The New York Times Bestseller
THIRTY DAYSThat’s all Adam Steinbeck demands of his wife.Thirty days in a remote cottage, doing everything he commands. After that, he’ll sign her divorce papers and give her complete ownership of their company.That’s how long he has to rediscover the man he once was. The Dominant Master he hid when he fell in love with her five years before. She wants the business … years before.
She wants the business they built badly enough to go to the cottage for a month. Cut off ties to the world and do his bidding. She can submit to him with her body, but her heart will never yield.
She thinks this is his pathetic attempt to repair their marriage.
She’s wrong.
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All I can say is WOW! Married couple Adam and Diana’s marriage has come to an end as far as Diana thinks only her husband has other ideas. Adam has been hiding his Dom side from Diana now he wants 30 days alone with her to see if she really is the Sub that he thinks she may be hiding as well. Brilliant story line, great characters it was such a deep and emotional look into the building relationship and trust between a Dom and his Sub. Narrated by Sebastian York and Elana Wolfe who both did this story justice I cannot wait for book 2.
If you’ve never read a book by C.D. Reiss, I can honestly tell you that you are seriously missing out on one of the best authors out there.
This book was ADDICTING. I started it on Saturday evening, read until my eyes couldn’t stay open and woke up Sunday morning at 4 am thinking about Adam and Diana. Which of course means I finished the book.
What I LOVE about this story is the present / past format. It does switch back and forth frequently, so you have to pay attention, but it gives you some excellent insight into their relationship. Both characters are strong, and you’d think they wouldn’t work well together, but they do. They SO do!
What you take away from this amazing, thought-provoking, emotional read is that it’s a journey of self-discovery and sacrifice; loving and letting-go. And let me tell you, your heart will absolutely ACHE for these two at the end.
I can’t wait for book 2, Separation Games, to come out in January. I’m dying to know how the rest of Adam and Diane’s story goes.
Love this!
It’s no secret that I love the Submission series by CD Reiss. It’s my favorite of hers so when I found out, that she was releasing a book about a dominant man who was married then there was no turning back for me. I had to read it! And what a story it was. Holy fuck it was amazing. Jonathan Drazen will forever be one of my favorite and memorable dominant but Adam Steinbeck definitely gave Drazen competition.
I enjoyed and loved everything about Adam. How he viewed his wife Diana and what he sacrificed to be with her. A sacrifice which meant losing or withholding a huge part of himself and lying to his one true love.
Diana was a loving wife and daughter who had experienced her own losses too which resulted in falling out of love with Adam and seeking a divorce.
When Adam propositioned Diana to a thirty day getaway, in return she gave him her body she got a look into his secret and dark world of bdsm. The scenes between them were deliciously erotic and I could feel the lust simmering between them and on the surface throughout the entire story. No scene was too rough or offensive in any way. I enjoyed and reveled in Diana’s journey of seeing her husband as how he was meant to be seen.
I seriously loved how this story was constructed. First part was from Adam’s POV and the second part was Diana’s POV. Both switched back and forth in time and it worked seamlessly. They both gave me a deep insight into who they used to be and were now becoming. Adam’s past was very fascinating. Especially how he came to be this God in the bedroom and how he slowly introduced Diana to it.
A certain and important scene with Diana and her mother looking at a Manet painting really stroke a chord with me because of its importance to Diana’s sexual evolution and self discovery. Brilliantly done CD Reiss.
CD Reiss excels in writing dark erotica. She masters it like no one else. With Marriage Games she seduced me with her words from start to finish. Her prose was poignant and powerful. Marriage Games ended with a cliffhanger but it was a damn good one and it only made me more excited to read the sequel Separation Games. This is definitely a Must Read and her best work since the Submission series.
5 BadAssDirtyLittleHuntressStars
This book was so well written that I could not put it down. I did feel that the first half was a bit repetitive and slow but the second half moved so fast my head spun and is still spinning. I need book 2 like my life depends on it
Oh my god!! What more can I say!? This book was just wow!!! I cannot wait to read the next one, separation games! I am sooo looking forward to more of Mr. Adam Steinbeck!!
LOVED IT!
First off I can’t review this duet separately, there’s just no way. So this is for both Marriage Games and Separation Games. There is a reason they call CD Reiss the “Shakespeare of smut”. These books are so beautifully written, you don’t even realize how dark, hot and sexy it is; and by the time you do, you’re so deep in the story and what the characters are feeling it doesn’t even matter. Adam & Diana are the epitome of what it means to do what it takes to save your marriage. But, will it be enough? In the meantime, they’ll learn just as much about themselves as they learn about each other. When you start this duet, make sure you have the second book, Separation Games at the ready. I literally read both books in 2 days (I had to take a break for my daughter’s H.S graduation). Any quote you read by another author regarding this set is entirely true. I can’t recommend it enough. It will break you and put you back together even better than you were before ;).
Wow, what a story! The second book is going to be amazing after what just happened at the end.
This was so much more than BDSM. To me it’s about finding yourself, having an open mind, trust, communication and honesty. I thought this story was pretty powerful. I don’t know, I could go on and on but you should read it yourself to make your own judgment.
Page turner, hard to put down
Interesting but was slow for me
Holy crap! Loved it. Had many great, great moments. Characters were deep, three-dimensional people. So much love. I put myself on a buying hiatus for awhile, but when I read the description and knew I’d loved her previously written books, I one-clicked that bitch like nobody’s business. If you love a good, thorough, soul-searching D/s romance, you MUST read this one. And, just so you know… I’ve already pre-paid for the 2nd book. Couldn’t believe it was over and I’d have to wait!! That’s just cold-hearted. Just like Adam. And I love him for it.
Too much back and forth. Did now even finish this book which is rare for me.
Hooked.
I’ve heard amazing reviews about this book and they’re dead on, this is a MUST READ. We basically start out with Adam learning his marriage is basically over, his wife Diana said all she wants to say and that’s it. We learn that Adam is a Dom and Diana’s a strong confident woman that stands her ground, clearly is not a submissive. Once she learns about this side of her husband she accepts the offer to spend thirty days away with him away for a “vacation” if you will and hand herself over to him completely as the final steps before the divorce process. Paperwork drawn up, limits set and signed. I enjoyed the male POV in this story and get to experience every thought and feeling Adam’s having. When Diana finds out things about herself she didn’t know it’s something else and then when we get to see a bit of her POV it makes you truly think. I cannot believe how we’re left and I’m dying to start book two. Incredible story, hot as hell and just WOW!
Pretty compelling plot and characters. The story pulls you in, but it is only 1/2 of a book, ending in a cliff hanger so you buy the next one. That said, this is only going to be for folks who liked 50 shades of Grey.. It may be a better, more realistic story than that one though…..
Adam wakes up one morning to find a “Dear John” letter from Diana. At first he refuses to accept it. But then he comes up with a plan on how to get himself over the only woman that he has ever loved. Before her, Adam was into the world of Dom/sub relationships. He felt that he could never love a sub. Then he met Diana. He was ready to settle down. He fell in love with her. Through out the marriage she was feeling like something was missing, and thought that it was something that she was doing wrong.
This book points out that a key ingredient to a great marriage is honesty and communication! The story does end on a cliff hanger…. so now I have to leave so that I can go to start the next part!
sexy, but the premise is a little disturbing. i like the characters, though.
i do not like the ending, which just serves as a funnel to the next book.
O.k. But a little unrealistic
This is the first book in the Marriage Games Duet. It is a story about a man and woman who have been married for five years. She leaves him, seemingly unexpectedly. He decides that he needs her to play games with him for 30 days to get her out of his system. It is a beautiful, emotional complicated story about two people who love each other but have hidden parts of themselves from each other. Weeks after reading the Duet, I am still processing all my emotions. Warning, there are explicit BDSM scenes so if you are not into that kind of thing don’t buy the books. Otherwise I say run, don’t walk, to get these books.