Deviations: Discipline

I loved books 1 to 3 in this series. Out of all the BDSM novels I've read, this series had the most strict D/S relationship. Tobias takes on Noah as a sub after seeing Noah needs something, he's adrift and needs grounding and issues dealt with. Tobias is a sucker for a sub in need and something about Noah entrances him. Noah is not a sweet yes sir sub all the time. During the day he's a police officer and he has to work to weigh up his responsible professional life against his need to give up control in his private life.I thoroughly enjoyed reading the start of their relationship and all the details of Noah's training. Tobias is not a know it all dom and goes to his friend Bradford when he needs to who then uses his dom nature to help Tobias.It's not all cut and dry D/S split between Noah and Tobias and that does not detract from the power exchange you can feel. Tobias is strong enough to admit that sometimes he needs to swap.The walking to heel training was painful, hands over nipples to protect myself while reading that, I was in awe of Noah's courage jumping in a contract with the infamous Tobias, and watching him flourish was beautiful.The pride Tobias felt when Noah achieved a task or overcame an obstacle was fantastic, you really understand what he as a dom gets out of training a sub and the descriptions of Noah's feelings explains what he gets out of it.They are a great fun couple and their rough and tumble and often funny role playing games were hot, sexy and great to read.

The third in the sublime 'Deviations series' and as thoughtful and well written as ever. The characters are fleshed out well and explored on a far deeper level than a lot of erotic fiction currently on the market.This book explores the emotional side of Tobias and Noah's relationship and their friendship with Phantom even deeper than the previous: 'Domination'. While this is a welcome thing, the core theme of the series suffers a little - the development of the emotional/love side of the story, as wonderful as it is,takes the stage more at expense of the BDSM elements that gave the first book (Submission)it's edge and thrill. Although this changes towards the end, and we get more of what we expect from 'Discipline',it seems a long (or perhaps just impatient!)wait to get there.I agree with another reviewer here, Jane, in that the character of Noah seems to need a little bit more toughness or control, lacking in this title, and as the reader, I also felt this. I hope this gets remedied a little in the next book as Tobias seems to have lost something of his hard Dom edge (as satisfying as it is to see his emotional side though). However, I loved that a 'flip flop element was introduced in Noah topping occasionally - as a side note - I would love to read a prequel spin off about the training of Tobias and Bradford as we know (though only with scant details) that they were trained together and I think this would be a delicious and sexy story to read.Despite some truly sizzling and gorgeously passionate sex and love scenes, there are surprisingly not as many 'scenes' or explorations of the BDSM parts of their lives as one would expect, which is a little disappointing. Perhaps a better balance needs to be struck between the love story and the D/S elements which were more lacking here than the previous titles. Still, the book is very enjoyable and has far greater character development than most other books in this genre and I, like others, eagerly await the next title.I also hope that Bradford and Phan have their own spin-off series at some point, or Phan with a slightly more compassionate Dom - Bradford is a less emotional person than Tobias (as far as we know thus far). Personally, I find most of the characters interesting - Bradford, Brain, Nikki, Luca for example and would relish the chance to read more about them - perhaps a good thick book of shorter stories or a series focussing on them? Perhaps I'm just greedy though ;)

Noah asks for more intense scenes when renegotiating his contract with Tobiah (at the end of the book), and I agree with him.Con: This book had not enough hard-line D/s and not enough BDSM scenes for my taste. A few times, I skip sex scene descriptions. At the end, one sexe scene and the other looked the same, nearly interchangeable. I got bored while reading them.Tobiah is far from being a "mean" Dom. When his sub said :"You looked like you had a metal rod up your ass" to him, because they did not agree about something in the new contract, Noah should at least have received a warning to stay polite. But no, Tobiah smiled at him. Really? I would never have dare to tell such a thing to my master. Never! Even when I was angry with him (yeah, that happen in real life). I would not accept such rudeness from anyone: not from my colleages, not from my boss, not from my friends, not from the queen herself! But Tobiah just smiled. :\Pro: the authors write well. They pay great attention to psychological detail. That make their characters more real, more believable. And that is the best part of this book.However, I do not know if I will buy the next book of the series. Although this is written in the next book description that Tobiah and Noah have more and longer BDSM scenes, I find it hard to believe, since there never has been much.After reading "The Good Sadist" (that I loved), I found this book very very soft.

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 9/10PROS:- Hot sex scenes, as usual, but in more unusual settings in this volume.- Continued development of not just the D/s relationship but also the characters' emotional connection.- A lot of progress regarding some of Noah's trust issues and fear of physical restraint.- Tobias and Noah finally have an argument! (I was starting to think they were a little too perfect.) And as they do with all issues, big or small, they talk it out and come to a resolution quickly enough to keep anyone from losing sleep over it.- Not quite a "happily ever after" at the end (there's a fourth volume, after all, and there's Phan--see cons below), but the promise of one. I liked the conclusion very much and highly anticipate my reading of the final volume.CONS:- Phantom. He's one of the most tragic characters I've encountered in this genre. He's hopelessly in love, not just with Tobias, but I think probably with Noah as well. But they're moving on quite happily without him and he's left with almost nothing. He unintentionally causes those two pain also, because Tobias constantly struggles with wanting to take care of Phan and Noah struggles with a rampant sexual attraction to him.Overall comments: I'm loving this series. They flow beautifully from book to the next, with not much time between them, and the evolution of Tobias and Noah's romance is lovely. If you can stand BDSM at all, I suggest you give these a try; I found the first volume to be a bit of a shock to my system, but the second and third seem less severe, perhaps just because I'm used to the relationship's parameters by now.

Series/Standalone: book three in a seriesGenre/sub-genre: BDSM romanceBook Format: printHEA/HFN: yesRelatable characters: yesAbuse/Rape: noViolence: noRatio of sex/plot: evenWell written/editor needed: well writtenWould I re-read?: yesPersonal thoughts: Having read book four, and part way through book five, I can easily say, THIS is where the series should have ended. Book three was a perfect end to pretty much everything that's been happening except for Phan's issues, which never seem to end. As far as I'm concerned, Phan will ALWAYS have issues, and most of them aren't worth writing about. WARNING and SPOILER for book four: If you don't like threesomes, stop reading at the end of book three. I honestly feel after thinking back on the first three books, that this series could have gone two different routes. I was just blind to the threesome route, and was a little unhappy with the way it went.

I agree that this series makes for exceptionally good reading, and this latest book does not disappoint. The authors continue the story of Tobias and Noah, now that their relationship is firmly established. This made the book more enjoyable for me, since they are truly a couple here. The sex continues to be hot and heavy, with some surprises thrown in for the reader and the couple. The dialog is again very well written, and the story is fun. The trip to Paris was quite juicy!I felt that most of Phantom's participation in the story was a set-up for a future book. The conclusion of "Discipline," while satisfying, cliffhangs a little on Phantom - implying that he will take a more active role in the next installment, and perhaps have his own novel. Though I think this is a logical progression, and I want to know Phantom's full story, I would be disappointed if Tobias and Noah didn't find closure to their tale. Their lives are certainly intertwined with Phan's. I want to see the consequences of their decision whether or not to live together, and their new contract.This series is a wonderful look at the world of BDSM (though I have no idea if it is accurate), especially for those of us that may have been reticent about reading such material. I cannot recommend this series enough! I can hardly wait until the fall for Volume 4!!