PRE-RELEASE REVIEW: 'Shaded Chains' by Jack L. Pyke
Title: Shaded Chains
Author: Jack L. Pyke
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Cover Artist: Siol na Tine
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Dark Erotic Romance
Length: 139 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; BDSM; Tattoos/Piercings; Dub-Con; D/s; Established Couple; Disorder: Dementia/Alzheimer’s; Novella; HFN; CW: Abduction; Kink: Bondage, Genital Torture, Masochism, Orgasm Denial, Sadism, Flogging
About Shaded Chains
“Say my fucking name.”
Alex Gardner is a psychiatric nurse, Ross McKendrik a tattoo artist: both know the fears and strains of caring for an old man with dementia: Ross’s father. When lines between father and son are crossed and trust is broken between Alex and Ross—between a sub and Dom—Ross is in a fight for his life to earn the right to hear his sub say his name again. Only having grown up in the Scottish Highlands, Ross’s methods are a little... dangerous, his methods a little... dark. Love is about to get very, very tough.
5 HEART READ
REVIEW: From the moment I began Shaded Chains my emotions were set on edge. In this rewrite of His, written for the 2014 Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s ‘Love’s Landscapes’ event, Jack L. Pyke shakes things up through a subtle play on established rolls; with well-crafted words and glimpses of time that make your heart ache, and understand perfectly, the loss of what is familiar as well as the loss of control. All of which play into the context of the character of the two men and their story which is about to unfold.
Jack doesn’t take long to set the tone and identify roles while turning up the heat with a tattoo scene that would set anyone on fire and leave them cringing all in the same breathe.
And somehow each Scottish term Ross utters makes the intimacy beautiful to behold. Needle touching skin, touching heart . . . touching soul.
By using the backdrop of dementia to look through the metaphoric eye of meaning and loss Pyke weaves a tale so full of symbolism it’s hard to escape, and you don’t want to. When it is sweet it pulls at your heartstrings and when it is rough it makes you ache and yearn.
I couldn’t imagine Ross and Alex’s story being conveyed any better. Every heat filled conversation of promise is laden with sensuality that displays their connection. A Dom and sub so comfortable in their roles it is voyeuristic to behold.
She even carries that symbolism into a pencil. A Dom with a desire to nurture, protect and care, holding on to a simple connection that once lost suddenly sets off a chain of events that crush a son, a man, a Dom and spark a despair even he can’t control, causing him to lash out at the one person he loves the most.
Shaded Chains is a reflection of how cruel and stubborn we can be to those we are closest to. When we hurt we want them to hurt. Sometimes even when they are our whole world we will back away and dig the knife due to our own perceived inadequacies or when we need them to apologize we push them away for pride. But for those who’ve invested in each other, spent time building links, they know just what to do to remain chained together.
In Shaded Chains’ climax (literally and figuratively) only Jack L. Pyke could master a scene worthy of a Dom knowing his sub so completely.
Yet at the same time reflect on the depth of his fear at the loss of trust and how both men’s actions, or lack thereof, got them there. Meanwhile displaying a sub in the midst of an internal fight, giving the ultimate gift of his submission. Her unsurpassed ability to mold the dark with the sweet is something to behold.
“Holding each other as lovers through the faith found in their D/s relationship.”
Don’t let the Master of dark tell you she doesn’t do sweet, Jack L. Pyke just packages it up in devilishly, twisted intimacy: “He’d make damn sure he’d fashion the links so none were ever missing.” Every Shaded Chain a symbol of love lived.
An advanced reader copy Shaded Chains was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Jack L. Pyke, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
Jack L. Pyke blames her dark writing influences on living close to one of England’s finest forests. Having grown up hearing a history of kidnappings, murders, strange sightings, and sexual exploits her neck of the woods is renowned for, Jack takes that into her writing, having also learned that human coping strategies for intense situations can sometimes make the best of people have disastrously bad moments. Redeeming those flaws is Jack’s drive, and if that drive just happens to lead to sexual tension between two or more guys, Jack’s the first to let nature take its course.
For more from Jack be sure to visit her website.
