Dark Romance

The Universe titled Healing bonds consists of three different series of books. These series, Chains of Fate, Joe Town Bound, and Silken Bonds, all take place in different locations. Chains of Fate is located in St. Louis, Missouri, Joe Town Bound is in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Silken Bonds is in Santa Cruz, California.

The uniting factor of all these different books is that they all focus on healing through bondage. Each book centers around a character that is placed in extraordinary circumstances, and their partner or partners are the people that help them through it. Using the tools that bondage and submission has to offer, these people find their way through their trauma to healing.

There are no magic cures in this universe, as it is grounded in reality. There is no cure all and bondage and love do not make the bad times go away. These characters have to deal with learning to live again when the world seems at the grayest. The bonds they form with others, both romantic and platonic, are at the center of everything that happens in these books.

Coming out was tough. The thing that was even tougher, though, for Kerry was dealing with the fact he had serial killers targeting. Along with being stalked and having his belongings messed with daily, he has to deal with the bounty hunter after the serial killers and the FBI agent that shows up on their trail. Of course, what he doesn't expect is to be incredibly attracted to both of them, as different as they are.

Rather than give in to the people after him, Kerry chooses to live his life, that of a drag queen and burlesque dancer at The Red Cabaret and Lounge. With the bounty hunter Martin watching his every move, and the constant shameless flirting from the FBI agent Zak, Kerry has his hands full. 

Even though he's got a lot going on, living a normal life is almost possible. He dates some people from the cabaret and just doesn't seem to find what he's looking for in them. All the while, Martin and Zak keep a close eye on him. Perhaps, closer than he'd like sometimes. 

When things blossom, though, and life takes an incredible twist, Kerry's world will never be the same. 

Rory is suffering in his stepfather's abusive house, and he doesn't see any way out other than to keep going to school and hope he can afford to leave some day. Then, as he starts at St. Sebastian College, he meets Christopher, who even though he barely knows him, invites him to come stay with him and his roommates at their home, Anima Hollow. Rory doesn't know what to do, but he knows something has to change. He takes Christopher’s hand and finds himself in a world he never knew existed.

Everything doesn’t go according to plan, though, and his stepfather’s legacy rears its ugly head, leading to Rory suffering at the hands of people he has nothing to do with. He has one thought, and that’s to get back to the people that he cares about more than anything, a family unlike the one he grew up in, and love that he never received.

Skye had always found a strange satisfaction in being a willing submissive to his master, despite the challenges that often arose between them. Even when faced with his master's anger and roughness, he derived pleasure from his submissive role, accepting the neglect of aftercare as part of the dynamic. However, everything changed when, after four years together, he was abruptly cast aside, leaving him feeling lost and abandoned. The very next day, a bold and domineering colleague named Dominic asked him out, and Skye, surprised but intrigued, decided to give it a chance. Yet, as their relationship blossomed, he couldn't shake the feeling that his deeper needs remained unmet. A nervous inquiry about those needs led them to Club Passion, a local dungeon, where they would explore uncharted territories together, testing the boundaries of their new dynamic and Dominic's ability to fulfill Skye's desires. Things for Skye never work as planned, and his old Master has a problem with someone taking what was once his, making life even more difficult for Skye and Dominic.

Phoenix was orphaned at six years old, and ever since, he’s been beside his foster brother, Gibson. Phoenix, though, doesn’t speak and never has, which has caused no end of problems over his life. For as long as he can remember, he’s been labeled as mentally challenged and a problem child because he doesn’t speak. The only people to ever help him are Gibson’s family, but that is shattered when Gibson’s mother dies, and his father remarries a cruel woman named Alice. When Gibson’s father falls ill, Alice takes custody out of pure spite at losing her income.

Turning eighteen, his foster mother gains guardianship, binding him in this abusive situation. Gibson decides he must do something to help him, but he’s unsure what to do. In the meantime, he opts to take him to learn some self-defense, and when there, Phoenix meets someone surprising: the owner of the dojo.

Jayden Wilcox has struggled with depression since he was a child. His father left early on, and his stepfather was abusive. At ten, his biological father’s parents adopted him. He lives comfortably on their property, spending his days caring for his plants and dreaming of becoming a botanist one day. Life would seem ideal to anyone looking in from the outside.

One morning, his depression becomes too much for him, and he decides to seek out help. Leaving his grandparents, he goes and checks himself into a psychiatric ward to get the help he needs. He makes new friends, Freddie and Zak, each with their own issues. Quickly, the three become friends, and then things start developing in ways Jayden doesn’t understand at first.

Blair secretly loves his best friend, Trace, but he fears losing the friendship if he tells him. Instead, he leaves for college, where he meets Quintin. They form a relationship and move in together, forming a happy home for both. Then, someone starts leaving gifts and stalking Blair online and off. Their apartment is rearranged no matter what fancy locks, and they can’t figure out how to stop it. They get the police involved, but the stalker leaves no clues behind, and he keeps getting into their place. Then, things come to a head, and Blair goes on the run until one day, Trace finds him and wants to know the truth. Blair tries to force him away, fearing for Trace’s life because he’s still on the run from the stalker that’s after him. Trace refuses to leave; Blair has to wonder if he can truly have a life with the man he loves beyond all else in the world.

Alexis Baldwin doesn’t realize the trouble he’s getting himself into when he flunks out of college and returns home to the small suburb of St. Charles. It all started so simply, as a way to relax and have fun with others, but things quickly got out of hand. A drug problem leads to these issues, but he can’t communicate with his friends or family out of fear of judgement. He fears that they will look at him differently if they know the truth, but despite wanting to, he can’t give up the drugs he’s come to depend on to make it through each day. A new supplier promises what he needs, but when he goes there, he wants something different out of Alexis. Traumatized by the encounter, he manages to go home, running into a friend, making him curious about what happened. His friends know something more is going on and want to help in any way they can.

A young man who feels he has nothing left to lose after a traumatic event tries to take control the only way he knows how. He begins down a path that can only lead to self-destruction. Amid all these things, he has some choices to make about his life. An unlikely person comes to try and help pull him out of his self-imposed hell, but the question remains about whether he will take his hand or not.

Sidney is alone, and no one believes him. He’s being attacked and tormented nightly at a private psychiatric center where he’s committed to for treatment of his schizophrenia. The doctors and his family say it is just a part of his mental illness, but he’s sure it isn’t that. He knows people come at night, and no one will believe him, no matter what he says. He’s completely given up on the thought that anyone can stop what is happening to him, and he decides he will have to suffer until it stops.

A new doctor, Dr. Conner Rutledge, starts working with him, and for the first time, Sidney thinks he will get someone to listen to him. Meanwhile, Conner steadily does what a doctor should never do and falls for a patient.

Along with a technician, they know something is happening in the small psychiatric facility and suspect the man who runs it is at fault. They uncover strange experiments and proof that Sidney has been a victim of something while he was there. The question is, will the man who runs the facility let go of a good test subject so easily once he’s caught?