Review: Bound Temptations

Reviewed by Shelly
 

This is a publication release of two previously released novels, Tempt Me and Beg Me. I’m going to review this novel as two separate review to support the reading experience.

TEMPT ME

Blurb: She’s a temptation he can’t resist…

Roxanne ‘Rocki’ Monroe’s life is full of secrets and hidden heartaches. Cole Stanton would love to heal her pain and chase away the ghosts of her past, but she’s just a complication he doesn’t have room for in his life.

Or so he thinks.

It doesn’t take Cole long to realize he’s more than willing to let temptation get the best of him, more than happy to deal with complications if that’s what it takes to get her.

What he has and what he needs are two different things…and what he needs is Rocki.

Review: This story took me about a chapter to get into, but oh boy, once I did I was in it something fierce. If you like dialogue, then you’re going to really like this story. We are privy to a lot of conversations and for me that works wonders for pacing and continuity.

Rocki, a policeman’s widow, has set up a new life for herself after the untimely death of her husband. She’s a business owner of a place I’d like to visit, Lush & Lace, I’m not going to ruin the surprise and tell you what she offers. I will say that what she sells has a significant part in the storyline.  Suffice it to say, that’s where she meets the bronzed, blonde, and beautiful Cole and his evileen fiancé Mara.

Rocki is not perfect nor is she a size six and that’s what I loved the most about her. She’s got self doubt about doing the right thing, she means what she says and she’s got a best friend who made me laugh out loud on more that one occasion.

When I first met Cole, I didn’t think I would like him at all. He seemed a bit too ‘perfect’ and those are always your psycho stalkers. Well he’s neither perfect nor a psycho and I really enjoyed the sparks that flew between these two. I thought the pace of their romance was believable; the events that went on around them were realistic and really moved the story along.

On to the good stuff, the sexual tension between Rocki and Cole was HOT. Those two could light a page on fire. The sex was enviable and with just enough self-denial to warrant Rocki still in mourning for the life she had with her deceased husband.

Overall, I really enjoyed Rocki and Cole. I would have really liked to find out more about Mara’s story, she seemed ripe for a alpha male to come in and turn her world upside down.

Rating: A

BEG ME

Blurb: Beg me…there had been a time when those words made her burn with desire. But now, there was only fear.

Once, Tania Sinclair’s life was almost perfect…But a couple of tragedies later, she’s barely holding it together. A car accident took away her husband, and an attack from somebody she should have been able to trust has shaken not only her confidence, but it’s also stripped away her fantasies and even made it painful to look back on her memories of her husband without fear.

Two years after her attack, Tania is determined to take her life back and the first step is taking back herself…her fantasies, her dreams, her memories. There’s only one person she can trust to do it, too. One person she wants enough…Drake Bennett, her husband’s best friend.

Warning: This book involves light bondage play, rape fantasy & role-playing. The acts between the hero & heroine are consensual, but they may not be ideal for all readers…

Review: HEED the warning folks, do NOT complain after you’ve read this story that you didn’t know about the rape fantasy and role playing game. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

This was a really hard story for me to read. It was hard for the exact scenarios in the warning.

I didn’t like Tania. I wasn’t convinced of her rational for asking Drake for his ‘services’. I felt sympathetic that she was attacked and violated, but I just couldn’t seem to invest in her as someone who deserved Drake. I can’t say that I’ve been attacked or violated but I don’t believe I have to be to either relate or not relate to any character for that matter. Maybe the point that Walker was trying to put out there is - it talks all kinds to fill the freeway, we don’t have to understand or like every character but we’ve all got a story that’s just itching to be told. So for that, the author did her job – she made me have an emotion towards her characters.

We need more men with hearts like Drake, men who’ll do anything for their woman. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed his character. He was such a tortured hero, loving Tawny from afar. When he had the chance to prove his love to her by offering his ‘services’ she selfishly overlooked his emotions.  Ya’ll, I was so mad and just when I was ready to throw my hands up and say – that’s it, I couldn’t put the book down because I just had to know what she’s going to do to fix it.

The sex between these two was primarily role-playing games of rape fantasy so I can’t say that I enjoyed them because they did make me uncomfortable. But then again, it’s in that respect that Shiloh Walker has a new fan because I cared enough about Drake and by default Tania that I wanted them to have their kinky and consensual HEA.

Happy reading folks!

Rating: A-

Click to purchase: Amazon

Bound Temptations

by Shiloh Walker

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Publisher: Hydra Publications