Title: Master Class
Author: Rachel Haimowitz
Length: 16,000 words
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: m/m contemporary BDSM
Rating: B+
Blurb:
Broadway darling Nicky Avery is a shooting star by night, but by day he bounces from one heartless one-night stand to the next. A quick flogging, a rough lay, a new whip-hand to manipulate—yet still he yearns for something he cannot even name.
He finds his first true hint of satisfaction in Devon Turner, a self-possessed film star and expert Dom. Devon knows what he wants the moment he sees it, and what he wants is Nicky Avery. Nicky’s never learned to trust and has a nasty habit of topping from the bottom, but he learns fast that in the bedroom, Devon won’t tolerate his actor’s masks.
Nicky’s a broken boy, but Devon knows exactly how to put his new sub back together. With patience, care, and all the punishments his little pain slut can handle, Devon breaks Nicky down one scene at a time, revealing a mind that yearns to trust and a heart that hungers for the ecstasy of true submission at last.
Review:
Master Class is a prequel to a short anthology of stories, Sublime. I read Sublime ages ago and my main complaint was that I wanted to see how Nicky and Devon meet. Well my wish has come true with Master Class as this is the first part of Nicky and Devon’s journey. The story begins when Broadway star, Nicky and famous film actor, Devon, meet at a dinner party. Nicky is a sub and he’s attracted to the aura of power that surrounds Devon. After an interlude in the gents, Nicky is sure he wants more from Devon, and is delighted when Devon wants more too. Unfortunately for Nicky, Devon soon realises that Nicky wants control and he’s not prepared to give that to him.
Let’s start with a brief warning: this story is not BDSM lite! It begins with a rather brutal BDSM scene and at first I was worried it would all be too much for me. However, after that scene things took an unusual and rather interesting turn and I found myself engrossed in the power dynamics between the two characters. One thing that I liked a great deal is the way that the author played on my sympathies for the characters. We get into the heads of both characters but at first I had more sympathy for Nicky, especially in the excitement he feels over finding someone who can meet his need for submission. As the story progresses, I began to see, through Devon’s eyes, just how manipulative Nicky can be and my sympathies switched to Devon and I shared his frustrations, but also the promise that Nicky brings to Devon.
I also liked that Devon turned out to be a bit of a surprise character for me. I thought he would be harsh and brutal, especially after what we see in the first BDSM scene, but there’s another side to Devon which whilst still demanding control is so much more than a hard Dom. This only added to my enjoyment of him as a character.
I had two relatively minor niggles. the first I’ve mentioned – ie that the opening scene may be too harsh for some readers – and the other is that Nicky skips rehearsals to be with Devon which I wasn’t entirely sure he would have been able to do so easily in reality. However, these weren’t enough to spoil my enjoyment of this story.
Overall, this is a story not just for fans of BDSM, but for those interested in looking at the psychology behind the actions and people who need that control and submission in their lives. As such I can highly recommend Master Class and I hope there will be more for these characters in future.
Haimowitz is one of those authors that have to be review proofed for me before I even try her stories. So, I’m glad that you’ve reviewed this story. I don’t mind hard BDSM as long as Safe/Same/Consensual is integral part of the story. Thanks!
Hi Lady M
Devon certainly gives Nicky what he craves and whilst I was wincing on occasion, I still had the impression that Devon would stop as soon as Nicky used his safeword. Hope you enjoy it :).
Hmm. If it was nearly too much for you, then I know it likely is not for me. I am more of a “lite” reader. Sounds like it will be great for those who like the more intense style and who read the anthology you mentioned.
Yes, intense is a good word for it!
Good review, Jenre. I will keep this in mind whether to purchase this title or not.
Thanks, Monica :).
I’m going to give this one a try…
Oh goody, Chris. I shall look forward to your reviewette :).
I’m looking forward to this one
It’s a good read Tiffany. Hope you enjoy it!
Great review Jenre. 🙂
Thanks, Amara :).
I’m so excited to read Master Class! Also congrats to Rachel and co. for organizing such fun events and excellent blogs to visit for reviews!
MJB
Hi MJB
I’m amazed at all the stuff going on in this blog tour. The authors will be exhausted when it ends from having to think up new ideas and answer comments :).
Thanks for the kind words MJB! And LOL, Jen, yeah, they’re all working hard, but they’re such troopers, and everyone’s having a fabulous time with the tour. Just watch out for Chris Hawkins if you see her before her fifth cup of coffee 😉
Sounds like a book I really want to read! Thanks for the review.
You’re welcome, Lucia. It is a really good book. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Pre-ordered today! I’m looking forward to receiving my copy of Master Class. Love intense books, esp D/s. Can’t wait to read a well-written, well-edited one (sadly, there are lots of poorly done BDSM books).
HUGE amount of poorly-done BDSM. And it kinda worries me, because I can’t help but think that someone somewhere will say, “Oh, this looks interesting,” and try it, and then really hurt someone.
Jenre, thank you for the lovely review–I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
You’re welcome, Rachel. I had to go on and re-read Sublime afterwards. Please tell me that you’re going to write more with Devon and Nicky!
I love those two. I have basically their whole progression from the end of Master Class to growing old together in my head, and most especially Nicky’s slave training. I’ll probably write their story episodically–in short or novella-sized bursts–over the next several years.
I have to admit, Susan, I’m feeling a little smug that I got to read the book before release :).
Thanks for the well written review. This sounds like a book I’d enjoy.
You’re welcome, Pam. I hope you do enjoy it!
Thanks for the review – I’m definitely getting this one 🙂
smaccall AT comcast.net
I’m glad my review has convinced you to buy, Sarah. With any luck you’ll enjoy it as much as I did :).
Great review Jenre,
Having read Sublime and desperately wanting to know more about Nicky and Devon as well , I can hardly wait for the release of Master Class.
I’m a bit envious that you’ve been able to read it already.. (not so much as you’d notice:)
I feel a bit better with having read your review, it’s a very informative overview of what to expect..
very nice.. very
CAS
Hi CAS
Thank you for the kind words about my review :). We always aim for short but informative here at Brief Encounters.
One of the perks of running a review site is that you sometimes get the books early :).
I’ll have to watch out for this one. Usually I’m like Tam, on the ‘lite’ side but I’m interested in the psychology. It’s not my lifestyle but, having read a few BDSM books, I still would like to understand it better. Um, is there blood? My first foray into this genre was Anah Crowe’s Uneven and the dom bloodied the sub
No blood 🙂 If you go to the book page on the RP website (http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/master-class-master-class-1) and click on the “additional details” tab, you can elect to view or not view (default is not) a ton of information about the book, from setting to pairing to ending to a full list of kinks explored. So if anything’s triggery or squicky for you, you can check the details first before you decide one way or the other. (We do this with all our books, actually, so those who consider tags spoilery don’t have to see them and those who want to know can find exactly as little or as much information as they want.)
Thank you for commenting!
(continued) – something weird happened and I “prematurely posted” sorry! I swear that’s never happened before! LOL!
…the dom bloodied the sub quite a bit – with his enthusiastic consent, but I was a bit baffled by it. From reading the author’s post, I’m thinking this might give me a few more “why” clues in a general sense. Am I asking too much?
LOL! It’s okay, it happens to everyone on occasion 😉
As for that particular story . . . tough to say. As with any other type of sex or relationship, there are certainly some core reasons why people pursue it, but in the end, everyone’s individual and does it for their own reasons–some very healthy, some not so much, some actively unhealthy. My instinct would be to worry a little about the psychological fitness of a sub who enthusiastically submits to serious bloodletting because the potential for real harm is so very high there, but without reading the book, it’s tough to say one way or the other if he’s in a healthy place. That said, the sub in Master Class definitely starts out in a very UNhealthy place, so maybe it will shed some light on this other story for you.
Just went and looked up the additional details – great feature!
um, What is CBT?
Isn’t that cool? We have an AWESOME web designer 😀
CBT = cock and ball torture.
That’s such a great idea, Rachel!
Kaetrin: As Rachel says, no blood, just a bit of brutal handling :). I’ve read Uneven. I really liked it, but it’s certainly a tough book to read in places!
Sounds like you had the same niggles as I did with Sublime, so I’m looking forward to Master Class (even more than I already was). Great review 🙂
Thanks, Alex :). Master Class is definitely worth the wait!
Great review. This is a must have for me.
Thanks Tracey! Hope you enjoy the story too :).
Love the intense sound of this story. I’m a fan of the m/m genre and am always looking for new books to read and will definitely be adding this to my wishlist.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
Intense is a good word for it. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
I enjoyed Sublime and am looking forward to reading the prequel 🙂
Brandi
scssugar(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks Brandi! I think it’ll cast Sublime into a whole new light for you.
Nice Post. Just found Riptide so I’m exploring the blog posts a bit late but liking what I am seeing.
shadow31071 (at) suddenlink (dot) net
Hi Michelle! I shall follow you around saying welcome ;-p