Customer Reviews

Deviations: Bondage

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

OK, the summary certainly does not do justice to this 4th book. There is so much more to the story. This book is about Tobias, Noah and Phantom and the evolution of their complex relationships, which took me by surprise. I do not like it when it happens and by the end of the story I am still not convinced this is the best for my favorite character, Phantom.

The sex in this book is really creative, with role plays, hot BDSM scenes and role reversal. However, I am not too keen on Tobias' role reversal, even if infrequent. Maybe this top Dom does need it but it seems off key to read this vulnerable side of this supposedly strong character. I feel that Tobias' Top Dom position is somewhat compromised. Could he really handle 2 Subs? As for Noah sometimes slipping into a Dom's role, it just does not fit what we read of this character in the previous 3 books.
As for Phantom, I would have prefered there to be more obstacles through his healing process. It seems too easy after the torments this sad character went through in the previous 3 books. On the other hand I do enjoy the lighter tone of this 4th book.

This book is very well written, the story line solid and flows very smoothly. Besides the hot sex, the writers have done a remarkable job examining all 3 characters' feelings as their relationship evolves.
I am also glad to know more about Bradford and his sudden insecurities around Nikki is touching. I certainly look forward to reading a spin-off on this couple, which Chris hints at.

The ending is OK but leaves me wanting. I wish Phantom has his own separate story. That said, this is an awesome BDSM series and it is all the more amazing when Chris reveals that the series is actually one whole story written without any break in between. The 5 stars rating is for this "whole" story. Separately this 4th book garnered 4 stars because of some of the developments I am not too keen on.

Back from their Parisian vacation, things couldn't be better for Tobias and his submissive, Noah. With a new open-ended contract, plans to move in together, and an intense emotional connection that transcends their D/s relationship, the pair is more stable and centered than ever.

For Phantom, Tobias' former submissive and now Noah's close friend, things are spinning out of control. While making real progress in therapy for childhood issues that caused his split with Tobias, Phan is now forced to make some difficult decisions that could profoundly affect Tobias and Noah. Will Tobias and Noah have the strength, yet again, to take their relationship beyond its limits and come out stronger for it?

Knowing Deviations: Bondage was the final installment of a four book series with which I am completely and utterly in love, I had very high expectations. With Deviations: Bondage Chris Owen and Jodi Payne most unexpectedly gave me everything I secretly wished for. All I can say is just, Yay!!

Ms. Owen and Ms. Payne never fail to astound me. Their stories are filled with rich, authentic characters and real emotional depth. The blistering hot sex only adds to the intensity of the story.

One of my favorite things about the Deviations books is the different levels of Tobias and Noah's relationship and their exploration of roles. Theirs is not simply a straight Dominant/submissive bond. They have evolved into much more. Tobias' yielding to Noah is further explored with sizzling hot scenes, while at the same time their innate connection flourishes and grows.

The captivating Phan shines ever brighter here. I have been fascinated with him since he first licked Tobias' boots in book one. It's his emotional struggle and his seemingly limitless cheek that makes me want to snuggle him up and keep him safe.

For me though, Noah is the true star of Deviations: Bondage. His growth over the four books is amazing. Noah's inner strength and belief in Tobias' love leaves me breathless. He has truly blossomed under Tobias' hand to an astonishing depth.

Emotionally charged and intensely erotic, Deviations: Bondage is a satisfying journey of love. I can't recommend this book, and the Deviations series, enough!! They are an absolute must read!

Cheryl
reviewed for Joyfully Reveiwed

Gosh I loved this series! It's one of those series you'd like to go on forever. All the characters in this book stayed with me long after the last page was read, and I know I will go back and re-read all 4 books many times in the future. I would recommend all 4 books, this is a series no one should miss!

Ok so I usually don't write reviews on the books I love, more into writing reviews on the books I hate trying to save someone else from wasting their money on a horrible book, but this book is worth raving about. Loved the characters, who are so well developed, loved the sex scenes, loved the plot line, really just loved everything about this book except coming to the end of it. If you like erotic fiction, then you can't miss with this one.

As a side note havn't found a Chris Owens book yet that I didn't like!

This book is the conclusion to the Deviations series and I have to say it didn't feel very satisfying to me. The four books follow each other very closely with maybe only a week or two passing between each book. The first three books had Tobias and Noah so in love with one another and so possessive of one another, it was really hot. Tobias consistently assured Noah that Phan was just someone he still cared about but not someone he was in love with any longer. But in Bondage, though it was Noah who offered to bring Phan home, I felt as though Noah only did it because he is such a kind and compassionate person, but didn't really want Phan to join them. Of course though, conveniently, Phan and Noah fall in love, though I'm not sure it's really love. No matter how many times I read it, I just think that Phan is intruding on Noah and Tobias' relationship and that he doesn't belong there. I would have been much happier if Phan had his own book. With the first three books so focused on Tobias and Noah, especially the middle two books with so much affirmation of their love for each other, having Phan suddenly join them and Tobias suddenly announcing that he's in love with Phan again and Noah just not having a problem with it because he just so happens to be in love with Phan too, didn't seem very realistic. I like Phan, he is a nice character with very good intentions, and Noah supposedly had truly fallen in love with Phan as well, but even then I still feel that Phan just doesn't belong with them.

I gave the book 3 stars because the sex was pretty hot. The threesomes were definitely good. Though, I think I would have liked it better if Phan had just joined Noah and Tobias to play occasionally instead of being a permanent third in their relationship. The hottest was definitely the times when Noah and Tobias are being together just as lovers and not as Dom/Sub. I really liked their role reversal and when Tobias asked Noah to Top him in his uniform. Very hot! That is certainly a part of their relationship that Phan and Tobias could never have. It's something that Phan could never give Tobias, only Noah. And for that I really liked it. Phan and Tobias' relationship seems more Dom/Sub, Noah and Phan's relationship is like best friends who have hot sex together, and Noah and Tobias' relationship is by far the deepest and most loving. They can be together as lovers, partners, friends, and Dom/Sub. Even though at the end everyone seemed in love with everyone, I think if Tobias had to choose, he would choose Noah over Phan, because their relationship is all encompassing and they can fulfill all of each others needs. For that, this book gets a 3/5.

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 10/10

PROS:
- Wonderful, sexy main characters who are as loving toward one another emotionally as they are physically.
- The sex. Wow. Hot, passionate, emotional, cathartic. Loving.
- The relationship. (SPOILER here--although it's revealed in a couple of the other reviews) Threesome! Yay, yay, yay! I'm not typically a fan of threesome relationships over couples, but I'd been wanting SO badly for Phantom to be part of Tobias and Noah's relationship that when it happened in this book I quite literally whooped out loud. And I am extremely satisfied with the way the relationship progresses: Tobias and Noah keep and strengthen their bond forged in the earlier books (and reverse roles!), Tobias and Phantom are finally able to express again the deep love they have always felt for each other, and Noah and Phantom bond both emotionally and physically once Tobias gives them permission to mess around together.
- A few more deepish-feeling BDSM scenes than in the previous (couple?) novels in the series. (This might not actually be the case if you were to go through the books and count the sex scenes, but the BDSM element seems more pervasive to me in this book than in the previous ones, except for the first.)
- Cursory but heartwarming secondary romance involving Bradford. I re-read some of the scenes about him and his sub several times; although short and lacking in detail, they are almost as sweet as the primary romance.
- Ending that some other reviewers have found unsatisfactory but which I found PERFECT. Everything I hoped and dreamed (but didn't really expect) would occur did, as did some delightful things I never even considered.

CONS:
- Tiny, inconsequential things (for me, anyway): some difficult/awkward moments, some areas where the writing isn't terribly smooth, etc. The book isn't perfect, obviously, but I've enjoyed the series so much that I was simply delighted with its conclusion...especially since the EXACT thing I wanted to happen at the end actually DID happen, even though I didn't think it would.

Overall comments: I love, love, love this series. Especially this volume. If you can't handle BDSM, then (sadly) these books probably aren't for you, but the relationships are deeply emotional and just gorgeous. In theory, each book could probably stand on its own, but if you want to read one, I highly recommend that you read them all--and that you do so in order. The emotional punch of this final book was MUCH stronger after having read the three earlier books than it would have been if I had read this one in isolation.

I truly enjoyed the first three books in the Deviations series, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. And, it was well worth the wait. The first two novels concentrated heavily on Tobias and Noah's budding romance while exploring the BDSM world they have chosen. Though the BDSM element is represented just as strongly as in the first three installments, there is more plot development here to build the romance to a crescendo. In particular, Tobias and Noah's jobs start to wear on them and affect their relationship. Noah questions why he became a cop after getting involved in a dangerous situation; Tobias begins to see that he can't be a full-time vet, a full-time Dom and manage his farm. One part that was especially good - readers get to see how complex Tobias' relationship with Bradford is, which subsequently fleshes that character out to be more three-dimensional. And then there is Phantom.

Phantom Shaw, Tobias' former submissive, was a minor character in the first two books. In volume three, his character was expanded upon and impacted the story more. So much so, that I expected him to have his own novel after Tobias and Noah's story was wrapped up. Instead, the authors created an unexpected plot twist for him in this final book. Though I never imagined the story going in the direction it went, it made for a very satisfying conclusion. His issues of self-esteem and addiction to pain take a major role in the story. Noah must examine his own feelings about Phan as well - can he accept that Tobias needs to help Phan? What role can or should Phan have in their relationship? And, does he love Phan too?

Though I am sad to see the series conclude, it was a very good ending. The sex was inventive, steamy and playful. Oh, and did I mention plentiful?! The characters were fully realized and the plot well done. These books have always been more than just "kinky" stories. These could be real people; they have real problems; and, they have real love. Overall, I highly recommend the entire Deviations series.

When I started this book I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book as much as the first three. There were a lot of changes and I wasn't sure I was happy with them but I'm so glad I stuck with the book. i don't blame people for stopping if they are really hating the book but I'm to stubborn to give up most of the time. If you read it to the end all those changes come together and make perfect sense to the overall story that has been building through the three previous books.

This is my first review, I felt so fully hurt by the conclusion to this series that I have to vent my frustrations somehow.

I have never read BDSM fiction, however I am well versed in most other kinds of M/M romance novels / erotica. I thought I would try this series as an experiment into understanding BDSM, and I wasn't disappointed; I learned a great deal and became totally enamored with Noah and Tobias' relationship.

The love story of Noah and Tobias' relationship is beautiful; they operate perfectly at the dom-sub level, and at a relationship level. Noah's playfulness and honesty go perfectly with Tobias' calming yet loving ways. By the end of the third book, if you had read that far, you were completely in love with the relationship they held.

In contrast, we as readers are never supposed to like Phantom. We know right from the beginning he is still in love with Tobias, and by the time we get to the forth book he has done nothing but complicated the perfect relationship of Noah and Tobias. He is largely selfish, broken, and desperate to get his man back even though Noah and Tobias do not believe this to be the case. Frankly, the psychiatrist - another character we're not exactly supposed to love - was right all along. Phan wanted Tobias back.

And throughout the forth book, there was little doubt he would. Granted, I didn't see it developing into a functioning threesome, but the fact that there was never much of a fight put up by Tobias and Noah is wholly unbelievable. Are we really supposed to believe Noah could not only be collared in six months, but then get past every single insecurity he has about Phan, fall in love with him, and then be open to a threesome? Are we really supposed to buy Tobias' assertion that Noah would always be number one in his life?

The fact Noah is so open to Phantom is a betrayal of the character we learned to love, and it's startling to think we never knew him at all. Tobias, who we expected to be the "Prince Charming" to protect Noah, instead cannot leave his devotion to Phan behind. Oh, and just to throw a wrench in, he's also not a full Dom, thus further destroying the image of our perfect hero.

I skipped the last 50 pages because I knew what was coming. I knew what was coming, and when I read the epilogue I was right on the money. Tobias calling Phan "mine" and Phan replying "always", feeling not unlike the monogamous relationship Noah and Tobias once had, was the final straw.

This book not only was horrible, but it had me wishing I had never read the series in the first place.

I really wish I could get my money back.

Such an odd book, extraordinarily detailed and hot BDSM scenes, and then endless and quite boring conversations about therapy and how they all feel about everything and mundane details. (for such thin and fit men they eat a lot pizza! and for such BDSM sluts, there is an awful lot of cuddling going on.) The sex is hot, hot, hot. And the BDSM lifestyle is meticulously described, and though I don't know firsthand, it feels true. But the book bogs down in the non sex scenes, and it's too smooth, they are all too nice and kind to each other, and face no real jealousy or issues (Tobias, the Dom is actually the only one to feel a bit left out of the threesome) But Phantom is so childlike and attention needing, it actually makes sense that he has to be part of a threesome to give him some balance, one person just couldn't take all his neediness.

Chris Owen is a good writer, and the scenes are intriguing, so it's worth buying this book, but there are characterization flaws and the book feels overwritten at times. I rate it a B+, a probable reread. It may not be one of my true favorites, but it's a full length dense book and worth the time and the money.