Pure Indulgence
by Victoria Sue
Book 2 of the Pure series
M/M Contemporary/BDSM/Mystery
4 Stars
Joe, an ex-detective and a popular Dom, wasn’t gay. Not one little bit. He told himself that all the time he fought the inexplicable attraction he had for the gorgeous young submissive, Adam. Yet when he learns a psychopath responsible for two murders has set his sights on Adam, and Adam disappears, it suddenly seemed far more important to tell him something else.
Joe realizes Adam has become more important to him than his next breath, but if he can’t track down the psycho that was torturing and murdering submissives, Joe won’t ever be able to tell Adam anything else again, it will be far too late.
Review:
I hadn't realised this book was part of a series until after I'd read it, and I think it would be better for the reader to start with book 1 and then read this one. It does stand on its own, but I got a bit confused at the beginning when we were introduced to lots of characters at once. I assume some of them were in Book 1 so that the reader was supposed to know who they were right off the bat.
Pure is a BDSM club in Orlando, Florida and Joe is one of the club's owners. He's always been a Dom, but in the scenes he's played out, he's always been with women. He has never considered himself gay but he can no longer deny the attraction he feels towards Adam, one of the submissives at the club. His two ex-wives can testify to the fact that he isn't gay.
When the submissives hold an auction to raise money for a charity, Joe is really jealous when Adam is bought by another Dom for the evening. He fights his attraction tooth and nail, after all, he isn't gay! But eventually he musters up the courage to ask Adam to play a scene with him.
Adam is wary at first, he had no idea Joe was bisexual and he is afraid that Joe is really just experimenting with him and doesn't want anything more long term. For Adam has been in love with Joe for a while, but if all they'll ever have is sex, he wants to take that chance.
But someone is stalking and murdering submissives in Florida. Submissives who look remarkably like Adam. And when Adam disappears, Joe has to re-evaluate his feelings.
This book had a good balance of mystery and romance and the sex scenes were scorching hot. And the reason they were scorching hot was not because it was kinky or what have you, it was because of the emotional connection the characters shared. You cared about them and that draws you into a love scene more than anything else. I have to applaud the author for a book about BDSM where consent is an important part. So many I've read seem to use the term BDSM, when in reality the scenes that were played out were abusive. That is not the case here, thank goodness.
The characters discuss the 'gay for you' trope in the book, with Adam insisting that there's no such thing. But Joe does seem to be only attracted to Adam, not men in general, so perhaps there is a little bit of the trope here after all.
There is a bit of angst, a bit of humour and lots of romance. I adore a good hurt/comfort story, and at its heart, this is what Pure Indulgence is. Adam has had such a rough life up to now, and with the stalker, he knows it isn't over yet. But Joe doesn't run, he becomes the best Dom he can and looks after Adam as well as punishing him.
All the characters were well drawn but my favourite character has to be Adam. He was so damaged, but also so resilient too and you just couldn't help but root for him.
If you like a bit of a mystery plot with your romance, you can't go far wrong with Pure Indulgence.
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