Carried Away: An S/M Romance

Rating:
Summary: Finally - leather realism that makes sense!!
Review: David Stein has done a remarkable job with Carried Away. Leathermen finally have a book that makes sense about the reality, intricacy, emotions, dedication, commitment and personal journey of a consensual dominant/submissive master/slave relationship. This is not a "how to" book, it's a book written with heart and spirit that will touch you and have you thinking about the "why" or "why nots" regarding living the life of a Master or slave. The sex scenes David Stein writes about are HOT - but loaded with such reality you can actually envision yourself doing everything he writes about in real life - because - you can !!! The courtship of Terry (the Master) and Matt (the slave) is romantic but carefully and thoughtfully enveloped by the courage they have to acknowledge and embrace they journey they embark on. David Stein, thank you for Carried Away and sharing it with us.

Rating:
Summary: Time To Bury Mr Benson.
Review: I was never a fan of John Preston's "classic" work because I thought the characters were broad and unrealistic, the situations silly and the stereotypes contemptible. Like most fantasy books about D/s relationships, the main characters seem completely removed from life as we know it. What about the usual day to day, like jobs and family? Cleaning the catbox? Laundry? Cooking? The kind of things that real Dominant and submissives do in real time?

Enter Master Terry Andrews and submissive/potential slave Matt Stone. One night, after a very hot encounter, these two men begin a courtship by collar. Terry begins to look at a bottom he considered a gadabout player in a whole new light, and Matt begins a journey in which he has to understand what his urges mean and if they are true to him. Where in most stories, these issues would resolve inside a chapter or two, for "Carried Away" the characters each have to probe what their instincts demand. What will this kind of relationship do to their lives, and not just a fast lane romp, but for a long-term future?

For those reasons alone, "Carried Away" would set itself apart from the pack. Yet there's more. Author david stein infuses the novel with rich detail of the New York scene and the social activities that the city entertains. You get a well fleshed out background for the how and whys of Matt and Terry's actions and emotions. This is a novel in the old fashioned sense; a lengthy story with a well plotted sequence of events. And make sure you remember that this isn't a sex novel as much it's a heavily romantic novel which incorporates sex. Lots of sex. To the point that it becomes one of "Carried Away's" foreground characters instead of a background activity. After all, this is a leather love story.

The backgrounds themselves are described in the matter a masculine bottom would see them and not like an interior decorator. The words daub the spaces with color and detail without distracting from the plot, something usually missing in homomasculine writing. Mr. stein obviously loves these words. Everything from the steaming heat to the emotional tumult is given equal ebb and flow in "Carried Away." Not a phrase is wasted or situation shorted. Threads woven into the story come to realistic conclusions. And it's very important to note that in "Carried Away" nothing seems implausible. Not the sex, the kink, or the emotions of the main characters. I'll grant you that this kind of attention to detail makes for a hefty volume (this is no quickie read or any sort of flick-through book), but when was the last time you had a modern leather story that could satisfy both your lower gonads, frontal lobes and central heart in equal parts?

David Stein has gifted us with the most realistic, imaginative, and thoughtful Gay Erotic Leather novel that I have ever read. It may have taken him ten years to complete, but the literary bar has been "Carried" to a higher level.