Review: Rules of Submission

Rules of Submission by Leigh Lennon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rules of Submission is the second book in Leigh Lennon’s Fans of Football series and can easily be read as a standalone novel. Despite this, I do recommend reading book one beforehand to get a better understanding of some of the things mentioned throughout this book. Of course, I leave the choice entirely up to you, as the book can be enjoyed either way.

Although I was excited to dive into this one, I was also tentative. My reason for this was twofold. The first is that I’m extremely particular about my BDSM reads. To the point where I have mental categories for such books. We have the ones I stay away from – those where it is clear the author knows nothing about BDSM, has not done any research, has no experience of the lifestyle, and leaves me cringing with each new detail given. We have the ones that leave me shaking my head – those where they’re labelled BDSM, but are not, they are simply a tiny little scene of something other than your most standard vanilla. We have the ones I will sometimes read – those where the author has clearly done research, where there is evidence the author knows what they’re talking about, even if they do not get all the emotions right or have elements where I question whether I would allow such a thing to come to be. We have those I always come back to, those I will gladly read, the authors I consider my go-to for the genre – these are the ones where I know the author knows what they’re talking about, where the emotions come across correctly, where things are well explained, and things are incredibly hot. The second is that I did not enjoy the first Fans of Football book as much as I had hoped to and was unsure if I would enjoy Rules of Submission in the same way I have enjoyed other Leigh Lennon books.

With Rules of Submission, I was quickly shown how I did not need to feel so tentative. It may not have been the best done BDSM story I have ever read – as you can see by my above categories, I’m extremely picky about such reads – but it was well done for the first BDSM story written by the author (first true BDSM story, not just the slight insight we have received in other books). I admit it did not get me all hot and bothered, but I appreciated the way in which it played into the story. I also enjoyed this one a lot more than I enjoyed the first book in the series, making it a vast improvement in my mind.

With Rules of Submission, what really hooked me way the way in which the characters grew throughout. Both were dealing with heavy pasts, and I loved watching the way they helped each other deal with the heavy load they were carrying. I worked out in advance some of the details, but this did not stop me from enjoying the way things played out. In fact, working these things out and seeing the characters react in a different way to how I’d imagined had me enjoying the book even more. I did not expect to enjoy our main characters as much as I did, making it a wonderful surprise when I found myself unable to put the book down.

Without a doubt, the way in which the topics are dealt with throughout this story had me hooked. It was my favourite thing about the book – the character driven story leaving me hooked throughout. I think the only thing I wasn’t crazy about when it came to the characters was the way in which the OCD was dealt with. As someone with OCD, I found myself unable to believe the way in which it was portrayed. The internal monologue of simply referencing the OCD for wanting things neat, clean, or whatever, is very far from the overwhelming urge, the all-consuming need, to make sure things are done in a specific way. That’s just me though, as I’m always picky when it comes to books that portray things I have experience of.

Overall, though, Rules of Submission had me hooked. With insight into other books and characters, this one will leave you wanting more of Leigh Lennon’s work.

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