Kelsey's Corner Time: Review Blitz

Title: Bind

Series: The Donovan Dynasty#1

Author: Sierra Cartwright

Release Date: June 9, 2015

Only one man can help her. Is she willing to pay his price?

Faced with the potentially overwhelming loss of her family’s fortune, Lara Bertrand turns to the one man who can help her, the gorgeous and powerful Connor Donovan.

She knows he’s dangerous to her on every level. Only desperation would drive her to make such a risky proposition. After all, she knows all about his ruthless nature and relentless determination to succeed.

When the classy, elegant Lara walks into his office with an outrageous proposal, Connor is stunned and more than a little intrigued. Ever since he first met her, he’s been attracted to the cool beauty, but she’s more than kept her distance.

Connor is absolutely willing to help her out. For a price. He not only wants her hand in marriage, but also her total submissive surrender…

If you're looking for a nice, light BDSM story then Sierra Cartwright's books are always a winner. This book once again proved that Sierra Cartwright knows her audience and how to entertain them.

Bind is the first in the Donovan Dynasty series. It is the story of Connor Donovan and Lara Bertrand. Both Connor and Lara are executives in their families businesses. They are both young and powerful. But Connor has had extreme success at a very young age and Lara's father is slowly running his business (where Lara works as CFO) into the ground.

Lara's best friends with Connor sister, and when Connor's sister mentions that she always thought Connor and Lara would be good together an idea pops into Lara's head on how to put the business ahead. She proposes to Connor in order to get him onto the board of directors of her family's business.

Connor is intrigued by Lara's proposal, but he has a few conditions. The biggest is that he is a Dom and if Lara wants to marry him, it will not be in name only; it will be a true marriage in every sense of the word and Lara must agree to be Connor's submissive.

Connor slowly introduces Lara to the BDSM scene. He shows that he's all Dom and he demands her respect and obedience. Lara is naturally submissive. She had never explored kinky sex, but she soon finds out that with Connor at least, she's more fulfilled than ever. But is kinky sex enough to rule a relationship?

This book was lighter than a lot of BDSM romances I've read. So if you're looking for something without too much intensity this is a perfect place to start. It was lighter, but it was still a great story line. The book involved a billionaire, but it wasn't your typical kinky billionaire romance. The characters were well developed and didn't have huge issues holding them back. It was a refreshing and different change from most BDSM romances these days.

I give Bind FOUR STARS!

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Amazon US I Amazon UK I iBooks I B&N

Winner of the 2013 Best BDSM Book of the Year award (Over The Line), the 2014 LASR Book of the Year award (In The Den), and the 2015 Golden Flogger (Crave), Sierra was born in Manchester, England where she spent her early years traipsing through castles. After living in Denver for a number of years, the internationally acclaimed author now calls Galveston, Texas, home. She loves the way history blends with Southern manners (being called "sugar" is an experience unto itself) and rich pirate lore.

She invites you to join her on a sensual journey where the limits are explored and expanded.

Book Title: Better When It Hurts (Stripped, #2)

Author: Skye Warren
Genre: Dark Romance

Release Date: June 4, 2015

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

Five years ago we lived in the same house. He was the ultimate bad boy. And my foster brother.

Now he's back. Tougher, harder, meaner. All of it aimed at me, because I was the one who sent him away. It's payback time. He wants his pound of flesh, and I am helpless to say no.

The whistle of a belt coming off follows me into Blue’s bedroom. My breath stutters in my chest. I hear the threat of the movement, the speed and power behind it. It’s more than a man getting undressed.

There’s a hundred ways a belt can be used to hurt me. I know them well.

I turn my head to the side, addressing him but showing deference too. It’s an instinct now. It’s survival. “What are you going to do with that?”

“I’d rather show you,” he says, approaching me, prowling around me.

I don’t want him to hit me with that belt. Not because I can’t take the pain. I know I can, because I’ve done it before. I don’t want him to hit me because I might start hating him.

“Wait,” I say.

He doesn’t wait. One hand takes my wrist. Standing behind me, he leans close. “What do you think I’ll do with this? Make your pretty skin all red? Make you cry?”

I tense, twisting my arm. It only hurts me, and I’m still held tight. “Don’t.”

“I’m going to do both of those things before we’re done here, Lola.” He pauses, loosening his grip slightly. “But I’m not going to whip you with this.”

There’s only a second where I can feel relieved before I feel him drawing my other hand behind me. It’s a mistake to relax around him. Whatever I’m thinking, he’s doing something different. However much I brace myself, it’s still going to hurt.

He wraps the soft leather around my wrists, binding them together behind my back. It pushes my breasts out in front of me. Cool air brushes over my skin, tightening my nipples.

There’s weakness in this pose, being held, being open.

And there’s strength too, the pride of being wanted, the power of desire.

“On your knees,” he says so softly I almost don’t hear him.

I don’t know what he’s thinking. Whether he sees me as an object he can use or as an enemy he can conquer. I’m a little off balance, lilting to the side as I sink to the carpet. His hands cup my arms, helping me down, guiding my gently. It feels more like worship than anger, more like kindness than cruelty.

At least until the sharp sound of his zipper rips through the air.

His voice follows. “Candy doesn’t think I’ll hurt you.”

I shiver at the foreboding underneath the words. “Yes.”

He undresses slowly, methodically, exposing rough skin and dark hair and a thick, jutting cock.

I have seen his cock before, but only in the dark, holding it in my fist while I jerked him off, shadows and motion. Now I see the skin like the dark side of a peach, almost the color of a bruise. I see the curve of a vein underneath. I see the head of his cock, fat and proud and already glistening at the tip.

I see everything clearly because the saturated late-afternoon light still streams through his window. Our hours are all backward and twisted. Where another woman would do this at midnight, would expose her shame to the moon, mine comes open at five o’clock.

“She thinks you’re safe with me because I protect the other girls.” He approaches me, his cock near my face, his eyes looking down on me. “I even protect you.”

I choke out the words. “Because only you get to touch me.”

He nods approvingly. Candy doesn’t understand, he means. I understand. He’s showing me that we’re together on this, like some perverted joint mission where I agree to be hurt. And haven’t I? I showed up here of my own free will. Maybe I do want what’s coming to me.

Skye Warren is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of dark romance.

Better When it Hurts is the second book in the Stripped series, third if you count Book Number 0.5 (Tough Love). But if you haven't read the other books in the series I think this book can definitely be read as a standalone.

Five years ago Blue and Lola had been in the same foster home. They fell in love, but then Lola betrayed Blue and he was sent away. Now, he has returned and he is looking for vengeance. Lola is a stripper and Blue is now the head of security in the club where she works.

Lola has not had a very easy life. She was in foster care for years and she was abused. She does what she can to survive and tries not to be ashamed. When Blue comes back into Lola's life , however, in addition to being afraid, she is embarrassed. Blue sees Lola as a hard-hearted, jaded, money-grabbing slut, but Lola has her reasons for stripping. She is in it for the money, but not for the reasons Blue thinks. At heart, she is a very decent and caring person.

Blue, too, has had a tough life. But he has overcome his roots and is doing well for himself (the details are sketchy, but he has money now). He is angry and hurt by Lola's betrayal. He had though they were in love five years ago and he tried to protect her, but he now thinks that she didn't care at all. He really wants to hate Lola and to hurt her, but he can't. You'll have to read to see if they can overcome their pasts.

There is obvious chemistry between Blue and Lola. Even when neither trusts the other they still react to each other. Their passion is dark, but not so dark that people would be scared off by reading it. Overall this is a great second book for this series and I give Better When it Hurts FOUR STARS!