Review: Interesting....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 16, 2013
I was intrigued with the story line and subject matter, but a bit hesitant to read it because a) newbie author, and b) self published thru Amazon.  I've been watching the ebook and self publishing trends for a long time now, and how it has changed everything about the book industry. I'm a follower in my reading habits, not a trail blazer, which translates into not taking risks on unproven authors who are unknown and not at the top of the sales charts. Amazon and the mass of authors self publishing are changing my mind. There are gems like Dakota Lynn lurking, waiting to be found, who would have struggled to make it ten years ago in the book industry.  Ms Lynn did an excellent job presenting her material, there were none of the typos and formatting and just general bad grammar errors you see in self-publishing. Kudos for that. She can write!On to the actual book. I give it somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. 3 means I never go back to it but found value, 4 means I may very well read it again. I confess that the author wrote a heroine I could relate to in many ways and on many levels. It was a great change to read about a mature character who led a happy life and is now searching for what act two brings. That is what life is about, going thru all the many stages. She was happy in her marriage, but as a  widow she realizes maybe there is more to who she is than she thought.  And she takes a major chance to find it.I found her character nearly perfect as far as believability goes. She took a major gamble, and embraced an opportunity. The author did a wonderful job of expressing the angst she went thru over her decision, over the sometimes ridiculousness she found herself in, and then in just her opening and awakening to wanting and needing more.I enjoyed the hero, but on reflection realize he was the weaker character of the two as far as how he was written.  I'm not sure why she was the one for him when he has spent his whole career getting to know a lot of women. There is a scene in the book. SPOILER ALERT***(Do you know how hard it is to do this on a mobile device?)***When he receives oral sex from a guy.  I was surprised that he was so comfortable with it as up to that point he appeared heterosexual. I don't know if its my lack of familiarity with the BSDM lifestyle where sex with anyone/any sex is just a given?  If its not, then this was treated way too casually. If it is, then my bad.Back to the HEA, why?  Why was she right for him?  I didn't feel like that was fully developed. And it did feel a bit like he was her first after her deceased husband and she struck the jackpot. Really?***END SPOILERFinally, I don't know if I can call this review complete without commenting on the graphic sex scenes. I don't know how else you would do a book of this sort but OMG I did learn a few things for sure. I think I expected her to be more frigid than she was. Perhaps she embraced it too easily?  Seems hard to wash away 20 years of a different sort of behavior that fast. I found it interesting that the Dom even noticed and commented on how she was one of the easiest he had to train.Those points aside the heroine did draw me into her psyche and I found a person there I could relate to. I'm still thinking about her and the choices she had. And not in a "I can't believe she did that" way but more applauding for some gutsy choices.  I will go out on a limb and speculate that Dakota Lynn continues to grow and improve as a writer. I'll read more, for sure.