Review: Claiming Lauren
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2013
My Thoughts:This book was provided by NetGalley for an honest review.Claiming Lauren was a very short but steamy, sexy, and sweet read. Lauren Brant is a society wife, classy, polished, elegant...and lonely. Although she is married to the a very successful and handsome man, their marriage is in name only. Divided by continents, their lives are completely separate. Lauren wants out but the confines of high-society dictate that she stay in a marriage where love, or even remote like, don't factor into it at all. Driven by her loneliness and the desire to assuage her physical needs, Lauren joins a chat group that caters to those in the BDSM lifestyle. This is where she meets Master and carries on a two year virtual relationship with him. As time goes by Lauren feels more and more alone and decides to meet Master face-to-face. In a twist of serendipitous fate, Lauren's life and her future are irrevocably changed.I am not typically a fan of short stories because they lack depth and background. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I enjoyed this quick 38-page read. The author did not go into depth about how/why Jacob continued the farce with Lauren; however, she clearly expressed Lauren's motivations. She was lonely. She was miserable. She was unhappy and unloved. She needed an outlet. And Master, nom de plume Jacob, was that outlet. The two had a very intense meeting and contact and it only intensified Lauren's wanting for more upon their departure. I liked how Jacob revealed who he was to Lauren and how they connected after it. What was missing for me from this story was the feeling behind Jacob's confession of love. It came across as told and not felt. I'm sure that was because of the book's brevity but it was still remiss. I would have enjoyed seeing what happens next for the couple. I'm not sure if this book is a stand alone, part of a series, or serial but I enjoyed it for what it was.Note: This story has mild-BDSM elements.