Reviews

Caged Sanctuary by Tempeste O'Riley

mdee's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars (rounded up)

tellingetienne's review against another edition

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3.0

I was really excited when I saw the premise of this book, as there isn't a lot out there with disabled submissives. I really enjoyed it, except for when I wasn't. The bulk of the conflict in this story is internal on Kade's part, and that makes sense. He had an abusive relationship, some really rough rejections after his accident. The kink was very sweet and gentle, perfect for people who really enjoy reading loving BDSM relationships. Deacon is sweet and patient and the author explores the concept of informed consent and negotiation.

But...it took me a few days to read. I kept getting distracted and moving away from the story. It was a slow moving story, and that wasn't bad, but it had a hard time holding my attention. It dragged in places and sometimes I wanted to shake Kade and be like HE LOVES YOU IT'S RIGHT THERE HE LOVES YOU. But that's not an uncommon reaction in romance novels.

inmyhumbleopinion's review against another edition

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4.0

m/m BDSM
Caged Sanctuary moved me in unexpected ways. Dental surgeon, Kaden Thorn fell victim to a vicious gay bashing cost him the use of his legs. It has been 3 years and other than a horrible failed vanilla relationship Kaden doesn’t have much of a love life. Kaden is a service sub with masochistic tendencies. He longs to serve. When he meets Deacon James the chemistry is instant and combustible. But it is going to take some serious work on Deacon’s part to help Kaden overcome his self-esteem issues about being wheelchair bound while finding creative ways for them to be together. I usually don’t like whiney characters but Deacon kept me from hating Kaden. I also squick out on some masochistic practices but I think that the way Deacon used them to help Kaden made them more acceptable to me. Mostly this is a kinky sweet love story.

nicola949's review against another edition

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It was lovely to see a character with physical limitations being accepted in a positive way. I'd love to see more of these types of stories.

jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition

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3.0

3 stars. I wanted to love this book. I really, really did but it just fell so completely flat for me unfortunately. The story line was lackluster and didn't live up to its expectation at all. All the elements were there for me to really enjoy this but I'm just 'blah' about it.

Besides this being M/M BDSM which, um hell yes! give me all of that fam! the main character is in a wheelchair. Hurray for disability rep!! Love it! That was what really pushed me into picking this up because from what I've seen from the M/M that I've read (which is a lot more than I have actually documented here on goodreads...like a lot more. A ridiculous amount really, but I digress) that's never the case. The characters will have issues but they are able so this was such a breath of fresh air.

I'm not in a wheelchair, I walk with the assistance of a cane but I still cannot speak for how well done the rep for people in wheelchairs was here but I thought it was tastefully done. For the most part anyways.

Bear with me I have a lot of feelings about this book.

The characters I liked. I enjoyed Kade and Deacon but their relationship was just kinda 'meh' to me. It was repetitive and boring. It went like this for the entire book:

Kade doesn't think he's good enough for Deacon because he's in a wheelchair. Deacon shows and tells him otherwise.

Kade thinks Deacon will get tired of him because he's in a wheelchair. Deacon shows and tells him otherwise.

Rinse and repeat 100000x until the end of the book. It got old really fast. I get it, I do, because those are honest concerns but Deacon never treated Kade as a burden. He never said or did anything harmful to Kade to make him think that way. It made me lose interest in the story. I did like them as characters though and I really liked their friends Jake and Sam. I wouldn't mind reading a story about those two.

Also, this skips out on the smut. Ummmm......excuse me? I came for the smut and I get maybe three freaking scenes?? What a rip off! It would set up for smut and then fade to black. I was not pleased nor amused. Plus, the writing isn't that good either. It's really basic and this needed to be edited.

Overall, I'd say skip this one. Three stars for the disability rep and bringing that to the forefront but other than that this was nothing special.

wickedwitchofthewords's review against another edition

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2.0

It was meh.
Not good, not really. Nope!

jennyreadsromance's review against another edition

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4.0

Great story. Loved the dynamic between the characters

scarlett_r_90's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved this! I've read some of Tempeste's books before and really enjoyed them, so when I saw this book and read the blurb, I immediately bought it! It is a bundle of tropes I enjoy, so getting it was a no-brainer and I was not disappointed! The relationship between the two men is very sweet and yet really hot, even though, at times, Kade's issues went on for a bit too long. I definitely recommend this!

bfdbookblog's review against another edition

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4.0

let me preface my review by saying that i really don't care for bdsm books. primarily because i don't understand the appeal of physical pain for pleasure. i don't like reading about the physical effects of what is essentially beating (IMO). there are other facets of the practice that i don't care for but i won't list them all. some of it doesn't bother me at all...so i will typically read a bdsm book if the story is really good or it is recommended by a friend.

all that being said, i like this story...a lot. i have not read a ton of bdsm books but this one seemed to be on the heavy side of the lifestyle. again, some of it didn't bother me but i definitely did not like all of it. i know i am going to sound like i have a split personality here but i will say that during the bdsm scenes in the book that i didn't care for, there was an absolute beauty to these 2 men together. i normally would skim through the physical pieces of a bdsm book but i read every word of this one. the love story between these 2 was just that good.

kade is a truly impressive man. he has modified his dental practice to be able to perform surgery and other specialized dental procedures. he attempted to bounce back on the bdsm scene after his attack and it didn't go well. his 'vanilla' boyfriend was miserable to him. because of all that, his self esteem is extremely low. he feels broken, an incomplete man - especially for a sub. what he went through is extremely heartbreaking.

deacon is an unbelievably wonderful man. he is looking for a permanent relationship and doesn't do the club scene any more. he is smitten with kade immediately when they meet through mutual friends. he is absolutely perfect for kade and really helps bring him completely back to life. his love for kade is heartwarming.

the supporting cast was really great too (except the sh!theads) - sam, jake, katie and dane rounded out the cast of characters nicely.

i would definitely recommend this book to a friend - even one that doesn't care for bdsm books.


scarlett__r90's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved this! I've read some of Tempeste's books before and really enjoyed them, so when I saw this book and read the blurb, I immediately bought it! It is a bundle of tropes I enjoy, so getting it was a no-brainer and I was not disappointed! The relationship between the two men is very sweet and yet really hot, even though, at times, Kade's issues went on for a bit too long. I definitely recommend this!