Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novella
Five years ago, Navy pilot Glen Rhodes lost his Dom, and since then he has been out of sorts and had nothing but meaningless sex that did nothing to address his needs. He is finally ready to try again and find someone with whom he connects and who can help him reach the submission that he craves. When he returns to the bar where he first met John, Glen isn’t sure he can find the right Dom there, but he needs to try.
The moment Derek Mann sees Glen walk into the bar, he knows he wants the man. He also can see right away how anxious and out of sorts Glen is and Derek’s immediate instinct is to go to Glen and help him through it. Derek too has lost a partner, and until he meets Glen, Derek had been unable to find that same connection with another sub. Derek can tell winning Glen’s trust and his submission will not be easy, but the connection between the guys is strong and Derek can see Glen is worth the effort. And with time the guys find that they are a perfect match for one another, emotionally and sexually. But Glen still faces some demons of guilt and self doubt about his needs and unless he can manage to let go of the past the men will have trouble finding a future together.
Ties that Bind is the third book in the Men of Honor series and once again we meet some strong men who also show us their softer sides. Here both Glen and Derek have lost their partners and both have been years without finding someone else with whom they have a true connection. We get the sense that Glen has been a little more lost than Derek, but both men have clearly be missing something important from their lives and it is great to see them find it with each other. I thought Glen in particular has a interesting back story. As a teen he was a competitive swimmer and Olympic bound, but he suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. The only thing that helped Glen was being tied down, something that allowed him to let go of the stress and tension. Even after giving up swimming for life as a Navy pilot, Glen still needs the release of being tied down and held, and years without a Dom have taken their toll. Not to mention an unaccepting family who makes him feel guilty for his submissive needs. I could really feel for Glen and thought Jakes does a nice job helping us to really get to know him and understand both his needs as well as his feelings of self doubt.
My issue here is that I am not sure there is quite enough conflict to hold the story together. This is a shorter book than the others in the series and really not much happens besides the guys meeting and falling for one another. It may also be that while the rest of the series has a suspense element thrown in, this one focuses solely on Glen and Derek’s relationship and I just think we needed a little more to build the story upon. Despite the feelings of guilt and shame Glen struggles with, I had a hard time understanding exactly why he is resisting a relationship with Derek. Unfortunately, I was even more confused by Derek, mostly because his back story isn’t given in as much depth and I couldn’t quite see the issues on his end very well. So while I really enjoyed both characters, and their hot and sexy relationship, I had trouble really following along with the conflict and so the story was just a little flatter than I would have liked.
But despite that I enjoyed this one quite a lot and really enjoyed the series. While the first two books are pretty solidly linked, this one stands alone just fine. But I have really enjoyed all these books and definitely encourage you to check them all out. I am eagerly looking forward to the latest installment.
Here are the books in order:
- Bound by Honor
- Bound by Law
- Ties that Bind
- Bound by Danger
- Bound for Keeps
