Review: The Good Boy

The Good Boy by Lisa Henry

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



Is this the Bernie Madoff story eroticized? Ms. Henry drags the reader through another tortured male tale. She is evil to her male characters. Will there ever be a story without heartrending pain? In THE GOOD BOY, Landon Moredock is a privileged only child of wealthy financial investors Laura and Stephen Moredock. A socially awkward boy, he is thrown into a chaotic nightmare when his mother is thrown into jail and his father goes missing. Millions of dollars are gone and everyone is hounding Landon for answers.

This story is painful to read from beginning to end. Ms. Henry always ends her stories in a happily ever after, only after she's fully punished us for wanting one. The reader is exposed to an ugly side of humanity. When the sins of the father are visited upon the son, the degradations and beatings are almost too much to witness. Ms. Henry does an excellent job of showcasing how money can destroy people's lives. She also shows how twisted people can become when they lose money. This is a very well written storyline playing out a very plausible reality.

The BDSM in this story is contrasted between consensual and dubious consensual. Ms. Henry specializes in non-con in a physically or emotionally dangerous manner. Usually she spices it up into a guilty erotic pleasure. In this tale, the non con BDSM is purposely left unappealingly heinous to differentiate between unacceptable and acceptable. One guesses this is where J.A. Rock added her BDSM specialty. The BDSM treatment in this tale parallels Ms. Rock's BY HIS RULE. Both lead characters endures an atrocious experience at the hands of an abuser. This brand of BDSM is neither sane nor consensual. Both broken males need a lot of coaxing to try BDSM at the hands of a loving Dom/Top.

Derek is the saviour who literally brings the abandoned Landon to his home. Derek is a man who lost several thousands of dollars to Landon's parents. His initial outrage and scorn against Landon slowly changes as Derek learns more about Landon. Derek is also a Dom who catches sight of both Landon's submissiveness and signs of previous abuse. The growing relationship between Derek and Landon, now known as Lane, is sweet and poignant. The characters is what makes this tale so good. There are several threads in this story left unexplained or glossed over which makes for less than satisfying conclusion. The financial scandal feels unresolved and made irrelevant yet the reader still wants to know what happened to the money and the consequences meted out to Lane's parents. Understandably, the focus is redirected to Lane and his new family and friends. This is a 3.5 Star for me.

This kinky m/m romance is recommended to masochistic angst lovers.


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