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Velvet Glove #2.3
Touch and Trust
Sampson is too tall to be anything but awkward outside, but in the Velvet Glove he shines, confident in his ability as a top. When he meets Alain, it breaks Sampson's heart. Alain has been without a top, and any kind of touch, for too long. Can Sampson prove himself and win Alain's heart? Originally published on The Turn of the Screw, and in the print book Velvet Glove, Volume 2
66 pages, ebook
First published June 5, 2012
About the author
Sean Michael
668 books1,220 followersOften referred to as "Space Cowboy" and "Gangsta of Love" while still striving for the moniker of "Maurice," Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and persuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to "Chicago."
A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
Barring any of that? He'll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.
A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
Barring any of that? He'll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 3, 2013
I never do this. No, I'm truly serious. I always try to be fair--to not fall into mockery or snarky commentating when it comes to reviews But, now? I am about to break my own golden rule.
Touch and, um, Trust was, um, a nice, story. Oh my. It had, um, two very ah, like-able characters who, um were, ah admittedly underdeveloped but, um, still interesting and, ah nice.
Had enough yet? Well there is a lot more. Trust me (no pun intended). But rather than give you a poor imitation, let me give you this from the story itself:
"I believe that um, a dom/sub ah, relationship is a um, partnership. And so ah, both parties ah, needs should be considered and ah, something worked out."
I felt like I was in the 5th circle of stuttering hell. And I LIKE Sean Michael--really, I do!
Sampson, is a young twenty something Dom who is the meekest, mildest creation of Sean Michael's considerable imagination to date! He spends his entire life savings purchasing a membership to the Velvet Glove--a very exclusive, posh BDSM club. On his first visit there he is given an older sub, Alain, to escort him around and show him the club's amenities.
Alain lost his master of many years just a scant few years before and has been unpartnered every since. The two meet, they do a scene together and boom, Sampson is in love. Not only that but before the night is out, he will move in with Alain, be hired as a trainer for other doms at the Velvet Glove and live happily ever after.
Believe it or not--I have no problem with all of that--none. I know when I read one of these little sips by Sean Michael that this is exactly what I am in for--insta-love and insta-happy. I happily check any hope of reality at the door and go along with the flow. Every once in a while we all need a simple little story that lets us escape--and Sean Michael is an author who can often deliver the goods.
Well, I would like to send this package back to sender. No, it wasn't the story line that derailed this mess for me. I loved that Alain was a lost soul in need of a gentle touch that Sampson was ideally suited to provide. That was not the problem at all. It was the stylistic writing method of making our dear Sampson a stutterer of extraordinary proportions that left me gnashing my teeth in frustration. Couple that with the lack of characterization--just a few more pages would have given us a clearer view of what made these two guys tick, and you had a very disappointing story all around.
I actually liked these two guys, Sampson and Alain. I enjoyed the hot sex and the idea that this was a fantasy and as such would have little plot. But, to be ripped out of the story over and over and over again by the dialogue--the stuttering mess that was passed off as dialogue. No, I had to throw in the towel on this one; it was simply too over the top for me.
Touch and Trust suffered greatly at the affected speech patterns of its main character--a tic that need not have taken center stage thus pushing all other memorable moments and sweet plot devices to the sidelines. I must regretfully give it 1 star.
Here is a fact. I have read MANY good things by this author. Some very tender and well-thought out stories that left me desiring more. But this? This simply left me wanting...just wanting.
Touch and, um, Trust was, um, a nice, story. Oh my. It had, um, two very ah, like-able characters who, um were, ah admittedly underdeveloped but, um, still interesting and, ah nice.
Had enough yet? Well there is a lot more. Trust me (no pun intended). But rather than give you a poor imitation, let me give you this from the story itself:
"I believe that um, a dom/sub ah, relationship is a um, partnership. And so ah, both parties ah, needs should be considered and ah, something worked out."
I felt like I was in the 5th circle of stuttering hell. And I LIKE Sean Michael--really, I do!
Sampson, is a young twenty something Dom who is the meekest, mildest creation of Sean Michael's considerable imagination to date! He spends his entire life savings purchasing a membership to the Velvet Glove--a very exclusive, posh BDSM club. On his first visit there he is given an older sub, Alain, to escort him around and show him the club's amenities.
Alain lost his master of many years just a scant few years before and has been unpartnered every since. The two meet, they do a scene together and boom, Sampson is in love. Not only that but before the night is out, he will move in with Alain, be hired as a trainer for other doms at the Velvet Glove and live happily ever after.
Believe it or not--I have no problem with all of that--none. I know when I read one of these little sips by Sean Michael that this is exactly what I am in for--insta-love and insta-happy. I happily check any hope of reality at the door and go along with the flow. Every once in a while we all need a simple little story that lets us escape--and Sean Michael is an author who can often deliver the goods.
Well, I would like to send this package back to sender. No, it wasn't the story line that derailed this mess for me. I loved that Alain was a lost soul in need of a gentle touch that Sampson was ideally suited to provide. That was not the problem at all. It was the stylistic writing method of making our dear Sampson a stutterer of extraordinary proportions that left me gnashing my teeth in frustration. Couple that with the lack of characterization--just a few more pages would have given us a clearer view of what made these two guys tick, and you had a very disappointing story all around.
I actually liked these two guys, Sampson and Alain. I enjoyed the hot sex and the idea that this was a fantasy and as such would have little plot. But, to be ripped out of the story over and over and over again by the dialogue--the stuttering mess that was passed off as dialogue. No, I had to throw in the towel on this one; it was simply too over the top for me.
Touch and Trust suffered greatly at the affected speech patterns of its main character--a tic that need not have taken center stage thus pushing all other memorable moments and sweet plot devices to the sidelines. I must regretfully give it 1 star.
Here is a fact. I have read MANY good things by this author. Some very tender and well-thought out stories that left me desiring more. But this? This simply left me wanting...just wanting.
June 13, 2012
This review can be found at Brief Encounters Reviews.
Your enjoyment of this story is going to hinge largely on a specific writing device and less on the characters or plot. Sampson is very tall and awkward except when he’s wielding a whip. He has spent his last cent of savings on a one year membership at the Velvet Glove club which includes one meal per day, so even if he’s barely scraping by on his window washer salary, he’ll have one good meal per day. He’s nervous about his first visit, and whether he’ll fit in, however Kestral, the concierge of sorts, soon finds him and puts him together with Alain who will show him around.
Within minutes, Sampson has discovered that Alain’s Master died about a year ago and they are deeply attracted. Dinner is cut short to go up to Alain’s rooms. It seems Alain has had a rough year, he went a bit wild with drugs and drinking the year after his Master died, but has settled down now, but feels he is too old (early 30′s maybe) to find another Dom. However Sampson is thrilled to take on the role, although he wants a more equitable relationship rather than the Master/slave relationship Alain had with his Master.
So what’s the problem you ask, beyond a smacking of insta-love? The two of them are sweet together, Sampson realizing how desperate Alain has been for comfort and touch since his Master died and Alain not minding in the least that Sampson is huge and unsure of himself. The insecurity is where my problems lay. Sampson hesitates when he talks, a lot. There are ums and ahs interspersed liberally in his speech. When I say liberally, I mean VERY liberally. A couple of examples:
“Yes um, please a drink would ah, be nice.” He offered his arm to Alain. “Would it be ah, rude to ask who um, Harry is?”
“Wow. That must be um, really hard. That ah, he’s dead now –passed um, away I mean.” He petted Alain’s hand again. “If you don’t want to ah, talk about this you should um, just tell me.”
I did a word count and found 600 usages of um or ah in the story. At first I had thought that once Sampson became more at ease with Alain the speech pattern would settle down, but it doesn’t. 600 is a lot for a 66 page story. I started to find it increasingly distracting as large portions of the book are simply dialogue between the two men. This was originally published as a serial and perhaps if once a week or month you got 6-10 pages it wouldn’t be that bad. I appreciate that it shows a Dom who is less than suave and seeming “perfect”, but I just found it so distracting that it took away from how sweet they were as a couple.
So some readers may not mind the affectation at all and enjoy this much more than I did, but I was so frustrated about half-way through it was a chore to keep going, which is a shame as they were a cute couple.
Your enjoyment of this story is going to hinge largely on a specific writing device and less on the characters or plot. Sampson is very tall and awkward except when he’s wielding a whip. He has spent his last cent of savings on a one year membership at the Velvet Glove club which includes one meal per day, so even if he’s barely scraping by on his window washer salary, he’ll have one good meal per day. He’s nervous about his first visit, and whether he’ll fit in, however Kestral, the concierge of sorts, soon finds him and puts him together with Alain who will show him around.
Within minutes, Sampson has discovered that Alain’s Master died about a year ago and they are deeply attracted. Dinner is cut short to go up to Alain’s rooms. It seems Alain has had a rough year, he went a bit wild with drugs and drinking the year after his Master died, but has settled down now, but feels he is too old (early 30′s maybe) to find another Dom. However Sampson is thrilled to take on the role, although he wants a more equitable relationship rather than the Master/slave relationship Alain had with his Master.
So what’s the problem you ask, beyond a smacking of insta-love? The two of them are sweet together, Sampson realizing how desperate Alain has been for comfort and touch since his Master died and Alain not minding in the least that Sampson is huge and unsure of himself. The insecurity is where my problems lay. Sampson hesitates when he talks, a lot. There are ums and ahs interspersed liberally in his speech. When I say liberally, I mean VERY liberally. A couple of examples:
“Yes um, please a drink would ah, be nice.” He offered his arm to Alain. “Would it be ah, rude to ask who um, Harry is?”
“Wow. That must be um, really hard. That ah, he’s dead now –passed um, away I mean.” He petted Alain’s hand again. “If you don’t want to ah, talk about this you should um, just tell me.”
I did a word count and found 600 usages of um or ah in the story. At first I had thought that once Sampson became more at ease with Alain the speech pattern would settle down, but it doesn’t. 600 is a lot for a 66 page story. I started to find it increasingly distracting as large portions of the book are simply dialogue between the two men. This was originally published as a serial and perhaps if once a week or month you got 6-10 pages it wouldn’t be that bad. I appreciate that it shows a Dom who is less than suave and seeming “perfect”, but I just found it so distracting that it took away from how sweet they were as a couple.
So some readers may not mind the affectation at all and enjoy this much more than I did, but I was so frustrated about half-way through it was a chore to keep going, which is a shame as they were a cute couple.
June 23, 2012
I have a spot in my heart reserved just for older sub/younger Dom couples. Luckily this overruled the spot in my brain that went bananas at um, the um, hesitation, um, that Sampson, um, is, um shown as, ah. Having. Um. In, um. His dialog.
September 29, 2019
Love has many faces
And after his master dies he goes crazy and then just goes on until he meets a giant of a man who make I've again
And after his master dies he goes crazy and then just goes on until he meets a giant of a man who make I've again
May 9, 2022
Sampson's membership to the club changes his life in more than one way.
November 2, 2012
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 6/10
PROS:
- I like the idea of love at first sight (although I’m not sure I believe in it), and that’s essentially what happens here. Alain and Sampson meet, they sleep together and share a single scene, and they’re ready to move in together.
- There’s a lot of awkwardness in this story: Sampson is clumsy, and his initial conversations with Alain are full of uncomfortable faux pas. But I didn’t find the awkwardness painful. I was never horribly embarrassed for the characters; I found their struggles to communicate endearing.
CONS:
- I didn’t dislike either of the characters at all, but I didn’t love them, either. They simply didn’t stand out to me.
- Sampson has a speech impediment that I found incredibly distracting. At first it seems like he’s simply nervous, but the verbal pauses are SO prevalent that after a while I got the impression that he has something more along the lines of Tourette’s Syndrome (example: “With all this, um, beautiful skin just, ah, waiting for my, um hands to ah, mark them, I’m um, sure, too”). Then sometimes he speaks without any problems: “Your skin is so soft…Like flower petals. Or a butterfly’s wings.” What I found especially strange, though, was that none of the characters ever bring it up, this fact that he says “um” and “uh” and “ah” so very often.
Rating: 6/10
PROS:
- I like the idea of love at first sight (although I’m not sure I believe in it), and that’s essentially what happens here. Alain and Sampson meet, they sleep together and share a single scene, and they’re ready to move in together.
- There’s a lot of awkwardness in this story: Sampson is clumsy, and his initial conversations with Alain are full of uncomfortable faux pas. But I didn’t find the awkwardness painful. I was never horribly embarrassed for the characters; I found their struggles to communicate endearing.
CONS:
- I didn’t dislike either of the characters at all, but I didn’t love them, either. They simply didn’t stand out to me.
- Sampson has a speech impediment that I found incredibly distracting. At first it seems like he’s simply nervous, but the verbal pauses are SO prevalent that after a while I got the impression that he has something more along the lines of Tourette’s Syndrome (example: “With all this, um, beautiful skin just, ah, waiting for my, um hands to ah, mark them, I’m um, sure, too”). Then sometimes he speaks without any problems: “Your skin is so soft…Like flower petals. Or a butterfly’s wings.” What I found especially strange, though, was that none of the characters ever bring it up, this fact that he says “um” and “uh” and “ah” so very often.
January 29, 2015
2015 Re-read:
Very sweet and touching.
The only negatives are Sampson’s speech (that does grate quickly; it’s not the most elegant or believable way to notate pauses and hesitance) and perhaps a certain verbal repetitiveness setting in after a while.
However, it’s all good if you’re in the mood for something tender and caring.
Very sweet and touching.
The only negatives are Sampson’s speech (that does grate quickly; it’s not the most elegant or believable way to notate pauses and hesitance) and perhaps a certain verbal repetitiveness setting in after a while.
However, it’s all good if you’re in the mood for something tender and caring.
August 5, 2012
Have to admit that Sampson way of speaking, while done to reflect his personality, bugged me.
November 15, 2012
I had issues with the hesitation in the dialogue.
February 13, 2014
Originally updated February 13, 2014
May 17, 2015
3.5 sweet and angsty.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews