i have got to stop reading this woman's books.

i refuse to accept that any human on earth speaks the way these characters do; it's so deeply unnatural.

the fact that everyone has to be made aware of the type of relationship they have?????? absolutely not anyone's business but your own, why would you tell a stranger about that? WHY WOULD YOU TELL A STRANGER ABOUT YOUR BEST FRIEND'S LITTLE SISTER'S PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL TRAUMAS????????

also the constant 'you have to put the past behind you' bullshit?? three years is barely any time at all, that was her HUSBAND of COURSE she's still grieving? and the way they talk about kylie's past?? disgusting. i won't bother complaining about the ~tension~ because we all know it's bs and he didn't deserve her back.

horrific. absolutely terrible.

important fyi: tw for incest and rape because i absolutely didn't see that coming

( )

Hace ya un año que Josslyn enviudó. A pesar del dolor que le causó la pérdida de su esposo, sus ganas de experimentar con el sexo no han desaparecido y es ahora cuando se siente lo suficientemente fortalecida para buscar aquello que su difunto marido nunca le pudo dar. Sin embargo, cuando asiste a un club donde se exploran los límites del deseo se encuentra con algo realmente inesperado: Dash, el mejor amigo de su marido también está allí. Dash cree que Josslyn no tiene ni idea de en lo que se está metiendo pero cuando ella consigue explicárselo, solo le queda una salida. Será él el que la guíe en este mundo de oscuras fantasías, el único que pueda acariciarla. Y el único al que Josslyn se someterá.

Did not finish, got 50% of the way through and was bored out of my skull, back to the library it goes! ( )

Connection to the Sweet series. Dash starts off very alpha maile dominant and then seems to turn into an insecure, raging idiot. At 40% into the book they are still TALKING about getting started and some of her insecurities are repetitive. I really wanted to like this book, especiallly the brief peek at seeing Damon, Serena, Ren and her men, I'm hoping the next book is better.
( )

Letting Go
1 Star

As a fan of Maya Banks's romantic suspense and historical romance series, this book seemed a natural choice when I needed a BDSM book for a challenge. Let me preface this review with the disclaimer that BDSM is not a preferred genre, and as such my comments will more than likely not be in line with the many readers who enjoy this genre immensely.

As it turns out, the BDSM elements are not the reason for this one star review. Rather the writing, characters and story are so weak as to completely undermine whatever message the writer is trying to impart.

Banks spends an inordinate amount of page time attempting to convince the reader of the legitimacy of the BDSM sub-culture. This is completely unnecessary as consenting adults are entitled to their preferences; no one has the right to judge and those who enjoy the genre don't need to be convinced. The result is a tediously repetitive sequence of scenes in which the hero and heroine justify their choice of lifestyle.

Moreover, the characterization and plot also suffer as neither is sufficiently developed outside of the author's preoccupation with the characters dominant/submissive sexcapades. Regardless of the fact that I personally do not find anything remotely sexy or sensual about a relationship in which the woman is completely subjugated, neither Joss nor Dash are particularly interesting as individuals and their emotional attachment is unbelievable. The conflict that pops up at the end has potential and should have been the focus throughout the story, but ultimately falls flat because by that point who cares?

In sum, to put it simply this book is badly written with tepid characters, mechanical sex scenes and no plot to speak of. ( )