Reviewed by Morgan
Title: The Strike of Hot Iron
Author: Charlie Richards
Series: A Loving Nip #13
Heroes: Pascal/Abner
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 92 Pages
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Release Date: May 19, 2017
Available at: eXtasy Books
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Just a little Love Bite: When a dingo shifter finds a reluctant mate, he needs plenty of help from his friends.
Pascal agreed to move with his two brothers to a vampire coven which runs a dude and cattle ranch. With both of his brothers wrapped up in their mates, he has plenty of opportunity to explore. He accepts his sexuality as he learns his likes, dislikes, and craving, which include submitting to a dominant lover. With abuse part of Pascal’s past, his brothers don’t understand why he occasionally sports bruises from sex he claims is consensual.
When the new blacksmith arrives at the ranch, Pascal finally understands what his brothers had talked about when describing the mate-pull. Abner Johnson is all he can think about. Unfortunately, while the huge redhead is okay with a little fun, he doesn’t want a relationship…with anyone. He’s also upfront about his feelings on biting–don’t even try it.
Can Pascal get help wooing his mate from his family and friends, even when they don’t understand his desires?
Review: This is a book best read after having read the other books relating to the Dingo Shifters and their rescue. It can be read as a standalone but I think having read the others will help as there isn’t much of Pascal’s backstory told here.
I’m not a fan of BDSM and this is really a BDSM book, unfortunately. The burden here, as I see it, is for the reader to understand why Pascal, who has been tortured in the past, craves pain and control in the hands of his lovers.
I don’t feel like I finished the book with that understanding. (I can imagine some explanations – to be sure – but I wasn’t really given anything that made concrete sense to me. I also know I have a HUGE bias against this so I try to temper my ratings with a huge grain of salt – but to me this just felt like capitalizing on the pathology of Pascal’s unresolved emotional issues after being tortured.)
There is very little time where our MCs are together in a way that isn’t sexual and almost no relationship building. Our human MC starts off with a big chip on his shoulder and we aren’t given much of a reason for that chip to fall off. Once he sees his Dingo shifter in trouble, the two are suddenly in love and in a rush to mate.
I have a huge tolerance for instalove and I adore the instant connection we get from fated mates, but this seemed too rushed and I never felt an emotional connection with the characters or their “love”.
Though I remain a huge Charlie Richards fan, I can’t recommend this book to anyone but – if you’re a BDSM fan you might find parts of this intriguing.
Overall Impression: It was okay, but not good
*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*
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