[[ Reprint: This novella was originally published in Doms of Dark Haven: Western Night) ]] Real Doms terrify her, so Summer plays with lightweights only. And only in the safety of her club, Dark Haven. But on Western Night, the tough cop who wins her in a sub-roping game is as powerful as they come.
Virgil’s first taste of BDSM was disturbingly enticing. Hoping to burn out his interest, he … interest, he visits an infamous San Francisco club, where he wins himself the prettiest little submissive he’s ever seen. He’s in a quandary. A man shouldn’t render a woman helpless, let alone spank her ass. But the nervous little submissive clearly loves being in his ropes. Her need to be controlled is as powerful as his need to control. So he indulges himself, and her.
That one night could be the beginning, but instead it’s the end. She won’t play outside the club and he lives too far to visit often. He’ll just have to find a way to forget her…or get her in his ropes to stay.
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Excellent novella with a story of novel expectations!
For a novella, this book blew me away.
I liked this book far better than Book #3 which I see is just an intro for this “novella” alone. It’s not often I consider a novella was incorrectly labeled when the title of “novel” would had been more appropriate. Sure, Book #3 had romance, the chase, the heartache, but this novella had soul and intimacy which launched it a few stories higher than its predecessor by a long shot! If given a chance to reread Books #1-4, I’d be rereading this one first without a question.
I loved how she created Virgil and Summer. It’s was so cool to see a submissive female character already into the BDSM scene (but with issues) and the dom was new. Hahaha!! But just because Virgil was relatively new to the “scene”, he definitely was born to be a dom and a very, very good one, too. (One, I feel, could run his own BDSM paradise out on a private island in the South Pacific. Wouldn’t that make a great series?) I could easily visualize both Virgil and Summer, know their inner and outer strengths and weaknesses. I would be so comfortable being in their actual presence if they were real people. And I would love for them to be neighbors! (As long as I had access to the Lodge nearby, that is…)
World-building continued, and I appreciated the characters from previous books interacting with those featured here. I saw less editing problems, but they were still the same things — lack of thorough read-throughs to prevent using properly spelled but the wrong words, some of them being simple homonyms! Good grief! These are simple ones an editor worth his/her weight in books should had caught.
What I did appreciate was the wonderful use of soul and intimacy. These are the hardest to write about because neither are simple or easy. And sex and romance aren’t the same thing. If I had been Summer, I would have moved in with Virgil immediately, hoping that our screams and yelling during sex would drive out Virgil’s other brothers into finding their own places so that I could have the monster log cabin mansion all to myself!
Ratings (out of possible 5)
Character building:
World building:
Relationship building:
Romance:
Heat/steam:
Drama:
Action:
Suspense:
Dark:
Triggers: Bad experiences with psychotic doms who ignored safe words.
POV: Multiple (2)
Ending: HEA
Length: Approximately 148 pages
Recommend: YES YES
Thank you, Liz K, a reviewer on Amazon!
This book is about Summer who we met in the first Doms of Dark Haven. She was the one that was being abused by her dom and Simon, Rona and Jake saved her.. Virgil we met in Master of the Abyss. He is Callie’s cousin and a cop.. Her abuse by her last dom has left her emotionally scared.. Virgil is a reluctant dom. These two together were perfect. Cherise always does a great job with the emotional aspects and with this book both Summer and Virgil had issues they needed to work though. It was both heartfelt and humorous.