Loederkoningin

This Tumblr right here collects stories of all of the terrible Dominants out there that give Dom/mes everywhere a bad name.

On the surface it’s a hilarious collection of convos gone wrong with faux Doms, but beneath the surface it’s a pretty miserable affair. People are such assholes.

So this kind of stuff is exactly why the MC in The Subs Club, David, sets up a website where subs can rate the Doms they played with, and call out those who  didn’t play safe. Ever since one of David’s close friends died during a breath play scene in a club, he and his other friends are trying to find a balance between making BDSM into a safety school special and playing as wild and vicariously as they'd like. Complicating factor is that David’s ability to trust Doms died along with his friend. His favorite club deciding to give the Dom that he holds accountable for that death a second chance, doesn’t help either. So yeah, He’s pretty much through with all of it. Except he can’t help but notice...

PORNSTACHE.

“The less sophisticated parts of my brain had latched on to the least appropriate, most obviously heterosexual person in this club and had decided it was this man’s destiny to bend me over and scrub my asshole with that mustache.”

Pornstache doesn’t have much eye for David though. So it’s a good thing that the "Burt Reynolds starring in Boogie Nights" guy has a FetLife profile. In it he boldly states that only fit boys under 30 need apply (when Pornstache is not either of those things!). On top of that, when David contacts the man he also has the bloody nerve to lowercase david's name in his reply, and requests that he wears tighty whities upon their first meeting. It takes a whole lot less to lure out David’s recalcitrant side... 

So this book is a lot of things bundled into one, and my rating reflects that. David’s narrative is absolutely the most brilliant thing about The Subs Club. He’s witty, sarcastic, hilarious, and so very quote-worthy. I couldn’t stop snickering!

I was digging the long-sleeved polo, jeans, and loafers in a yeah, daddy kind of way. He caught me staring, and his pornstache twitched slightly. 

As interesting as David’s sessions with Pornstache are though, the underlying plot-line of what it means to be part of the BDSM scene, and the handling of aspects like privacy, trust, social judgment, finding the D to your S and vice versa, and SSC play are equally important.

I think J.A. Rock did an awesome job exploring these aspects. The death of David's friend could easily have headed into melodramatic territory, but thankfully it never did. Not once did she climb on a soapbox to become all preachy through her characters (there’s little I hate more!). Instead she incorporated various concerns and dilemmas in the plot in an entirely natural manner, making The Subs Club into so much more than your 'hot little BDSM read next door' by yet another author who brings out the whips and cuffs, but is entirely lost on the essence of BDSM.

Now for David’s attraction to Pornstache, and him embarking on a domestic discipline adventure with the man: their scenes were neatly woven through the aforementioned bigger picture. I was excited to find out if and how David and his new Sir would hit it off. Not even because of the hot spanking and DD scenes (with a dash of humiliation, mmm, my fave!), but mostly because both David and Pornstache were ‘real’ personalities with their own insecurities and hang-ups.

David wasn’t the ‘Imma sub and a sub is all I am’ type I’ve grown weary of. The same goes for Pornstache, who wasn’t portrayed as the Alpha male Dom that the guys that are featured on the 'Too Dom For You' Tumblr sadly seem to think is the ideal. Perhaps it’s sad that J.A. Rock's characterization made me buzz with enthusiasm. After all, I wouldn't have been this impressed if the MM genre didn't appear to feature stereotypes as a rule. But, yeah, a tiny example:

I studied him. “I’m gonna go with yes. But you’ve said before that marriage is the last refuge of the insecure. So I’m gonna say... married to a nice woman before you realized you liked guys? Messy divorce?” (...)

“Actually, my first boyfriend was in high school.”

And I’d totally expected, like the MC, yet another guy with a dramatic past.:)

In that regard, I also loved the diverse group of friends and how they didn't drift in and out of the story for the sake of the plot only. The (too often overlooked) small talk between David and his friends sparkled and entertained. As did the general descriptions of people (besides the descriptions of the obviously hot Pornstache, who totally got my motor running. Sue me!:p). Here we have a writer who knows how to write!

Vietnamese, 5’5, hairless, and so thin he could have worn a wedding ring as a belt, Ricky was new to the scene.

But hey, since writing gushing and raving ~~***~~~~ FIVE SIZZLING WIZZLING BEAUTIFULLY SUBMISSIVE ENEMA STARS ~~***~~~~ reviews doesn't come naturally to me, I'd like to end this review on a more glum note, by sharing a few more depressing FetLife encounters. You're welcome!