Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

Dylan has always lived in the shadow or his abusive brother Gary and his out spoken sister Carmine. His parents were champions at denial and Dylan quickly learned to hate confrontation in his totally dysfunctional family life. Dylan's mother was big on preaching that family sticks together but the family is now being pulled apart by the stress of Gary being arrested as a serial rapist. Dylan doesn't know where to go to escape until he sees Gary's bondage tools and id turned on by them. He pays a visit to Stonewall, the most liberal of BDSM clubs owned by Miss Dolphinia and meets the sexy and dangerous Vin.
This is the first book of Ms Gala's that I have read and it was excellent. Her writing style is clear, clean and wonderfully descriptive. Told from Dylan's POV the story opens with Dylan knowing absolutely nothing about the BDSM lifestyle and walking into the hardcore Stonewall and slowly growing into the perfect sub. The dual plots were woven together very well and never took away from each other. Both of the plots were intriguing and showed the many facets of the complex characters. Dylan and Vin were damaged individuals with tons of baggage but they balanced one another in a way that me love them both. All of the secondary characters from the deranged Gary to the hilarious Miss Dolphinia to Dylan's neurotic mother were all well fleshed out and made for an interesting and varied cast of characters. Part of the beauty of the story was that every character was flawed in some way but they embraced those flaws like a lifeline. They were so very real and natural if fairly dysfunctional. The sex was hot as hell and was no half way sweet BDSM. Yes there was a HEA but Vin was very aware that he was a sadist and Dylan held tightly his masochistic side. This was not a light and easy romance story but a story about pain and suffering both physically and mentally that pulled me in and wouldn't let me go. I cannot recommend this excellent book highly enough. ( )

This book is diffidently NOT for everyone...even if you are huge fan of M/M romances. There is romance between the two characters of Dylan and Vin, but not the kind that will appeal to everyone by any stretch of the imagination. I have to say that I had a great deal of admiration for Dylan and the courage he showed dealing with his brother, and Vin was sexy and lovable even if some of his tastes did run to the unimaginable. With that being said I have probably just sold a hundred or more copies to those folks that are now curious:) The story also deals with a lot beyond romance and self-discovery. Dylan's family had some very deep-rooted issues and dynamics. I wanted to just kill his brother and shake some common sense into his mother. Then we come to what happened to Carmine, his sister. I didn't expect it but can't say I was really surprised. There were several other twists that introduced many more conflicts that felt far too real and totally possible. I loved the old "drag Queen", Miss Dolphina. I don't believe I have ever had a character quiet like her appear in a anything I have ever read. She is so much more than I ever imaged her to be. I have read bondage themed books before but none as graphic as this one. The entire story reiterated that sometimes, for some people, it can be more than hard to find yourself and your place in this world. That family isn't necessarily always biological but can be made up of those who accept you for who and what you are, and that being true to yourself is the key to finding your happiness, and no one should be judged for it, whatever form that it may take. ( )

Talk about an unexpected gem! Wow, what a read this turned out to be. I've only read one other book of this author, but considering that was a 5 star read as well, I think it's same to assume that Lyn Gala is going to be a firm auto-buy and favourite of mine..

The characters in this book are a study in contrast. Dylan (Dilly) is a very young and inexperienced guy who is wanting to know more about these odd feelings he gets when he sees BDSM implements. Vin seems much older than his 25 years, but has been around the... post a few times and is a definite Dom and sadist. He also has a past that still impacts on the now and is reluctant to fall into a relationship. Dylan has his share of issues due to his, oh, so screwed-up family.

Sounds like drama and disaster waiting to happen? Or maybe a very cliché kind of story? The author manages to avoid all that and, instead, gives us a story full of hot, very hot really, guys. A drag queen you don't want to mess with, family that gives you a headache. Hot, super-hot smexing and a budding relationship that makes your heart just tingle. Add that to all the seriously kinky scenes that are enacted in this book and well, yes... a cold shower might be in order.

A bit of warning though. This story is not a book for a beginner of BDSM. The scene's and scenario's described are not for those just wanting "a bit of tying up" in their stories. It's unapologetically hardcore. ( )

4.5 stars. ( )

FIVE STARS, my rating let's just get this out the way.

Now, how are you? Doing good? Great, come here. Let's sit a little bit. I want to discuss how I felt about Fettered"...more intimately...with you.

I found this story well written, all the characters had depth, their reactions to conflict totally believable. (Alright my one niggle is the ages of the two lovers but when applying it to the story on a whole, I guess it works/fits) No matter if you loved or hated them, it just...worked.

Let me break down each facet that made this story so wonderful for me.

Dylan: Sweet, submissive Dylan. He was great. He was even better with Vincenzo. I hate the family he suffered through. I despise mothers like his. And luckily his Dom knight came in a fixed that shitstorm that was his life.

Vincenzo:

His name alone makes my toes curl. He could have had a face like a brick and the name adds some cool points. Lucky for him, he can back up the sexiness. I loved his possessiveness. I was in raptures over his dirty talk. I'd love to switch places with Dylan any day.



Miss Dolphinia: Yesss!!!

A smart mouthed, ballsy ass transvestite with bigger balls than you can even fathom. She's by far, one of my favorite secondary characters I've read this year.

I'd like to create a superhero ass kicking tag team. Together we'd be:

I have our team name, t-shirts and logo already created in my head. ;P

And if you don't like her (can't see why you won't):


Now onto the more disappointing characters, the Carter family, the whimpy father, bitchy sister (who suffered a terrible ordeal - but her personality leaves more to be desired) and that thing that gave birth to Dylan and co. Mothers like her give a bad name to parenting - you know the types - their kids are perfect and everyone else is jealous of her shitty ass kids (in her case- a sociopath child).



Now while I did not expect the story to go so deep or dark in the direction it did (does not involve either main character), it was handled quite well. Vincenzo stepping in like a super BDSM man and cleaning up Dylan's issues? No complaints here.

And then the black sludge of shit that is Dylan's brother, Gary.

Gary!!There are no words to describe you that are foul enough to describe the amount of loathing I feel for you. Thank goodness you're a fictional character because I'd like to have a closed room, my tag team partner Miss Dolphinia and metal bats.

Seriously dude:



Fucking pussy.

He does get what's coming to him, so I was happy with the outcome.

And moving onto brighter pastures where yummy sweet subs get chained and fucked so effortlessly, I totally suggest you read this story. It's entertaining without having to rely on dramatic crutches.

Mmm...I'm going to reread a favorite scene right now, I enjoyed this story so much." ( )