Review: Wannabe BDSM with slant toward romantic à la Harlequin
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 8, 2013
The first in the Enslaved Trilogy BDSM erotic romance series. The couple focus is on Elisabeth Anderson and Trevor Brooks.My TakeThis feels more like a wannabe BDSM with more of a slant toward the romantic à la Harlequin. It's cute enough, but no great dramas or tension other than the one towards the end. There's not a lot of real life in this. Well, yeah, it does involve billionaires, so that does put paid to most of that, but what I'm talkin' about is Elisabeth's experience with Gregory and no romance there, so why is she thinking she'll get a romance with Trevor? Evers forgot that she needs to build that reality into the story.This probably tells ya how little I know/understand of this subculture, but when Elisabeth feels better because Gregory orders her to try Trevor out, to live with him, she claims to feel better now that she has a game plan?? WTF? She doesn't have a game plan. She can't make a decision to save her life. She wants someone telling her what to do 24/7, well, except for that one little quirk of hers. The one that could screw it all up for her.Cute. Trevor lets her know that his height has given girls a neck ache before, and she reminds him that she does like pain. She just doesn't like the emotional pain.A good point about money, that it can be scary: too little and you can starve whereas too much makes you think you can buy a woman. Ooh, I also liked Trevor's point about Gregory needing to find his own happiness.Okay, I don't buy Roman's change of heart. Evers hasn't done anything to show us why this would happen. She simply tells us that he loves, but that's it. I did enjoy his approach with her---when he keeps wanting to know if he gets to be the Dom sometimes.I did get confused when Elisabeth suddenly decided that Trevor didn't really love her because he gave her away. This felt very undeveloped---and stays undeveloped. As if Evers suddenly realized she needed dramatic tension, and, ooops, let's just slip this one in and see if it works...sorry, it doesn't.On the whole, if you want a Harlequin-ish BDSM-lite read with a billionaire lifestyle, you'll enjoy this.The StoryGregory has come to realize that he needs more than Elisabeth is able to give him. And she needs more than he can dish out.Trevor, on the other hand, went about his former marriage all wrong. Now, he intends to try it out from the other end. Only, Elisabeth is too much of a brat.The CharactersElisabeth Anderson is a rebellious masochistic submissive who needs orders.The BAD Boys, the Billionaire Arrogant Doms, are Trevor Brooks, Roman Chase, and Marc Wilde. Friends and partners in a wildly successful hedge fund, the Brooks Wilde Chase Fund.Trevor wants a family, and he is a dominating man. Adele is Trevor's house manager; Cynthia is Trevor's ex-wife and the reason he wants to work backwards; Carl is the driver; and, Julian is the house stylist. I think he's my favorite in this!Gregory is a sadistic gay Dom who finally found the love of his life, Andrew, the "lovely twink bartender". Mistress Lauren is friends with Marc and herself a Domme.The Whippersnapper is a BDSM club in Manhattan.The CoverFortunately, it's a simple graphic of a hand wrapped in a red ribbon. God forbid that pesky graphic get in the way of all the text on that very busy cover.The title could well apply to either half of this couple, for each is Enslaved to the other.