Two university students thrown together in the midst of a raging storm, one a Shibari expert, the other an instinctive submissive.As the flood waters rise, so does Kasinda’s panic. When she allows Cree to use his expertise to ease her fears, she finds herself healing from the trauma of her past.The floodwaters may soon subside, but their passion for each other is just beginning to grow. Cree … to grow. Cree may be the rigger, but it’s Kas who has his emotions in knots.
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I received an ARC of this from the author.
I didn’t know what to expect going into this novel. Okay, well, I had a fairly good idea of the theme, but I didn’t know about the subject matter Shibari. So I went into this novel eyes wide open and willing for anything.
It’s on the shorter side of novels–a bit larger than a novella, but shorter than typical novels. So as a result of this, at first, I wasn’t loving the book. I found that there wasn’t enough character development in this novel. And thus, I was leaning into the 4 star range. But about midway, I remembered what I was reading. In fact, it’s right in the title: Savage Kinksters. From then on, I was loving it and it was such a fun read. So I’m saying to all looking at this novel: it’s a great book, and don’t hate it for what it is not. Love it for what it is. In other words, this is not marketed as some long epic love story, therefore don’t review it as such. (This obviously wasn’t my line of thinking, but you get the point.) It’s a shorter, fun, kinky read that quite honestly was different than other books in the same category.
How, you may ask. The subject matter for one. It wasn’t BDSM; it wasn’t the bondage you’d read about in such books like 50 Shades. Shay introduces a new type of bondage, of rope play, Shibari. It’s something I never personally heard about, and thus I found myself quite entertained for the educational aspect of this. I learned some new things during this read.
The characters were also great. There is Kasinda (Kas) and Cree. They went to high school together so many years ago and have by pure coincidence ended up at the same university, inside the library on the same night to both study. I think the fact that they did know each other for a short while in the past did help with the instant connection between the two. Because rather there be a new instant connection between strangers, they did know each other to a point. Kas even had a crush on him way back when. So there’s a sense of familiarity.
At this point, I’m wondering how the rope play comes into this. When the storm starts and the library gets flooded, and Kas leaves her purse behind, she does down for it because she wants her meds. To help her, Cree used what he had (rope) to get her back to safety. As any normal girl, or person for that matter, does, she questions why he has piles of rope in his bag. Thus the start of the conversation. While she is learning about it and how it is helpful to some, she requests to try it. And then you can see where the rest of it goes.
Another thing I liked was how they did build that trust with the rope first. Since there was an emphasis on how much trust is needed between two people to make it work, this wasn’t at all downplayed in the book. There was a few rounds of it with clothes on, then no clothes, then came the sex. So it wasn’t instant, which is something else not often seen in the genre. So I guess as I write this review, even within the short kinky reads genre, Shay still managed to do it well and add in character connections and a build-up to sex.
Lastly, Cree I found super interesting. He has such a connection to some of the other characters mentioned through the book. As I’m picturing how his future will look here on out with Kas and his friends (you’ll see what I mean), we get a hint of just that. The epilogue of this book sets up the next one. So it’s told in a new person’s POV as she watches Cree bring Kas into the meet up for the first time, along with his friend. Friend + New POV Girl = Next Novel. YES!! I’m so ready for the next book. Consideing the dynamic that Shay has ALREADY built between them, I am so excited for what’s coming. New POV seems to be an interesting character herself and I suspect we’ll see some gender role reversal from what Kas and Cree’s novel has given us.
All in all, I really enjoyed this read. It is a great story to set up the series and a super interesting and new (to me) subject matter. Looking forward to the next one!
OH MY Gosh!!! This book was amazing!!! So exciting on so many levels!! Had my curiosity on high alert!! Two intense moments going on at the same time made for a page turner! Sensual and intriguing! Extremely informative! Sensational story!! Highly recommended!!
When Kas and Cree get stuck in the library during a storm, things take a scary turn and they are forced to the second floor. The two begin to have conversation (of course) and by sort of accident Kas learns what Cree’s “hobby” is. The more Kas learns, the more interested she becomes. Will a night in a storm bring these two closer, or will what Kas learns be too much for her to handle?
This was the perfect lunch time read, just long enough to get the story out but not too long. I really liked how everything was explained and not just assumed the reader would automatically know what the BDSM elements were. The naughty bits were so freaking HOT, I am looking forward to the next book in this series! I give this 4 stars.