Blog Tour ~ Stay by K.M. Neuhold (Reviews + Excerpt)
STAY
K.M. NEUHOLD
M/M PUPPY PLAY ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: 01.11.19
BLURB
What happens to a couple when one of them discovers a new kink that he’s not sure his partner will be into?
Dear Art,
I’m sure you get messages like this all the time, but I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore. I suppose I should start from the beginning… Three weeks ago, I saw puppy play for the first time, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Wait, no, that’s not really the beginning… Ten years ago, my best friend who I’d been in love with my entire life told me he loved me too.
For ten years, I’ve been living in complete bliss with Lars, the man of my dreams. Don’t get me wrong, we have our fights and disagreements (mostly because I do irritating shit, and every once in a while, he reaches the end of his patience), but he is my other half in every way. I didn’t know I could love someone the way I love him.
Then, the puppy thing happened. It’s not so different from when I realized I was gay; there was a moment where everything sort of clicked into place, and my whole body was like “Yes, that’s what we’ve been trying to figure out all this time.” At first, I thought maybe I should just let it go because it’s not the kind of thing I can imagine my partner being into. But last week I went into a kink shop and ended up walking out with a puppy hood. I stashed it in our guest bedroom closet and haven’t even had the courage to take it out and try it on again, let alone show it to Lars. I don’t know what to do. How do I bring this up to him? And what if he isn’t into it? I feel like I don’t recognize myself anymore, and I don’t know where to turn. Please help.
Sincerely,
EXCERPT
“Step out,” I instruct, kneeling at his feet to get his pants off without letting him trip over himself, his half hard cock swaying near my face.
“Mmm,” he hums, running his hands through my hair, his hazy, drunk eyes fixed on me.
“Hey, JJ?”
“Yeah?”
“Why haven’t you been sleeping well this week?”
As soon as the words are out, his warm, happy expression shutters, and he frowns at me. I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes, see him trying to come up with an answer. My stomach lurches with the realization that he’s planning on lying to me, again. Is this related to the porn thing earlier in the week or has he decided, after all these years, to make a habit out of lying to me?
“Come on, JJ, step out of your pants,” I repeat soberly when I realize he’s not going to answer. This time he does as I say with my help. By the time I stand up, he’s tugging his shirt off and tossing it in the pile of dirty clothes, and I follow suit, the two of us climbing into bed silently.
For the first time in our lives, there’s something Jonah isn’t telling me.
4.25 Stars!
I have been wanting to try some of K. M. Neuhold's books for a while, and this one made me even more determined to read more of them.
Stay is about a long-term couple who clearly love each other, Jonah and Lars. When Jonah finds himself beyond curious about puppy play, he's not sure how to make sense of it for himself, let alone tell his partner. His secretive behavior leads to some angst and worry for Lars, who once he finds out and has time to think about things, is willing to give it a try.
Jonah is an ER doctor. When he gets home from a long stressful day, he's happy to let Lars take the lead for him. Jonah is incredibly sweet and his best friend was a fun character. Lars is a veterinarian. He loves taking care of Jonah when he needs it. I loved reading their story. I think that Jonah's uncertainty about the puppy play was completely understandable, and Lars's reaction to the secrecy and finding out were spot on. I liked that Lars, once past the shock, was willing to listen. It was great that Jonah was able to explain how this kink fit into their lives and was just a different way to think about their everyday interactions. I liked that exploring this new side to their relationship provided them both with benefits and brought them closer.
I think that if you have an open mind and are willing to give puppy play a chance, this exploration of a new kink by an established couple will work for you.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
5 stars
I LOVED this! I enjoy reading puppy play and this book was a sweet and sexy story that kept me wanting more. I have read very few books with already established couples and I liked the uniqueness that it brought to the story. We meet Lars and Jonah who have already been in a relationship for ten years and are happy and pretty much perfect for one another. It is mentioned in the book but Lars and Jonah are relationship goals to the max.
The introduction to puppy play was incredibly sweet and the support the two MCs showed each other was awesome. This was really a feel-good book with some great sexy times. While the story was really focused on Jonah discovering puppy play and Lars joining that journey with him, we do get peeks of such great side characters that I now want their stories!
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
4.5 Stars
This book was a cute read as Lars and Jonah had a really great dynamic as a couple. It was all about the self-discovery via new kinks that they, an established couple, go through after being together for years. I appreciated how this book was written and that both men were a little older in life and that they were still finding out what things turned them on and what things they liked and disliked, because really, life should be fluid. Just because you like/dislike something at one point in time doesn't mean that later in life you might not discover your feelings have changed.
It did, however, take me a little time to get used to their dynamic together. Their personalities and character traits seemed a little at odds to me; Lars was smaller and the more dominant of the two and Jonah was larger and the more submissive (personally, it just throws me off a bit when characters don't fit how I see them in my head, but that is totally my own issue and nothing to do with the book). And while I understood Jonah's hesitation at divulging his newly found wants to Lars, I think with the two of them being together for so long, he really should have been more straightforward and communicated better to avoid the drama and discord that hiding stuff from Lars caused. But this book was more sweet than anything else as the two stumbled through their newly discovered kinky world.
This book really could be someone's real life issue. I honestly could see this entire situation and plot happening in real life, which endeared this story to me, and I just fell in love with it and the characters. I found it cute and I just wanted to know all about these guys and watch them as they learned everything they needed to know together. Also, the supporting minor characters in the book were all cute and I really hope they all get stories for themselves next - I need to know more about Seb and Vale.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
Author K.M. Neuhold is a complete romance junkie, a total sap in every way. She started her journey as an author in new adult, MF romance, but after a chance reading of an MM book she was completely hooked on everything about lovely- and sometimes damaged- men finding their Happily Ever After together.
She has a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well. And she fully admits that her OCD tendencies of making sure every side character has a full backstory will likely always lead to every book having a spin-off or series.
When she's not writing she's a lion tamer, an astronaut, and a superhero...just kidding, she's likely watching Netflix and snuggling with her husky while her amazing husband brings her coffee.
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