A contract broken… Ryan Church and Jill Paxon enjoyed their life as Master and submissive until the day Ryan’s entire world crumbled. No longer able to fulfill his end of the contract, Ryan did what he thought was best for Jill. He let her go. An unexpected reunion… Eighteen months later, Ryan is working for Ian Taggart as the Dom in Residence at the elite BDSM club Sanctum when his former … Sanctum when his former submissive walks through the door looking for a job. Jill has changed, but his desire for her is still insatiable. Jill, shattered by his past rejection, can’t trust Ryan, but she needs the job. Back in the community where she once felt safe and secure, she longs for the life she lost and the man she loved.
A last chance for love…
Ryan is presented with an opportunity to restore his wealth and name, but it could cost him his last chance at rebuilding a life with the woman he loves. When the secrets Jill has carefully hidden from Ryan are exposed, a terrible twist of fate might take her out of his life forever.
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella by Lexi Blake
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Let me begin this by saying that I’ve never read anything from this author before, so I am wholly ignorant about this particular book series and the characters therein. However, it didn’t bother me to read about other couples as most of the focus was kept on Ryan and Jill with the others being more or less background characters.
The problem I had with this story was the fact that despite it being a novella, it felt overly rushed. I would desperately have liked to have seen more of them BEFORE everything went to heck in their relationship (including the day he put her into the care of someone else in more than just idle thoughts and comments here and there). I also wish there would have been more of Ryan showing that he cared in other ways. I understand him still being in love with her, and wanting to take care of her and do right by her and her sister, but it seemed he was still making demands even after Jill very firmly told her no (let me state that I agree with his reasoning after Jill is hurt, but I would have liked her to have a say in things instead of everything being arranged when she came out of the hospital).
As for the sex in this novel – THANK GOD it didn’t overpower everything else. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good sex scene just as much as the next person, but I HATE it when it overshadows everything else. Thankfully, while there were mentions of spanking and other sexual acts (and one or two sex scenes) there was enough of a plot to carry this story and make it interesting on its own.
Because this is my first experience with this author and I did enjoy her writing style, I will give one of her full length novels a chance before I decide whether or not to continue with any more of this series.
Ryan Church is the Dom in residence at Sanctum. The bar needs a new bar manger. Ryan was laggin behind in this area. So, Ian took matter in his own hands as the owner and set up the first interview. The person that walked into Ryan’s office was Jill Paxon. They hadn’t seen each other in a year and a half. That is when Ryan had lost everything and he felt that he couldn’t take care of Jill like he wanted too, so he write up a contract that his friend Keith would take care of her. That didn’t sit well with her. So, Keith took her to the bus stop and she went home. Jill’s sister Ashely had a baby. When as Jill sat in the chair across. They didn’t really know how to act around each other.
You should see what kinda trouble they get into. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
This may be a novella but it sure has a lot packed into it. Ryan and Jill had a relationship but when he felt he could no longer care for her financially, he transferred her care to his friend Keith. When she shows up for a job interview with Ryan, sparks flew between them. A lot has happened over the last two years and they were blessed to have people to help them see where they went wrong in the past and help them get back together.
I got a free copy of this book and I voluntarily chose to review it. I will have to admit I didn’t care for the Jill character for most of the book. She was bratty and was a lot negative at times. By the end of the story I have to say it wouldn’t have been the same story if hadn’t been bratty. This is a well written story. I will encourage everyone to get this book. Please remember this is a BDSM story so if that isn’t your type you won’t like this one. Give it a chance.
I am really liking these shorter books in the series. They give you just enough to keep wanting more. I always enjoy the narration Ryan West provides. I would rate this one at 3.5 stars.
Jill was not my favorite in this book because she took no responsibility for the initial break up from Ryan. When I found out what happened, my first thought was that she must have wanted out. I couldn’t understand why she would just go along with the situation and never question it. Not even after she got over the initial shock.
Ryan was no Prince in the situation. His intentions may have been good, but he was stupid too. I was surprised that Jill wanted to lay total responsibility at Ryan’s feet. They managed to work it out and reach their HEA.
This was a very short listen, only 2 hrs and 45 min. Although it was shorter, I was fully engrossed in the story and felt no need to fast forward to get past the superfluous dialogue in the longer books.
Short but good
This is a short story in this series but it was enjoyable
No unnecessary descriptions of surroundings
Good dialogues
Storyline progresses nicely to a happy ending
Well described characters but in these short stories it’s difficult to get that familiar feeling for them
Hot scenes
Good 4 stars read