Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
So what does it mean to live a life true to yourself, even when that lifestyle isn’t a popular one? What does it mean when a strong, intelligent, independent woman simply needs a break from controlling everything in her life? These questions find a home in Golden Angel’s Black Light: Defended.
The story follows Kawan and Melody. Melody is a doctoral student who has found herself in a bit of a legal jam. She attended a party and someone snuck drugs into her unattended bag. On a favor to the husband of Melody’s doctoral advisor, Kawan, an attorney, comes in to defend her innocence. From their meeting, Melody and Kawan feel the chemistry between the two of them, a strong pull towards each other. However, Kawan lives a certain lifestyle: he is a Daddy Dom. Due to a past issue with a girlfriend/sub, though, Kawan is careful in his attachments to women. Not knowing if Melody lives that particular lifestyle, he walks away from her after helping her, thinking he will never see her again.
A short time later, Kawan visits his new favorite place in D.C., Black Light Central, and Melody is there as a guest of her roommate’s boyfriend. Melody has long been interested in the lifestyle lived at Black Light. When Kawan finds her at BLC, he grows hope that the two of them might be able to engage in this lifestyle together. Yet, Melody is new to a dom/sub relationship, and Kawan must determine if a daddy/little relationship interests Melody. Choosing her for that night, Kawan shares the lifestyle with her, finding out quickly that Melody, indeed, has an interest in being taken care of by a daddy dom. As the story progresses, Kawan and Melody fall deeper into a relationship, but there are worries and complications. Will Kawan and Melody find a happy ending in this type of relationship? Or is Kawan doomed at finding a “little” to share his life?
I haven’t read too many “daddy dom” books, so I was intrigued by Golden Angel’s story. Even more, this is the first book I had read by this author, so I was excited to see how she fares in the world of Black Light. First of all, Black Light is one of my favorite dom/sub series. This means that anyone who writes for Black Light Press really should be top-notch, fitting into the bigger world. And Golden Angel’s story does this well.
From the start, I was hooked. For one, I love the multi-cultural aspect of this. Kawan is Korean, and I imagined him portrayed by the actor in the title role for Crazy Rich Asians, the film that Angel alludes to in the book. His character is incredibly patient, intelligent, careful, and caring. While I have never considered practicing this type of relationship, I would consider it if under the care of Kawan. You want him to find a happily ever after with Melody. With the exception of hiding the issues of his past relationship, he is stalwart, carefully guiding Melody through the lifestyle. He becomes her ultimate unselfish protector.
I also loved that Golden Angel creates the character of Melody as a doctoral student. This is a woman who is intelligent and deft in the lab. Her research is cutting edge, and her future is bright. However, she is a people-pleaser, someone who can be taken advantage of if that person is unkind. We see this portrayed in her relationship with her roommate. One would think that an intelligent, strong woman could stand up for herself. Yet, Angel is suggesting that people who are strong and careful in their work lives might want to be cared for in their personal lives. The two are not mutually exclusive. I thought this characterization of Melody is necessary and shows that the dom/sub relationship works well when both parties have their needs fed.
I simply could not put this book down, and it launched me into some of Angel’s other stories. She writes steamy well. It’s dirty and fun wrapped in one with a bowtie of sentiment. If you’re a fan of the Black Light series, you will want to read Black Light: Defended. My only suggestion for the story would have been to show us Kawan’s family’s reaction to Melody. I kept waiting for the moment when his very Asian mother met Melody. Yet, in the end, everything seems very bright for these two.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 