Review Tour: Exploration by Quinn Ward

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Length: 65,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Marisa @ Cover Me Darling

Blurb

The reluctant manager of his family’s restaurant, Frankie attempts to live up to the legacy of his father and grandfather. Running a business that isn't his passion and trying to do it without asking for help leaves him turning to less-than-legal means when he wants to surrender control.

Newly divorced, Calvin no longer lives in the closet, leaving him searching for what he most desires- control. So when he finds Frankie on his knees in the back room of a local bar, Calvin sees the sub he’s only ever fantasized about having.

Can Calvin find the confidence to explore his dominant side while showing his younger roommate that submission isn't only about whips and pain?

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• April 26 - Katie's Book Corner
• April 28 - Blazing Zane Book Blog
• May 2 - Cupcakes and Bookshelves, Making It Happen, Love Unchained, The Librarian's Corner
• May 4 - Joyfully Jay
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• May 25 - Bayou Book Junkie, Book Review By Virginia Lee

Heather's review:

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book, but my overall emotion is enjoyment. Why? Because I'm a kinky, kinky lady and this was a super light version of domestic discipline/daddy kink, even if it isn't quite framed as such. 

Quinn Ward is a newbie author, but I like the way their mind works. The story was sweet with strong family element (lots of sequel potentials) and a nice into into a kind of kink that is right up my alley. However, the storytelling itself wasn't always smooth sailing.

Frankie and Calvin go from platonic roommates to more in such a way that I literally kept toggling back between the pages on my Kindle to see if I was missing a chapter. There is talk of cuddling and making dinner and intimacy that didn't go along with the initial set up: i.e. almost strangers that didn't know each other that well and were unaware of each other's sexual orientations. I found it strange that an adult man in his 40s with a teenage child in the house would take a border, but that's just me. There was just something very awkward in the way the relationship dynamic was written at the start. 

I also liked the kink, but felt like that was underdeveloped too. Frankie went from not wanting kink or not knowing what it was to wanting to be tied up or having a pseudo- DD relationship. Now, domestic discipline is really, really my thing, so I loved that, but I wanted more rules, more structure. I felt like these two were flying blind, and not in a good way. 

The emotions were there for me, but they came on too quickly. I like a really, really slow burn, and this was a bit too fast. However, I really did enjoy Calvin and Frankie as a couple. Age gaps really do it for me!

The book was SO close to being great, but there kept being issues that distracted me or detracted from the story. I think if the author had really gone there with the DD or daddy kink, I would have been in heaven, though. Here's to hoping another brother loves to get spanked! 

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

Quinn writes LGBTQ romance with a kick. Their stories center around the relationship building between the characters, but also shows how compatible they are in the bedroom (or wherever else the urge strikes).

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Email Quinn at: quinn(at)quinnwardwrites(dot)com
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