At first I wasn't so sure about this because I'm not big into bdsm especially if it's contemporary. However this was free so I figured, why not? If I choose to ignore the absolute eye-roll inducing insta-love, I think this was an overall pretty decent story

You've got Kit who's a star baseball player at his college. He's a cocky little shit and he lays eyes on his substitute teacher Liam and is instantly smitten. He sets out to seduce him and Liam of course, shuts him down. All caution is thrown out the window when they run into each other in Provincetown literally a few days later and proclaim love at first sight. I'm not joking. And the rest as they say, is history.

So first you have an age gap and then a role reversal where the older, more experienced guy is the bottom/sub. Then comes the kink. Now I haven't read a lot of bdsm and not to say that there's an age requirement… but this 20 year old is well versed in hot wax, whippings, exhibitionism, collars/claimings, master/slave situations, as well as fear play. Yep. He also remarked he would never do these things to another unless he himself had experienced it. And when did this all start? In between his playing baseball and camp and jr high through high school?? There was mention of him learning the whip starting at age 14 under the ruse of having an interest in Renaissance fairs! Wow. But what the hell do I know? I was a bit like a deer in headlights; I couldn't look away. These scenes to me were pretty separate from the actual smexy times so I could easily detach myself from that and enjoy the more "vanilla" parts.

In and amongst all of that was a pretty sweet love story, as well as some topical issues of parental acceptance and being out of the closet as a professional sports player. Suffice it to say, this had a lot of different elements to it - maybe one or all will strike your fancy. ( )

I am so very partial to so many things in this book, I can easily give it 7 stars.
That said, I have to admit that parts of the book are somewhat confusing - there are so many baseball details and I have no clue to what they actually mean! I am not a baseball fan :(
One star off for that.
There isn't much of a real conflict in the story as well. Kit is tormented by his peers, but we don't see a lot of it. At one point his father is on a verge of disowning him, but later on somehow everything works out just fine, all the real turmoil hidden behind the scenes.
There goes another star.
Which leaves me with 5 :D
( )

I really did enjoy this story. While I liked the change-up in the D/s dynamic (younger D/older s), I did have difficulty, every once in a while, believing that Kit, at 20, could already be such an experienced Dom. Liam felt quite real to me. ( )

That's right...I'm grunting! A Perfect Game" has hit so many pluses in my book, that I can't help but grunt like Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor. This book has been sitting on my TBR mountain for months, MONTHS! and I am so upset with myself.

Have no fear, I think back on my favorite scene (I'll describe it soon) and I'm happy all over again.



Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine's "A Perfect Game" was not perfect for me but it was pretty damn close. I was in kinky glee while reading, wanting to high five my Kindle every time I started to read more of the story. There's kink, a younger top/ older bottom, student/teacher relations (don't worry everyone involved was legal) and some rock solid sex scenes (in some pretty interesting places like a porn store and locker room)!!



Twenty year old Kit Pennington is rich, slightly bratty and loves baseball. College...eh, not as much. Or should I say not until replacement professor to his visual Arts class, Professor Liam Dalton walks in with his blonde good looks. The two are drawn together, or should I say naughty Kit pursues the hell out of Liam. But with a dirty mouth like Kit's, who would want to resist? Not me, that's for sure.



Maybe you think the content or premise might not be for you. And that's cool. It worked for me very well might I add.

My favorite scene? Kit and Liam's first time together featuring a cigarette, bodies being shoved around and some sexy ass smoke! A teaser from the book:

His other hand went back to work on his cock, so hard now the swollen head pointed obscenely at Liam. "You want another drag, you're going to have to earn it."

That's a slam dunk (oh wait it's a baseball book so, home run) for me!!



Why this gif? Because it's touching the realm of disbelief and I visited the land of Highly Improbable for my main issue with the book. (My pros totally outweighed the cons so I'm not dwelling on it too much) What was my gripe? INSTA-LOVE! Kit and Liam fall for each other in a week. But I like this pairing so much, I'm trying not give two shits. (But in a few days...'I love you's'...really?)

I think weeks of heightened sexual tension would have made this a stellar read. I can just imagine, young Kit wearing tight uniforms daily to drive Professor Dalton into erotic tension supernova? Imagine Kit bending over ever so slightly because he dropped a pen? And he just grazed the professor with his lush tush? Brushing against him when leaving the classroom? Maybe even leaving articles of clothing for the teacher's eyes only, sporadically throughout the semester, each item becoming raunchier and raunchier as finals approach? Maybe little dirty notes at the beginning of class? Hotness right?

But I digress.

Continuing with the issues, there were a couple of typos but I'm not a perfectionist nor do I expect to find it in all that I read. (It'd be a plus. Luckily it did not detract from the story for me) Yes, some parts felt a bit rushed and easily resolved. (And there were spots of mush) But as I mentioned already, the pros outweighs the cons.



I'm still riding the erotic high. I'm not nitpicking so only -1 star for my overall rating from me.

So.

Again.

" ( )

This novel collects some of my preferred themes in Gay Romance: it has a college setting, Kit, 20 years old is attending a Christian college to fulfil a promise to his wealthy father, maintain good grades while he is pursuing his real dream, to become a professional baseball player; Kit falls for Liam, the 36 years old college professor of one of Kit’s courses. So other than a college themed novel, this is also a very nice May / December romance, with a switch that I liked, the dominant lover in the couple it’s not the older man, Liam, but Kit: the dominant role serves to Kit to grew, not only in age but also in self-esteem. Kit has not a solid family behind, and above all, he has a troubled relationship with his father who treats him more like a teenager than a young adult. Kit is loosing himself in relationship with older men, probably a way to prove that he can “control” them and impose to them his decisions, while he is not able to do the same with his father. When Kit meets Liam, the need of Kit to “dominate” an older man, is matched to Liam’s need to be dominated; it’s not strictly necessary for Liam that his partner is younger, but probably Liam has a soft spot for younger men, and so to find a younger man who is also able to be an attentive and careful dominant, is the perfect combination for him.

Liam is not probably a strong man, if for strong you means an emotional independent man. Liam is very fragile on an emotional level; I think he can be easily wound with harsh words more than with a real physical pain. Liam is also the classical man who needs to take care of his partner in a very ordinary way, cooking dinner, doing chores, and so on. He has the need to prove his love with small things, and he has the need to have a life partner near him, someone to share his day-to-day life.

As you probably have already understood, there are two more themes: a BDSM relationship and the sport setting. While I’m not so fond of the first of the two, I can say that in A Perfect Game, the kinky side of BDSM relationship is well compensated by the love relationship, Kit never pushes too much Liam, he is always attentive of Liam’s changes of mood, and in the end, and their games are more sexy than painful. The sport setting instead is a bit on the behind scene, it’s not fully developed but hinted: there is probably space for a sequel, where this side of the story can be developed further.

I also liked a lot the real setting, the places where the novel is developed, Providence, Provincetown, Newport… all places I visited last September and that I recognized in their description. It’s clear that the authors are describing places they know and love, and this love transpires from their words. It made me want to come back there to see if my memories and their descriptions are up to the reality.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00336EWZC/?tag=elimyrevandra-20