Review: 4.5 Solid Stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 14, 2013
Evan Adam's home life is very cold."...his mother's flightiness and his father's distance over the years, all in the name of keeping peace."One day his mother gets call that her best friend from college has died and Evan is informed that the son, Damien Slate will be living with them.  Damien would change the lives of those living in Evan's family's home."...an evil that lurked in the souls of so many boys, disguising itself as a strength until revealed for what it was."Evan knows at 18 years old that he is not satisfied with his vanilla sex life.  Damien introduces Evan to the world of BDSM, but Evan fears that with this increase interest in BDSM that he will turn out like Damien.Unlike other BDSM novels where the character is older and already involved in the BDSM lifestyle, in Mutual Release, we go through Evan's first experience and his thoughts as he is learning.  We experience his struggles.Then we meet Julie Dawson.  Julie is beautiful and smart, but she has had painful experiences with men.  When Julie meets Evan, she does not know what to make of him.  She has become comfortable in her life of being a successful, rich woman without a need of a man.  However, Evan starts popping into her life and taking away of some of her control. Julie at first is not sure of what to make of Evan."No seriously, Evan. Stop liking me. You'll be better off. I'm...no fun, really. Not when you get to know me. I'm obsessive, borderline compulsive, a neat freak, a-a-a show off, and I snore. Oh, and if I drink wine I get the hiccups and can't stop."I love the way Evan handles Julie.  Julie never feels worthy of love."Listen to me, Julie," he said, his voice in no way betraying the condition of his body. "I know you think you understand me. But you don't There is a part of me that's dark. Not bad, but...hard to grasp. Even I have a tough time with it. And you bring something out in me. I haven't felt in so long I...You have to know I'm struggling with what to do about it."Loved!This book is in 4 parts: Part 1 - Evan's story, then Part 2 - Julie's Story where we are introduced to them in their late-teens years and see how their personalities develop. Then Part 3 simply titled The Courtship.  It was my favorite part of the entire book. I love the way Evan "courts" Julie. Part 4, I am not going to tell you what it is.  You will have to read the book.There was an instant mutual attraction, but no insta-love which made it more real.  Two people with tortured pasts trying to get it together."Country Club""Daredevil"Did I skim? NoDid I feel connected to the characters? Yes, immediately.  So much there were times, I was nervous as to what was going to happen. I felt the characters emotions.Pace of the story: Very good.Positives: The story starts when the characters are teens. We see them grow and develop their personalities.Negatives: I felt like the characters (towards the end of the book) took such a different turn from the rest of the book. I did not like the "turn" when I first read it. I felt thinking why was this happening and why was it happening like that?? I can't explain it without giving it away, but after some thought, I understood why Liz Crowe had to take that turn. I did not like it, but I understood it. It would make for an interesting book club discussion.Do I recommend? Yes. I never read a BDSM book like this one. It was a great  story with steam, love, passion, and angst.  This book even though part of the series, can be read as a standalone.