There's no mentioning about the series and this book ended with a major cliffhanger.
The writing was mediocre, and it was like I read the book in the middle of something happened before this, out from no where.
I didn't like it.

There's Something About Pain is Schuyler L'Roux's follow up to There's Something About a Kilt and the books must be read in order.

First, I just want to say that I really enjoy this author’s writing style. I think Schuyler L’Roux has some interesting stories to tell and I’m looking forward to whatever they bring us next. Even though I didn’t love where Thom and Gerry’s story goes in this one, hopefully it will work better for you.

There’s Something About Pain opens with Thom and his buddies on vacation in Los Angeles. It’s one month later and Thom is really upset that Gerry didn’t call him after their hook-up. Though he says he doesn’t want “any part of this venture” he still flies with his buds over four hours across the country to vacation where Gerry lives? M’kay...

Sooooo, the hot, kilted, muscle-bound, and tatted Gerry is well known in the city of Angels. The bartender actually knows Gerry and tells them how to find him. I’m not going to spoil it here, since this is the fun part of the story, but I could not suspend my scepticism long enough to enjoy it.

Thom’s behavior in this book is so different from the way he seemed to me during There’s Something About a Kilt and I had a hard time getting past it. I was also confused about Gerry’s reasons for not calling Thom after their hook-up? They didn’t ring true to me with the way I understood his character in the first book either.

I’m going to reiterate that I do enjoy the way Schuyler L’Roux writes and I’m going to keep looking for their works in the future. Hopefully There’s Something About Pain works better for you than it did for me.

This is the second book in the series and I do recommend reading them in order. After a one-night stand Thom is doing his best to get over Gerry. Can Thom let go over what happened to him previously and take Gerry’s invitation? This is a fast-paced read with plenty of drama and great chemistry. I am looking forward to finding out what happens next. A good read.

"Ger, I don't have to tell you this, do I? Play is like yoga. Only assholes do it in the morning."

"There's Something about Pain" picks up where the first book left off - Thom is depressed because Gerry never called, so his friends try to cheer him up by taking him to a bar. Come to find out, the bouncer and the bartender know Gerry, and knows where he works when he's not constructing buildings.

Thom's friends convince him to go to the BDSM dungeon where Gerry works nights stripping, and Gerry and Thom make up with sex in a public restroom.

Apparently, Thom's last relationship was in the scene but it was abusive, so he's apprehensive about being dominated again. Gerry suggests Thom dominates him so that he takes the power back from the abusive situation he was in and learns from it.

I have a couple problems with these books. There is no back story to the characters to let you know who they are, besides their sexual orientation and their occupations. We knew nothing of Thom's last relationship, nothing of Gerry's BDSM days, and nothing about their personalities besides Thom being shy and Gerry being hyper-sexual.

I did like how the Dungeon was spot on to an actual Dungeon - the front desk, the waiver, the fee, talking about safewords, what play was allowed, etc.

This quote is also spot on for any lifestyle practitioners:

"People get freaked when they hear BDSM because of whips, paddles, and chains—oh my. All of those—wonderful as they are—are just tools for two things.” Beatrix held up her hands like she was Lady Justice. “Domination. Submission. One doesn’t happen without the other. Everything’s an ebb and flow—it’s not all one or the other, you know?”

I did not like Thom not giving Gerry aftercare after the scene was done. I know that he was new to this, but for Beatrix to not stop him and be like "Hey. He needs aftercare. Get back over here, untie him, clean him up, and do whatever he needs right now until he's come down from the high." was bad, even if it is a work of fiction.

Other then that, it was a good tie-in. I just would have liked it to be, again, more longer and for their personalities to shine through a bit more instead of it being just about sex (as well as the problem with 'play' being associated with 'just sex'. That's not particularly true for most people in the BDSM lifestyle: play does not have to include sex but it can, sex is not a requirement for a scene, etc.) but maybe that's just me. The writing was okay, the characters were okay - I just wish there was more to it than just 'okay' writing and 'okay' characters.

Normally stepping in a book 2 isnt an issue but it was with this one. Even if I had read the first book I did not understand the motivation for this book at all. Yes they want to find the big ginger so they can move on and instead we get bdsm and crossfit compared together. Pussy used as an insult many times and while yes having a person who had kink used abusively to their person might find it empowering to be placed in charge that entire last scene did not work. Thom just walks out without a care for Gerry to even bother to check hey are you okay after this intense scene. And it just ends I almost feel insulted by that ending.