Title: Innocence to the Max
Author Name & Publisher: S.J.D. Peterson (Dreamspinner Press)
Publication Date & Length: October 14, 2015 – 240 pgs
On his sixteenth birthday, Francisco “Cisco” Aguilar first sets eyes on Maximilian De Ferrari, owner of Wicked Grounds, an exclusive BDSM club. Cisco has been lost, unsure of what is missing in his life. Over a century old, Max leads a vampire clan, and Cisco is drawn to him in a way he can’t explain. The moment he sees Max he knows his quest isn’t about what he’s been missing, but who.
Five years’ wait seems more than Cisco can bear, but he perseveres and on his twenty-first birthday he walks into Wicked Ground. He’s unafraid to meet the vampire he’s sure is his destiny. Max has been waiting for him, too.
What Max has known all these years, and what Cisco soon discovers, is that more than fate is drawing them together. Iunctiō Cōpula is a powerful binding link capable of restoring cold, dead hearts. With Max and Cisco bound, Cisco will be Max’s greatest weakness. Unable to let Max go, Cisco is thrust into a dark world, where he’s nearly powerless, left to fight for his life and his future with Max. Worse, he’s at the mercy of those who will use him—and hurt him—just to get to the powerful vampire king.
Poor Innocent Cisco and being thrown into this lifestyle but to over come is fear and be so strong for Max.
Max a one hundred year old vampire who has finally found is soul mate. He is so strong but at the same time so protective of Max. I really liked his character.
Vampire stories are not normally my kind of reading but it was SJD Peterson so I decided to give it a try. Oh my God was I surprised to find I actually really liked this book. As always SJD Peterson writing style just drew me right in from the beginning. I absolutely loved Cisco but had a very hard time warming up to Max. I get that he’s a vampire and into BDSM but I felt he just needed to open up some. To me he came across as cold and unfeeling and I just didn’t understand him. Cisco however was great. I loved how he met Max at the age of 16 and had to wait until he was older (21) to really be with him. It was clear that Cisco would do anything for Max. I had to knock of ½ stars because it was unclear if the book had a HEA or a HFN ending.
This book started out not so good for me. While I can understand the infatuation both characters held, you are just kind of thrown in to a situation where Cisco is vying for Max’s attention and Max inadvertently shows his hand far sooner than he wanted to his fellow paranormals. But, there is a giant hole in the story, because in the background, there is a plot of some sort, one of which you never really tease out, which just was confusing and slightly disappointing.
The relationship that Max and Cisco begin is a D/s one, however, I did not feel that Max was a very good Dom. Not only did he not prepare Cisco well, he was almost tyrannical in his demands of a sub who had never had any training. It just rubbed me the wrong way. And, despite the combination of yumminess that Peterson set up, I couldn’t get over the fact that it just didn’t really feel like a D/s relationship – more of a slave ownership.
Also, then you have Max’s frantic manner during a crisis and are thrown in to yet another strange reveal, that actually doesn’t reveal much – so the mystery continues. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but was left wondering about a lot of issues.
I really liked Benny’s character. I do hope that we get to see more of him, as well as Angelo. Both of these secondary characters would do great in their own stories.
Though I’ve read many SJD Peterson novels, I don’t think I’ve read a vampire one by this author. This story is about Francisco, “Cisco”, who was only 16 when he realized that he belonged to Max, a 100 year old vampire who owns a BDSM club. When he turned 21, he went to the club to meet his fate.
The story started off interesting. It captured my attention, the way Cisco first made eye contact with Max. I thought it was pretty brave of him to enter a BDSM club and face the unknown just to find his soulmate aka “Master”. The second time they met, their meeting was tense because of a certain situation but it was sweet how Max reacted. He was protective and sweet, and I just sighed. Then things turned dark pretty quickly.
I’ve read many BDSM books, mostly by this author, but it’s not my favorite theme. I can read about them, but it has to have romance to balance me off. Well, this started with sparks of romance, then suddenly Cisco was in danger so Max thought he had to be stern and show no love to Cisco in front of others, or else be viewed as weak. That’s what brought it to 3 1/2 stars for me. I didn’t get enough romance. There was glimpses here and there, but not enough. This wasn’t very heavy on the BDSM, but it was there.
I felt really bad for Cisco, a little for Max. I wish I could read them falling in love, but things happened too quickly. I was actually more curious about his friend Benny, and Max’s Second, Angelo. There’s something there and I wanna read about it. Honestly, I liked Benny’s upfront, in your face attitude better than Cisco’s timid one.
Would I recommend this book? Sure, I think many would enjoy it. I’d read part 2 if it was about Benny and Angelo. 🙂
I was so excited to read this book, M/M, vampires, BDSM, sounds amazing!!! Ugh, but it wasn’t amazing, it was just ok. I was hoping for so much more, I have loved almost every single book written by this author but this one just fell flat for me. I didn’t feel the love between the characters, you could feel there was a spark and a connection but they didn’t act on it. There was one hot scene and that was it. I was waiting for more and never got it. Then that ending! Seriously?! Even if there was a follow up book I am not sure if I would read it at it this point.
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It’s been an amazing journey since DSP first contracted Lorcan’s Desire in January 2011. I’ve published 2 free reads with the M/M Romance group, my back list is growing, met some great people and have made some amazing friends.
I’m still in shock that I’m listed among the many talented authors at Dreamspinner Press! The little voice in the back of my head is screaming, “You are so out of your league.”
Shhhhh I won’t tell them if you don’t 🙂
You can call me Jo, everyone does 🙂
