost not. The author did add some poetic flowery words for the Sa-luke couple. Or is that Luyer? I don't know but I probably won't go back and read any more of this series knowing Thompson regularly writes BDSM stories.
In a Nutshell: I'm glad I read this book using my Kindle Unlimited subscription and even though the rest of the series is available to me with KU I probably won't go back and read any more knowing Thompson regularly writes BDSM stories and they are probably similar to this one.
