Becoming His Master by M.Q. Barber is an interesting combination of ‘gentle’ and ‘BDSM’.  A wounded sub and a trained dom, trying to find a balance between their needs and stumbling upon love at the same time. I received a copy of this book at no charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own and this post contains affiliate links.

Becoming His Master by M.Q. Barber

Purchase Links:  Amazon/ All Romance eBooks

Title:  Becoming His Master
Series: Neighborly Affection Book 4
Author: M.Q. Barber
Publisher:   Lyrical Press (March 17, 2015)
ASIN:  B00ONTR8AY
Format/Length:   680 KB/187 pages
Genre:   M/M, Contemporary, BDSM
Heat Rating: 2
Star Rating: 4

Author Info:

You can connect with the author at the author’s website or follow along on Twitter or Facebook.

 

Blurb:

From rescue to romance…

Teach a wounded submissive the value of his service. The task ought to be an easy one for an experienced dominant like Henry Webb.

But novice Jay Kress challenges his teacher like no other. Still bearing the bruises of an encounter outside the bounds of safe consensual play, Jay is desperate to submit to the man who saved him—and shamed by his desires.

Henry recognizes the dangers of a relationship built on hero worship. He’ll teach Jay how to stay safe, that’s all. He won’t take advantage of the younger man’s trust. He won’t share his fantasies about his dark-haired, athletic student. He’ll never claim this submissive for his own…

My Review:

Becoming His Master is the first book in the Neighborly Affection Series that I have read, however it is completely understood as a standalone novel.

At the beginning of Becoming His Master we meet Henry…an experienced Dom who is a frequent visitor of his friend’s BDSM club.  His friend and club owner Victor wants him to take on a wounded sub that he rescued the week before from a cruel abuser posing as a Dom.  Having been part of the ‘rescue’ team, Henry knows that his feelings towards Jay are not exactly neutral.  But, more than anything he wants to make sure that Jay learns to play within the rules so he doesn’t get hurt again.

Jay has serious confidence issues and will say yes to any demand, merely because the Dom wants him to.  He has acted the submissive for far to many abusers over the last few  months and Henry worries for good reason.  However, his hero worship of Henry may get in the way of them developing a successful relationship.

Becoming His Master moves very slowly because Jay is seriously emotionally scarred and Henry needs to teach him the rules of BDSM that he never learned or never took to heart.  Henry is patient and kind but forceful when his needs to be.  Jay is terrified, suffering from serious hero worship and never really comes into his own, even at the end of the book.  Henry was insistent that he not enter into a real relationship with Jay unless he knew that Jay’s feelings were genuine and not clouded by past events.  However, even at the end of the book I don’t think Jay quite had a firm grasp on his own wants and needs.  I definitely think these two need to continue to work on their communication and relationship…both the BDSM part of it as well as their romantic relationship.

I enjoyed Becoming His Master and the slow pace Henry took with Jay allowed for quite a bit of education of the reader in terms of the BDSM lifestyle.  There were many tender moments, a few steamy scenes that were not overly graphic, and very realistic characters.  If you enjoy BDSM but prefer it to be less hardcore than whips and chains, Becoming His Master is a good choice!