Book Talk Review; Daddy Issues

I want to hug Ryan

Marek Wisniewski is a man used to being obeyed, whether it's by his patients or his lovers. When he's hired to be an in-home nurse for an extremely difficult old man, he's certain he can handle it until he comes face to face with Ryan, his client's son. Both men have reasons to dislike each other, and neither is pleased when they're forced to live under the same roof. Ryan wants Marek gone, and Marek wants to bring the beautiful and spoiled Ryan to his knees.

Ryan Chadwick seems to live a charmed life, but underneath his polished veneer of arrogance and success, he’s miserable. Ryan feels increasingly like his carefully constructed life is spinning out of control. All it'll take is one little push to bring his world crashing down around him.

Marek and Ryan clash again and again, causing Ryan to further question who he is and what he wants. Marek brings out a side in him he didn't know existed, a side that wants to please and obey. Marek’s desire to teach Ryan a lesson in humility becomes, over time, a lesson to show Ryan that who, and what, he wants isn't shameful.

Two very different men come together and discover that what you want, and what you need, aren't always the same thing. That you need to pace yourself at a Polish dinner, how building snowmen is not rocket science, that a mansion on a lake doesn't guarantee happiness, and most of all, the importance of letting go.

Daddy Issues is a 90,000 word steamy romance in the North Shore Stories series. It contains BDSM elements, fisting, a blanket fort, an embarrassing butt plug, lots of food, and a HEA. This book follows Be My Mistake and Damage Control, but can be read as a stand-alone novel.  

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This is only the second book I've read by Lynn Van Dorn. I'll admit it, I have all of her books but haven't sat down to read them. When I saw she was writing Daddy Issues, and read all the teasers she posted I was excited and dying to get my hands on it. 

Book Talkers, I can say with absolute certainty that I am glad that I made this book my first full-length Lynn Van Dorn read. It was perfect, and sweet in places, hot and intense in others. It made my heart ache and I wanted to snatch Ryan up and hug the shit out of him because he deserves all the love in the world. 

Marek is perfect. He was just what Ryan needed. Sweet, commanding, patient, and caring. He didn't let Ryan get away with anything, he understood why Ryan was the person he was. He didn't try to fix him or change him, he just accepted and loved him and showed him that it was okay to be who he was. That it was okay to feel the things he felt. 

My heart ached for Ryan. He deserved so much love. I hated that he was looking for it in the wrong place for a good portion of the book (no spoilers). When he and Marek begin exploring things in the bedroom my heart soared, because he got to let go and just be. 

Ryan's submission was a beautiful thing because it was something he needed--but didn't want at first. His resistance only made his surrender and acceptance that much sweeter. All Marek wanted to do was break him. Break him and help him escape his head for a little while. Neither man expected it to be more. I loved it. Even though everything in Ryan's life was complicated, even though nothing about Ryan and Marek made sense or was easy--it just was. 

From the D/s aspects of their relationship, to the way Marek said "I love you", to Ryan's more or less "coming out". Everything was easy and yet not. I think, that's the true testament of how much they needed and loved each other. Because even though there was nothing but complications in their way they made it work and found a way to make loving each other very easy. 

Lynna Van Dorn brought two people together, who many not have wanted each other at first, but needed each other anyway. Daddy Issues has become one of my favorite reads of the year. And I do not say that lightly. 

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"It doesn't matter what you want. What matters is what you need." 

"There was a paradoxical freedom and power in willful submission, Ryan found to his surprise. He was on his knees by choice, giving himself over to Marek, and trusting Marek with his body, and mind, and heart. He felt, at that moment, capable of doing anything, of bearing anything, because Marek was there to keep him safe." 

"The person who needs to forgive you is you. You've been punished enough, I think. It's time to stop...Until you forgive yourself, you'll never stop punishing yourself, either." 

"Marek had wanted to break Ryan right from the beginning. What he hadn't expected was how much satisfaction he'd get from putting Ryan back together." 

-Abri