Review: A rating...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
My Review:This book featured two story tropes that I really enjoy...female Domme and professional sports figure.Holden is a great character. As a professional hockey player, he has needs that just don't mesh with the needs for his identity as a pro NHL player. As a result, he's never truly explored those needs. But when he did, a photo leaked which led to him getting traded. He can't afford another slip, but he also is finding it harder and harder to ignore those needs. He hopes that the Den and it's very strict policies about privacy and membership will offer him an alternative. What he doesn't count on is that one of the owner is Vanessa, who is the ice queen of the sports PR world. And she doesn't take anything from anyone...certainly not a sports figure who she doesn't trust because she knows how they behave.Vanessa is a really complex character...and I have to say I've only read a couple of the books from this series, but am finding that Lynda Aicher does an INCREDIBLE job creating complex characters like this...I love that angst and backstory. She's known as the ice queen for a reason. No one gets under her skin...at least not that they ever realize (she is still very human), but something is different with Holden from the very beginning. And that is a fact that Vanessa hates. She's a Domme...she doesn't do out of control...Ever!Everything about this book just worked for me. I read it over a weekend full of family time and I hated it every time I had to put it down because the story was so good and riveting. Holden is confused and vulnerable. Vanessa is aggressive and vulnerable. Together they are incredibly hot and so freaking sexy. I loved their story and getting to know them. Like I mentioned before, I've only read a couple of the other books in the series. They all work completely as stand-alones. You see the other couples from the other books, but I've never felt lost or like I was missing something for not having read all the books. That being said, though, every book I've read has been great, so I imagine that's true of the entire series. This book does set up the next book in the series and I can't wait for it. It sounds so good and I really loved the glimpses of the upcoming Hero and heroine. It's already on my to-buy list!