Wicked Reads Reviews – The Dom’s Game by Stella Hunter

Speculation over a star football player’s sex life threatens his public image and that of his submissive, a quiet middle school teacher.

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As an NFL star player for the Memphis Kings, Trevor Adams lives his life in the spotlight. All except for one small part. In his hidden moments, he’s a Dom. In spite of the celebrity life and his alternative sexual preferences, none of his partners have managed to keep his interest for long. Until he meets Nina.

Nina Barkley is a quiet middle school teacher. Her life is the exact opposite of Trevor’s. Except for the shared interest in BDSM. She has been involved in the BDSM groups in and around Memphis ever since she moved there right after college. After years of experimentation, she considers herself a switch—able to be either a Dominant or a submissive depending on her partner and what they both want. Being introduced to Trevor turns her life upside down and makes her question her true preferences.

Between the threat of being exposed by the ever-present media, Trevor’s underlying fear he will be transferred to another team, and both their troubled pasts, will they be able to find what they need in each other before they are pulled apart?

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Rachael – ☆☆☆
I have to say this book had mega potential. I was so excited to finally be able to get to it on my to-read list.... only to be let down. This is not at all what I would consider a BDSM book. MAYBE D/s… barely. Mostly it's just an erotic romance that flirts with and tries to pretend to be more than it is. There are many mentions of being experienced Doms and Submissives and pushing boundaries and all that would normally be in a BDSM book, but that’s all it is... Talk. There is ONE scene somewhere in the last 1/4 of the book that uses a flogger... incorrectly, but hey it's there. There is another time where she is sore from whatever he did to her, but once again, no details, nothing.

I have to say that I marked the book down a full star for not being a BDSM book when it was supposed to be. The other star was gone because all the characters felt flat to me. At times, there would be something special, but all the developing conversations and character growth was skimped on so that the characters could once again have vanilla sex. Oh well, her wrists might be restrained, but that's not enough into BDSM for me.

Sad to say that while the writing style wasn't bad, it really could've used a lot of expanding on how they fell in love in a matter of weeks, what bonded them except that she was a strong willed sub (even though she never REALLY submitted to him in anything except an outfit) when he didn't normally like them (and his ex was quite the strong willed one even if she was a bit crazy – so that ruined that line of thinking for me). Also, it was like there were so many sex scenes, we missed out on what was necessary to feel for the characters. Tender touches, meaningful glances, slow knowing smiles that didn't immediately end up in the bedroom.

However, I will stick to if you are going to label a book as BDSM, for the love of all that's written, make it BDSM.

I would possibly sample another of this author’s work since I felt like a lot of this book fell flat because it wasn't labelled correctly and I found myself waiting for something that never came and was greatly let down...


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
I'm a big fan of sports romances, and when a touch of D/s is thrown in for good measure, it's all good.

This holds an interesting mix of issues together in a well written story. He is a black superstar football player, she is a school teacher who has never found a good enough Dom, so switches. They both want privacy but have their relationship plastered across the tabloids. And somehow they have to navigate new feelings of love and affection, too.

I enjoyed the story and the lead characters, but I loved the little cameo roles – Nana, Maggie, and Arnie. I will look out for more books by this author.

Stella Hunter was born and raised in the South and makes Kentucky her current home. When not dealing with demanding kids (of the four-legged variety) or that crazy thing called life, she would happily spend all her time buried in books. She loves to write romance because she believes everyone is redeemable. Stella is the author of The Strong One, The Dom’s Game, and Rescuing the Bridesmaid.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Dom’s Game (Dark Love #1) by Stella Hunter to read and review.