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An Unlocked Mind (Secrets #2)
An Unlocked Mind (Secrets #2)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
awesome follow up!
Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted the audio file of this book.

Rob is TRYING to be better person than the one who nearly ruined his brother’s life, he really is. But it’s hard when no one will help you. A visit to the opening night of Secrets is just what he needs. Til a demonstration has him running. But he returns the next week, and runs straight into Vic, along with giving Vic attitude. Rescuing the obnoxious little git wasn’t in Vic’s game plan for the evening, but he can’t leave Rob walking in the pouring rain. After depositing Rob at the train station, he never expects to see him again. Although, something about Rob calls to him, it really does. When Rob starts turning up every weekend, Vic begins to look forward to his visits. Then Life throws Rob under a bus and Vic knows this is his chance to get into Rob’s head, and for Rob to get out of it.

This is book 2 in the Secrets series, but you don’t NEED to have read/listened to book one first, but I think you should. It’s bloody good!

As is this one!

Vic isn’t what I would call a Dom Dom, his speciality is getting a sub out of his head, rather than floggers and whips. And he KNOWS something is eating away at Rob’s mind, he just needs to unlock it. But to do THAT, Vic needs to get to know Rob, on his weekly visits to London. When Rob loses his job in Manchester, Vic offers him a lifeline, under strict terms that Vic lays down. And Rob, desperate for help and starved of any real human interaction, jumps at the chance.

Rob did some things as a younger man, that come back to haunt him, that STILL haunt him. A conversation with his mother turns his brother against him, and Rob is suffering that guilt so bad, it’s a dead weight on his shoulders. Meeting Vic, though, lets something free in his soul, something he had been so afraid to admit before. Something his mother would not approve of. Something he so badly needs, it brings him to the brink of his limits and budgets and his money runs out faster than it should. But Vic? Vic gives him a chance, so long as he sticks with the rules, and those RULES are what Rob needs, He needs to find himself again, deep within himself, before he can forgive himself and to make amends with his brother, should his brother want to.

What I particularly loved about this one, was the lack of the physical BDSM stuff that usually comes with these books, I mean I LOVED the lack of it. Oh don’t get me wrong, this is a sexy book, and it has a crazy amount of heat but there is a distinct lack of floggers and paddles. This was very much a MENTAL book, as in Rob needed to get out of his head so bad, and Vic knew just how to do that.
Rob is, quite simply, a wreck at the start of this book, and it’s a long while before Vic can get him to admit what’s eating him the most. That is: what he did to his brother. But when the FULL picture comes clear, I cried for Rob, I really did. He felt so bad for something he did not do, it messed his head.

Vic, being the most laid back Dom I have quite possibly EVER come across, is just the man for Rob, just the Dom to get to the bottom of his pain and release it. Rob calls to his soul, he really does. But not immediately. It takes a little time for Rob to worm his way in, but once he does, Vic is all in.
I NEED to listen Rob’s story now though! I need to know what a little shit Rob was, and how Rob was affected by what happened, I really do. So, books one and two of Collars and Cuffs are nicely lined up for when I’ve got time.

Joel Leslie narrates this one, as he does book one. I cannot, CANNOT fault the narration of these books, this one especially. Leslie pours so MUCH into Rob, and to Vic to, but to a lesser extent. The emotion pouring out of Rob when he finally breaks down and tells Vic all made me cry, great wrecking sobs that I have no doubt might NOT have come had I been reading.

 Leslie is, quite simply a Master at his craft, and coupled with the work of Wells and Williams, I can only give this book. . . .

5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration
5 stars overall.

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Family
It's not Christmas until Kevin says "I've made my family disappear." In fact, it's probably one of the few that I actively watch every year, and it's one of two that I'll happily watch at any time of the year. (The other being Die Hard... don't get on my case, you know it's a Christmas film.)

On December 7th Home Alone turned 28 in the UK. 1990... just wow. I'm feeling old enough without films I grew up with being called classics.

If you haven't considered your own Home Alone plan... well, what have you been doing with your life?! As a tip, if you already have a zombie apocalypse plan in place then it's very easily adapted, you just need a little less lethal force. And it's probably best for me to remind you not to actually try this at home, because I'm not convinced that Harry and Marv would have survived. (And if we take the results from Better Watch Out then you're probably looking at some kind of murder charge.)

In December they were showing Home Alone a few times at Cineworld so it would have been rude not to go at least once to see it. I'm really getting into the classic releases on the big screen, it's so much fun. The show I picked was basically populated by adults, just two children brought along by their parents. We were all roaring with laughter, the comedy never gets old.

The music of Home Alone is instantly recognisable and yet I always forget that it's one of John Williams' epic creations. You can't hear it without thinking of the specific scene in the film it relates to, and it's certainly influences a lot of films since. Something that again I hadn't really noticed until I watched the Christmas horror film, Secret Santa (review coming soon).

It always fills me with questions though... Do all Americans have telephones with cords that are about 20 feet long? How did Buzz manage to shove that entire pizza slice in his mouth? Why did Leslie ever marry Frank? Why is Jimmy in the shop so over enthusiastic? How does Kevin manage to create all his traps in such a short amount of time? And who on Earth leaves their house that tidy when they're leaving for holiday? Especially when you consider they left in such a hurry!

The idea is such a fun one, I can see why it's so popular all this time later. Watching it more and more though you do realise that Culkin's acting was pretty bad, but that just adds to its charm.

Watching it with a group of people who already love the film really made it a better viewing. We all laughed at the amazing prat falls from Joe Pesci on the ice and the walls of the cinema caved in slightly as we all took a sharp intake of breath as Marv stood on that nail. It's genuinely more fun to roar with laughter with other fans.

It's sad to think that Home Alone could never happen these days. (Although Google did bring us an advert that gave us a peak at what might happen. I've put the video at the end of the post.) Kevin probably has several smart devices that they could contact or track, the house would also likely be equipped with state of the art surveillance and alarm systems that would have alerted someone to movement and doors opening. On the flip side though it's quite fun to think about what sort of traps Kevin could be creating with the wonders of modern technology. I'd say lets get a petition going to see that happen but while Home Alone 4 was passable I don't think we really need any more of them.

What you should do

This should be in everyone's Christmas film rotation. If you don't watch it at least once a year... well... *shakes head*.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

Everyone needs those quick inventing skills, but I'm actually going to go with Kevin's other superpower... his amazing ability to make epic ice cream sundaes.