to the very last inchRating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Short Story


James Sheridan has decided to try to make things work with Satish Malhotra.  Satish has forgiven James for the incident in the dressing room and wants to pursue a relationship between them.  Satish is also open to James continuing to see Professor Evander Carson, recognizing that Carson can give James the pain and submission he needs that Satish can not provide.  But now that things are settled with Satish, James must get past the conflict with Carson. It is clear that the two men have been failing to communicate for years, each misunderstanding one another’s needs and motives.  James must learn to trust Carson, and not always assume the worst about his motivations.  And Carson needs to be honest with James about his feelings and not try to push him away when things get too deep.  There is a chance that the three men can form a wonderful relationship together, but for it to work Carson and James must move on from the problems of the past and be open to a new kind of future together.

To the Very Last Inch is the final installment of the Professor’s Rule series, one that I have really been enjoying. The series follows two relationships, one developing between James and Satish, and one being rekindled between Carson and James.  Here in this final story, we get the resolution to the conflicts these men are facing as they work out how they can be together.  The story focuses primarily on James and Carson as they try to move past the lack of communication that has plagued their relationship.  It is told partly in flashback and partly in present day, so we can better see not just the root of the conflict, but to get more insight into Carson’s feelings.  He has always been the most guarded of the three, and here we really get a better sense of what has been driving his actions throughout the series.

I will say I did wish for a bit more action here.  Much of the book is taken up with the guys talking out their various issues and thinking about their problems, so there wasn’t quite the same level of energy and intensity (or heat) that I felt from previous stories.  I just wanted a tiny bit more here for the final book in the series. That said, I loved the way it all resolves, and it left me with warm happy feelings about the future for these guys.

Overall I have enjoyed the Professor’s Rule series quite a lot and found this a fitting end.  I think it is best read as a set since the five books carry the story arc and jumping in at the middle will leave you without a lot of context or perspective on the larger story.  But read together this is a really rich story with a creative set up, lots of heat, and a really unusual relationship dynamic that develops wonderfully over the series.  Definitely recommended.

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