Review: Good follow up to Slade, but I had issues with the power exchange
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
Do yourself a favor, and heed the warning in the book description. The graphic violence and disturbing situations were exactly that. This book contains scenes with blood play, cutting and breath play, among other other things (no rape scenes). Vigilante justice, Stockholm Syndrome, hero worship and S&M; are just a few words I would use to describe what I read.Both Blake and Kaitlyn had some extreme kinks. She needed pain, and he was a sadist. I think what surprised me the most was Blake's carefully leashed tender side. I wasn't expecting him to go to such great lengths for her, and push her into recovering.I liked Kaitlyn from the beginning. Despite the book opening with her being tortured, she possessed an inner strength that kept her alive. She was obviously a very conflicted person throughout the story. On the one hand she wanted to stay with Blake and submit to his every whim. On the other hand, she entertained the thought of returning to her old life. One minute she'd want one thing, and the next minute she wanted something else. That behavior could easily give a reader whiplash, but her needs mixed with the abuse caused her to behave unexpectedly.Blake came from money and pursued a blue collar job at one point. During his time as a detective, he helped rescue his partner's daughter from traffickers. That set him on the path of rescuing girls and seeking vengeance on their behalf.I liked their chemistry and the instant attraction. For this type of story and the characters, the reasons sounded plausible. The events didn't feel rushed, and the ratio between suspense and romance was nearly equal. About the suspense portion in particular, I'm not sure how I felt about it. On the one hand, it made sense here, but on the other hand, I thought it inserted itself rather sporadically. Kaitlyn's blackmailer wasn't very persistent or consistent, and at one point, Blake had even forgotten all about him. Although it was predictable, I did like the inevitable outcome of Kaitlyn ending up in a situation where she could use her rediscovered mental strength to help other girls. Those events also led to a rather humorous teaming up between Blake and Preston, a friend of Kaitlyn's. I liked the dynamic that emerged between the three of them working together.What didn't work for me was the lack of a safe word, and Blake restraining her with cuffs attached to chains, arms raised above her head, for nine hours. It's extremely likely that would cause serious damage. If BDSM is directly mentioned rather than just having a controlling male, I expect to get a sense of a power exchange. While everything was consensual, there were pockets where it was his way or the highway. There were a few grammar/spelling issues, but that was to be expected with the early copy. Out of the two books so far, I preferred the first one.*eARC provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.*