3.5 stars

Synopsis: Clark used to be in the military, but he was injured in an attack. Now Clark owns a bar and bar tends. He also does investigative work for the mayor's son. He has his pick of men, so when someone turns him down he is intrigued. Clark does his research on Daniel, and understands why he turned him down, since Daniel is a Dom and Clark is not a sub.
Daniel is a professor who augments his salary by being a professional Dom. He is interested in Clark, but knows that they are not compatible. Clark, though, being one of four owners of an exclusive BDSM club, has an invitation to the club for Daniel. When Clark watches Daniel doing his thing at the club, he is conflicted, but has to leave before he makes a spectacle of himself.
When Daniel follows Clark and takes care of him, they get closer, and realize that they might be compatible after all.

What I liked: that Clark and Daniel took the time to get to know one another, even though their relationship seems to happen really fast. They helped each other through their personal pain. Once they figured out what they were to each other, Daniel and Clark worked out a relationship that worked for them. The surrounding characters were interesting and well drawn.

What I didn't like: how quickly things moved between Daniel and Clark. Before the scene at the club, Daniel and Clark only had two interactions, and even though Clark investigated Daniel and knew just about everything about him, they didn't actually talk that much.

Overall impressions: the writing was a little choppy, but it seemed intentional for the two characters. The story itself was interesting.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

For some reason when I glanced at the blurb for Hearts Under Fire, I thought this would be a murder mystery, so to be given a BDSM story was a bit of a shock. I really wasn’t sure what to make of this at first; however, that didn’t put me off. Looking back at the blurb, I’m not actually sure what it was that made me believe it to be a murder mystery, as it did make itself quite clear in purpose.

Clark was an interesting character and I enjoyed getting to know him better, and his first interaction with Daniel had sparks flying and me turning that page. I wanted to know how they would get together, and yet, as it progressed, it looked like despite a lot of jealousy and desire, they couldn’t since they were both Dominant. This book really focused on their pasts and their relationship, building it from trust and vulnerability. I feel the relationship developed too quickly, though, only over a weekend (from what I could see) before jumping to a later stage in it. I would have like to have seen how the people around them reacted to their relationship, and Clark’s change from Dominant to submissive for Daniel. In a lot of ways, it was a different take on the gay-for-you storyline, going instead with Dom/sub dynamics. I’m not sure that this is entirely realistic, as that is a firm part of somebody’s personality and Clark had never looked to be a switch.

There was a strong focus on the main characters despite the author creating some interesting secondary characters I would have liked to see more from, as well as Clark’s passion for his job which he only really talks about and we never get to see. The characters are well-written, their emotions and scars deftly handled, and the ending was mostly satisfactory, but overall, there was just something that didn’t appeal to me.

4 stars

Interesting twist to the relationship for two people who think they know what they want.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.