Double Blind by Heidi Cullinan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
New Review for the Re-release of Special Delivery Series March 2014
Who is on top and who´s at the bottom? Who is the Dom and who will play the sub? Who is an Ace and who is just a King? But above all, who gets to break down and who is going to put the pieces back together?
Randy Jensen and Ethan Ellison can´t be any more different if they try. One night when Ethan thinks he has lost it all, and Randy feels like betting on the poor soul, destiny puts them together as cards in a game that is way out of their league, or is it?
Randy, doesn’t believe in fate. He believes each man makes his own luck. Playing poker in a low end casino in Vegas, he´s seen almost everything. Ethan, is innocent and new, naive even; but with a wicked side that calls to Randy like nothing before.
Everything in Double Blind is about poker, the cards, the players, learning to bluff and read people. And while we are trying to learn to play, the story of a man that finally grieves and starts to love again, meets the story of a man that was wrapped up so deep inside himself that he no longer knew who he was.
Ethan went to Vegas to end his life, without even imagining his life was about to begin. He didn’t know he had it in him, but he is funny, naughty, kinky, open minded, stubborn and smart.
Randy needs Ethan in his life, he just doesn’t know his place anymore. He was the third in Sam and Mitch´s relationship for so long, that was his place. Finding his space with Ethan, Sam and Mitch takes him a little while. We get to see a different Randy, a boy still hurting, a man in love that doesn´t know what to do with all his feelings.
These changes are not just on an emotional level, we get some pretty intense action in the bedroom too. Honestly, the hotness of these four are like nothing else. Doesn´t matter if it’s an orgy or an intimate strip dance for two, the author pushes all the right buttons.
I love seeing Sam and Mitch again, and seeing Sam growing up so much. I like that they are part of the story, not just standing on the sides. They’ve been Randy´s for a long time, so watching them all interact with Ethan was only fair.
This is a new chapter in Randy´s life and as he finds his place in the new dynamic, Mitch and Sam are his constant.
Crabtree deserves a special mention, his mind games were really intense and f***** up, but he had a plan, and in the end even with a few misreadings in between, it all worked out just as he planned.
I have to say, Double Blind gets better with time. This is a much solid version and I love seeing all of them again.
Reviewed for Gay List Book Reviews
Original Review January 2013 - 4*
I don´t think I loved Ethan and Randy as much as I loved Sam and Mitch but it was a great story anyway.
The poker talk, game talk, casino was hard to follow at times, but it was one of the things that made this book interesting.
How life is completely related to poker, I never thought about it but it makes sense, especially for Ethan and Randy.
There is a lot going on in the bedroom too, ups and downs, D/s and switch all well plotted and developed. All sexy and tastefully done.
Randy losing his face, Ethan finding what or better WHO he was supposed to be. Even Crabtree served his purpose, and you cannot dislike the guy in the end. His mind games are always one step ahead of any of the participants.
But still if Sam or Mitch were in the room, my attention was on them.
And I wish I got that particular night the 4 of them are together from Sam´s POV, he has in my opinion the best voice of them all.
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