An alternative title to this was “Like Hannah Montana, but make it adult, queer, and with a healthy dose of BDSM.”
Domino Grinder is a rockstar. With spiked hair, makeup, leather pants, copious tattoos, and a black-lipsticked sneer, he is the guitar god of the rock band Twisted Wishes. As soon as the show is over, Domino removes his makeup, peels off his skintight outfit, and morphs into his true self: nerdy, book-loving, bowtie-and-glasses-wearing twink, Dominic Bradley.
Twisted Wishes has gone from radio-favorite-up-and-coming band to selling out stadiums and showing up on billboards and magazine covers everywhere. By now, Dominic expected someone to find out his alter ego, but so far no one has tied him to the swearing, posing rocker Domino Grinder. He only wears his makeup and rockstar outfit for shows, interviews, and the occasional band practice. Otherwise, he is content to live his life as anonymously as possible.
There is another layer to his secret identity. To overcome his anxiety and negative self image, Dominic invented Domino. Domino is not afraid of the audience, or the fans, or the critics. Domino owns the stage. Being Domino in real life is as ridiculous to Dominic as being his nerdy, quiet, bookish self in front of a screaming audience.
This also means that he can have clandestine hookups as Dominic and never risk his public persona.
It is this quiet, solitary image that attracts Adrian Doran. Adrian comments on Dominic’s book, sparks fly, and they are practically in one another’s lap within the hour. Despite Dominic’s wish for a hookup, Adrien is looking for something more lasting. He convinces Dominic to go on a date with him instead. Dominic knows that this is risky, as Adrien is smart enough to figure out who he really is. But as New York is huge and Adrien is not interested in popular music, Dominic decides to take the risk.
Adrien is a Dom. Dominic is not in the scene. However, he is thrilled to discover that the small requests Adrien makes of him in the bedroom calm him like nothing else ever has. They embark on a slow, consensual journey of Dom and Sub. As trust grows, so do their feelings.
Adrien wants more of Dominic and shares the details of his life with him. But Dominic keeps his personal life secret. Adrien doesn’t push him, but knowing that Dominic is not willing to trust him eats at him every day.
I’ll admit that this book got off to a rocky start for me. Adrien and Dominic connect through some very public PDA, which is the opposite of appealing to me. However, the more I learned about Dominic’s background and self-sabotaging thoughts, the more I wanted his budding relationship with Adrien to work. By the 25% point, I was hooked.
My main complaints with this book were the awkward beginning and the length of the book. However, I loved the last third of the story and I enjoyed it even more than book 1, Syncopation.
The title is from Pillow Queen’s song “Like A Lesson.”
