Release Me by J. Kenner
Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
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My Rating:
He was the one man I couldn’t avoid. And the one man I couldn’t resist.
Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me.
Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I had to bare the darkest truth about my past—and risk breaking us apart.
But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his secrets threatened to destroy him—and us—forever. (SOURCE)
There are so many BDSM style books coming out of the wood work lately, for obvious reasons. The nitty gritty on this one is-- it did have moments that reminded me of the Shades books. Sometimes it distracted me, but not so much that it was annoying.
As I got deeper into the story there were clear differences between most of the other fetish books I've read more recently. This was more about Nikki stepping out of her comfort zone by allowing people to get closer to her. She had a rocky past to overcome. Damien knows this but he's not aware of the extent of what happened to her.
Damien is that rich guy that always gets his way. The one we've seen in too many books to count. That one that meddles in a girls life without her knowing or approving. He wants Nikki -- to work for him, to join him in his bed, and it's almost impossible for her to say no. She agrees to 'work' for Damien for a ridiculous sum of money, which she will earn in only a week. I don't want to spoil what it is she agrees to but it's definitely a different twist.
In doing so, Nikki must reveal parts of herself she never wanted anyone to see. But Damien is compassionate and caring. I really enjoyed that about his character. While it's obvious he is dominant, he never actually says so. It's in his actions. He is commanding, knowledgeable, passionate and compassionate. He guides Nikki into a submissive role but never actually tells her what kind of relationship he's developing. I couldn't decide if that bothered me or not.
On one hand, I figured surely she was aware of D/s, I can't imagine someone not being. Then on the other hand, just because I know what BDSM and Dom/sub is, it doesn't mean everyone does. It's possible she doesn't know the term for their budding romance; just that she enjoys the thing he does to her. I wish there had been some explanation of that somewhere in the book.
I did enjoy Release Me but it didn't stick out in my mind the way I'd hoped it would. It felt more like a novella because of the speed in which everything happened. The entire book was probably the span of a whole week. I like a bit more pacing sometimes.
While I did enjoy the characters, I felt like it had a bit more potential. There were things I'd have liked to have seen fleshed out more, to help me really connect.
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