“I am going to break you.That’s the whole purpose of this exercise. From the moment the door inside that room closes, I am not going to be Mr. Nice Guy. I am going to do everything in my power to hear you scream, and I won’t stop until I hear you beg for mercy. Do you wish to proceed on that basis?”Today my name is Lois Reeves. I have an appointment with my new boss, James Leverett, this morning … boss, James Leverett, this morning because my next assignment requires that I assassinate one of the biggest gangsters in the world. This is a suicide mission that is almost guaranteed to get me killed, but I have to accept it. To refuse would mean death – and not just mine. This guy who I’m about to kill is lining up everyone I hold dear, and preparing to take them out one by one. This is every assassin’s worst nightmare, and this is the hell within which I now live.
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Lois’ participation in training for her next assignment is complicated as she fights her attraction to her trainer, James. This is a well written, intense book.
An intriguing opening to the series.
There are a few points I feel I need to make before I get onto the actual review of the book. Firstly this ends in a cliff-hanger and I know there are at least 3 more books in the series. The romance aspect (hopefully) builds later through the series, though there is plenty of action and attraction in this book. However I would describe the content of this particular instalment as erotica, really, really good erotica with a few little mind-fooks dropped in for fun.
The book is written first person and entirely from Lois’ point of view. Much as I love dual point of views, there are secrets being kept that necessitate the single. ‘Lois’ (and is that really her name?) is a complex character, and whilst we know her surface motivations there are so many other reasons that drive her actions. Some we can guess at, others will no doubt be revealed at the relevant time. It was harder to get a complete picture of James, and again it is clear he has many secrets behind that rock steady facade.
I can understand why the author chose to end the book where she did, it does make sense to break the story at that point and it is possible to read Sparks as simply an erotic encounter and to take the story no further (though you would be left with questions). However, despite being engrossed by the story I did sometimes feel as though we weren’t making much progress. The vast majority of the book revolves around sexual scenes, mainly ‘training/preparing’ Lois to (pretend to) be a sexual slave. However the cleverness of the writing, particularly in the mental power plays and the inner thoughts of Lois, lifts this out of being simply erotic porn and into being a really good story.
On balance I thought this was a great opener and am itching to read the rest of the series.
This book is HOT! So intense, and full of twist and turns that you really just don’t know what’s going to happen next! Definitely one to read. Can’t wait to read what comes next!
Erotica is not a genre I usually read. Should I be embarrassed to admit I totally devoured this story, thoroughly enjoying it. The well written steamy plot and the hot, sexy James had me squirming. I highly recommend picking up this sizzling suspense novel and let the “sparks” fly.
Wow, hot! What a fantastic read. What you’d except to happen isn’t really what’s happening. And leaving you wanting to read more! Can’t wait to see what’s next
Lois is an agent who needs to prepare as a submissive for her next assignment, so she has an appointment with dominant James. Both of these characters gain more than they bargained for. No spoilers though; this is a definite must read, you will not be disappointed! This is a well written story, which is humorous, with witty banter, and is a dark romance at its finest. I was totally captivated throughout this addictive page turner, and cannot wait to read more from this talented author, whose work I highly recommend,
Sparks by C.P. Mandara is hot read. This is book 1 in the A Special Agent Novel series. This is the story of James and Lois. Lois is an undercover special agent and she needs to learn how to be a submissive for her next assignment. James is a dominant who will be training Lois. Upon first meeting with James, Lois found him to be handsome and intriguing. The chemistry between them was hot. This book has BDSM, twists and turns, secrets, suspense. If you are into dark romance and BDSM I recommend you read this book. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
Wow!!!
This story is amazing I couldn’t put it down, its left me wanting more with the worst book hangover in the best way.
James…OMG
I can’t wait for smoke to see where Lois and James’s journey takes them.
This is my first book my c.p mandara and it Definatly wont be the last
It has been a while since I have dived into a dark BDSM novel and this feels like everything I’ve been waiting for. It kicks off with intense sexual tension from the beginning and never lets go. James is a hot dominant with quite the sadistic streak, and Lois is a butt-kicking nowhere-near-Submissive who launches into training to become just that–a submissive. The resulting snarky banter between the two is almost as hot as the intense BDSM training. The whole book is an intense rollercoaster of emotions as the training forces Lois to confront her dark past, and you may want to have a bucket of ice water nearby. I can’t wait to see how the story goes from here.
On the sole basis of loving several of Ms. Mandara’s previous books, I began reading this book without having read the synopsis. Intrigued from the first sentence, when the question, Why?” was posed, I waited expectantly for the answer. More questions, more answers and a bevy of verbal sparring, and I was irretrievably hooked!
As an operative whose next assignment means going undercover as a submissive, Lois turns to an experienced Dominant, James, to provide her initial BDSM experience. At the beginning, I did not know exactly what Lois’s motive was for choosing to begin with such an aggressive session, but only a few minutes in, not sure I cared anymore, since it was Hotter than hell already! Then, OMG!!! Once Lois and James began the actual training, there was so much supremely painfully/pleasurable play involved that I had never seen in a story before, I could not stop reading. WOW!!!
For me, this was an extremely intense, intriguing, erotically kinky story. I was impressed by Lois’ strong, sassy, independent, determined personality and James’ impressive knowledge of what he was doing and why he needed to fully prepare her for her lethally dangerous assignment. And, I loved their interaction. I am looking forward to more excitement in the next book.
O…M…G…
This series had all of the dirtiest, kinkiest, and darkest BDSM scenes I have ever read in one book.
ALL. OF. THEM!
Wanna know what this series explores? Check out this list:
Spanking. – With ALL manner of whips, paddles, belts, floggers. You name it, it’s in there.
Needle/Piercing Play. – One word: Corset
Extreme Edging! My clit hurt just reading some of these scenes.
Sexual Torture.
All kinds of bondage. Ropes, Silk, Cuffs…
Knife Play.
Sounding & Catheterising.
Complete Submissive & Slavery.
Knife Play.
I could go on, but I’m pretty sure you catch ma drift, right?
Not only was it sexy and dirty as hell…the story was amazing, the characters were amazing, the world-building was amazing and it kept me obsessed all the way through 6 feckin’ books!
Which is not easy to do.
LOIS
Lois is one kick-ass assassin. I LOVE her.
She knows her mind, she knows her body, she knows her guns and she knows all kinds of martial arts, and she is not afraid to use them all.
What she didn’t know much about was the submissive/slave & BDSM lifestyle.
Her next job requires her to go undercover as a submissive slave in a very illegal and dangerous club filled with utter sick and cruel sociopathic cunts.
Five minutes with these guys as well as a pair of tweezers and a cheese grater…that’s all I’m asking!
Anyway, she needs to become a convincing sub who has at least 1 year of submissive training in order to get the highest bids in the illegal auction and then be shipped off to Carte Blanche (the slave club thingy) to find and assassinate the leader, Alain Dumortier.
So she goes to this company that specialises in training people in the BDSM lifestyle and that’s where she meets James.
Jesus-Fucking-Christ on a motorbike!
And…yup…I just jizzed in ma knickers…again.
From this point on her life got turned upside down and inside out.
It gets dark. Very fucking dark. And very fucking hot.
This woman is my hero and I wish I was her, lol!
I have never ‘met’ a more stubborn and admirable heroine. Ever.
JAMES
You know who I think of while reading about James?
David Gandy.
You’re welcome.
James is the ultimate Dom and he knows his shit.
That’s not all he is though and he’s full of surprises…that I just can not tell you about without giving too much away!
He’s very elusive and refuses to let his guard down, especially around Lois and it drives her nuts because she can read (and pummel) everyone else but this guy.
He puts her through the wringer and their relationship keeps you flicking through the pages while giving your right-hand fingers a cramp…ya ken?
One-handed reading and all that 🙂
His thumbs then grazed the pad of my palms, and I felt my ovaries bleat in great eagerness to spread this man’s seed. I gave them a stern talking to.
ADIE
Ooft. This is one very sick puppy.
One very sick and sexy as hell puppy.
Again I can’t go into too much detail with his story without giving stuff away but he is so intrigued by Lois and how much pain she can take…even when he brings out the knives.
His story is not what it appears to be and he’s like an onion…bear with me here, lol.
He’s like an onion in that he has so many layers and makes you fuckin’ cry in pain!
Gah! These guys!
The man was a sick, depraved, and utterly twisted sex addict. He had a tight ring of security that surrounded him at all times and rarely left the confines of his underground club – Carte Blanche. Oh, and he also happened to be a psychopath. Good combination, right? Out of all the men and women I’d been contracted to kill in the past, none had ever been so deserving of death as Dumortier.
SEX SCENES
Okay, if you’ve read any of my reviews, you know I like to pick my favourite sex scenes and post a wee excerpt.
But this series – every single book in this series – was packed FULL of the darkest, kinkiest and hottest sex!
I know it’s a lot to read but I’ve picked out two scenes that I kinda pulled a muscle reading…
Scene 1
“What do you think, Alain? Can we make her beg?” “Never had a problem making a woman beg before, and I don’t think tonight will be the exception.” Somehow, I had the awful feeling they were right. “Think she can take the two of us at once?” James asked. “Does she have a choice?” Adie raised his eyebrows. “No.” James angled himself so he could slide his cock along my lips. Oh fuck. This was really happening. I let out an involuntary moan. “Okay, here’s how it works, Alain. No cock goes inside my little whore until she begs for it first. Let’s see how long the bitch lasts.” Oh, God. Adie took James at his word, of course. With his cock pressed up tight against my entrance, he buried his fingers in my ass and pussy and began thrusting away happily. The index finger on his other hand began to torment my already over-sensitised clit. Meanwhile, James ran his cock backwards and forwards along my lips, slowly pumping himself with his hand. The slight, salty taste of his pre-cum drove me wild. “No,” I whimpered, battling against my restraints as I tried to move away from Adie’s fingers. “No, no, no.” “She gets nothing until she begs,” James warned, and that was the catalyst for Adie’s fingers to sink even deeper inside me. “You can’t do this,” I wailed, thrashing away crazily, almost unable to think. “Ah, but you can fuck another man while your husband is away at work? If you can do that, believe me when I say I can do this.” James’s fingers had now worked their way underneath my bra, unfastening the single clip that held it together. Then both of his hands were on my breasts, kneading and stroking my tender flesh. When he grabbed both nipples with his forefingers and thumbs, I yelped. “I’m waiting.” Rolling the little points in his fingertips, he then pinched them painfully tightly, and I arched my body upwards off the table, nearly pulling my wrists and ankles off in the process. Adie’s fingers on my clit were now working me into a frenzy I had no way of controlling, and my eyes were glazing over as I was about to fall headlong into my first orgasm. “Don’t you dare let her come.” Adie’s fingers stopped abruptly. My impending orgasm waned painfully as no further stimulus was forthcoming, and my animosity for James increased tenfold. “We’re waiting,” was all he said as he zipped up his crotch.
Scene 2
Squirming madly under the single finger inside me, unsure of whether I was feeling pleasure or pain at his touch, James slapped my backside again. It was hard enough that I stilled instantly. “Stop that. It’s only a little plug, and I’ll go slowly. If you keep thrashing around, I’ll get the crop out, and believe me when I say you won’t like that much.” I believed him. Lying as still as I could, I panted heavily as one finger became two. James didn’t play fair. He had one hand underneath me working my clit whilst this was going on, not to mention the dildo that was playing havoc with my internal organs. I curled my body up as tight as a bowstring and felt each jarring movement within me. “Shh, Lois. Stop fighting me. It’ll go easier on you if you relax.” I took him at his word, mainly because my body was tired of being held so rigidly. Once I’d gotten used to the feeling of his fingers inside me, I was surprised to find he was right. Loosening up my muscles and allowing myself to lie back down on the bench, it wasn’t long before I found myself close to orgasm again. There were delicious licks of pleasure flowing throughout my body, and the vibrations were heavenly. Just as I thought I might explode, however, something cold was pressed up against my back passage, and before I had time to tense, James pushed it quickly forward. It slid in easily enough, bar the last centimetre or so, which was splintering pain, but the pressure of James’s hand was unrelenting, and I had no option but to accept it inside me. The heavy pressure now bearing down made my ass rocket up into the air, and I yelped. “Take it out,” I whimpered. My hips bounced against the bench as if that might somehow dislodge the intruder, but it didn’t move an inch. “You’re not the one who gives the orders around these parts. Try to remember that.” He then twirled the plug around inside me, and I grimaced.
FINAL THOUGHTS on SPARKS by C.P. Mandara
Although this series was chock-a-block with intensely sexy scenes and had no shortage of tongue in cheek humour, it also got extremely dark and fucked up. Which, of course, I loved!
I actually learned a lot while reading this series! Hahaha!
Absolutely loved it and will be adding all of C.P. Mandara’s books to my TBR mountain.
This was so much fun! So, this book is about a spy/assassin taking on a new assignment. And that assignment happens to be. . .becoming a sub for a real bad dude. The goal: Kill the bad dude. (At least it seems like that’s the goal so far) But before we get to that part, this assassin, Lois, needs to be trained on the basics of what it means to be a sub.
James & Lois were everything. I appreciated how both of them were experienced. While James was experienced, I definitely got the vibe that he was damaged, jaded, and it had been awhile since he had found someone worth caring about. The chemistry between these two were electric, and the banter smart. Also: My fear about starting this series was that the spy theme intermixed with BDSM would be. . .well, rather cheesy. The author pulled it off, though. Much is left unsaid in book 1, which I think is a smart decision on the author’s part. Why exactly does Lois want to enter Carte Blanche and kill Alain? The reader is never directly answered that question. Who exactly is James, and how did he get involved with Sharpey & Cellular Operations? The author went vague with many details, which left me wanting to read on to figure out exactly what is going on.
This was very well written, with a strong cliffhanger. I’m on to the next book.
it was one of the most erotic and also intensely creepy BDSM books I have ever read. Read the second in the series too eagerly awaiting #3
Kind of a mind fuck but I guess it just gets worse from here and I’m all in.
The intensity of this book is beyond belief, it drew me in from the very beginning. I could not put it down. It is full of action, mystery, hot BDSM scenes, and done edge if your seat suspense.
Doris is a secret agent on a life ir death mission, but she wants revenge and is willing to die in order to fulfill this mission. But who is the bad guy or good guy?. Who can she trust? Will she get her revenge? Is it all worth her sacrifice? Join her on this mission and see how it ends.
The authors characters are strong and the storyline is amazing. I highly recommend this book.
Hated this book once the characters moved to the house for training. There was no redeeming qualities of these characters especially the main one. It wasn’t romantic at all. Dark hard harsh brutal all fit to describe this book.
Not good!