Within the Frame Volume One: Captured

Within the Frame, Volume One: Captured is the beginning of a unique love story. It starts with Lorenzo Wallace - a full-time photographer, part-time painter, and Dominant at a local dungeon who goes by the pseudonym Z-No - recovering from a traumatic experience that made him give up on love, art, and BDSM. As he begins to reach out to friends and put himself back out there, a fan of his work named Kristina Shank becomes infatuated with his art all over again, and decides she has to meet Z-No. Things take an immediate turn as Kristina gets an offer to model for the same company where Lorenzo is a photographer, and once she learns that he and Z-No are the same person, a sort of deal is struck: both will keep quiet about one anothers proclivities, but in exchange, Lorenzo must become Kristinas Dominant. Pushed back into the role before he feels hes truly ready, Lorenzo must adapt to getting back into something of the mental shape he used to be in before he was traumatized in order to meet his half of the deal. On the other hand, Kristina - now experiencing being real-world dominated by someone she idolizes for the first time, has to adapt to the reality that comes with getting what she thinks she wants.Captured is a book about identity and reality as much as it is about love and sex. The series uses the struggles of Kristina and Lorenzo to tackle issues such as artistic integrity, anxiety and depression, and the pressures to keep silent and tow the company line at work just to get ahead even if that means burying parts of yourself. It also, through Lorenzo specifically, explores what its like to recover from trauma after having collapsed into a difficult downward spiral. With a strong supporting cast of friends to help both characters along the way, the book presents a very real and simultaneously almost cinematic look at love after trauma, healthy and consensual BDSM, and becoming the most authentic version of your true self.As the rest of the plot of Captured goes on, however, there is a dark secret winding its way around all the other characters like a serpent. Subtle hints of evil in the shadows set up the book to end happily but with a perfect cliffhanger that sets up for the next book in the series.