Gorgeous Interior Designer, Issy Prince, loves her life in Manhattan with her best friend, Angel. She loves to watch Angel’s boyfriend’s band and is used to getting the attention of any man she wants. She has no plans to settle down – ever – but has regular hot one night stands. Life is good. Former Dominant, Lucas Hunter, has made millions in the construction sector. The handsome, anti-social, alpha male has been celibate for several years, preferring instead to hit the gym and maintain his awesome physique. When he meets Issy, sparks fly. What happens when two strong minded individuals find that they can’t get each other out of their minds? Neither wants to get involved in a relationship but neither can walk away. Dare they embark on a passionate journey into the unknown? Things come to a head when Issy and the mysterious Lucas Hunter give in to their desires for one wild night. But one is unwilling to walk away and isn’t going to give up easily which leads to an inviting proposal. Issy is intrigued by the prospect of a D/s relationship although Lucas is a reluctant Dom.
Meanwhile, the rock band, Denial, find themselves with an unexpected temporary agent who recognizes their potential and who shows them that success is practically theirs for the taking.
But are things as they seem? A malevolent stranger intervenes and turns Issy’s world upside down. But he’s no stranger to Lucas. Events unfold relating to Lucas’ tormented past that could impact massively on his present. His need to hunt down and seek revenge could lead to Lucas losing all that he’s worked for and all that he wants. Has he inadvertently brought about his own destruction? And what about the band?
Can the relationship between Lucas and Issy survive the pressure or is the deep, blood-spilled revenge from the past too strong? That decision may just be taken out of their hands …
Caution: this book contains scenes of a sensual and sexual nature, including mild BDSM
I am a hopeless, incurable romantic. When I’m not reading it, I’m writing it. I have just written my first serialized novel and published each part with Amazon Kindle and Smashwords. When I am not writing, I am reading. I love lively, believable characters that you can identify with. I hate getting to the end of a good book and will regularly mourn a good book when when I’ve finished it. My own writing is contemporary adult/erotica.My fave romance quote comes from Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City “I am someone who is looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love.” – Amen to that sister.
My fave sex quote comes from Oscar Wilde “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” – Ain’t that the truth!
The first half of the book, for me, featured a lot of BDSM elements that seemed to be too alike other BDSM themed books I have read. It urked me to begin with but after thinking about it I realised that there aren’t many other way to write a book that featured a Dom/Sub relationship. They all have the same content in different words so after this revelation, I enjoyed reading about Issy and Lucas that much more.
The underlining story was amazing. I loved the twists, turns and all of the characters we were introduced to. The guys in the band; Issy’s roomate, Lucas’ right hand men – all amazing in their own way.
I didn’t feel that the story dragged or wasn’t continuous in any way, the books effortlessly seamed together into the anthology – so much so I have no clue where one book ended and another began! I can imagine some of the endings being a bit cliffhanger-y (another reason why I’m glad I read them all in one go – HATE cliffies!)
This book – upon reading the synopsis – I thought was trying to appease fans of every sub genre of contemporary romance. How wrong I was? We have the enigmatic yet reclusive billionaire who is/was a dominant and lives for control in all aspects of his life and has a very troubled history; we have the fiercely independent yet broken heroine who has her own troubles in the past to get over; we have the hilarious and in-your-face best friend; we have the rock band; the intriguing exes; the deceiving family members and so much more wrapped up in one book with a big bow. It all worked though. You got backstory without too much detail, you got their personalities and traits shining through and you felt the story progressed!
I got angry, I cried, I laughed and damn well pouted when I got to the end. I love a good epilogue and I bloody adore a HEA and even though, yes, I got them – I WANT MOOOORRRRE! That ending, mini Dakota, the apartment, just the ending in general made me melt in a big old gooey puddle of mush.
Thank you JD, I am looking forward to meeting you in July in Edinburgh and flipping a kilt with you! 😉