Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: ARC from the author
Wealthy businessman Daniel Baker doesn’t have a creative bone in his body, but he knows art and craves beauty. Contemporary dancer Naya Ortiz, his fiancée of three years, embodies both. His protective commitment to her happiness extends to hiring Dominas to satisfy the sexual masochism she craves.
The balance of their relationship is tipped when Naya dances with reckless Cajun choreographer Remy Lomand. His magnetism as a Dom carries over to a backstage encounter that leaves Naya breathless—and Daniel unable to look away.
Remy knows the deal. The fancy people want to play with a disposable boy toy. He’s fine with that…but not with letting Daniel remain a bystander. As their sessions intensify, Remy guides Daniel’s awakening as a sexual submissive. Their no-strings threesome reveals the physical connection Daniel and Naya have lacked—and the emotional depth Remy fears.
When Remy and Naya tirelessly work to found a professional dance company, Daniel is left on the outside looking in. And although he and Naya are ready to submit to Remy for the rest of their lives, the man they call Sir may not want their love at all.
Warning: A sexy-as-hell Cajun choreographer plays slap, tickle, chains and canes with a muy caliente Puerto Rican dancer and her repressed businessman fiancé. What could possibly go wrong?
This blurb came from the author’s website.
Oh, the blurb for this particular installment in Club Devant had me worried. I discovered when reading the first book, Lead and Follow, that I really want all members of a ménage to be happy and fully included. My romance heart feels cheated if they aren’t. The fact that this blurb cast doubt on that happened, even though I know it is a romance, kept me on my toes the entire time I read just hoping that things would work out for all three. As I think about that last sentence, I have decided that Porter is extremely devious because I think I fell into their plan without even attempting to escape…
Porter created three very magnetic and different characters in Chains and Canes. Daniel could make money hand over fist, dominate any boardroom, and loved his fiancée so much he did anything he could to keep her satisfied on all levels. He told himself that as long as she was happy, he was happy and he was mostly correct. Daniel also seemed to be the more mentally strong one in that he believed in Naya and her abilities but he also knew her well enough only to encourage and work to ensure that when she was ready opportunities would exist. Naya was a brilliant dancer filled with internal doubts about her ability to move out of the chorus line and to ever have an emotional relationship with a Dom. Naya also needed the cathartic emotional release she received from physical pain to achieve some sort of emotional balance. Yet, she loved Daniel who could not directly give her that release but had to go through a third-party. Then there was Remy, a great choreographer, born on the wrong side of the tracks with the physical and emotional scars to prove it. He believed that anything good was temporary and that he didn’t deserve true happiness in a relationship.
I absolutely loved watching the three of them work together. I thought that Porter did a great job of showing the tension that can exist when relationship dynamics change and those changes spur other changes in the individuals involved. It isn’t all flowers and rainbows but takes work and open communication even when some aspects of the relationship have been established for years. I liked that mistakes were made even if I didn’t want the associated emotional pain for the characters because the reaction once the mistake was discovered was extremely telling. I also enjoyed the different levels of submission. To me that said more about the personalities involved than the words “two submissives” and added a great deal of depth. I also felt it was important to the overall dynamic and in maintaining character consistency that even when involved Daniel seemed to be Naya’s back-up safe word and would break his submission to intervene if necessary. One additional aspect that I thought was crucial was the distinction between their work balance of power and their personal balance of power. That separation allowed me to buy into the overall story and not focus on just one aspect.
Having said all of that I do have a minor issue with this story. Early on there is a scene revolving around the fact that Devant is losing a lot of money and the reason(s) aren’t evident. This was brought up once or twice more throughout the book but no movement was made on addressing the issue. I am guessing that this is a thread, which will grow to become front and center in a later installment but because of its physical placement in, Chains and Canes, I was expecting more development. However, it is a minor quibble.
Overall I enjoyed reading Chains and Canes. Porter provided lots of tension, smoking smexy scenes, power struggles, give and take, and the fulfillment of some dreams. I am looking forward to continuing this series because a certain character from the first book still needs his HEA, a certain individual who likes to watch needs some action, and there is a mysterious continual loss of money that needs solving.
I give Chains and Canes a B/B+