Silken by Isobel Starling #Review #LGBT # Audio #BDSM

Melissa reviews Silken by Isobel Starling , Published August 7th 2017 by Audible, 2hrs 27min.

Matthew Fisher loved being a dancer, but his ten-year ballet career came to an abrupt end with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He had to find a new job, and luckily, his sister was friends with Annabelle Ramsay-Aiken, only daughter of property magnate Sir James Aiken. She arranged an interview, he was accepted, and six months on the job training saw Matthew stepping out as a real estate agent for Aiken Luxury Lettings. Now, instead of stretching at the barre, Matthew spends his days inspecting the vacant London homes of their rich and famous clients.

Losing his dance career had left a huge hole in Matthew’s heart, and to fill it Matthew began a Tumblr blog dedicated to his fetish for wearing lingerie. He wanted to give his followers the impression he lived a charmed life, so decided to use A.L.L properties as locations for erotic photo shoots.

One of his online followers pressed all of Matthew’s buttons, and a long distance, online Dom/sub relationship develops between them. But when the relationship suddenly moves from online fantasy to real life… can Matthew really submit?

N.B – This short story contains graphic descriptions of gay sex, light BDSM, and cross-dressing.

A complimentary copy of the audio was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Why I read this book:  The blurb really got my attention, and I love MCs who were/are dancers.  Plus I have been wanting to read an Isobel Starling book for a while now and thought this was the perfect book to do that with.  🙂

This was my first Isobel Starling, but it will NOT be my last. This was a very HOT story and the writing was superb. Despite the fact that it’s on the shorter side, I felt I knew these men very well. Matthew loves dancing, but when an injury sidelines him (and he can’t afford the surgery for repair), Matthew makes the sensible decision to stop dancing. He has seen what happens to dancers who ignore injuries, and he’s not about to be like them.

When Matthew starts his online “Silken” persona, he meets his Dom, “Austin,” and they have a relationship online – the benefits of a modern relationship. 😀 Austin is mysterious and lives in the US, while Mathew lives in Europe (somewhere). Mathew will receive a message from “Austin” on what to do (and if he can come) and Mathew finds a location (in one of the properties he manages), and records his sexual act. Whoa, let me tell you, that was sooooo good. I loved what Isabel did with this first scene, and I am going to be revealing my innocence here because I didn’t realize that dildos could have a suction cup. Ahahahaha!!! Add in Mathew borrowing some lingerie from the owners dresser and setting up the camera, I was unable to turn off the audio.

I don’t want to reveal too much about what happens next so I will just say that they do meet in person, and OMG it was wonderful. The ending is kind of abrupt, and I was surprised it ended the way it did (almost in the middle of a conversation), but I got what I needed out of it and I hope there will be a sequel.

I’ve never listed to an audio book narrated by Gomez Pugh. His style (at least for this book), was to talk slow. It wasn’t too slow (I’ve had books where I thought I was going to go gray it was so slow), just slower than other narrations I’ve listened to. I enjoyed the narration as a whole, but had hoped there would be a little more umph in the sensual department. I will listen to this narrator again, so I can say with all honesty I do recommend that audio book, and especially the book itself.

 Where to buy: Amazon; Amazon Audible; itunes

Isobel Starling

Born in Germany, Isobel Starling spent most of her twenty-year professional career making art in Ireland. Now she writes full-time.

The ‘Shatterproof Bond’ series is an Amazon Gay Romance bestseller. Isobel has just completed her 14th book.

The first THREE books of “Shatterproof Bond” will be translated into French by Juno Publishing, German by Deadsoft Verlag, and Italian by Quixote Edizioni.

The TWO books in the ‘Pretty Boy’ series will be translated into French by Reines- Beaux.

“Silken” will be translated into French by Juno Publishing.

“As You Wish”, “Illuminate the Shadows” and “Return to Zero” are all available as audiobooks, narrated by Gary Furlong.

“Silken” is an audiobook, narrated by Gomez Pugh.

Isobel’s greatest love is writing M/M relationships, and she hopes one day to actually finish the fantasy novel that she put ‘to rest’ three years ago.