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Mastering Toby #1
Mastering Toby
Jared Asche has secretly loved Toby Rafferty from the moment he grabbed Toby’s bare ass and had pretend sex with him for the cameras on the soap Mission Bay. But Jared knows Toby is straight and just needs a friend, so he lives with the pain of unrequited love… until Toby impulsively kisses him, crossing the line between friends and lovers.
Despite his fears about being with another man, Toby pursues him, and Jared is helpless to refuse as their passion explodes during a sexy game. Confused, Jared decides to take a trip to see a longtime friend for advice, leaving an insecure Toby vulnerable to the advances of his ex-girlfriend.
Jared’s hopes for life and love with Toby are crushed—but Toby’s not willing to give up. He’ll have to convince Jared that his intentions are serious if they’re going to weather this and other threats to their newborn relationship.
Despite his fears about being with another man, Toby pursues him, and Jared is helpless to refuse as their passion explodes during a sexy game. Confused, Jared decides to take a trip to see a longtime friend for advice, leaving an insecure Toby vulnerable to the advances of his ex-girlfriend.
Jared’s hopes for life and love with Toby are crushed—but Toby’s not willing to give up. He’ll have to convince Jared that his intentions are serious if they’re going to weather this and other threats to their newborn relationship.
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 29, 2010
7 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Jan Irving
51 books198 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
romance author
Jan Irving has worked in all kinds of creative fields, from painting silk to making porcelain ceramics, to interior design, but writing was always her passion.
She feels you can’t fully understand characters until you follow their journey through a story world. Many kinds of worlds interest her, fantasy, historical, science fiction and suspense—but all have one thing in common, people finding a way to live together—in the most emotional and erotic fashion possible, of course!
Visit Jan's blog at http://jan-revealed.livejournal.com.
romance author
Jan Irving has worked in all kinds of creative fields, from painting silk to making porcelain ceramics, to interior design, but writing was always her passion.
She feels you can’t fully understand characters until you follow their journey through a story world. Many kinds of worlds interest her, fantasy, historical, science fiction and suspense—but all have one thing in common, people finding a way to live together—in the most emotional and erotic fashion possible, of course!
Visit Jan's blog at http://jan-revealed.livejournal.com.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 20, 2011
Mastering Toby sounds like a story that will involve strong D/s elements and an insightful look into the romance and lives of Toby and Jared. It does that to some extent but it takes a lot of short cuts and implausible actions to get us there.
Lately there seems to be a lot of gay for you type plots bringing their uninitiated lover not only into the world of gay sex but throwing them right into the deep end with advanced BDSM elements. It seems that this should leave the main character in shock more than awe. However, in the interest of time, space and understanding of the characters they are able to embrace it all quickly with little or no internal struggle. Toby struggles more with coming out to his family than he does with the BDSM basics such as bondage, submission, voyeurism and group interaction. I am having problems suspending my disbelief in that regard and Mastering Toby had a few too many of those elements.
Wile Toby is not ignorant of the gay world (he does play a gay man on a soap opera) he is clueless to the gay world all the same. His continued innocence and ignorance was unlikely and made him seem more mentally challenged than I think was ever intended. His girlfriend is the typical crazed bitch I have come to expect. The supporting players are at times more interesting than Toby and Jared. Sahara Blue and Jai are both mysterious and sexy men with a story of their own that I was, at times, more interested in hearing about.
All in all it was an average story. It was a rushed effort that took plot turns that were obviously out of character but created tension where there would have been none otherwise. On the other hand, it also had some very sweetly romantic moments that nearly overcame the other issues. Both Jared and Toby were likable characters that I did want to see end up happy together.
Lately there seems to be a lot of gay for you type plots bringing their uninitiated lover not only into the world of gay sex but throwing them right into the deep end with advanced BDSM elements. It seems that this should leave the main character in shock more than awe. However, in the interest of time, space and understanding of the characters they are able to embrace it all quickly with little or no internal struggle. Toby struggles more with coming out to his family than he does with the BDSM basics such as bondage, submission, voyeurism and group interaction. I am having problems suspending my disbelief in that regard and Mastering Toby had a few too many of those elements.
Wile Toby is not ignorant of the gay world (he does play a gay man on a soap opera) he is clueless to the gay world all the same. His continued innocence and ignorance was unlikely and made him seem more mentally challenged than I think was ever intended. His girlfriend is the typical crazed bitch I have come to expect. The supporting players are at times more interesting than Toby and Jared. Sahara Blue and Jai are both mysterious and sexy men with a story of their own that I was, at times, more interested in hearing about.
All in all it was an average story. It was a rushed effort that took plot turns that were obviously out of character but created tension where there would have been none otherwise. On the other hand, it also had some very sweetly romantic moments that nearly overcame the other issues. Both Jared and Toby were likable characters that I did want to see end up happy together.
April 30, 2011
I finished this book, but it cost me some nerves. I think I was wrong when expecting hardcore SM novel. It was not. It was rather melodrama about one heteroboy who decided that being tied and poked was huge fun and went for it with his gay friend and his hippy ex marine drinking and occasional fuck buddy.Three boys were sort of making our in sorting up what they really wanted from each other. Sex? Well no. Relationship? One wanted, other too and third did not know.
This book was clearly not for me.
This book was clearly not for me.
June 27, 2010
So-so m/m romance about a straight actor on a gay soap opera who has some confusing feelings for his gay costar (and best friend). This book never really came together, for all sorts of reasons: pacing issues, an odd tangent from the main storyline 2/3 through, and a mixture of Eastern mysticism and D/s that just didn't work.
January 4, 2012
This was ok - I think this is more like 2.5 stars.
In the beginning of this book, one of the MCs (Toby the spineless wuss) doesn't know if he is gay and then some big WTF moments comes into play - there's a jump in time & then next thing you know Toby has broken up with his girlfriend, he has sex with the other MC (aka new age Dom wuss). New age Dom wuss leaves town because he can't handle the fact that Toby might of felt pressured to go further than he was ready (he did) so he goes to visit new age friend with benefits (although he is tempted he does not sleep with said friend) and then...
Girlfriend comes over to new age wuss' house & Toby has sex with her! WTF??? He can't say No??? What a total dumbass...this is where the book fell apart for me and where I disliked spineless wuss and new age Dom wuss (which I had happened to like up until then). I hate cheating in books so I was done with the book after this.
Book then got weirder, new age Dom wuss is into BDSM lite and likes to have a "helper" in certain scenes he indulges in, I don't like that in books either and seemed like a mighty big swing of character extremes for Toby the "Spineless Didn't Know I was Gay Wuss" to "Total Slut Multi Player Participation Wuss"...I am just sayin'...
All that being said, I did finish reading it and I bought the 2nd book because I liked the secondary character that the book is centered on. Wish me luck, I will be royally pissed if that book ends up the same.
In the beginning of this book, one of the MCs (Toby the spineless wuss) doesn't know if he is gay and then some big WTF moments comes into play - there's a jump in time & then next thing you know Toby has broken up with his girlfriend, he has sex with the other MC (aka new age Dom wuss). New age Dom wuss leaves town because he can't handle the fact that Toby might of felt pressured to go further than he was ready (he did) so he goes to visit new age friend with benefits (although he is tempted he does not sleep with said friend) and then...
Girlfriend comes over to new age wuss' house & Toby has sex with her! WTF??? He can't say No??? What a total dumbass...this is where the book fell apart for me and where I disliked spineless wuss and new age Dom wuss (which I had happened to like up until then). I hate cheating in books so I was done with the book after this.
Book then got weirder, new age Dom wuss is into BDSM lite and likes to have a "helper" in certain scenes he indulges in, I don't like that in books either and seemed like a mighty big swing of character extremes for Toby the "Spineless Didn't Know I was Gay Wuss" to "Total Slut Multi Player Participation Wuss"...I am just sayin'...
All that being said, I did finish reading it and I bought the 2nd book because I liked the secondary character that the book is centered on. Wish me luck, I will be royally pissed if that book ends up the same.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2010
Ok so you have Toby who is like this lost scared man who hides from the world and from himself, letting others control him all his life, but pursues Jared. They have their problems, they make it work but not without problems and demons needing to be conquered in their midst. This portion of the story had its ups and downs while I read it. Overall it wasn't too shabby and enjoyable.
But see here's the thing now... I was able to get snippets and portions of their friend Sahara and it was all just left up in the air and I really thought I was going to get the full monty on him meeting this man, but it just cut off really wonky about him and his which threw me for a loop. What I'm hoping for is somewhere along the line his story will be out and I'll be able to read the whole reason behind the writings of Lotus. Those of you who've read it will know exactly what I'm talking about on this.
Overall I gave it the rating I felt it deserved and I did enjoy reading it even if I rambled my yammer of on my view and thoughts on it.
But see here's the thing now... I was able to get snippets and portions of their friend Sahara and it was all just left up in the air and I really thought I was going to get the full monty on him meeting this man, but it just cut off really wonky about him and his which threw me for a loop. What I'm hoping for is somewhere along the line his story will be out and I'll be able to read the whole reason behind the writings of Lotus. Those of you who've read it will know exactly what I'm talking about on this.
Overall I gave it the rating I felt it deserved and I did enjoy reading it even if I rambled my yammer of on my view and thoughts on it.
June 2, 2010
This was an incredibly challenging read for me as it took me way out of my comfort zone. Jan Irving describes the dom/sub relationship in amazing detail, carrying you along with the characters’ emotions as they explore boundaries new to both of them. I guess my preferred style of romance makes it tricky for me to accept others being allowed entry into the intimacy of a couple. So although this part of the book didn’t resonate for me personally, it was still an exceptionally well written novel, allowing a glimpse into a world I probably won’t delve into all that often – textually speaking of course!
June 28, 2010
A few thoughts:
The sex part was on the hot side, but it did happen fast and with little reticence on Toby's part despite being a virgin to gay sex. I totally didn't feel the dominance and submission thing; I was told about it several times but didn't feel its reality. I found both Jared and Toby to be very much "characters" and not feel true to life.
The new age thing really made me nuts. It was so overdone and cheesy. Granted I lived in Asia, so I am sensitive to its appropriation by new agers.
The sex part was on the hot side, but it did happen fast and with little reticence on Toby's part despite being a virgin to gay sex. I totally didn't feel the dominance and submission thing; I was told about it several times but didn't feel its reality. I found both Jared and Toby to be very much "characters" and not feel true to life.
The new age thing really made me nuts. It was so overdone and cheesy. Granted I lived in Asia, so I am sensitive to its appropriation by new agers.
June 10, 2013
It wasn't bad.
Parts of it were good-ish. Parts of it were meh-ish.
Overall, it was weird. The parts on Sahara fractured the focus of the overall piece.
Parts of it were good-ish. Parts of it were meh-ish.
Overall, it was weird. The parts on Sahara fractured the focus of the overall piece.
November 25, 2013
Where is my rating? And my review? I read this book, I know that, but here is nothing - nada?! So curious. I'll just add it now again.
March 10, 2016
Highly erotic sex scenes make up for the shortcomings in this spotty novel. Sahara's presence made this a 3.5 star rating rounded up, since that's where I frequently found myself.
August 30, 2017
I thought this book was ok. I think it is stretching it to call it bdsm. I would describe it as soft domination. I didn't like the straight girlfriend angle at all.
October 31, 2012
I wanted to like it, but it’s just too uneven
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 4/10
PROS:
- The characters are likeable and fit well together. Toby and Jared have been friends for a while, and the romance seems like a natural progression.
- There’s a secondary romance that I found pretty endearing because both of the guys are so shy (even though it’s not covered in much detail at all).
- I worried when I read the book’s premise that the Hollywood setting would intrude upon the story, but the fact that Toby and Jared are soap actors isn’t that big a deal. There are a few details about the show, but mostly the focus here is on the characters.
CONS:
- The writing is terribly disjointed throughout. There are paragraphs that seem almost entirely unrelated to what comes before them. A few times I turned a page and literally turned back to make sure I hadn’t skipped something because what I was reading seemed out of context.
- The dialogue is often corny, and the characters’ thoughts are often shallow or cliché because their motivations aren’t explored in any depth.
- The BDSM element made me cringe more often than not. It feels forced and unnatural, as though Irving tried to make BDSM work with characters who aren’t naturally very dominant or submissive. Jared, in particular, strikes me as one of the last people in the world I would want to dominate me. He moves too quickly with a partner who’s a total novice--not to mention the fact that Toby is not only a BDSM virgin but a gay virgin as well. Their first time together, and Toby’s first time with a guy, Jared blindfolds him? Why not ease the guy in with some manual bondage or, gasp, a couple of vanilla scenes first?
Overall comments: I really wanted to like this book, but as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t. I wouldn’t have finished it, to be honest, except that I don’t like writing reviews over books unless I’ve read them in their entirety. In my opinion, there are lot of m/m romances out there that are far better than this one.
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 4/10
PROS:
- The characters are likeable and fit well together. Toby and Jared have been friends for a while, and the romance seems like a natural progression.
- There’s a secondary romance that I found pretty endearing because both of the guys are so shy (even though it’s not covered in much detail at all).
- I worried when I read the book’s premise that the Hollywood setting would intrude upon the story, but the fact that Toby and Jared are soap actors isn’t that big a deal. There are a few details about the show, but mostly the focus here is on the characters.
CONS:
- The writing is terribly disjointed throughout. There are paragraphs that seem almost entirely unrelated to what comes before them. A few times I turned a page and literally turned back to make sure I hadn’t skipped something because what I was reading seemed out of context.
- The dialogue is often corny, and the characters’ thoughts are often shallow or cliché because their motivations aren’t explored in any depth.
- The BDSM element made me cringe more often than not. It feels forced and unnatural, as though Irving tried to make BDSM work with characters who aren’t naturally very dominant or submissive. Jared, in particular, strikes me as one of the last people in the world I would want to dominate me. He moves too quickly with a partner who’s a total novice--not to mention the fact that Toby is not only a BDSM virgin but a gay virgin as well. Their first time together, and Toby’s first time with a guy, Jared blindfolds him? Why not ease the guy in with some manual bondage or, gasp, a couple of vanilla scenes first?
Overall comments: I really wanted to like this book, but as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t. I wouldn’t have finished it, to be honest, except that I don’t like writing reviews over books unless I’ve read them in their entirety. In my opinion, there are lot of m/m romances out there that are far better than this one.
January 22, 2012
I really wanted to love this book. It has all my favorite elements, a "straight" guy falling in love with his experienced, dominant gay best friend...he's a virgin to the joys of anal sex and oh yea, just happens to be a submissive. Score! This book's gonna be awesome! Unfortunately, it wasn't. I've only read one other book by Ms. Irving, The Janitor, which I enjoyed even less than this one. Both of these books contained characters who were not living up to their potential and needed to be "rescued". They have a child-like need to be protected and cared for. While a little bit of that, especially in a submissive character, can be endearing...to much and you begin to wonder if maybe they've suffered one too many concussions. The sex was really hot but then the author committed the most unforgivable of sins...she rushed the deflowering scene. The whole point of having a virgin character is de-viginizing them! Right? Isn't that in the writing M/M Romance 101 handbook?
My other issue was all the scene hopping with no discernible segue. I was left wondering if maybe I was missing a page or two. I hate it when I'm ripped out of the story because I'm fixated on how a character goes from being in nothing but a thong to answering the door fully dressed in the same sentence. Was there magic involved? Did I knock myself unconscious and skip a few lines? Was there some new technology created that allows you to clothe yourself just by thinking about it? I dunno. It happened a lot in this book and that was jarring.
I do love secondary character Shara Blue though so will read his book to see how things progress with gentle, virginal (yippee), Seth, aka Lotus. There just better be a damn good deflowering scene in that book.
My other issue was all the scene hopping with no discernible segue. I was left wondering if maybe I was missing a page or two. I hate it when I'm ripped out of the story because I'm fixated on how a character goes from being in nothing but a thong to answering the door fully dressed in the same sentence. Was there magic involved? Did I knock myself unconscious and skip a few lines? Was there some new technology created that allows you to clothe yourself just by thinking about it? I dunno. It happened a lot in this book and that was jarring.
I do love secondary character Shara Blue though so will read his book to see how things progress with gentle, virginal (yippee), Seth, aka Lotus. There just better be a damn good deflowering scene in that book.
June 14, 2015
I really like this, there were just some small aspects I... just did not. So it's only 3.75*, which makes it 4****.
It starts out as a friends-to-lovers story with some nice variations due to the MC's occupation and that the plot does not completely focus on the discovering of their feelings for each other but on their insecurities about it. I just did not like, how these insecurities manifested themselves. It was just a little to stereotype.
But the story is very sweet , the MC's are likable, the supporting characters are interesting and the storyline is pleasantly paced, not to slow, not to hastened. All in all, a nicely flowing reading experience.
It starts out as a friends-to-lovers story with some nice variations due to the MC's occupation and that the plot does not completely focus on the discovering of their feelings for each other but on their insecurities about it. I just did not like, how these insecurities manifested themselves. It was just a little to stereotype.
But the story is very sweet , the MC's are likable, the supporting characters are interesting and the storyline is pleasantly paced, not to slow, not to hastened. All in all, a nicely flowing reading experience.
January 9, 2011
This was one of those books that once you picked it up you couldn't put it down. In fact I am currently re reading this book. Then I plan to slide right into reading "Sahara Blue" the sequel.
Jared certainly never figured his fantasy of having his friend Toby in his bed was ever going to come true. But things happen, and they really happen in such a wonderfully paced, loving and caring way for both men. It all felt so natural, nothing rushed.
But nothing ever comes easy and they certainly have to go through life's trials and tribulations to get to where they need to be.
But it certainly was a fun ride the first time and I feel the same way the second time around.
Definitely a MUST read!
Jared certainly never figured his fantasy of having his friend Toby in his bed was ever going to come true. But things happen, and they really happen in such a wonderfully paced, loving and caring way for both men. It all felt so natural, nothing rushed.
But nothing ever comes easy and they certainly have to go through life's trials and tribulations to get to where they need to be.
But it certainly was a fun ride the first time and I feel the same way the second time around.
Definitely a MUST read!
November 15, 2010
4.5/5 stars :)
Their story was really beautiful, and it's one I'll re-read again and again! I hope to see these 2 characters in Ms. Jan's new novel Sahara Blue :) It seem to combine the budding relationship of a man just discovering his sexuality and sensuality with an older friend who had been in love with him for years, and patient enough to teach him and learn about love along with him. It actually seemed to combine the concepts of Tantra (tantric sex) with a D/s relationship---very spiritual :)
Brava, Ms. Jan!!
Their story was really beautiful, and it's one I'll re-read again and again! I hope to see these 2 characters in Ms. Jan's new novel Sahara Blue :) It seem to combine the budding relationship of a man just discovering his sexuality and sensuality with an older friend who had been in love with him for years, and patient enough to teach him and learn about love along with him. It actually seemed to combine the concepts of Tantra (tantric sex) with a D/s relationship---very spiritual :)
Brava, Ms. Jan!!
January 18, 2012
It was a very interesting twist on a bondage/kink relationship. I liked the MCs, but I found it slightly confusing at times w/ all the POV switching. I also wish there was more time spent with the boys on set. They seemed to have a craZy amount of free time for actors on a hit tv show. I'm an actor and I wasn't sure if I really bought that element of the story. I hate the cover. Makes Jared look like he's sick or something. Not cute. lol. Other than that, it was a nice quick read.
April 8, 2010
It's a beautiful story about Toby breaking up with his girlfriend to be with his best friend Jared who is in love with him from the moment they meet each other and Toby has feelings for Jared to but is not ready to admit them. The friendship grows slowly in to more. I liked it very much
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2010
Not bad, but not great. The shifts in POV were a little jumpy for me and I think I would've liked a little more build up to the sex and the BDSM. If you're looking for something that's just a hot read, though, this might fit the bill.
June 25, 2013
★☆ rounded up to ★★
I struggled with this one & ended up skimming whole passages of it ... I found the zen-ism a bit pompous & Toby was just so irritatingly needy ... I'll read it again at some point but it just didn't connect with me at all.
I struggled with this one & ended up skimming whole passages of it ... I found the zen-ism a bit pompous & Toby was just so irritatingly needy ... I'll read it again at some point but it just didn't connect with me at all.
July 27, 2011
I had some serious WTF moments while reading this book. I finished it but it took a lot of effort to do so without giving it a 1.
July 7, 2012
This story was a little implausible with a gay virgin who leaves his girlfriend (because he was straight) to instead start up a BDSM relationship with his co-star. Still, the sex was pretty hot.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews