She’s no princess. He’s no prince. Then again, they never wanted a fairy tale.Legally Bound, Book 2Cassie Allbright takes no prisoners. A half Cuban ball-busting attorney, she’s too tough to admit what she wants in bed. But tough is the only way to cut it in her high-powered firm, and Cassie doesn’t need a knight in shining armor. And she definitely doesn’t need Patrick Dunham—an arrogant, … need Patrick Dunham—an arrogant, chauvinistic man-whore with a knack for pissing her off.
Bound to the helm of his family’s publishing house, Patrick is shackled to a life of power and wealth he never wanted. Seduction is his only distraction—his nights of pleasure always temporary, because happily-ever-afters are not for him. But while luring a woman into his bed has always come easy, the high-and-mighty Cassie has never succumbed to his charms.
Their verbal sparring turns to foreplay, but instead of scratching an itch, it only whets their appetites. Patrick gives Cassie a taste of what she’s secretly craved, and Cassie’s dark desires stir up things Patrick never knew he wanted. Enchanted, he offers to fulfill her most dangerous fantasies. She agrees, with an iron-clad escape clause: her heart is off-limits, and so is his.
Funny thing about hearts, though. They have a way of ignoring the fine print.
Warning: This book isn’t for the faint of heart. Disclosure includes angry, vying-for-control hate sex and one steamy weekend in Miami. Ready? Break the caution tape and proceed.
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I found myself reacting very differently to Her Claim than I typically do to books like it, and I’m not certain if that’s because I connected to the characters too much, or not enough.
Like Cassie, I’m biracial and (somewhat) bicultural. Unlike her, however, I never really struggled with my cultural identity, probably because I was mostly raised white. So I was left in an odd place of closely identifying with the character, but not. It’s not something I’ve faced before, and made me uncertain how to proceed with my review.
What I can say is that I enjoyed Her Claim. I expect that once I’ve discharged my current writing and reviewing obligations, I’ll be picking up up His Contract. I also eagerly anticipate Samantha and Brady’s story. I’m just assuming, at this point, that it’s book 3.
I don’t know if it was intentional, but I got strong Pride and Prejudice vibes while reading Her Claim. From the two main characters hating each other then slowly falling in love, to Cassie finding she’s completely misjudged Patrick, to the love letter Patrick sends her, and a few other spoiler-ish things I won’t mention, I was strongly reminded of Pride & Prejudice throughout the second half of the book. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, it was simply unexpected given the subject matter.
One final point I’d like to make. Like many BDSM stories/books I’ve read, Her Claim features a strong woman trying to make peace with submissive tendencies. I’m usually annoyed by that struggle because it feels as though authors stick it in just to add conflict to the story. I think Her Claim offers a better justification for Cassie’s feelings than many books offer. I could accept the struggle Cassie was facing in reconciling her own desires with her reasons to be disgusted by them.
All said, I think my only “negative”, if you could even call it that, is that I would have liked to see more chapters from Patrick’s point of view.
Overall, Her Claim was a great book. I’m giving it four stars more because of my own struggles mentioned earlier than any fault on the author’s part. If you’re into BDSM related stories, this is a good one to check out.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Avid Reader –
M/F BDSM – Romance
Triggers: Edge play – BDSM, cheating, rape fantasy.
This is the second book in this series and I would recommend that you read the first book, as there are a lot of the nuances between these two characters that start in book one.
Cassie is a take-no-prisoners attorney. She has worked her butt off in order to make partner. But when her chances at making partner are threatened, she buckles down and tries even harder. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder from the beginning, but it’s only to hide what she desires most – to be taken, challenged, and shown that she’s worth the fight.
Patrick is a tough nut. He seems confident, cocky, and just an all-around player – but it’s more to hide the hatred he has for his father and the mistrust he has in women from a past relationship. He’s a complicated guy who, when he sees Cassie, knows that he’ll love the chase, challenge, and when he eventually gets the girl.
These two have a chemistry that borders on hatred. It was sometimes hard to differentiate between them hating each other and having such strong chemistry that they can’t help but tear each other’s clothes off.
Their relationship is more edge play than anything, but the scenes are hot and help show the reader exactly where it’s okay and where they need to learn to trust each other. Without the trust, neither of them would make it very far in their relationship.
This had some great chemistry and the complexity of each character was enhanced by their intertwined automatic mistrust of people. When you drilled down into who each character was as an individual, you could see where the angst and unhappiness might spring from. But it was also where these two meshed the most – in their pasts – and that helped guide them to their future.
It was a great story where you got to see an almost enemy-to-friendship-to-lovers relationship develop, but without a lot of angst woven in. It was more about the chemistry and shared fantasy.
Ruthie –
This is the second book in the series. I would say that you will understand more of the background if you read them in order, but this definitely stands strong as a book in its own right too. They are both very good stories, so why miss out!
Cassie is a fabulous character – she is a wonderful mix of confident and vulnerable. She has made a life for herself away from her loud American-Cuban family in Florida and works all hours in her ambition to make partner in a law firm in Boston. She is good friends with Lilly, who is the lead in the first book in the series. Nearing forty, her mother is keen for her to settle down and have a family, but she is really uncertain about that being the future she wants, or if she can find someone she would even want to do that with…
Patrick is friends with Jack, Lilly’s boyfriend, so when the group socialise, he gets to know Cassie. Or not know her, as he is too busy being a playboy. We do find out why he behaves this way, and why the sparks fly between the two of them whenever they are together.
I love the setup and watching the two of them finally get with the programme. They are completely in sync and though her fantasies are not mine, they clearly work for Patrick too. I felt that the issues were addressed with care, and certainly enhanced their closeness, and demonstrated Patrick’s care for her.
A good mix of hot, passionate action, developing feelings, and real-life twists and turns – thank you, Ms. Allen.
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Her Claim (Legally Bound #2) by Rebecca Grace Allen to read and review.
Rebecca Grace Allen was a new to me author when I first read this book, which I loved so much I grabbed the first book in the series right away. I always enjoy finding new authors especially when the first book I read of theirs has me so engrossed I don’t want it to end. This was a five star read for me. I loved the chemistry between Cassie and Patrick, I think the fact that they hadn’t liked one another and disliked the fact that they had an attraction for the other made it more potent.
What do you do when you have so many sexual fantasies that you are afraid to ask for? When they are a bit dark and you’re afraid that if you speak them allowed you’ll be looked at as a freak? What happens when months of flirting turns into something more? With Cassie and Patrick we have an interesting realization, the fact that they constantly fight and bicker would be a major turn off for most people but for them it was like foreplay so when Patrick asks Cassie what one fantasy of her she wanted to fulfill, although hesitant, she told him and the next thing you know we are being treated to a very HOT scene.
Patrick doesn’t consider himself Dominant and Cassie definitely doesn’t consider herself submissive but with one another they are able to be themselves and explore all the wonders of BDSM. There are some dark fantasies Cassie has been thinking about for years and they would fall under BDSM, breath play and consensual non-con are just a couple of them. I loved the fact that not only did she feel safe enough to play with Patrick and share her fantasies with him but that Patrick did his homework on them so that he would get it right and not hurt or scare her in anyway (other than an enjoyable one).
As I said earlier this was a five star read for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a great enemies-to-lovers romance with a lot of sexual scenes that are guaranteed to heat up your kindle.
**I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book**
***5 ‘Pushing Boundaries’ Stars***
His Contract, the first book in the Legally Bound series, was one of those books that surprised me with how much I ended up loving it, so when Her Claim was announced I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and O.M.G was it soo good! It’s titillating, sexy, fascinating and a lot of fun to read as two sworn “enemies/frenemies” find that they are actually perfect for each other in more ways than either could imagine.
I loved Cassie. She is a force to be reckoned with in almost every aspect of her life. She’s determined, stubborn and doesn’t know the meaning of backing down, which makes for some interesting times. Her strength was the draw, but watching her wrestle with her needs and desires as well as her ethnicity and how that played a role in how she saw herself and how it motivated her was what had me connecting with her.
I ended up loving Patrick. In the beginning there were a few times where I wanted to Gibbs smack him, but it was hard not to like the guy. He’s charming, funny and has a huge heart ~ even if he tries to hide it. But was the story progressed and his truths were exposed, he became more and ended up being absolutely fascinating.
Cassie and Patrick’s journey was definitely not conventional. They go from enemies to fuck buddies (for lack of a better term) to friends and then more, but it was absolutely fascinating to experience. While their agreement started out as only sex and only to explore Cassie’s dark fantasies, it quickly turned into more and I loved watching how it not only brought them out of the enemy zone and had them becoming friends and more, but was also the catalyst that sparked changes in their lives as a whole. With two such dominant personalities, the journey wasn’t an easy one and the big pothole in it was one where I actually didn’t pick a side because they were both right and wrong at the same time. But I loved how things worked out with them in the end.
I’ve written this word numerous times, but once more won’t kill anyone right? But I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. I loved going on the journey with Cassie and Patrick as they delved into their dark sides, but not everyone will. This isn’t about having an open mind, at least not entirely, it’s more of a you’ll either be into it or you won’t. What goes on between Cassie and Patrick is dark and lines are crossed, but it is all absolutely consensual. I loved catching up with Lilly and Jack from His Contract, and Gabe and Nick, and I’m quite curious to see what the future holds for Sam and Brady.
~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~