Review: The Romance Reviews Top Pick
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 11, 2011
Sinfully hot. Wickedly fun. Perfectly addicting.Wow! I am new to the Diablo Blanco Club series, but not for long. After devouring the latest installment, RITE OF FIRST CLAIM, I am off to download the two I've missed. For others new to the series, I can assure you starting at book three turned out just fine. I wasn't lost at all. Just totally captivated and now totally hooked into Qwillia Rain's world.Qwillia Rain has created an entertaining world and filled it with plenty of action, adventure, and creative hot sex, but at the core of the magic in this tale is a hero and heroine, and their struggle to work through all that has kept them apart for the past twelve years. Secrets abound, childhood trauma rears its ugly head, and two equally pig-headed protagonists fight for control. When they say "walls will come tumbling down", think something along the lines of a landslide. A whole mess of muck and mortar accumulated over 12 years.Lyssa and Mike have made so many mistakes in the past I get why Lyssa thinks it's time to throw in the towel. Lyssa has learned that she has early onset menopause and she sets out to start a family before it is too late. A visit to Diablo Blanco Club on a night reserved for unattached Doms to meet unattached subs should be the perfect opportunity for her to find an unwitting sperm donor. One night is all she needs. No commitment, just his sperm. What's the harm?When Mike is alerted by members of her presence at the club, he comes to claim her for himself. It's been a long wait and he's ready to finally have what is his. Lyssa is attracted to Mike and therefore he doesn't fit into her plans for the evening. When she tries to push him away, he calls a club rule into effect to keep other members from approaching. Because they have had sex in the club before, he is allowed to enact the Rite of First Claim, giving him one month to establish a relationship before other club Doms can approach her.Lyssa ultimately relents, believing this will finally prove to Mike that they need to go separate ways and free her to continue with her plans for a family and a future.Well, those thirty days prove that Mike has truly earned the title of Master Dominant, that's for sure. I had to turn down the AC whenever the two looked at each other. But it was the internal dialogue that played against their romance and lust that kept me truly spellbound.I constantly maintain it is always about the characters. Qwillia Rain knows how to craft interesting, complex and relatable characters that I can't wait to learn more about. The story flew by, along with the Disney bus I was supposed to get on to meet up with my family. Entranced and swept away, it was a magical kingdom all its own. Enjoy!