A curious woman Ashley Paxon understands responsibility. After her fiancé left her alone and pregnant, she forged a new life for herself and her daughter. Moving to Dallas, she went back to school and found a job at a club called Sanctum. As one of the BDSM club’s waitresses, she watches the Doms and their submissives every night. She yearns to explore their lifestyle of discipline and power … exchange, but she knows she wouldn’t belong. A wounded man Keith Langston believes in living in the moment. Haunted by the past, he moves from one casual relationship to the next and never looks back. But the moment he lays eyes on Ashley, something primal and possessive takes over. He can’t stop thinking about her and yet he knows he can’t offer her what she needs. Having her seems impossible until Sanctum’s owner, the mysterious Ian Taggart, makes him an offer he can’t refuse. The perfect contract Offered the chance to train Ashley and initiate her into the D/s lifestyle, Keith is delighted to accept. Under the guidelines of a carefully crafted contract, they lose themselves in the pleasures and intimacies of being Master and submissive. But when Ashley and her daughter are threatened, Keith realizes she needs much more than a part-time Dom. To protect her, he will have to break through the barriers of their contract and finally face the demons haunting his heart.
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Another interesting couple in this series. Ashley doesn’t like to disappoint people but is also sassy. And she’s the mother of a young child. Keith isn’t interested in marriage and definitely does not want children (or to be around them). So it causes him some angst when he finds himself attracted to Ashley. When Ian offers him the chance to train Ashley, it’s impossible for him to resist given they have will have a contract and he can specify no contact outside of Sanctum. Everything is going good until an outside force threatens Ashley and her daughter.
I loved how the characters provided what the other was missing from their daily life. For Ashley, it learning to be disciplined with her school work. For Keith, it was being able to bring out the best in his submissive. And in the end, they both found more than they could have anticipated.
Ashley has been heartbroken and not just by boys. Her father left when was just a kid and her died before she could even gradate high school. She only had one boyfriend and they had gotten engaged, but then when Trevor found out that she was pregnant he left her. So, her sister Jill came back to help her with her daughter. Keith owned his own business before he graduated college. So, his next steps where to get married and start a family. But little did Keith know that something was wrong with his DNA, Keith and his wife had a son named John Michael because of what was in his DNA. He couldn’t believe that his parents didn’t tell him about it. So, he got divorced 6 months later and stopped talking to his parents. He also gotten a vasectomy so that he couldn’t have anymore kids. He thought that he didn’t deserve love from anyone. One day he saw Ash and he wanted her but she has a daughter and he didn’t want any part of that. Keith wanted to be apart of Sanctum, and Ian Taggart’s Charlie had a plan to get Ash a Dom and get Keith a membership to Sanctum. Ian wrote up a contact that said that they would only see each other at the club. Keith would help with her confidence & sexuality. He also help her with discipline when it comes to her cussing because she didn’t want her daughter would start speaking soon and Ash didn’t want her to say those words. He also made it that she spent 2 hours doing her homework from college so that she would do well and graduate from college.
This such an awesome story. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
I listened to this novella which was twice as long as the book about Ashley’s sister Jill. The narration was excellent and provided two or three different accents.
Ashley and Keith both had difficulties to overcome but Ashley seemed to be able to handle hers much better. Keith didn’t come across as very “dom-y” to me until he found out Ashley had been keeping a secret from him.
I liked Ashley’s character. She had some self esteem issues. She referenced sexual acts and body parts like she was a little kid. BUT, Ashley was strong enough to want to work through her issues. Granted, being Keith’s sub helped her. Her friendships with other subs also helped. One driving factor for Ashley was wanted to be better for her daughter Emily.
Keith had a much more difficult time working through his past. I’m glad he made sure to help Ashley resolve her problem even if he wasn’t with her.
I enjoyed the lack of excessive dialogue in this book. The .5 books don’t have as much action, but they also don’t have as much of the tedious dialogue between couples.
I wish we could have seen a little more interaction between Keith and Emily, and Keith and his parents.
Crying
I love this one but then I’m a sucker for stories with single parents finding love.
No unnecessary descriptions of surroundings
Good dialogues
The characters is developed in to realistic personalities that feels familiar to me.
Sweet and steamy love scenes
Good 5 stars read
Unconditional just reminded me why I love this series. Lexi Blake is a master at making emotions jump off a page. Ashley and Keith were perfect in their imperfections.
Ian Taggart once again works his magic in pairing a Dom and sub. Ashley Paxon and Keith Langston have both known heartache in their lives, maybe they can give each ogher comfort. The only problem is that he can’t or won’t give her anything more than a D/s relationship. But when a threat is made he goes out of his way to neutralize it and give Ashley peace of mind. Then he’ll walk away. It’s what he does. What he doesn’t account for is Ashley’s resolve and resourcefulness. What he gets in the end is the woman he loves and the family he’s always wanted.
Unconditional by Lexi Blake is book 5.5 in the Masters and Mercenaries world.
Ashley Paxon is a single mom with a rough past. She lives with her sister and brother-in-law, works as waitress at Sanctum and cares for her daughter. She goes to college and that about all her social life.
When Ian Taggart wants her to be sub for a limited time, she wants to refuse, but the temptation and curiosity are stronger than her fear.
Keith is a very wealthy man. He´s a investor and makes billions. He´s new in Dallas and wants to attend Sanctum, Ian Taggart´s BDSM club. To receive Master rights at Sanctum he has to train a submissive, Ashley.
Ashley and Keith have issues and Keith has demons. But both have this crazy insta chemistry. They could be so good together and everyone around them knows it, the only blind ones are Ashley and Keith. When Ashley and her daughter are threatened by her past, Keith jumps in and keeps them safe. He´s the knight in shining armor. Now they could have their HEA, but Keith is stubborn. He breaks up with her and is miserable, what else.
Ashley doesn´t give up and fights for her HEA. Go Girl !!
I can´t say how much I love Laex Blake´s Masters and Mercenaries world. Every time a new book releases I´m giddy with high expectations. And Unconditional doesn´t dissapoint. The story is great, I could easily connect with the characters and the writing is excellent. I loved meeting characters from previous books ( winks to Serena and Adam ). And now I can´t wait to read the next installment, Dungeon Royale.
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