Review: Lots of smexy goodness here- A few issues - Some Spoilers for Claimed and Bared
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 20, 2014
In the 2nd installment of the Club Sin series, we get up close and very personal with Aidan and Cora. If you read Claimed, you will remember Cora as Presley's roommate, and the catalyst for Presley joining Club Sin. Aidan is Cora's Dom. They have been playing exclusively for some time when we join their story.Very Brief Synopsis - ****Spoiler**** At the end of Claimed, Dmitri collared Presley. One night at Club Sin, Presley chats with Cora, who is feeling a bit jealous. She's only human - Cora has been with Aidan going on 2 years. Presley met Dmitri, and boom! she's collared. *****END SPOILER***** Aidan happens to catch sight of Cora's anguish, and is determined to get to the bottom of it.(No pun intended) And Aidan getting to the heart of Cora's problems takes up the rest of the book. Seriously. Aidan keeps asking Cora what is wrong, she keeps putting him off...lather, rinse, repeat. Aidan even goes to Porter, Cora's first Dom, to get insight into what may be bothering her. All of the other Club Sin Doms know what is wrong, and end up calling Aidan out on it.What worked for me - I loved Aidan. He's sweet and has some pretty big damage to overcome. He obviously cares for Cora. The first scene in the book is Aidan's POV of Cora, and how he thinks she is the perfect sub. Aidan is a guy's guy, which means he is not self-reflective at all. Not even a little bit. But he wants to help Cora. He wants to understand what the problem is, and when he clues in that the problem is him, his anguish feels believable and genuine.Cora is a very strong woman. She is a social worker. At first, I inferred that she worked for a Social Services Department, but later in  the book, it seemed she was in a private practice. Either way... she works with teenage girls. Cora is very self aware, and knows her love for Aidan is not necessarily healthy for her. As I said, Aidan has ISSUES. Cora is aware of them, and knows Aidan may never be in a place where it is possible for him to return her feelings.We are introduced to Porter, as mentioned above, and get to know Kyler, one of the other Doms at Club Sin, when he verbally beats up on Aidan. I look forward to both of their stories.What didn't work as well - A few things stand out. So Aidan and Cora have been club buddies for a few years, but don't have contact outside of their D/s relationship. Aidan has never shared his issues with Cora directly...instead, Kyler filled her in. Aidan and Cora only seem to have the most superficial of personal relationships, aside from the very hawt smexy times. In Claimed, Dmitri makes a point of courting Presley and getting to know her. I really loved that. In Bared, it's like the two years Aidan and Cora have known each other is supposed to be enough of a courtship, even though every bit of it took place in Club Sin.While I felt Aidan's pain acutely, his lack of awareness felt a little disingenuous. He had to know Cora had deep feelings for him, even though she never shared them. Aidan was not ready to move their relationship to a deeper level. Cora tried to be respectful of that, but his friends were determined to push him out of his corner, whether he was ready or not. They all, to a man, took Cora's side. I felt kind of sorry for Aidan. Even if he was clueless.*****BIG, HONKIN' SPOILER- CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED***** At the end, when Aidan pops the question, I really felt like it was very rushed, and way too soon for their relationship to go to that level. There was no real dating, no getting to know each other...they had one freakin' date! Which led to heartbreaking disaster...No, the proposal did not work for me. This was definitely a couple who needed a Happily For Now ending.Bottom line - Time and Money well spent. I liked the depth of emotion and caring from both Aidan and Cora. Even though I felt sorry for Aidan, I liked when his friends told him to pull his head out of his...behind...and stop being a dumb bunny. Despite the few issues I had, I like the way Ms. Kennedy tells a story, and I like the characters in this series. I have already preordered the next book in the series, Desired, due out in July.