Can you really protect your heart when you’re already willing to completely trust somebody with your body?

Dom Michael Dayton has already been married and divorced once. He’s going to be much more cautious with his heart next time. He knows what he wants in a future relationship and in the bedroom. Sydney Wallace knows she’s submissive when it comes to sex, but she’s extremely adventurous in everything else life has to offer. She refuses to be controlled by another man like her former master.

Michael is an excellent character with strong communication skills, a powerful body, and an incredibly insightful mind. He always pays attention to every detail about his sub making it his sexiest trait. Sydney was a strong woman physically, and she loved a good outdoor adventure. Unfortunately, after letting her last master completely control her life, she’s very hesitant to get involved in a new relationship and prefers just to play with other dominants. The focus of the story was on breaking down barriers for two people who both had prior bad relationships, and who were very determined to be much more careful the next time around. They both knew what they wanted out of their lives, and neither of them was willing to compromise.

Fortunately, what they both wanted and needed was each other. They discovered this by talking through their issues and desires, with these conversations being instigated by Michael. We definitely got to know the characters well enough through their thoughts and interactions with others, but the majority of their time together was actually spent doing scenes. I would have liked to have seen them spend more time together talking about something other than the scene. There were some brief conversations, but not enough to really buy the concept of them falling in love with each other. However, Michael’s comments and approach to life convinced me that they would get their happy ending, which we’ll hopefully see in a future book in the series.

The sex was pretty heavily laced with moderate pain including heavy flogging, pinching, slapping, and spanking along with bondage and ball-gags. Overall, I enjoyed this extremely erotic story with an incredibly sexy alpha male who knows how to communicate. If you enjoy stories that get you hot and bothered with heavy elements of S&M, this will definitely do the trick.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

BLURB

From the moment he’s cautioned to avoid the submissive who snares his attention, Dom Michael Dayton is intrigued. With her tight dress, flowing hair and honest dialogue, what could be more perfect than a few hours together?

Sydney Wallace fears only one thing—being tied down. She lives for adventure and fun, including the occasional BDSM party. By always scening with different Doms, she avoids emotional entanglements that might complicate her life. A man who owns a ranch and has roots deep into the soil is definitely not the kind of Dom she wants to play with.

Sydney has never met anyone as complex as Master Michael Dayton. From the moment he issues his first command, she knows he’s different. He watches her reactions, sees what she wants, and unselfishly gives her what she needs. Getting involved with a man like him would be the biggest risk of her life, crossing over all of lines she’s drawn to protect her way of life.