BiB 5 Star Review: For Real

Title: For Real

Author: Alexis Hall

Publisher/GR Link: GR, Riptide

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: May/December, BDSM

Rating: 5 out of 5 Banned in Boston stars

Lock this book up: 4 out of 5 keys.  The sex is hot and an integral part of the story.

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Suits the story well

Best Line: .."then he twisted his fingers possessively in my hair and mumbled, 'thank you...' 'For what,' I couldn't resist asking.  'For getting me.'"

Synopsis: Laurence Dalziel is worn down and washed up, and for him, the BDSM scene is all played out. Six years on from his last relationship, he’s pushing forty and tired of going through the motions of submission.

Then he meets Toby Finch. Nineteen years old. Fearless, fierce, and vulnerable. Everything Laurie can’t remember being.

Toby doesn’t know who he wants to be or what he wants to do. But he knows, with all the certainty of youth, that he wants Laurie. He wants him on his knees. He wants to make him hurt, he wants to make him beg, he wants to make him fall in love.

The problem is, while Laurie will surrender his body, he won’t surrender his heart. Because Toby is too young, too intense, too easy to hurt. And what they have—no matter how right it feels—can’t last. It can’t mean anything.

It can’t be real.

Impressions: This is an amazing read!  I read BDSM when the mood strikes, but I wouldn't say it is a favorite sub-genre, and I thought I'd be getting a good BDSM book based on the blurb I had read.  Did I ever underestimate this book!  

To think of this as another sub looking for a dom book does this engrossing novel a huge disservice.  This is a story about two complex, strong, fallible men finding love and each other, and learning to accept their love and themselves.  

Laurie is a wonderful combination strength and self consciousness.  He has been hurt and is trying to keep his life patched together, but he is missing something he is almost afraid to acknowledge he needs.

Toby is young and full of passionate intensity, self knowledge, and self questions.  Toby's youth and convictions are a delicious combination, and it is 100% believable that Laurie was just as captivated by him as are we.

This novel explores identity and relationships in such  new, authentic way.  I saw elements of myself in both Toby and Laurie, and I would venture to say that many others will feel the same way.  In truth, I have little on the surface similar to either man, but Hall writes so beautifully about their struggles for self love and self acceptance, that I think everyone will see themselves in these universal struggles.  If you love BDSM, then grab it, and if you aren't usually a BDSM fan, give this one a try.  It explores BDSM as a way to meet the needs of the MC's and each other, and is much more about love than anything else.

For Real is available now on Riptide's site, and tomorrow on other online vendors.  This is a beautiful journey, and I didn't want to put it down for a second. I'm not at all embarrassed to say that I fell a little in love with both MC's, and I loved the secondaries too.  I just realized that this was part of the "Spires" world, and I haven't read any of those yet, and I promise I will ASAP!  (Glitterland has been on my TBR for an embarrassingly long time!)

Grab this book now and settle in for a story of love, strength and commitment.

This book was provided via netgalley for an unbiased review.