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yulia's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tellingetienne's review against another edition
3.0
This whole series is just sweet. This book was a great follow up to the first novel and left me feeling warm and fuzzy. It's sexy and not particlarly fast paced, but it is lovely for that purpose. The kinks in the book, while not particlarly mild, aren't particlarly extreme either, which makes this a fairly decent series for people who are somewhat knew to kink in their romance.
teresab78's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars - Sexy and hot when they were in bed and sweet outside. Poor Lane is still dealing with the aftermath of his parents scandal. I can't believe his mother!! I was so proud of Lane though and was glad for Derrek. I would love to read more about these guys!
bookish_notes's review against another edition
4.0
A Christmas story! Well, kind of. This takes place during December. Lane and Derek have have been together for a few months now, and their relationship has progressed. They are so adorable together and now they've adopted the cute little dog, Andy, who had trouble bonding with humans before he met Lane. The foul-mouthed macaw, Mr. Zimmerman, is in this book and is absolutely hilarious. Lane's in a happier place now than he was in the first book. He's happy with his job at Taco Hub, he's studying at a community college, volunteers at a dog shelter, and has a boyfriend at home. He has friends with Brin and Ferg, and even his co-workers at Taco Hub. But he also has a lingering fear that it'll all go away. His mother and father are in prison, and he receives a call from his mother's lawyer that could change everything.
His parents orchestrated a Ponzi scheme, and while Lane was declared innocent when his father confessed Lane didn't know anything, the general public don't quite see it that way. In order to get off with less years, his parents want to do a series of TV interviews to put them in a better light, even if they were the ones who started this mess in the first place and lost a lot of people a lot of money. He's not sure if he wants to do the interview, especially since his parents are guilty of the things they're being accused of.
Lane still has pretty bad social anxiety, and an interview isn't what he needs at all. But Lane's a total sweetheart and still wants to help his parents out. It's...manipulative. His mother in particular is nothing short of manipulative and will do and say whatever it takes to make herself look better. Even at the cost of her own son's happiness. I hate Lane's mother. She would deserve Lane yelling at her and letting her know what a terrible mother she is for hanging him out to dry. I would have loved for him to have told her about Acton, but I guess in the end, she doesn't deserve to know Lane at all.
This book is an interesting look into the life of Lane and Derek now and how they've managed to make their relationship work. Derek has always seemed so selfless in the first book, and this is where we see that even that has its limit sometimes when he just wants to vent about his photography job. He loves what he does, but sometimes, like when he has to take pictures of uncooperative kids sitting with Santa at the mall, he just wants to vent. But Lane is still fragile and not used to fighting or talking back.
Lane breaks my heart. He's just been through so much and deserves the world. Luckily, he has Derek and they're still learning. What they're totally good on is when it comes to sex. This book has a lot more sex sex scenes than the first book, and everything is definitely more intense in this book as Lane and Derek take things up a notch. With this book, I was all, do I Google that? The sounding scene was well-written and the first I've read a scene like that in a book (I mean, I guess it happened in Fade from the ICOS series too, but that situation was very different). There's a lot of trust between the two characters, and of course, consent plays a bit role with all their scenes.
I'm not used to reading sequels when it comes to romance, but this story doesn't seem forced. Just a continuation of the story between Lane and Derek. We are left hanging a little bit at the end of this story. There's definitely a potential for more, but I don't really see that happening since this was published in 2013? Some things are left open, but Lane and Derek are in a good place at the end of the story and I can accept this book as a HEA between the two characters. I would highly recommend this series for anyone looking to read a D/s BDSM m/m book.
His parents orchestrated a Ponzi scheme, and while Lane was declared innocent when his father confessed Lane didn't know anything, the general public don't quite see it that way. In order to get off with less years, his parents want to do a series of TV interviews to put them in a better light, even if they were the ones who started this mess in the first place and lost a lot of people a lot of money. He's not sure if he wants to do the interview, especially since his parents are guilty of the things they're being accused of.
Lane still has pretty bad social anxiety, and an interview isn't what he needs at all. But Lane's a total sweetheart and still wants to help his parents out. It's...manipulative. His mother in particular is nothing short of manipulative and will do and say whatever it takes to make herself look better. Even at the cost of her own son's happiness. I hate Lane's mother. She would deserve Lane yelling at her and letting her know what a terrible mother she is for hanging him out to dry. I would have loved for him to have told her about Acton, but I guess in the end, she doesn't deserve to know Lane at all.
This book is an interesting look into the life of Lane and Derek now and how they've managed to make their relationship work. Derek has always seemed so selfless in the first book, and this is where we see that even that has its limit sometimes when he just wants to vent about his photography job. He loves what he does, but sometimes, like when he has to take pictures of uncooperative kids sitting with Santa at the mall, he just wants to vent. But Lane is still fragile and not used to fighting or talking back.
Lane breaks my heart. He's just been through so much and deserves the world. Luckily, he has Derek and they're still learning. What they're totally good on is when it comes to sex. This book has a lot more sex sex scenes than the first book, and everything is definitely more intense in this book as Lane and Derek take things up a notch. With this book, I was all, do I Google that? The sounding scene was well-written and the first I've read a scene like that in a book (I mean, I guess it happened in Fade from the ICOS series too, but that situation was very different). There's a lot of trust between the two characters, and of course, consent plays a bit role with all their scenes.
I'm not used to reading sequels when it comes to romance, but this story doesn't seem forced. Just a continuation of the story between Lane and Derek. We are left hanging a little bit at the end of this story. There's definitely a potential for more, but I don't really see that happening since this was published in 2013? Some things are left open, but Lane and Derek are in a good place at the end of the story and I can accept this book as a HEA between the two characters. I would highly recommend this series for anyone looking to read a D/s BDSM m/m book.
lost_windsock's review
emotional
4.0
This was a decent follow up, though at times, I almost wanted to stop reading and throw something. The way Lane gave in so easily to his mother's demands the way he actually started to believe her, was just so sad, and it made me so, so sad to read that I almost just couldn't. I'm glad I stuck it out, though, because it was so great to see him come to terms with his happiness and defend himself. This book made me love Derek even more, for the way he allowed Lane to make his own choices but was still there ready to step in and support him when he knew it was needed. I thought this book ended quite abruptly, though. I was surprised when the book was just over. I thought it was a chapter ending, but it was just done.
papercranestitches's review against another edition
4.0
A delicious second helping of Lane and Derek that was incredibly loving and sweet, but spicy enough to push me out of my comfort zone as a reader (unsurprisingly from these two talented authors).
michaeljpdx's review against another edition
4.0
You will find my full review of The Boy Who Belonged on my web site.
tiggers_hate_acorns's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it, especially Mr Zimmerman. He stops the story from becoming too melancholy with some very humorous moments.Enjoyed seeing Lane grow in confidence in himself and his relationship with Derek. Recommend you read [b:The Good Boy|17608095|The Good Boy (Boy, #1)|Lisa Henry|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1363102343s/17608095.jpg|24566771] first as it lays the foundation for this.
kaje_harper's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a well-written mixture of the domestic and the sexy, BDSM and simple comfort, family and friends, good moments and bad. In this story, Derek is struggling a bit to figure out what Lane really needs from him, while fighting the feeling that he is replacing Lane's parents in a Daddy-kink kind of way that he doesn't find appealing. Lane is finding his own feet, with work and in his relationship, and trying to separate out the abuse he suffered from Acton with the BDSM that he craves from Derek. He is much stronger, but the fallout from his parents' wrongdoing is still taking its toll. His mother gets in touch, and he is vulnerable to her, hungry for her love and attention, but she still wants what is best for her, not for him. But it's so hard for him to let go of the past.
I liked the fact that this is not a smooth omnipotent-Dom kind of BDSM story. Lane is hard for Derek to read at times, and they both make mistakes. They even question their relationship and what they really mean to one another, while the reader can feel the underlying love between them clearly. The sex/scenes are well done, not just hot but written to move the story and the relationship forward.
It's good to see Lane coming into his own. The side characters (and not least the dog and bird) add welcome humor and leavening to the story. They also give the two guys someone to talk things through with, and to ease the intensity of their relationship. It was that balance that I thought was the best feature of this story, and although BDSM is not really my thing, I could appreciate the way the guys worked with it, trying to give each other what they needed. Things are still a bit one-sided between the guys, but in this story I could see Lane becoming more of a partner to Derek. I began to believe in their happy ever after.
I liked the fact that this is not a smooth omnipotent-Dom kind of BDSM story. Lane is hard for Derek to read at times, and they both make mistakes. They even question their relationship and what they really mean to one another, while the reader can feel the underlying love between them clearly. The sex/scenes are well done, not just hot but written to move the story and the relationship forward.
It's good to see Lane coming into his own. The side characters (and not least the dog and bird) add welcome humor and leavening to the story. They also give the two guys someone to talk things through with, and to ease the intensity of their relationship. It was that balance that I thought was the best feature of this story, and although BDSM is not really my thing, I could appreciate the way the guys worked with it, trying to give each other what they needed. Things are still a bit one-sided between the guys, but in this story I could see Lane becoming more of a partner to Derek. I began to believe in their happy ever after.