Definitely a different read- but I loved it! There is a BDSM element that really sucked you into the story and the characters. There were interesting twists in both plot and character. The author (who was new for me) uses a very descriptive writing style. There were secondary characters like Alex that I definitely wanted to know their story. I thought the progression of the relationship was interesting and really let us into Nick's mindset. Umber was more elusive but toward the end we see why he makes the choices he does. I highly recommend this book.

Good writing, but not for me. The relationship felt rushed and the end felt disappointing. I didnt read any chemistry between the two main characters and I wasnt able to get invested in them

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

Rating: 3.5 stars
Rep: m/m, Japanese-American gay mc with depression, gay trans mc with chronic illness (fibromyalgia)
Trigger warnings: discussion of depression, dealing with a chronic illness/disability, depiction of a D/s relationship between boss and employee, and a heavy caning scene. (these are all found at the beginning of the book)


I'll start off by saying that this book had so much potential to be a 5 star read for me. It had amazing diverse characters, engrossing writing (I started this at 10 pm and didn't put it down until I finished at 2 am), it also had great kink and a great dynamic between the two mcs. However, I felt like this book tried to do too much. If it was 100 pages longer, I wouldn't have minded at all, but as it is, this ended up feeling very rushed to me, with the characters and their relationship being underdeveloped as a result.


I still enjoyed this one, but I was left feeling a little disappointed, though maybe that's to do with my own expectations for the book! I'd still recommend to people that like diverse characters, BDSM and a little dash of mystery.

John Tristan's "The Assistant" is a bit of a psychological drama following a veteran taking a job as the personal assistant to an eccentric store owner. Their relationship quickly moves from professional to personal. They are both a little broken in their own ways, which does allow for some solid scenes exploring how they dig under each other's skin. There's a fairly late turn of the plot that does detract from the opening. There is an ominous sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop, clues at the reveal are pushed into place and not really unfolded at a steady pace. It's almost a relief when the end game is revealed and the pacing picks up again.

This book was a really fast-paced read. It was enjoyable and fun to read. I liked the characters a lot, but the pacing was very quick and read as occasionally unrealistic.

I liked the premise of the book. Nick was an assistant to a disabled transgendered man. I thought it would be interesting. The romance was a bit off. There wasn’t the chemistry I was looking for. I would have liked more interaction between them. I think the subplot threw me for a loop. I didn’t understand it. The ending was a bit odd. Overall it was an okay book.

I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review.

John Tristan once again manages to seduce you into his world of sexual kink exploration with a beautiful budding romance and a clear importance of consent. Nick is a character very well written. His lack of enthusiasm in a mundane job after the horrible events of his past make him a realistic human being just existing not actually living. It is a struggle we all know far too well. The romance between Nick and Umber is quaint and soft even though the relationship explores some BDSM like kinks. However the consent is clear withinn the two and there are many discussions about what one likes and one doesn't which is a really nice persepctive considering that near the beginning there is a scene between two characters who don't discuss that and make the sexual encounter not very pleasurable. I definitely liked the fact that Ace and Trans communities were included and lack of a big queer community in a small town. It once again felt very realistic. The criminal aspect of the story was a nice surprise however it felt more like a sideplot instead of the actual story which was the budding romance between Nick and Umber. I will definitely be recommending it.

Sometimes it is fascinating to read about a type of relationship that is so far out of your comfort zone it really pushes your boundaries. That was this book for me. The relationship between Mr. Umber and Nick is fascinating. Nick is ex-military whose entire family was killed in a tragic car accident while he was deployed. His parents and baby sister were gone and his extended family didn't even wait for him to get home to have a service for them. In that moment he really lost everything. Since that time he's been adrift and very depressed. He is gay and also on the BDSM spectrum (is that even a term?). He's very much focused on being a submissive and desires pain as part of his submission. In a lot of ways it is sexual for him - but it is really more than that. He wants someone to take care of him and truly belong to them.

Mr. Umber is a transsexual man who is older than Nick and has a fairly mysterious background and job. He has fibromyalgia and needs assistance with certain daily living tasks. Nick becomes his personal assistant and their relationship blossoms from there. Ultimately while there are sexual situations in this book - there isn't a lot of sex. There is a S&M - but it is much more about domination than sex.

Their relationship and love is fascinating and very different from most other books I have read.

I enjoyed it - but some part of the story felt very disjointed. I also felt like we only just scratched the surface when the book ended. I'd also like to read more about Nick's friend Alex!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

3.5 Stars

I wish this had been longer. I think some of the plot suffers from not being panned out enough - the ending in particular seemed rushed. I like our MCs together, but I wanted to see more of their relationship to be entirely on board.

A strange thing is that the kink (which never gets too crazy) is quite present, but the steam was next to nothing. I was a little bummed about that. 😅

Also, it’s not mentioned in the description, but one of the MCs is transgender, and I loved seeing that representation.

Overall it was a cute story, and I don’t regret reading it, but would’ve liked more development between Nick and Jacob.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the book. It was a really good read. It gave me another perspective to romance. John Tristan did a good job writing this book.

Nick Kurosawa is an ex-soldier who lost his family in an unfortunate car accident. Since then, he has been living as a drifter, taking on temporary jobs to make ends meet. A chance at a steady job and getting his life back in order is what leads him to the doorstep of Jacob Umber.

Jacob Umber has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic and variable illness. Some days he is fine and some days he can barely manage to get out off bed.
Jacob wants a personal assistant, someone adaptable, without pre-conceived notions and who can take instructions easily.

Nick is everything that Jacob needs, and Jacob is everything that Nick craves.
Can Jacob resist Nick and his talent for following orders?
Will their budding relationship be destroyed by secrets from Jacob's past?

“𝙈𝙧. 𝙐𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧", 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. “𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙩.”
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙨.
𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙨𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧. 𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪.
𝙐𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙. 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙠’𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨. “𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙠, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢.
“𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩,” 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙.

Jacob was such an intriguing character, with so many layers to his personality. I loved the dynamics between Jacob and Nick. Their personalities contrasted eachother but they worked well together.
I loved how the author explored Jacob's disability. This was extremely well written.

This was a slowburn romance, with hurt/comfort and a boss/employee relationship.
This might not work for everyone, so please read the triggers/warnings before venturing into this one.


𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴:
𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴/𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘋/𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦.

I really liked it, the D/s part was hot and also intense, but I wished the story was longer, the last twist fell flat, it should have been something to explore with more detail or at least with a better epilogue.
But talking about the relationship between them, it was really great.

Pairing: MM
Orientation: Gay
Identity: Cisgender, Trans.

Warning: discussion of depression, dealing with a chronic illness/disability, depiction of a D/s relationship between boss and employee, and a heavy caning scene.

This was a very different book than what I usually read. Or maybe not.
This was my first time reading this author and John Tristan is a wonderful writer.

I loved our main character, Nick. He was in the military and because of traumatic pasts, he has been on and off in a few jobs. One of his friends recommends him to apply for Jacob Umbers. The job is to be a PA for Mr. Umbers. Mr. Umbers is a trans man suffering from fibromyalgia. And boy, what an intriguing character Mr. Umbers was. Like Wow.

This book was sort of a slow burn. But the fact is that since the first half covers several weeks, there is more of telling how Nick feels about Mr. Umbers on a day to day basis rather than showing. So, yes, even though they get into a relationship a little later in the book, it seemed sudden to me given the interactions between the main characters and the kind of conversations between them.

I also loved how the author explores the sexual dynamic between the characters. And it totally worked and made sense for the characters. I've read MM BDSM books before, so this wasn't new to me. However, I really enjoyed their scenes/moments together. However, I wish there was more "romance" in the book.

As much as the characters talked, and did for each other, there seemed to be a certain lack of depth and connection, that feeling of the characters being meant for each other.

Lastly, the book took a very interesting turn after about 60% that I did not expect. I also loved how everything played out. I did not expect the book to go about this way. I thought this was just a simple D/s boss employee romance but it turned out to be much more.

I also loved the representation. It's not often you come across trans main character who is a dominant in relationship with an ex milirary gay man, SO points for that. Also, the book was addictive. Once I started, I finished it in an afternoon.

I'm not sure what I expected when I began this book, but it wasn't something as powerful as what I got. I'm new to John Tristan's writing but I would definitely pick up another of his books.

The Assistant is quite short but there is a ton of characterization packed into it. Most intriguing, Nick is an ex-soldier who is working as a bouncer at the opening of the novel. Although he's suffered some trauma in his life, including the death of both his mother and sister in a car accident, he's clearly lived with depression for his entire life. There's been something "missing" from his life... and Nick isn't sure what that is.

A friend refers Nick to Jacob Umber. Umber is a man living with a disability who is in need of a personal assistant. In spite of the fact that he's not clear on what the job may entail, Nick goes for an interview because he can't realize that being a bouncer is putting him at risk of acting on some of his darker impulses when he chooses a physical brawl over de-escalating the situation.

As Nick and Mr. Umber begin working together something is unlocked within Nick. He finds that he wants to give over power and control to Umber... and develops a "crush" of sorts. But it's not until he and Umber end up at the same D/s house party... that Nick realizes there's even the remotest possibility that he might be able to pursue more with his employer.

Umber is very guarded about his life and doesn't really discuss the workings of his business with Nick. That doesn't really bother Nick, but he's aware that he doesn't really know much about the man he has come to need in his life. Umber is an interesting character. He's quite a bit older than Nick, and has a quietness about him that commands attention. I really enjoyed the way he revealed some of the facts about his medical status, by simply handing Nick a file about himself.

I thought it was refreshing that the fact that Jacob is a transgender man was simply a fact that he told Nick in case he had to act as a medical advocate. It's Jacob's fibromyalgia that is much more of an ongoing concern, and no doubt affects his mood and emotions. It was a pleasure to read a book with a main character who deals with a chronic condition. It was just something that was part of his everyday life.

Even in such a short work, the author manages to do a bit of exploration regarding control and power. It's much more than controlling someone physically; it can be completely psychological. The D/s scening and relationship read as very authentic to me and I found that very enjoyable.

This is a great book... if you like authentic D/s and wonderfully emotional relationship, then you'll enjoy this one.