As Natural As Breathing by Thianna D

For Christian Darringer, life isn’t worth living. Just back from the Middle East; scarred and with permanent damage to one leg, he does not think anyone will want him for anything. Meeting a gorgeous man he finds himself thinking about constantly is not in his plans. Pulled toward the startling younger man with striking blue eyes, he begins to question a lot of things – especially his sexuality. Not one to hide from a challenge, he plunges ahead only to find himself more than just attracted to Logan who is full of life and joy, he finds himself head over heels in love.

Logan Mannette has almost everything he ever wanted: loving parents, happiness, friends and security. The only thing missing is finding the love of his life, a love that is just like his parents’. When he meets Christian at a party, everything changes. Instantly attracted, he does his best to help this sad man and quickly finds himself feeling more than he has ever felt before. Raised in a domestic discipline household, he holds that ideal as what he wants but his interest in spanking became a fetish and when Christian admits that he wants to be spanked, Logan believes he might have found the perfect man.

Just as everything begins for them, Christian’s past intercedes and one of his brothers makes waves about him dating a man. If it weren’t for Logan’s support, he might fold; but with the love of one amazing man, Christian finds that living his life rather than just existing is as natural as breathing.

My first exposure to Thianna D.’s writing was her M/F Domestic Discipline books in the Corbin’s Bend series. As I enjoyed her writing style and found DD to be a fascinating subject to read about, I was excited for the opportunity to read this book and to see how an M/M DD relationship would work. What I didn’t remember when I started reading As Natural as Breathing was that it was the first book in a trilogy surrounding Christian and Logan and so I was torn between wanting their happy ending now (which it better be) and enjoying the fact that I get to spend 3 books with these lovely characters.

I was absolutely enamored by Christian’s character. In case the fact that he has returned home from the military after suffering permanent physical injuries due to “friendly fire: wasn’t enough, he had to deal with questions regarding his sexuality, coming out to his family, and dealing with the rantings of a religious fanatic (aka his brother). Logan’s arrival in his life was pivotal to Christian being able to deal with everything going on around him. That Logan found Christian just as handsome, scars and all, was a bonus as their chemistry was electric. Because this is the first book in the trilogy and because Christian is confused about his sexuality, there is no actual sex; instead the two men engage in heavy petting and make out sessions that reminded me just how much fun two people could have with their clothes on.

As Natural as Breathing is an excellent beginning for the series and I cannot wait to begin book two, Took My Breath Away, so that I can spend more time with Christian and Logan. These two guys make a wonderful couple and I cannot wait to see how their romance unfolds and develops over the rest of the series. Thianna D. has done an excellent job and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.