REVIEW: 'Unearthed' by Kora Knight
Title: Unearthed
Series: The Dungeon Black Duology, Book 1
Author: Kora Knight
Published: September 30, 2016
Publisher: Self-Published
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer/Simply Defined Art
Genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance
Length: 418 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; BDSM; D/s; May/December; College, Tattoos/Piercings; HFN; CW: Kink - Pet Play, Anal Play, Orgasm Denial; CW: Degradation; CW: Suicide; CW: Underage – Off Page
BLURB: Love. The most powerful force in existence, but also the most ruthless. Cunning and deceptive. Man’s greatest Achilles heel. Leaving all who embrace it weak and vulnerable.
At least that’s how Dom-for-hire Max Kelley sees it, after the love of his life knocked him on his ass. A brutal blow that not only stole his breath, but decimated his ability to trust. Turning him cold and cynical. The TKO he never saw coming.
Love. A mistake Max won’t ever make again.
Meaning no more relationships—not exactly a hardship. Just the thought of dating makes him queasy, and one of the reasons he doms for a living. To sexually engage without the poison of intimacy. The other reason? To keep his demons sated. With whips and chains, and scandalous kink. A fiery mix that always hits the spot.
That is, until a bright-eyed beauty walks into his life and refuses to leave.
Sean Matthews. College senior and flirt extraordinaire. Max’s newest—and greenest—client sub. Man, is he delicious; able to push Max’s buttons, able to make him crave the things he knows he shouldn’t. Sound the alarm, this can only mean trouble. Unfortunately, deterring Sean proves virtually impossible, and now Max finds himself at a crossroads.
Man up and kick his favorite sub to the curb… or succumb to his own caged desires. ** Warning: Contains references to sensitive matters involving teens, as well as mentions pertaining to child abuse, that some might find disturbing.
This BDSM romance also contains intensely explicit scenes both inside and out of the dungeon. ** Note from the author: While this duology can be considered a standalone, I highly recommend readers visit the prior series (Upending Tad: A Journey of Erotic Discovery) first for two reasons: It was the chemistry of Tad and Scott that started it all and won these books such a devoted following. But also, the love interests in Unearthed (Max and Sean) were first featured in the previously mentioned series, giving the reader a unique first impression of them from Tad and Scott's POV. Most readers would agree that Max definitely made his mark in a very striking way long before Unearthed ever came to be.
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
I didn’t think Kora Knight could make me understand or even like Max but with his spin-off book, Unearthed, she not only did both those things but made me fall in love with him.
Sometimes things happen in life that can harden even the most gentlest of souls and somehow when I met Max in the Upending Tad series I just knew, as rough around the edges as he was, he was no exception. If you haven’t read the Upending Tad series you really should give it a go for your first dynamic glimpse at Max - and of course, Sean.
Immediately, Kora Knight lays down the gauntlet and steps up her game with an introduction into Unearthed that quickly and meticulously shows you why Max is so cold; while at the same time leaving your heart absolutely aching for him.
And what’s worse: Almost from the get go you can sense it coming, see what is happening, what will ultimately transpire. Then when it does – the grief, the pain, the anguish is soul sucking! In fact the whole of this book impacted me so much more than I thought it would that I have been searching my mind and heart for a week to write this review.
Unearthed takes you back to Max’s past right up to meeting Scott, his roommate. Then propels you forward to when he sets his eyes on Sean. Each encounter solidifies the age old saying that “everything happens for a reason”. Max’s grief, his loss and even his anger ultimately lead him straight to these two men.
When Max meets Scott he is nothing like the confident man we know in Upending Tad and that lack of confidence draws the beautiful side of Max out, the raw need to protect.
Meeting Sean Max soon discovers that he is so flustered by the young man that he cannot keep the upper hand of control he so desperately needs to maintain.
I knew the minute Sean showed up on scene that I was gonna be rooting him on to break the hard ass Max down!
Sean is confident, yet childlike, playful, with a lust for life. In Max’s words Scott is definitely “entertaining”. So much so that he gets himself in pickles and ever so slightly charms his way out. It is almost funny to see Max, the reigned in-no room for intimacy man, so off his game.
“Sean’s influence over Max’s dick was fucking ridiculous, and he refused to acknowledge Sean’s influence on his head.”
It isn’t just this psychological dynamic though because it wouldn’t be a Kora Knight book without the sex now, am I right? She definitely delivers in that department…..and then some. A bit of fair warning: This is kink to the Max (pun intended) so prepare yourself. If you can’t handle pet play, anal play, degradation, orgasm denial, lots and lots of toys – one of which may be a funnel – and off the page underage, this may not be the book for you. This is Max after all – and he is into it all!
Shit as the “scenes” ratcheted up, built pace, even I could hear my heart beating in my ears, my breath quickening, feel myself yearning.
Max is the perfect example of how a Dom “discovers” and uses what they learn to exploit…and then please. Gah!
In fact Sean’s first “taste” had me wishing I was the one up there on that cross!
What makes their dynamic so wonderful is the fact that Sean finds he has that “longing to please” – to please Max! Then to literally see Max struggle not to give in to Sean is mouth-watering. They both have their past demons but neither pursues their kinks because they feel they need to be “fixed”. They are each others yin and yang.
Which is never more apparent than with the finally. Realizing how Sean is affecting him the true Dominate comes out as a way to “flesh out” Sean’s worth. Holy shit, there’s so much going on here my own mind was reeling trying to keep up and hold on to the all-consuming sensations. “Max held his breath. His heart pounded harder. Don’t cave, Sean. Don’t. You can do this.”
When Max’s barriers start crashing down you see the moments where you know it’s game over for him. Yet Kora leaves you with an ending that will keep you guessing who is going to win out in this battle of wills.
Unlike the sass and snark of Upending Tad (not that there isn’t sass and snark mind you) Unearthed has so much depth, story building, even emotion and empathy. An understanding. But are Max and Sean just a delicious, uncontrollable Dom/sub pairing or are they unearthing something so much more?
Getting a peek at these two men was down right, dare I say, beautiful. I f-ing love, love, loved it!
An advanced reader copy of Unearthed was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Kora Knight, in exchange for our fair and honest opinion.
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Coming 11/30/16
Born and raised in the Northern Virginia, I've always loved to read, but it wasn't until my preteen years that I discovered my deep-seated love for writing. Though, with published literary teachers and play writers in the family tree, that really shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Starting with my involvement in social book forums, I then tried my hand in literary role playing. Which, in turn, led to my becoming a fervent online independent writer. Since then, I've endeavored to share with the world my impassioned stories of love, adventure and sensual wonderment, my most recent delight being that of m/m erotica.
I have recently finished the last installment of my m/m Upending Tad series, Afterglow, and will be continuing on with a handful of other projects, including the novel-length story spin-offs to the Upending Tad series for Max & Sean and Breck & Kai, on target to release as early as next year.
