Reviewed by JustJen
Title: Surrender the Past
Author: Kris Ripper
Series: Scientific Method Universe
Heroes: Nick/Bernie
Genre: MM Contemporary BDSM
Length: 295 Pages
Publisher: Kris Ripper
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Available at: Amazon and All Romance Ebooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Sometimes the only way to move forward is to master the past.
Nick Coates is happy. He should be happy, right? He loves managing a gym, has good friends, and he’s never had a problem picking up men. This must be what happiness feels like, since he has no complaints. Maybe a few regrets, but everyone’s got regrets.
When his friend Lucy asks him to stage a “slave training” for one of her boys, he laughs it off. Nick can’t train a slave. His only attempt at playing that role ended with a dive into self-destruction so filthy and dark it probably should have killed him. Then again, Lucy’s never asked him a favor like this before. Maybe he’ll give it a shot, just for a few days. Maybe a week. And as long as he’s decided to do it, he may as well call the only person he knows who can help.
It’s been nine years. Surely after nine years they’ve grown up enough to have a conversation on the phone. In person. Naked. No, wait.
Bernie LaCroix never stopped thinking about Nick, gorgeous Nick, on his knees, surrendering everything to the moment. He’s also never forgiven himself for screwing it up so badly Nick refused to talk to him for the better part of a decade. The second he hears Nick’s voice, everything in his brain vows not to do it all over again and everything in his heart vows to do whatever it takes to get Nick back.
Review: If you’ve read the Scientific Method series, this story falls in between Roller Coasters and The Boyfriends Tie the Knot. It can be read as a stand alone, but I highly recommend you read that series to really have an understanding about Nick and the other players.
I loved Nick from the previous books. He is one complicated character. He knows what he truly needs to surrender, but is so caught up with things in his head that he is unable to accept it from all but one – Bernie. Nick has merely allowed all the men before to believe they mastered him, including Hugh, though Hugh knows this as well. So yeah, Bernie is the only guy who has been able to get him there. Unfortunately, the time they tried, Nick had a bit of a freak out and bolted. That was nine years ago.
Now, Lucy is having trouble with her boys, Leo and Eddie, and turns to Nick for help. Hugh is busy with Will and Truman, so Nick is the best choice. Doing Lucy a favor, he agrees to help train Eddie (and Leo) in the hopes of helping their relationship. Much of the story is about that, with Bernie agreeing to help with Leo and offering his home as their training ground, but Nick learns quite a bit about himself in the process.
Through it all, Bernie never stops trying to get Nick to give him another chance, believing that they are both much different now that they are older and wiser, etc. Nick fights it every step of the way (as Nick usually does), even when he feels the pull. When they finally do get on the same page, it is pretty explosive. They play rather hard, which Nick needs, but they walk a fine line trying to gain Nick’s acceptance of it all.
While this was not my favorite of the series, I am such a huge fan of Kris’ writing style and truly loved reading about these characters again with more focus. The characters are believable and feel very real. The writing quality is on par with everything else I’ve read by Kris, and I was left eager to jump into another.
Overall Impression: I really liked it
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
The Blogger Girls 