Well, it is different and definitely not romance as the author warned. I haven't read the other books in the series, so I'm not sure if I've got it right, but just be reading this one, the author has written a good story in BSDM. ( )

I liked this flip on the first book Mephisto. Seeing the story from Mephisto/jay perspective was nice. After reading the first book so many things were the same just on the flip side it almost seemed redundant to me to read it. ( )

This is the same story as Club Mephisto but told from Mephisto point of view. We also get to see a very important meeting between him and Clayton that makes a lot of sense at the start of the next book Burn for You. We learn that when he first met Molly he had wanted her for himself but when Clayton showed up he knew he was the one for Molly. But even with this he never stop wondering about what could have been. As Clayton is telling him all about his preparations he’s made to make sure Molly is taken care of if something happens to him we find out that is was Mephisto that first suggested that maybe Clayton should leave her with him if he ever went out of town. And when that times comes he finds that having Molly under his total control is everything he knew it would be. Some would probally consider his treatment of her inhumane but its who he is and he comes to realize how much he really cares for her and decides to have her a much as time will allow and commit ever moment with her to memory. The conversation between Mephisto and Clayton at the end of the book – very touching in a Dom to Dom way. ( )

I enjoyed reading this story from Mephisto's POV. ( )

This novel is book 2 of the Club Mephisto trilogy. The storyline revolves around the TPE relationships of slave Molly, her husband and master Clayton and his good friend master Mephisto. Molly and Master's TPE relation is of the micromanaged S&M kind. I read all 3 books one after the other. From the general ratings I understood beforehand that the ratings got progressively better from 1 to 3, so I had high hopes. I did reviews for all three books.

This book contains the same story as book 1, it's a retelling from Mephisto's point of view. Mephisto's voice is somehow easier to read. Probably because he is more of a thinking person than Molly is. For me this was a huge improvement factor in the reading experience.

We get to learn a bit more about the background of the week long lending of slave Molly to Mephisto.
You already know from book 1 that certain events happened. Since the slave Molly's role is to accept, regardless of the reasons behind the actions, and the story was told from her point of view, you tend to pass over the possible psychological explanation in book 1, because you can't make any sense of anything anyway, without the necesaary information from the acting party.
So in this novel, you also acquire information about Mephisto's and Clayton's thinking.

And boy, did I start to struggle with these characters.

Begin spoiler:
You're Mephisto, a sadistic master. A good friend has asked you to supervise his TPE micromanaged slave for a week, to get acquainted with her, and comfortable with each other, to take good care of her, to use her as you see fit (within established boundaries), to enjoy your sadistic self doing it and to impose a different and more demanding form of mastery on her as the friend does.
He's such a good friend, that you've promised to take care of the girl in the event he cannot do so anymore himself (death, dibilitating illness).
So what do you do?
Decide to 'improve' her, to teach her new lessons, which she will probably not need being your friend's slave? Or do you just challenge her to her limits, to see her cringe, to see how deep her submission is? Maybe shatter her trust (which exists solely on the base of her master trusting you, for she doesn't know you well enough herself) by punishing her for (protesting against punishment for) an offense you know she did not commit? Do you question her deeply on her acceptance and happiness regarding her slavery to your friend?
Of course you do. All that and more. What is the value of modesty when you're a true sadist, after all. Especially when you secretly admire and covet this girl's submission, which is directed at her master, your good friend. And you've got a whole week to go at it, before you have to give her back.
Really???

You are Master. You care deeply for this younger girl you have married and formed a micromanaged TPE slavery bond with with the help of staff since you're quite a busy man yourself, with business taking up weekend hours as well sometimes. She is an intelligent woman who has submitted so far as to lose all 'vestige of self-posession'.
You worry sometimes as to what might happen to her when you're no longer around. Do you share the nature of your deepest worries with your good friend? Of course you don't, even if you love her so deeply. When push comes to shove the girl is a pleasure slave, your pleasure of course (and the ones you share her with), and there is no need to micromanage her (or anyone she comes into contact with, which are few) so far as to be able to cope for herself in the case of tragic events. She's indicated time again that taking responsibility is not her wish anyway. So there's no inclinition to micromanage how your friend should best deal with her, as it will constitute a nice (sadistic) shock to find her (masochistic) self needing to submit to things out of the ordinary. Besides, you're so infatuated with the girl that selfishness procludes any wish to sacrifice any of your own needs to hers. True love is like that, obviously.
Really???

From Clayton's conversation with Mephisto we learn that he knows and hopes Molly will have a difficult time with Mephisto. What kind of lesson is that time with Mephisto supposed to teach her?
'You're well cared for now, shudder to think of finding yourself without me, because it will be so much worse for you than you could ever imagine and here's a little taste of that? And when you're done with the week I have more news for you: he's the one I picked out to set you to rights if ever something should happen to me. Don't be afraid, don't think about it if you don't want to, that's fine. Just be the pet that you're trained to be.'
Really???
End spoiler

I must say I had trouble at this point with the believability of the character description of these men. Their actions seem inconsistent with their setup. If TPE is about taking over responsability from another, how can Clayton act so selfishly? If mastery is about taking another to their limits, how can Mephisto have so few limitations himself?
Or do I (the reader) accept that this is consistent for them and we're dealing with a couple of b**rds here? In that case Molly is right to be scared of Mephisto and should start to question Clayton's love for her.

So, what to think of the added psychology?
Inconsistent and unbelievable?
Or flawed, conflicted, weak and unlikable characters?

With not enough information to decide this question, as a standalone I feel I can't rate this novel other than just okay, a teaser for the third novel in this series.
( )