This was an interesting play on the D/S relationship. Dean Hudson is a wounded war veteran both bodily and physically. Thinking himself ugly and unlovable, he avoids dating until he meets his sister's friend, Ethan Moreland. Ethan is a strong Dom and successful businessman who plays at being a knight on weekends. Both men carry some heavy baggage but the real issue is whether Dean can trust enough to become the sub Ethan needs. I didn't think that I'd enjoy this book as I purchased it thinking that it would be about real knights. I was pleasantly surprised. The author took the time to explain why each man was dom and sub and brought out the love/trust issues well. My biggest gripe was too much unnecessary sex which got boring. ( )

I really liked this story about Dean, a wounded ex-Marine, who meets Ethan, the owner of a brewerypub who spends his weekends as a knight at renaissance fairs. The coming together of these two men who are outwardly both warriors, yet Dean discovers he has a submissive streak, was interesting to follow.

A couple of things really bugged me about the underlying dynamic, which is why I couldn't totally enjoy the story. I think Dean put it best when he says at one point, about half way through the week of "testing" their D/s relationship: There were two more days before life could go back to normal. But did he want normal? Dean shook his head. He didn’t want normal. He wanted Ethan, but Ethan came with strings he couldn’t take.

Dean is wounded physically, emotionally and mentally. He is just beginning to heal, to take control of his life again - and Ethan is asking him to give up control and "be taken care of". This is bound to cause emotional conflict later on. The fact that Dean clearly sees that "Ethan is coming with strings attached that he can't accept" - and then he accepts them anyway clearly shows that Dean is not in a frame of mind to make such a decision. He is in need of love - and will accept anything to get it. That is the impression his final submission left with me.

Ethan, who is totally unwilling to compromise, insisting on being dominant "no matter what" despite the fact he loves Dean is the second thing that bugged me. It stopped me from really liking him.

I hope there will be a sequel, because there are too many issues these two have not dealt with. If this story is left as is, I think it is just one more 'pseudo D/s relationship' heading for trouble. ( )