{"id":20143,"date":"2022-07-27T14:46:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T18:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=20143"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:58:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:58:24","slug":"the-lion-tamer-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20143","title":{"rendered":"The Lion Tamer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lion Tamer<\/a><\/em> (2018) Dahlia Donovan<\/a> (The Sin Bin)<\/p>\n

First off, this story has a lot happening. <\/p>\n

Over the course of the series we’ve watched Scottie spiral out of control. The story just before this sees the start of the interactions between Scottie and Gray.<\/p>\n

Gray sees Scottie as a potential submissive, and sees something worth all the bluster and bullshit on the surface.<\/p>\n

Gray had been working for Hamish and Wyatt, but decided the work wasn’t for him.<\/p>\n

Hamish: You\u2019re a cagey bastard. If I didn\u2019t have a healthy respect for your ability to kill me, I\u2019d have a few more words about you quitting via text message.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He ends up as the chef at the Sin Bin.<\/p>\n

Gray\u2019s involvement with the Sin Bin\u2019s new restaurant had been kept a secret to ensure maximum amusement for all of them when Scottie found out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Scottie is–as noted–a disaster. He has no control over his temper, hasn’t come to terms with the fact he’s gay, uses alcohol as a coping mechanism, and is alienating his few friends.<\/p>\n

I have to say I did enjoying Gray putting Scottie in his place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant a fucking trophy for surviving? Guess what? They don\u2019t hand them out. I should know. I\u2019d be first in line to receive one. You don\u2019t get a pass from common courtesy because life hasn\u2019t been fair. You\u2019re not the only human being to survive a childhood of abuse and pain. Get the fuck over yourself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I was bothered by stemmed from why Scottie ended up in rehab.<\/p>\n

Scottie sat up slowly and glanced around to find the scenery had changed quite significantly. \u201cWhy the fuck am I in a hospital bed?\u201d <\/p>\n

Taine placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him seated. \u201cYou passed out. I couldn\u2019t wake you up. How much did you drink?\u201d <\/p>\n

Scottie ran his fingers vigorously across his head. \u201cNot a clue. It\u2019s all a blur. I honestly can\u2019t remember. What happened?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou almost drank yourself into the grave,\u201d Taine remarked bluntly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That drinking episode was pretty much a direct result of Scottie’s first “scene” with Gray. Yes, Gray took care of him immediately afterwards, and Scottie stayed the night. <\/p>\n

All the whirling, chaotic rage in his mind had calmed for the briefest of moments. Scottie had only ever felt a similar freedom on the rugby pitch. He hated how much he craved it again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But he clearly was a walking disaster and it seemed pretty obvious that a self-loathing man who had no idea he would enjoy submission would not react well to the discovery. Yes, Scottie was a grown man, but he was clearly out of control, and the resulting alcohol poisoning didn’t seem unexpected. <\/p>\n

On the plus side, Gray clearly understood therapy and rehab.<\/p>\n

I also know you have to make the decision on your own and do it for yourself, or it won\u2019t change anything.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And once Scottie gets out of rehab, we finally meet the reason that his friends thought he wasn’t irredeemable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeard you graduated from the Imperial College with top honours.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d know since you sent Mum the money for it,\u201d Silus teased.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the other things I particularly appreciated was the situation with Scottie’s dad. In another book, the story would have gone in a completely different way. Here I appreciated that she didn’t take the easy way out, but instead the far more realistic path (given the characters involved).<\/p>\n

Also, completely unrelated, this story has one of my favorite bits in the series:<\/p>\n

Gray: Landed safely. Met your contact. Heading out. <\/p>\n

Wyatt: You do know text messaging isn\u2019t morse code. You can use complete sentences. <\/p>\n

Gray: Fuck. Off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As much as I would just as soon skipped all the BDSM part of the story, the were important, as they showed Scottie’s changes. And it’s those changes that stuck with me long after I finished the story.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lion Tamer (2018) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) First off, this story has a lot happening. Over the course of the series we’ve watched Scottie spiral out of control. The story just before this sees the start of the interactions between Scottie and Gray. Gray sees Scottie as a potential submissive, and sees something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,30,292,24,207,196,148,41,26,56,934],"tags":[403,198,50,616,254,544,570,532],"class_list":["post-20143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-food","category-mental-health-rep","category-novella","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-trigger-warnings","tag-addiction","tag-bdsm","tag-boinking","tag-cooking","tag-dahlia-donovan","tag-mm","tag-parental-alcoholism","tag-sin-bin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5eT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18355,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18355","url_meta":{"origin":20143,"position":0},"title":"The Lion Tamer","author":"Michelle","date":"October 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lion Tamer (2018) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) As noted throughout the series, Scottie us a wreck, who is incapable of being a functioning adult. Scottie sat up slowly and glanced around to find the scenery had changed quite significantly. \u201cWhy the fuck am I in a hospital bed?\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Lion Tamer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Lion-Tamer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Lion-Tamer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Lion-Tamer.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Lion-Tamer.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14094,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14094","url_meta":{"origin":20143,"position":1},"title":"Sin Bin Series: Box Set","author":"Michelle","date":"March 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Sin Bin Series: Box Set (2020) Dahlia Donovan This is seven stories (and three short stories) around a group of former rugby players and friends and the men they fall in love with. The Wanderer (2017) The Caretaker (2017) The Botanist (2017) The Royal Marine (2017) The Unexpected Santa (2017)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sin Bin Series","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sin-Bin-Series.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18348,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18348","url_meta":{"origin":20143,"position":2},"title":"The Royal Marine","author":"Michelle","date":"October 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Royal Marine (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) Akash Robinson moved to Cardiff to open his own bakery after working at his parents for years. Unfortunately, running his own bakery means he has no time for the social life he had hoped to develop with the move. (H)e\u2019d never\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Royal Marine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Royal-Marine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20137,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20137","url_meta":{"origin":20143,"position":3},"title":"The Royal Marine","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Royal Marine (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) Wyatt's partner, Hamish, is set up with Graham and Freddie's friend Akash. Except that the rugby players are also trying to set Akash up with Scottie. This does not go well for Scottie. Although this is Hamish and Akash's story, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20140,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20140","url_meta":{"origin":20143,"position":4},"title":"The Unexpected Santa","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Unexpected Santa (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) This is an interlude rather than a proper novella \/ short story. We saw Gray and Scottie meet in the previous story. This story shows Gray looking after the twins... \u201cYou two doing all right?\u201d Gray crouched down by their table\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18352,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18352","url_meta":{"origin":20143,"position":5},"title":"The Unexpected Santa","author":"Michelle","date":"October 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Unexpected Santa (2017) Dahlia Donovan (Sin Bin) This story is is a glimpse of the start of the relationship between Scottie and Gray. Scottie is a mess. He\u2019d never possessed the tools to deal with the chaos of emotions in his life. It always funnelled into anger. The rage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Unexpected Santa","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Unexpected-Santa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}